I haven’t been entirely honest. I mean, I have been about the facts. About Zach and the police. How awful it was at school, at home. My family history. My illness. How I showed Zach foxes. How everyone suspects me, if not of killing Zach, then of something.
I haven’t made myself out to be better than I am. Or worse.
But I haven’t been entirely honest about my insides. How it is in my head and my heart and my veins.
Let me come clean.
Micah Wilkins is a liar. Everyone knows that – her teachers, her parents and especially her classmates. Even Micah knows it – and admits it. But she promises the reader that this time she will tell the truth.
Micah’s secret boyfriend, Zach has been murdered, and Micah wants the reader to know that she didn’t kill him – even though there’s plenty of suspicion being cast on her. Zach’s ‘real’ girlfriend Sarah, his friends, the teachers and the police all seem to think Micah could have done it – and even her parents seem a little unsure. At first it seems that all this suspicion is a little unfounded, and that Micah may be a little paranoid, but as the book progresses, the reader finds plenty of reason not to trust Micah – and to instead wonder just what she is capable of.
Liar is a compelling story. With twists and turns and an intriguing plot structure which sees Micah (and the reader) jump from past to present and back again with a complexity which allows for truth (and lies) to be slowly pieced together, what IS certain is that the reader will be fascinated with Micah and find it difficult to stop reading until the final page and even then, to stop thinking about Micah for a long time after.
Breathtaking.
Liar, by Justine Larbalestier
Allen & Unwin, 2009
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