KATIE COTUGNO
(Book 1 in a possible series)
Synopsis:
A fresh new take on Agatha Christie’s classic murder mystery The Mysterious Affair at Styles , with iconic detective Hercule Poirot recast as a brilliant, brash teen girl named Holiday, and narrated by her childhood friend Linden, an athlete-scholar who fits right in at his elite New England prep school—all the while hiding some secrets of his own.
Michael Linden—or just Linden to his preppy boarding school pals—doesn’t belong in wealthy, storied Martha’s Vineyard. But when his roommate Jasper invites him to spend the end of summer at his massive beachfront home, August House, Linden tries his best to fit in. Linden wouldn’t call it lying, exactly. Though it turns out August House is full of liars.
Then someone is found unconscious in Jasper’s pool, and everyone has something to hide—Jasper, his beautiful sister Eliza, their older brother Wells, and their friends. The accident is written off as just that—an accident—but Linden begins to wonder...
Holiday Proctor. Linden’s childhood friend, and the one person on the island who knows the truth about Linden. There’s nothing Holiday loves more than a good old-fashioned mystery and she’s convinced there's a potential killer on the Vineyard. The only question is…who?
Content:
Language: Frequent uses of mild language and stronger language such as "s" and "f".
Violence: Minor and brief descriptions of blood. Drug use, underage drinking, some mentions of an abusive relationship, and a car accident that resulted in an injury for the main character.
Sex: Several mentions and allusions to sex/sexual activity (including mentions of "oral," masturbation, and erections), kissing, discussion of virginity (both of the characters in the conversation have had sex before), and one brief fade-to-black scene with nothing described at all.
LGBTQ: Two characters have a discussion involving sexuality and whether either of them are gay (neither is).
My Review: Liar's Beach is a quick and fairly enjoyable teen thriller. I think the swearing and sex-talk as excessive, but I've learned that's the case with a lot of the recent YA thrillers. It was fast-paced and engaging, but I also felt like it was too short. I wanted to see more of Holiday and Linden. I'm pretty sure there's going to be at least a sequel given the cliffhanger ending.
I also have to say that I was so mad at the characters when I finished the book. Surprisingly, Linden—the narrator and main character—was one of the only ones I wasn't angry with. He may not have made the best decisions, but it was frustrating to see everyone dump the blame for their own choices on him and he just accepted it (I'm looking at you, Eliza).