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court121622's review against another edition
5.0
This is a good book if you have read the first book in the series
jo486's review against another edition
4.0
Like the first book, it was very interesting however it didn't demand all of my time and my attention. But I still thought that it was a very good story and it kept the first books complexity. It was well planned and it kept me on my toes.
vanessa177's review against another edition
3.0
This book is a big improvement from The Lying Game. The pace is much faster, so it at least feels like the plot is advancing. This book is entirely focused on a red herring, but Emma at least discovers a few clues about Sutton's death. Emma also learns more about Sutton's friends, her father, and Laurel, which helps make everyone seem a little more real. All the characters are still pretty bland, probably to maintain the mystery for more books, but they are at least beginning to behave more like human beings. Another good aspect of Never Have I Ever, like the previous book, is that there continues to be real danger in Emma's investigations.
The biggest problem is the mystery. By the end of this book, Emma has been living as Sutton for two months. Again, it does not occur to Emma to investigate parts of Sutton's life, like her impounded car, until long after most people would have thought of it. Also, many of the reveals just aren't that surprising and were foreshadowed way too heavily. This just makes Emma and Sutton look stupid.
Even though I did not dislike Never Have I Ever, I do not think that I would be reading it if I had nor already owned it. The book is short and fluffy enough that I flew through it in less than two hours, and in this case a fast reading really helps. There are several aspects of the writing style that would bother me much more if I was spending more time on this series. The style of narration is still mostly an annoyance. Shepard also has a tendency to use the same phrasing in the many sections of the book that describe Emma feeling like someone is watching her, which makes the whole thing feel even more repetitive than it should.
The biggest problem is the mystery. By the end of this book, Emma has been living as Sutton for two months. Again, it does not occur to Emma to investigate parts of Sutton's life, like her impounded car, until long after most people would have thought of it. Also, many of the reveals just aren't that surprising and were foreshadowed way too heavily. This just makes Emma and Sutton look stupid.
Even though I did not dislike Never Have I Ever, I do not think that I would be reading it if I had nor already owned it. The book is short and fluffy enough that I flew through it in less than two hours, and in this case a fast reading really helps. There are several aspects of the writing style that would bother me much more if I was spending more time on this series. The style of narration is still mostly an annoyance. Shepard also has a tendency to use the same phrasing in the many sections of the book that describe Emma feeling like someone is watching her, which makes the whole thing feel even more repetitive than it should.
mxharriet's review against another edition
5.0
Read in August 2013
Reread in October 2015 and loved it!
PLEASE NOTE: If you have not read the first book... you will probably not want to read this review, sorry. However, here is my review for the first book in the series, The Lying Game.
I love the cover, they are simple but extremely effective, its as if at the start of the story it completes the mystery of the last book by completing the face then by the end of the story you have the start of the face for the new suspect. All the books also seem to have a new colour combination every time.
After Emma rules out the idea it was just a twisted game Sutton was playing on Emma, Ethan finds out about Sutton's death meaning Emma must be more careful than ever. As Emma collects information about who Sutton had made contact with in the months before her death, she starts to realise that those who where closest to Sutton may be the ones with the strongest motives.
In The Lying Game-1 here is what I thought of Emma and Sutton:
Emma:
Loving, kind, friendly, happy-as-she-can-be, determined, never-gets-into-trouble, sensible, and does not like the lying game. She also finds it hard to cope with accusations of things she doesn't know about of which Sutton did, making everything that much harder for her. She is also a very likeable character who is mature and practical.
Sutton:
Unkind, hates-everyone, goes-along-with-it, ALWAYS-in-trouble, rebellious, selfish, immature, moody, and loves the lying game! She also seems to revel in everyones unhappiness and does not think about others before herself.
Has my opinion of them both changed? Yes!
Emma:
Loving, kind, friendly, happy-as-she-can-be, determined, gets-into-trouble-on-purpose-if-thats-what-it-takes, sensible, and does not like the lying game. She now easily copes with accusations of things she doesn't know about of which Sutton did as she is very clever in twisting it around to use it to her advantage and acts as clues for Suttons death, making everything that much harder for her. She is also a very likeable character who is mature and practical.
