A review by sarahvankuiken
The Kindest Lie by Nancy Johnson

3.0

2.5 rounded up to a pity 3. I wanted to like this book, but unfortunately it read like the debut it is. Some great ideas and attempted nuance, but overall very underdeveloped and disjointed. The biggest struggle for me was how much potential I saw in the characters, but they all ended up being unlikable - and not in an interesting way. Trust me, I respect a good book every now and then that makes the characters unlikable for a reason, but this ain't it. Characters I was supposed to empathize and believe in (Ruth, Midnight, Mama, etc.) never reached a redemption point or a level of complexity to justify the lack of redemption.