There Will Be Lies
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By Nick Lake
avg rating
10 reviews
Shelby Jane Cooper is seventeen, pretty and quiet. It’s just Shelby and her mom, Shaylene, a court stenographer who wears pyjama jeans, stitches tapestry, eats ice-cream for dinner and likes to keep Shelby safe. So safe she barely goes out. So safe she doesn’t go to school. Because anything could happen, to a girl like Shelby. Anything.
When Shelby gets knocked down by a car, it’s not just her leg that’s broken: Shelby’s world is shattered. Her mom turns up to collect her and drives off into the night, like it’s the beginning of a road trip, like two criminals on the run, like Thelma and Louise or Bonnie and Clyde. And somehow, everywhere she looks, there’s a coyote watching her, talking to her, telling her not to believe.
Who is Shelby Jane Cooper? If the person who keeps you safe also tells you lies, who can you trust?
Shortlisted for The CILIP Carnegie Medal in 2016
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A very thrilling book
you dont understand the beginning but you xan understand the title after a while great book for older readers
this book is so good and has so much mystery in it
i love this book and would reccommend it as there is lots of different genre in it so loads of people will love it
The books brings a whole new aspect to the world, I really enjoyed it and it ALWAYS leaves you on a cliffhanger....
its a amazing book, i really enjoy reading it. definatly worth reading again :)
Wow!!!!! This story is choc full of action, powerful moments, confusion and dream worlds. I really loved this book because of the style - I feel that Shelby is talking to me, confiding and finding comfort in me, the reader. At moments I was upset, or even angry at what the poor girl had been through, but, in the end, it always came back to baseball or the Dreaming. This is not pointed towards either gender, it has a perfect balance. It has also been shortlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Award 2016, which automatically gives it "amazing" book status.
Our teenage reading group read this book. It was one of those rare books which was unanimously enjoyed by all members who had read it - both staff and pupils. Everyone enjoyed the various plot twists and turns throughout the book, not guessing what would happen next or who to believe. The way in which the story switches between reality and fantasy also flowed well and it was a difficult book to put down once you got into it. Very enjoyable, would definitely recommend to others.
This was a book that divided opinions amongst our bookgroup but we were all agreed that it was a great book for discussion and made a wonderful book group read. Half of us really enjoyed the book (giving it 8 out of 10) while the other half found it harder going (but still giving it scores of 6-7 out of 10). For those who found it a more challenging read the main sticking point was the fantasy, Dreaming sections which were interweaved through the story.
All of us found this a very compelling book and we all wanted to know what would happen, with even those who weren't so keen on elements of the story finishing the book. We thought it was very cleverly written with some good plot twists and that the book sensitively explored a difficult subject. The choice of narrator was seen as excellent and the book captured completely her sense of confusion and anger.
Those of us who hadn't been as keen on the book found that they gained a lot from the group discussion and that they picked up on points which they had missed in their personal read-through. The final consensus of the group was that we would strongly recommend this to other bookgroups as it provoked a large amount of discussion and contained highly interesting elements which were very thought-provoking.
Our Reading Group recently read There Will Be Lies by Nick Lake. It is a gripping, fascinating and moving story narrated by a 17 year old girl. Shelby's life has been unusually sheltered and after she's knocked down by a car she, and we, begin to find out why as her life as she's known it unravels around her. Her voice is totally believable as the reader is taken on an incredible ride of a novel that only occassionally fails to convince...or we thought it did, until we read on. It was, for many of us, unputdownable. We had to know what happened next and the constant plot twists and other surprises kept us guessing all the way through but also makes it difficult to say too much without spoiling the story. A great book for young adults that also provided much material for discussion for an adult reading group.
A very interesting novel, made up of two parts - a real-life drama which unfolds alongside a surreal "other-world" story. I normally don't like supernatural or fantasy and when this was first introduced I thought it was going to ruin an otherwise excellent plot. However, it transpired that it was an ongoing dream which did actually have a lot of relevance to the main character's life. All the strands were eventually brought together at the end in what was a gripping and unusual book. Well worth a read.