Sutton:
Unkind, hates-everyone, goes-along-with-it, ALWAYS-in-trouble, rebellious, selfish, immature, moody, and loves the lying game! She also seems to revel in everyones unhappiness and does not think about others before herself. Now that we have seen her view from the outside... she seems to regret a lot of things she has done, is great at encouraging her sister even though she knows she can't hear her and shows that she can also be practical and think through the situations and come up with valuable and accurate conclusions.
In this instalment of The Lying Games we see peoples true colours begin to come out and to what lengths they would go to, to get their revenge. We also learn a lot more about the Twitter Twins and in what ways they could be involved in Sutton's murder and why. This book is fast paced with more flashbacks that help to build on the story, making you want to shout at Emma to tell her what you have just learned. You will also, like the first instalment of The Lying Games suspect everyone... I even found myself suspecting the policemen and shop assistant! You see a little more about the relationship of Ethan and Emma (which is undoubtably adorable!) and the ways they are both put on edge about the murderer finding out... otherwise she is next. We also get to know a little more of Sutton's past and the way in which some of their games can give others the motive for a dangerous revenge.
I highly enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it! The next book in the series: Two Truths and a Lie.
Reread in October 2015 and loved it!
PLEASE NOTE: If you have not read the first book... you will probably not want to read this review, sorry. However, here is my review for the first book in the series, The Lying Game.
I love the cover, they are simple but extremely effective, its as if at the start of the story it completes the mystery of the last book by completing the face then by the end of the story you have the start of the face for the new suspect. All the books also seem to have a new colour combination every time.
After Emma rules out the idea it was just a twisted game Sutton was playing on Emma, Ethan finds out about Sutton's death meaning Emma must be more careful than ever. As Emma collects information about who Sutton had made contact with in the months before her death, she starts to realise that those who where closest to Sutton may be the ones with the strongest motives.
In The Lying Game-1 here is what I thought of Emma and Sutton:
Emma:
Loving, kind, friendly, happy-as-she-can-be, determined, never-gets-into-trouble, sensible, and does not like the lying game. She also finds it hard to cope with accusations of things she doesn't know about of which Sutton did, making everything that much harder for her. She is also a very likeable character who is mature and practical.
Sutton:
Unkind, hates-everyone, goes-along-with-it, ALWAYS-in-trouble, rebellious, selfish, immature, moody, and loves the lying game! She also seems to revel in everyones unhappiness and does not think about others before herself.
Has my opinion of them both changed? Yes!
Emma:
Loving, kind, friendly, happy-as-she-can-be, determined, gets-into-trouble-on-purpose-if-thats-what-it-takes, sensible, and does not like the lying game. She now easily copes with accusations of things she doesn't know about of which Sutton did as she is very clever in twisting it around to use it to her advantage and acts as clues for Suttons death, making everything that much harder for her. She is also a very likeable character who is mature and practical.
Sutton:
Unkind, hates-everyone, goes-along-with-it, ALWAYS-in-trouble, rebellious, selfish, immature, moody, and loves the lying game! She also seems to revel in everyones unhappiness and does not think about others before herself. Now that we have seen her view from the outside... she seems to regret a lot of things she has done, is great at encouraging her sister even though she knows she can't hear her and shows that she can also be practical and think through the situations and come up with valuable and accurate conclusions.
In this instalment of The Lying Games we see peoples true colours begin to come out and to what lengths they would go to, to get their revenge. We also learn a lot more about the Twitter Twins and in what ways they could be involved in Sutton's murder and why. This book is fast paced with more flashbacks that help to build on the story, making you want to shout at Emma to tell her what you have just learned. You will also, like the first instalment of The Lying Games suspect everyone... I even found myself suspecting the policemen and shop assistant! You see a little more about the relationship of Ethan and Emma (which is undoubtably adorable!) and the ways they are both put on edge about the murderer finding out... otherwise she is next. We also get to know a little more of Sutton's past and the way in which some of their games can give others the motive for a dangerous revenge.
