Hey everyone! I’m back after two weeks of silence. (I’ve said that so many times, guys. I think it’s my catchphrase now. Picture it: “I’m Back!” *jazz hands!* Let me know if I should change my front page to this. Under the About Me page, the last line could tell people my catchphrase. Not a bad idea. Just gotta change it up a bit. Hmm… I‘ll think about it. ) School and stuff kept me super busy, so it’s been a crazy couple of weeks! But I am back, so let’s get into a very…suspenseful and plot-twisty (I realize that’s not a word, but go with it) book about a dead Instagram Influencer.
I’ll start with a small game I just made up. It’s called ‘Five Words.”
Five Words to describe the Influencer: Complicated. Strategic. Vulnerable. Determined. Hypocrite.
Five Words to describe the Bestie: Calculating. Hypocrite. Meticulous. Enigmatic. Determined.
Five Words to describe the Ex: Charming. Conflicted. Loving. Misunderstood. Determined.
Five Words to describe the Wannabe: Vulnerable. Determined. Descriptive. Resilient. Deceiver.
Five Words to describe the Frenemy: Empathetic. Observant. Complex. Loyal. Determined.
So, ‘Live Your Best Lie’ may or may not have been a reread. But only because I couldn’t remember what had happened in the end, so I had to read it again. And I didn’t remember until, like, the last page. This book had me guessing until the last chapter. An overview: (ahem, getting into my movie book trailer voice) Social media influencer Summer Cartwright leads an amazing life: millions of followers, the trendiest clothes, a brand new book deal, the coolest friends, and, until recently, the hottest boyfriend at her über-elite prep school. Every moment of her life has been carefully designed leads to her “imperfectly perfect” online self. She is #LivingHerBestLife. But when Summer goes missing during her annual Halloween party and then an unscheduled post appears on her feed stating that she’ll be dead within the next five minutes, the people who know Summer the best—her bestie, her ex-boyfriend, her frenemy, and her wannabe—know it isn’t a Whodunit Game Summer’s doing for attention. It’s not really Summer’s type of thing. Something feels off about this. When their investigation leads to Summer’s dead body, they’re realize that she was murdered. There was also terrible graffiti on beautiful Summer’s face that says: #Toxic . And no social media filter can hide the lies they tell themselves and each other.
(Normal voice)
This book was filled with flashback, different POVs, and twists and turns. You actually won’t know who’s the killer until the… (me, opening the book and checking) the last chapter. Guys, seriously, there will be spoilers ahead that you will regret reading if you so much as look at them. It’ll ruin the whole books. So. Read at your risk. 🙂 So the police thinks that Summer was poisoned by Nicotine. Yes, you heard me. Nicotine. The same liquid that’s in e-cigarettes. Anyone could have dumped it into Summer’s drinks. There are four main suspects. They are the four that found Summer’s dead body: Adam Mahmoud, Summer’s hot ex-boyfriend; Grace Godwin, Summer’s best friend; Cora Pruitt, a sophomore that is a Summer wannabe, a girl who is so obsessed with Summer, she might as well be the president of a We Love Summer Cartwright fan club; and Laney Miyamoto, who roomed with Summer in an international summer school.
And they all had a motive. There have been some posts from the killer and some posts that were scheduled by Summer. The ones from the killer acknowledge the fact that Summer’s dead, even though they are talking from her point of view. And the scheduled ones, well. They have sneak peaks from Summer’s book. And they could ruin Adam, Grace and Laney’s lives.
We’ll start with Adam. It’s always the boyfriend or ex who does the murder, right? In one of the flash backs we see that Summer broke up with him because he didn’t tell her about his gamer account on Twitch. And he unfollowed her. She hints that she knows something that could ruin him. And there are photos of him leading her into the kitchen and that he gave her some water. He could have easily slipped some e-cigarettes liquid in. Summer also knew that Adam had kissed Grace while he and Summer were still together.
