Item: All the Best Liars
Author: drizzleandhurricanebooks

I’ve been getting back into YA thrillers lately, my love for it coming back full force. I’m thrilled to say that All The Best Liars is one of those reads I’ll be recommending for years to come. Let’s get to it with this quick review!

Review: All The Best Liars, Amelia Kahaney

All the Best Liars by Amelia Kahaney
Published by Walker Books Australia on September 7, 2022
Genres: mystery, thriller, young adult
Format: Paperback
Buy on Amazon, Bookshop, Blackwell's
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A dark, modern psychological thriller of obsession, manipulation and the intensity of friendship.
Tic tac toe, three girls in a row. Nine years old and inseparable. Friends for life, or so they think...
Best friends Syd, Rain and Brie grew up on the wrong side of the tracks in the stifling California desert, desperately wishing for a way out.
In the end, each of them will escape, but not in the way they expect. One will do it by dying, another by lying, a third by taking the fall. A deadly fire is set two weeks before the end of their senior year of high school and nothing will ever be the same.
With gorgeous, taut prose and twists to the very last page, All the Best Liars switches between the present and the past to unravel the truth behind the fire and the cost of the secrets at the heart of their friendship.

☂️ TRIGGER WARNINGS: (click to reveal)

underage drinking, drug use & abuse, mention of drug dealing and prison, fire, murder, loss of a loved one (friend).

There are no spoilers in this review.

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I ENJOYED…

☂️

Told from three different POV, All The Best Liars tells the story of three ex, inseparable best friends, the way their relationships, their lives changed… and how one ends up dead. I loved each POV in this story and how different the three main characters were. Their lives are different, but so are their ways of thinking about it all. I felt deeply for each of them, trying to unknot and understand the way their friendship broke into a million pieces, trying to understand each character’s point of view. The three of them are flawed, sometimes terrible, sometimes makes you feel for them and I loved that. Everything about their feelings towards each other – and towards themselves – was just so deeply relatable, sometimes raw and definitely real. A great cast of characters carrying the story, that’s for sure.
I loved the way this story was told, as well. You know me, I’m a big fan of stories told between past and present, where you slowly pick up the puzzle pieces of the story and, until the last third of the book, where everything finally makes sense. I thought the author wrote her puzzle pieces really well, made it all compelling and always kept feeding me new, exciting, twisted elements until the twisty, surprising reveal. It was messed-up and surprising and I love my YA thrillers just like that.

I think one of my favorite things about the book, is how it focuses on friendships. There is some romantic drama, yes, some family drama, just as well, but deep down, this book is about the friendship between these three girls.
Another interesting theme in this story was the class aspect. All the best liars talks about money, when you grow up poor and become rich, how things, relationship to others and to yourself change, just as well. I found it really interesting to see these feelings explored thorough the story, used as messed-up arguments between the girls.

OVERALL

☂️

If you’re looking for a twisted, addictive YA thriller, I definitely recommend All the Best Liars. This book kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time, surprised me and I loved it. I know I’m going to read more by this author!