This book had all the makings of a great book - childhood friends, a murder, and a mystery. But sadly, it just all fell flat to me. I couldn't relate to any of the characters and everything just felt over dramatic and forced. How did Mrs. Holloway die? she asked softly. Every word that came out of her mouth, she analyzed. Did she sound innocent just then? Did she sound guilty? She wasn’t guilty, she swore to herself over and over again, but it was hard to believe that with cuffs around her wrists. It was harder to believe when the police station came into view. Can you look someone up for me?” she asked when the officer finally let her make a call. “I don’t remember the number.” The neighbors might’ve noticed me sneaking out around two thirty. She flashed a taunting smile. If you’re good at what you do, I’m sure you can drum up some evidence. Lily is Evelyn's daughter, abused and sent away by her own mother, full of rage and desire to be free and herself, afraid of herself and in her body because of her mother's manipulations and abuses, abandoned by her stepfather and craving her own father's presence, trying to find out who and where he is.

Like Like Poison was a twisted contemporary fairytale with exciting twists and centring around the friendship between four kids who would do anything for each other. This was lying on the table in Evelyn’s kitchen, the detective said, his voice quiet now. Tentative. He was trying to coax a confession out of her, but the confession wasn’t about her. There are two names on it: Poppy and Belladonna. But I don’t think you’re responsi— Her lawyer’s got her clammed up, the detective said, frowning. But her father says they had dinner together later that night, so I’m guessing she cased the joint earlier to make sure Evelyn still drank tea. Poppy, Lily and Belladonna are ready to do anything to protect their friend, (in Lily's case, stepbrother= from Evelyn, his stepmother, who is abusing and torturing him. So they came up with a plan: petals of lily, poppy, belladonna in her tea, so she will die poisoned and will stop hurting him. But someone refused to go through with the plan, Raven was sent to boarding school and the group feel apart.Let’s start at the beginning, he said, sliding into his seat. He was wearing a blue blazer and jeans, but she could see his gun poking out beneath the blazer’s hem. Where were you between the hours of eleven p.m. Saturday night and one a.m. this morning?

The detective frowned, eyeing the thin slashes that laced their way up her arm. Why didn’t you tell me this before? he asked. I didn’t. I swear. But Edwin was passed out in his bedroom all night, and no one can account for me.” Because God forbid the characters actually talked! to each other honestly and put their heads together!!! If that happened, this book would've been solved within one chapter.He… What? Her eyelids fluttered closed, and behind them she could see soft hands and ebony curls. Bright eyes. Raven’s coming home? You’re under arrest for the murder of Evelyn Holloway. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used—

Detective Medina sighed. So no one saw you entering the Drake residence? No one can corroborate your story? Poppy, Lily, and Belladonna would do anything to protect their best friend, Raven. So when they discovered he was suffering abuse at the hands of his stepmother, they came up with a lethal plan: petals of poppy, belladonna, and lily in her evening tea so she’d never be able to hurt Raven again. But someone got cold feet, the plot faded to a secret of the past, and the group fell apart. How did Mrs. Holloway die?” she asked softly. Every word that came out of her mouth, she analyzed. Did she sound innocent just then? Did she sound guilty? She wasn’t guilty, she swore to herself over and over again, but it was hard to believe that with cuffs around her wrists. It was harder to believe when the police station came into view. Who you gonna call? the man asked, in this jovial tone that made her think he was going to start humming the Ghostbusters theme song. Everything about this was absurd. Belle wanted to tell herself it was a dream, because none of this could be happening, except… the rest of the night had been incredibly vivid. Those lips, trailing across her skin. Those hands, warm and familiar. Bright eyes. Mischievous smile. They’d hardly touched over the past few years, and yet everything was exactly the way it had been the first time they’d held hands.

Lies Like Poison

Ye-yes, she said, managing to stumble over one word. Great. That didn’t bode well for the rest of the conversation. But she could lie about who’d been tangled in her arms that night. She’d gotten very good at keeping secrets. Just… not from the cops. Book Genre: Contemporary, Crime, Fiction, LGBT, Mystery, Mystery Thriller, Romance, Thriller, Young Adult, Young Adult Contemporary You’re under arrest for the murder of Evelyn Holloway. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used—” Riverdale meets Kara Thomas’s The Cheerleaders in this electrifying, twisted thriller about estranged friends who reunite when someone commits the murder they’d planned—but didn’t go through with—and leaves one of their own to take the fall. I was expecting this story to be much like the many other murder mystery books I've read, with contemporary characters and high school secrets. So I was pleasantly surprised to find this this is actually a dark, gothic story about two boys, two girls, obsession and family secrets.

But the night before the murder, one of us got cold feet and ruined everything. We all had to poison her together. That’s what I thought, the spring we made flower garlands. The spring we spread them out on the table, where she drank her tea. I received this book from NetGalley in exchange of an honest review. Thank you, Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing and Margaret K. McElderry Books, for the chance to read Lies like Poison. While this was focused on the murder mystery, it also dealt with mental health and had such amazing queer characters with huge depth to them all. We see them overcome what society expects them to be and being their own person, and they all have a story to tell in this book. I had so many emotions while reading this because I became connected to all of the characters and felt for what a horrible life they have all had growing up. How they rely on each other for strength to get through their toughest days. It was a very powerful book and the characters were all so deeply written. Unreliable narrators still need to be reliable in how or why they are unreliable. Are they delusional and have a penchant for exaggeration? Are they extremely naive and have a limited way of understanding events that unfold around them? Are they psychologically impaired in some way--psychopaths who are detached from reality? Are they simply just liars by character?

Wait, what?” Belle’s vision blurred and the officer’s mouth stopped making noise, even though it was moving. “Raven’s stepmother is dead? I thought you were here for—” Killing her would’ve been easy. That spring we made flower garlands. That spring petals were strewn across her kitchen table, where she drank her tea. If we dropped a petal of belladonna, a petal of poppy, and a petal of lily into that cup, we’d never really know which one of us killed her.