Review: Lying Out Loud by Kody Keplinger

Title: Lying Out Loud
Author: Kody Keplinger
Publisher: Scholastic
Age Group: Young Adult
Category: Contemporary
Release date: April 28th, 2015
Pages: 309 (eGalley)
Rating: 4 out of 5
Source: Edelweiss
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Sonny Ardmore is an excellent liar. She lies about her dad being in prison. She lies about her mom kicking her out. And she lies about sneaking into her best friend's house every night because she has nowhere else to go. 

Amy Rush might be the only person Sonny shares everything with— secrets, clothes, even a nemesis named Ryder Cross. 

Ryder's the new kid at Hamilton High and everything Sonny and Amy can't stand—a prep-school snob. But Ryder has a weakness: Amy. So when Ryder emails Amy asking her out, the friends see it as a prank opportunity not to be missed. 

But without meaning to, Sonny ends up talking to Ryder all night online. And to her horror, she realizes that she might actually like him. Only there's one small catch: he thinks he's been talking to Amy. So Sonny comes up with an elaborate scheme to help Ryder realize that she's the girl he's really wanted all along. Can Sonny lie her way to the truth, or will all her lies end up costing her both Ryder and Amy?

Sonny can't remember when her lying started and sometimes they just slip out of her mouth without meaning to.   Lying is just easier than letting anyone else in.  They've become who Sonny Ardmore is.  Although she's confident that she can handle just about anything on her own, just as she always has, these lies are bound to catch up with her.  In Lying Out Loud, we watch Sonny's lies unravel, stirring up trouble at work, school, and even those closest to her.

Ryder is one of those guys who looks down on everyone else around him.  He's the new kid and no one else can stand him because all he talks about is how his old school, friends and life was better than anything this town had to offer.  One thing was obvious, though, and it was that Ryder had an enormous crush on Sonny's kind-hearted friend, Amy.  She was too nice to tell him she wasn't interested, so when he asks her out via email, Sonny decides to take things into her own hands.

Sonny got on my nerves a little more than any of the other main characters in Keplinger's books, but when all is said and done, you realize why she acts the way she does.  She leads this double life, as does Ryder, which might be why they get along so well when she's pretending to be Amy in order to talk with him.  In person, every conversation just turns into a spat.  I wasn't particularly invested in the romance, but I was excited to see what would happen between Sonny and Amy in the end.  All the scheming and lying at Amy's expense makes it clear that their friendship is going to be put at risk.  I couldn't wait to see how Sonny would get herself out of this one.

I thoroughly enjoyed Sonny's story, which isn't much of a surprise, because I love all of Kody Keplinger's books.  The DUFF is still my favorite of the bunch, but it was great to see some familiar faces.  Since Amy is Wesley's younger sister, he had quite a bit of involvement in the story, and it was great to see where his romance with Bianca stood, even years after The DUFF was released.  In typical Keplinger fashion, Lying Out Loud is hilarious and snarky, yet ends with a good message.  If you enjoyed the author's debut novel, this is definitely the book for you.