I highly enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it! The next book in the series: Two Truths and a Lie.
karenholmes's review against another edition
3.0
Needed something fast paced that didn't make me think and that's what I found at my fingertips. I kept waiting for more, more clues, more character development but as I am guessing, this will be a long series, things have to be slowed down. But even a TV episode which is supposedly a part of the whole story, is way more packed in events than this book. Anyway, I'll read next installments to take head off day job for sure. It's fun and easy read though I keep seeing the TV show characters in my mind and I'm sure not all of them fit.
rileykunkle's review against another edition
4.0
This is def an easy read yet the books plot is amazing, i really love its idea. Its rated 4 because the writing is sometimes pretty cringey, but it was written a while ago.
ihateprozac's review against another edition
5.0
***TL;DR SPOILERY PLOT OVERVIEW***
In the grand scheme of things, not a whole lot happens in Never Have I Ever. Emma is 100% certain that Laurel killed Sutton, then she finds proof that Laurel couldn't have possibly done it. Emma is 100% certain that Mads and Char killed Sutton, but they have an airtight alibi. Then Emma 100% suspects the Twitter Twins of killing Sutton, but it turns out they were just pissed about the train prank and wanted to get her back with an equally scary prank.
Speaking of train pranks, we learn a whole lot about how fucked up The Lying Game is. While she was alive, Sutton took all the girls out for a drive and purposely stalled her car on the train tracks. The girls didn’t know it was a prank, and Sutton broke the rules of the Lying Game by uttering the secret code words that show they're really in danger and it's not a prank.
With a train speeding towards them, they’re all certain they’re going to die, but Sutton calmly pops the clutch and drives off the tracks. Sutton thinks it's hilarious, but everybody is furious and Gabriella has an epileptic seizure. Apparently Gabriella had had epilepsy all her life, but it lay dormant until the train incident. Sutton practically gave someone epilepsy.
In the meantime Emma finds herself falling for Ethan, but she's too scared to get involved while she's hunting for her sister's killer. And just when Emma doesn't have any friends left to suspect, mysterious and potentially evil Thayer Vega shows up. We're lead to believe he knows Sutton is actually Emma, and Sara Shepard sets us up for another wild goose chase in the next book.
***END SPOILERY PLOT OVERVIEW***
I recently re-read The Lying Game after getting into the show, and had every intention of adding to my original review with a comparison between the show and books. My original review was long as hell though, so I’m doing it here instead! The Lying Game show and books are two completely different beasts. It’s not like Pretty Little Liars where the show is relatively faithful but they’re taking liberties with A’s identity and Ali’s killer. They’re just two different concepts with some of the same characters.
In the books Sutton is dead and narrating the story, and Emma impersonates Sutton while trying to find her killer. In the show, Sutton is most certainly not dead, and Emma only impersonates Sutton while Sutton is off in LA trying to find their birth mother. The books are driven by Emma’s search for Sutton’s killer, while the show is driven by Emma & Sutton’s search for their birth mother.
In the books Emma suspects all of Sutton’s friends of killing her, and the end of this book has us thinking it was Thayer. In the show, Mads’ and Sutton’s fathers are hiding something sinister about Emma & Sutton’s birth mothers, while Sutton’s friends and Thayer are definitively innocent. In the show we have this mystery surrounding Annie Hobbs and Annie Sewell being the girls’ birth mother(s), while in the books there isn’t any mystery surrounding their birth mother Becky.
Ethan plays a similar role in the books and show, though his background and physical appearance are different. Book!Thayer and Show!Thayer are only similar in that they’ve both been with Sutton and had their hearts stomped on. Show!Thayer actually assists Emma and Ethan with the search for the elusive birth mother, while the end of Never Have I Ever has us thinking Thayer is the killer. In the show it’s Mads’ dad Alec that’s hiding some big secret and constantly interfering with the search for Sutton & Emma's birth mother, but in the books it’s Char’s dad who’s keeping some secret.