Onto Grace. In a flashback, we find out that Summer knew something about Grace that she doesn’t want anyone to find out. Now, Grace is ready to do anything to get back into Summer’s good graces (no pun intended). So she goes to Summer’s Halloween party hours before other people to help decorate. She could have slipped some nicotine into any of Summer’s before-party drinks. Grace also had Summer’s Insta password. She could have typed out the posts from the killer.
Next up, in the Summer wannabe, Cora. We see in the flashbacks that Cora has been writing drafts for some of Summer’s posts. So she had the Instagram password. But there’s nothing Summer is holding over Cora’s head. Still, Cora ratted out the others, saying that they met in a park a few days ago and they talked about an idea of killing Summer by poisoning her. Using Nicotine. Is she trying to divert attention from herself?
And then, lastly, Laney. Summer has something she knows about Laney. Something bad. Something that could ruin Laney’s soon-to-be career.
And all these secrets that Summer knows. They’re all going into her book. And those sneak peaks? They hint at those secrets. Think back to the ‘Five Words’ game I played in the beginning. What is something they all had in common? They were all determined. Summer was determined to ruin Laney, Adam, and Grace’s lives; to get their secrets out there. Laney, Adam and Grace are determined to do anything to make sure Summer doesn’t tell anyone about their secret. And Cora is determined to make Summer pay for not giving Cora credit for writing Summer’s posts. She’s determined to make Summer pay for called her a freak. Summer was the reason that Cora wasn’t there when her sister, Amanda, had an Epilepsy (I think) attack. It wasn’t Cora’s fault. It was Summer’s.
The four of them find out that Summer’s dad could have ruined the career of a Black girl (he’s so racist) Avalon James. They break into the Cartwright household and split up to look for a letter from Mr. Cartwright, to Avalon. Laney and Adam. Cora and Grace. Laney finds the letter, but then the security alarm blares out. Someone activated it because they had turned it off. (Dun-dun-DUUUUN!)
Moving onto Grace and Cora’s search. They are going through Summer’s room, when Grace finds a note in Summer’s memory box. A note from Cora. And she realizes that Cora’s handwriting and the writing on Summer’s face seemed really similar. Cora realizes that Grace knows and tries to convince her that she’s not the killer. But, Grace refuses to believe Cora. Cora corners Grace. Grace calls 911 and manages to tell them that some girl is trying to kill her. They send the police but will Grace be able to survive that long? Cora is ready to push Grace over the balcony but Grace is not about to give up so easily. She grab’s Cora’s wrist and spins them around, so that Cora is between the edge of the balcony and Grace. Grace tells Cora that everyone believe that Grace has to do this due to self-defense. Then she pushes Cora, and the young sophomore falls from the balcony.
When the police get there, Cora is rushed to the hospital and Laney, Adam, and Grace are taken to the police station. The police have decided that Cora killed Summer Cartwright. Between Cora trying to kill her, and her sister, Amanda’s statement, it indicates Cora murdered Summer. Amanda said that she went through Cora’s diary and Cora had written the Summer is Toxic. Sound familiar? Amanda also figured out that Cora had broken into the Cartwrights’ home, using Find my Friends.
When they are released, Grace finds out that her mom is moving them to some other town that night. Whatever was happening between Adam and Grace was stronger than ever but she had to go. She had to get away from this. She leaves without saying goodbye. But over the course of the story Adam and Laney have told Grace what Summer was holding over them. Adam had tweaked the code of the game he played on Twitch a little bit so he could win. He couldn’t let any of his followers (thousand and maybe millions) of followers know. He had sponsorships because of this. Laney had taken Summer’s SAT. Academic dishonesty would ruin her career. And she had to do it to get a letter of recommendation from Summer’s movie director dad.
In the epilogue, we find out who the really murderer is. Who do you think it did it? Is it really Cora? Or someone else? Guess you’ll have to read the book to find out!! “All it took was a few e-cigarette cartridges and a green smoothie.” The second book comes out next year, I think? I can’t wait. I’ll see you guys later and have fantastic week!
XOXO,
Aaradhyaa (hmm…just my name seems really, bland. Any suggestions to what names I should sign off with?)
#YouKnowYouLoveMe
#LivingMyBestLife
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