SuitabookThe Lying Game
Sara Shepard
- Reading
- If the reader is keen on the mystery, agree to pause after tense sections and talk through how the pranks affect people. Flag that the first book does not solve the murder, so closure may require continuing.
- Themes
- Cruelty and social status: Sutton’s privileged social group uses cruel pranks and backstabbing, while Emma is positioned as an outsider who is disturbed by this behaviour. The story presents the behaviour as damaging through Emma’s and Ethan’s reactions, but gives it substantial dramatic attention rather than removing it from the social world.
- Identity, belonging and deception: Emma takes Sutton’s place after Sutton’s death, navigating a wealthy family and social circle while trying to learn the truth. The identity swap is both a survival strategy and a deception, allowing the story to explore belonging without clearly resolving its moral cost here.
- Mystery, grief and unfinished truth: Sutton narrates as a ghost and cannot remember much of her life, while she and Emma try to solve Sutton’s murder. The supernatural device supplies information and uncertainty around the investigation; the murder is treated as the story’s central mystery rather than resolved within this instalment.
- Worth knowing
- Before reading, consider whether murder, threats, ghostly narration, substance use, sexual pressure, pranks and occasional profanity fit the reader’s current comfort. The book also includes heavy consumer-status emphasis.