The Twitter Twins don’t even exist in the show, and Sutton’s parents take more of a backseat in the books. Justin doesn’t exist in the books, and Char’s dad barely exists in the show. Madeline and Thayer Rybak are Madeline and Thayer Vega in the books, and their dad physically abuses them. We don’t know anything about Char’s mum’s drinking problem from the show, and there’s no Annie Sewell or Annie Hobbs.
Now that I’ve compared the two, I’ll give my thoughts on the actual book! I liked that this book had us suspecting everyone left and right, because the wild goose chases were something Sara Shepard did really well with Pretty Little Liars. I believed with every fibre of my being that the Twitter Twins had killed Sutton, that the book was going to end with a showdown, and the series wouldn't be even half as long as Pretty Little Liars.
Shepard is obviously leading the readers on another wild goose chase in the next book, planting the seed to have us believe Thayer is the killer. I personally think it’s Char’s dad though. His weird behaviour was introduced early on enough in the story that it wouldn’t seem random if he were revealed as the killer, and I don’t think him lying about being out of town was just due to him having an affair.
I really like that we have Sutton narrating the story, but she can’t remember anything. We only get as much information as she does, and when she gets pieces of information it seems to coincide with Emma finding out more too – so it’s not like Sutton knows everything and Emma is in the dark.
I'm personally holding out hope that Sutton isn't really dead, and that it's just like the episode of Supernatural where Dean is in a coma but roaming the hospital wards in spirit. I'd love for Sutton's 'killer' to be caught, but Sutton to recover and live happily ever after with Emma. It's going to be horribly tragic if Emma finds Sutton's killer, it turns out Sutton is really dead, and then Sutton just fades away because her business is finished on earth. :(
Overall: Never Have I Ever sees the series really come into its own, with Sara Shepard keeping us guessing like she's done for 10 books with Pretty Little Liars. Not a whole lot actually happens, but we find out a lot more about each character and the sinister nature of The Lying Game. Can't wait for the next one!
In the grand scheme of things, not a whole lot happens in Never Have I Ever. Emma is 100% certain that Laurel killed Sutton, then she finds proof that Laurel couldn't have possibly done it. Emma is 100% certain that Mads and Char killed Sutton, but they have an airtight alibi. Then Emma 100% suspects the Twitter Twins of killing Sutton, but it turns out they were just pissed about the train prank and wanted to get her back with an equally scary prank.
Speaking of train pranks, we learn a whole lot about how fucked up The Lying Game is. While she was alive, Sutton took all the girls out for a drive and purposely stalled her car on the train tracks. The girls didn’t know it was a prank, and Sutton broke the rules of the Lying Game by uttering the secret code words that show they're really in danger and it's not a prank.
With a train speeding towards them, they’re all certain they’re going to die, but Sutton calmly pops the clutch and drives off the tracks. Sutton thinks it's hilarious, but everybody is furious and Gabriella has an epileptic seizure. Apparently Gabriella had had epilepsy all her life, but it lay dormant until the train incident. Sutton practically gave someone epilepsy.
In the meantime Emma finds herself falling for Ethan, but she's too scared to get involved while she's hunting for her sister's killer. And just when Emma doesn't have any friends left to suspect, mysterious and potentially evil Thayer Vega shows up. We're lead to believe he knows Sutton is actually Emma, and Sara Shepard sets us up for another wild goose chase in the next book.
***END SPOILERY PLOT OVERVIEW***
I recently re-read The Lying Game after getting into the show, and had every intention of adding to my original review with a comparison between the show and books. My original review was long as hell though, so I’m doing it here instead! The Lying Game show and books are two completely different beasts. It’s not like Pretty Little Liars where the show is relatively faithful but they’re taking liberties with A’s identity and Ali’s killer. They’re just two different concepts with some of the same characters.
