LITTLE BLACK LIES is a high school drama-filled novel, similar to Gossip Girl except without the same high level of sexual escapades, and set in the most unusual of locations: a nerdy public school. Don't let the academia fool you, though: the girls are still as bitchy, the drama still as intense.
The characters in LITTLE BLACK LIES, while not immediately endearing, still grow on you after about halfway through the book. We can feel for Sara as she navigates life without her mother, in a new school full of classmates who would do nearly anything to beat their friends. The stresses of her new life make Sara's lies and actions justifiable, though not necessarily admirable. I particularly admired Cohen's treatment of OCD in this novel, as a disorder that breaks hearts, strains relationships, and pushes teens to lie for the sake of preserving their social status.
I mentioned earlier that I thought it was a watered-down version of Gossip Girl. There are definitely still bitchy girls who manipulate, blackmail, and hurt one another. While the antics of the Anton High âinâ crowd of are amateurs compared to other mean girls in media, they're still believable enough, and you will still feel for Carling, the head mean girl with the bad family life, despite her manipulations. Cohen generally succeeds at balancing readers' hatred of and caring for these characters.
LITTLE BLACK LIES will appeal to a wide range of teenagers who can identify with Sara's difficulty in balancing her family life and school life. It's a good story, and even if it took a while to get to its feet, my nervousness for what will happen to Sara in her huge, tentative house of lies kept me reading into the night.
The characters in LITTLE BLACK LIES, while not immediately endearing, still grow on you after about halfway through the book. We can feel for Sara as she navigates life without her mother, in a new school full of classmates who would do nearly anything to beat their friends. The stresses of her new life make Sara's lies and actions justifiable, though not necessarily admirable. I particularly admired Cohen's treatment of OCD in this novel, as a disorder that breaks hearts, strains relationships, and pushes teens to lie for the sake of preserving their social status.
I mentioned earlier that I thought it was a watered-down version of Gossip Girl. There are definitely still bitchy girls who manipulate, blackmail, and hurt one another. While the antics of the Anton High âinâ crowd of are amateurs compared to other mean girls in media, they're still believable enough, and you will still feel for Carling, the head mean girl with the bad family life, despite her manipulations. Cohen generally succeeds at balancing readers' hatred of and caring for these characters.
LITTLE BLACK LIES will appeal to a wide range of teenagers who can identify with Sara's difficulty in balancing her family life and school life. It's a good story, and even if it took a while to get to its feet, my nervousness for what will happen to Sara in her huge, tentative house of lies kept me reading into the night.
Reviewed by Marta Morrison for TeensReadToo.com
Sara is going to a new school. The school she'll be attending is also the school that is hiring her father as the new janitor.
Her mother has run away with one of Sara's former high school teachers to France. Sara is very embarrassed about her father, especially since he suffers from OCD. He also drives old VW buses.
Her new school is one full of gifted students and snobs. Sara is tired of having a life that is ruined by her parents. She decides that she will invent a new persona. She gets entangled in a web of lies that threatens to destroy not only herself but her father, as well.
LITTLE BLACK LIES is a good read. Sara is a believable character, and by the end of the book you know that she would make a good friend. She learns important lessons about the value of a good parent, the love of a friend, and the importance of honesty.
This is the second book by Tish Cohen that I have read and I really like her writing. She likes to write about issues that are in the news but are those that we really don't know much about. This book focuses on OCD. I enjoyed that it wasn't by the sufferer but by a family member who has to live with the person with the condition.
This is a very good book, well-written and also entertaining.
Sara is going to a new school. The school she'll be attending is also the school that is hiring her father as the new janitor.
Her mother has run away with one of Sara's former high school teachers to France. Sara is very embarrassed about her father, especially since he suffers from OCD. He also drives old VW buses.
Her new school is one full of gifted students and snobs. Sara is tired of having a life that is ruined by her parents. She decides that she will invent a new persona. She gets entangled in a web of lies that threatens to destroy not only herself but her father, as well.
LITTLE BLACK LIES is a good read. Sara is a believable character, and by the end of the book you know that she would make a good friend. She learns important lessons about the value of a good parent, the love of a friend, and the importance of honesty.
This is the second book by Tish Cohen that I have read and I really like her writing. She likes to write about issues that are in the news but are those that we really don't know much about. This book focuses on OCD. I enjoyed that it wasn't by the sufferer but by a family member who has to live with the person with the condition.
This is a very good book, well-written and also entertaining.