In the books Sutton is dead and narrating the story, and Emma impersonates Sutton while trying to find her killer. In the show, Sutton is most certainly not dead, and Emma only impersonates Sutton while Sutton is off in LA trying to find their birth mother. The books are driven by Emma’s search for Sutton’s killer, while the show is driven by Emma & Sutton’s search for their birth mother.
In the books Emma suspects all of Sutton’s friends of killing her, and the end of this book has us thinking it was Thayer. In the show, Mads’ and Sutton’s fathers are hiding something sinister about Emma & Sutton’s birth mothers, while Sutton’s friends and Thayer are definitively innocent. In the show we have this mystery surrounding Annie Hobbs and Annie Sewell being the girls’ birth mother(s), while in the books there isn’t any mystery surrounding their birth mother Becky.
Ethan plays a similar role in the books and show, though his background and physical appearance are different. Book!Thayer and Show!Thayer are only similar in that they’ve both been with Sutton and had their hearts stomped on. Show!Thayer actually assists Emma and Ethan with the search for the elusive birth mother, while the end of Never Have I Ever has us thinking Thayer is the killer. In the show it’s Mads’ dad Alec that’s hiding some big secret and constantly interfering with the search for Sutton & Emma's birth mother, but in the books it’s Char’s dad who’s keeping some secret.
The Twitter Twins don’t even exist in the show, and Sutton’s parents take more of a backseat in the books. Justin doesn’t exist in the books, and Char’s dad barely exists in the show. Madeline and Thayer Rybak are Madeline and Thayer Vega in the books, and their dad physically abuses them. We don’t know anything about Char’s mum’s drinking problem from the show, and there’s no Annie Sewell or Annie Hobbs.
Now that I’ve compared the two, I’ll give my thoughts on the actual book! I liked that this book had us suspecting everyone left and right, because the wild goose chases were something Sara Shepard did really well with Pretty Little Liars. I believed with every fibre of my being that the Twitter Twins had killed Sutton, that the book was going to end with a showdown, and the series wouldn't be even half as long as Pretty Little Liars.
Shepard is obviously leading the readers on another wild goose chase in the next book, planting the seed to have us believe Thayer is the killer. I personally think it’s Char’s dad though. His weird behaviour was introduced early on enough in the story that it wouldn’t seem random if he were revealed as the killer, and I don’t think him lying about being out of town was just due to him having an affair.
I really like that we have Sutton narrating the story, but she can’t remember anything. We only get as much information as she does, and when she gets pieces of information it seems to coincide with Emma finding out more too – so it’s not like Sutton knows everything and Emma is in the dark.
I'm personally holding out hope that Sutton isn't really dead, and that it's just like the episode of Supernatural where Dean is in a coma but roaming the hospital wards in spirit. I'd love for Sutton's 'killer' to be caught, but Sutton to recover and live happily ever after with Emma. It's going to be horribly tragic if Emma finds Sutton's killer, it turns out Sutton is really dead, and then Sutton just fades away because her business is finished on earth. :(
Overall: Never Have I Ever sees the series really come into its own, with Sara Shepard keeping us guessing like she's done for 10 books with Pretty Little Liars. Not a whole lot actually happens, but we find out a lot more about each character and the sinister nature of The Lying Game. Can't wait for the next one!
lovemydolphins's review against another edition
5.0
Another great book in the Lying Game series. Of course, "great" is relative to the whole YA genre, Sara Shepard, etc. Nevertheless, a fun read, continuing the mystery of the first book. A page-turner, left me waiting anxiously for the third book.
rays_reads's review against another edition
3.75
Overall rating: 3.75
Again, a quick and easy reread. This book isn't perfect but reminds me of 2010s tv shows. Drama everywhere.
Again, a quick and easy reread. This book isn't perfect but reminds me of 2010s tv shows. Drama everywhere.
weronika_natalia's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Didn’t love this one. Nothing really happened. I hope the third book gets better again..