It's a typical Young Adult book, it has a good story flow but it took me a while to finish. I find it a little slow though

This was super cute and swoony. I didn't like the conflict at the end though. But I really loved the lovely epilogue and I'm so glad it was there.

Crown Books for Young Readers and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of Trusting You & Other Lies. I voluntarily chose to review this book and my opinion is freely given.

Instead of spending the summer with her friends, Phoenix finds herself at a family summer camp with her fighting parents and little brother. Stuck training with the head counselor, Callum, whose attitude is seriously annoying, will Phoenix be able to make the best of the situation in which she finds herself?

First off, I was taken aback by the attitude of the main character towards her parents and everything else in her current situation. A little sass and snark is good, but this is way over the top. The idea of a family summer camp is interesting, but the reality is that the concept was not enough to elevate this book. My biggest problem with the book is the fact that the author turns it from a family drama into a romance. It could have been a good coming-of-age story, with Phoenix coming to certain realizations about her life and her family, instead of about a boy. Phoenix is judgmental in a way that is off-putting and Callum should have gone off running. It is hard to feel bad for Phoenix about her family and their situation because she is totally unlikable. Overall, this is just another YA romance, complete with teenage angst, and is not one that I would recommend.

I really enjoyed this book and found it very interesting with this take on this romance. I enjoyed the description of the romance interests and the different point of views . Overall I enjoyed this book and loved the cover. I can't to read other books by this author.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

Phoenix's home life is dreadful. All her parents do is argue, they're at risk of losing their home because her dad won't work, and both parents emotionally neglect Phoenix and little brother, Harry. The prospect of spending the whole summer with her parents at the camp, in a tiny little cabin, sounds like absolute hell on earth, but that's what's happening. After winning a free trip to Camp Kismet, this could be the time for the family to reconnect - if possible - and for Phoenix to try and be a teenager again. While there, she meets head counsellor, Callum, who pushes her buttons, but is dead cute, and Phoenix finds herself at risk of falling for him, though he doesn't strike her as the most reliable person. Can this summer be perfect, or will all her worst nightmares come true.

I read this book so long ago that most of the main plot points have escaped me, but I can remember that this was a fast and easy read. Phoenix felt as if she had the world on her shoulders, but at times she got on my nerves. Now I can understand she would feel pressured if her family were in bad situations, but she never had had a close relationship with her parents, so why was she acting as if she was the one in charge, the parent whereas her actual parents were the children, there to be told what to do and just listen. She acted like a parent to Harry, too, which was a bit more realistic, as she wanted him to have a better childhood, with greater boundaries and more love, than she had had, but her interactions with her parents just read wrong at times.

She also got on my nerves with how much pressure she put on her 'love interest' Callum to go to college. Now, I went to university, have two degrees, and it was the right thing for me, but some of my family went and dropped out because it just wasn't for them. When I was 17/18, it was kind of expected that you would go to uni, and that was it, but it really shouldn't be like that. As a teacher, I'm so glad that the pressure has now gone from our sixth formers that they don't have to go to university if it isn't for them. Going into apprenticeships, other forms of education, or into work, can be better for some, and the pressure of debt, etc. can be difficult for some people. So to have Phoenix think that not wanting to go to college is a bad thing, really turned me off her.

The romantic scenes, on the most part, I did enjoy, but still, there was other things in the background niggling at my head that just meant I couldn't give this book more than a 3 star rating.

Thank You for the opportunity to review this book. Sorry, I attempted to read this book. However, I couldn't get in to it. So, I was unable to finish reading and reviewing it.

Immediately I knew this one wasn't going to be for me. The writing style and I just didn't click. This story may work for others, but it didn't work for me.

I thought this was an okay read. The characters were a little bit annoying but relatable. Which is all one could really ask for. The romance was sweet and the storyline was interesting enough.

Sigh.

So many bad books this year. Bad for me, at least.

• CLASSISM. So, basically, if you don't aspire to get a college degree, you suck at life. The MC is constantly judging her love interest for not being "into" college. Listen, if you can afford college or get scholarships, great for you, but not everyone can go to/wants to go to college. Some people have other plans! School isn't for everyone and I honestly resent when people are looked down upon or considered less-than because they choose not to go to college. One point against the MC and the author.

• Another point against Phoenix comes with the fact that she specifically SAYS she is oh-so-independent and doesn't "do" boy-crazy, but then she does. She acts like a fool over Callum and honestly, it kinda pissed me off. Phoenix is so incredibly insecure—which is fine—but she lies to herself SO BADLY about it. She actually has this fake-cocky thing going on and it's pretty gross and makes her wholly unlikable. Get this: she finds out that Callum isn't a virgin, right? He's 18. He's been with other girls. SHOCKER! So she gets all upset and sad about it, like he fucking cheated on her. I HATE IT WHEN GIRLS DO THIS. HATE HATE HATE. This little situation in the book brings me to my next point...

• CALLUM. So, he follows Phoenix's little pity party up with this:

“Have you ever eaten a porterhouse steak?” ... “A porterhouse steak is like the best damn thing in the world.” ... “Have you ever eaten packing popcorn? The worst thing ever.” ... “You are the porterhouse. All those other girls, any other girl, they're packing popcorn.”

STEAK... and... PACKING POPCORN?????? YES! He, A) compared her to a literal piece of meat, and B) used his little analogy to trash every other girl he's ever been with. Why do you have to lessen every other person you've slept with just to make this little twat feel better about herself? It's frankly, rude, but also extremely condescending. But Phoenix? She eats it right up. It makes me sick. I hate you both. Go away.

• If you haven't caught on by now, I cannot stand the MC. MOST. UNLIKABLE. CHARACTER. EVER. She's a spoiled brat. She's judgmental AF. She's insecure but pretends not be with this uppity, annoying attitude. She talks about how she is THE BEST SISTER of life all through the book, then proceeds to treat her little brother like crap. She also doesn't understand why her parents sent her to the camp because she is finicky and can't appreciate nature AT ALL. She spends the entire book trying to make everyone else live up to what SHE wants from them. Just ew.

The only thing I actually liked about this book was the actual setting. I enjoyed the camp atmosphere and wish that the characters within it had been better.

Overall? Good setting, bad characters. Mediocre (at best) storyline. Not for me. I don't recommend it at all.

First off can we talk about how gorgeous this cover is?! It is absolutely fitting to the story and so pleasing to the eye. I am absolutely in love with it!

Phoenix would rather spend her summer on the beach with her friends. Instead her parents have other plans…family summer camp. Her parents have been fighting since her dad lost his job two years again and Phoenix could not be any more disappointed and aggravated with their decision. The only redeeming quality of her family is her beloved little brother Harry. She is determined to be the best big sister she can be and to escape her parental units at the same time. With this being said, she happily signs up to be a camp counselor. This is where she meets her trainer, Callum, who she can’t quite figure out. One second Callum is cold towards her and the next he is flirting and laughing with her. Can she ever figure him out and if she does will it last?




Let’s dive right in shall we. I was so intrigued by this novel and it seemed like such a cute, fun summer read. Not that we are in summer yet l-o-l. I begin reading and after about ten chapters in I was wondering if anything was ever going to happen in this book. It was very, very slow. I became worried because, at this point in the novel, the character development and the chemistry that Phenoix and Callum were supposed to have, just was not there. I kept reading hoping this would not become on of those DNF novels and that things would pick up. Let me just say, I am so happy that I continued reading because it eventually picked up and the ending was super cute.


Going back on the point I made about the characters! So while I was reading I knew that eventually Phoenix and Callum were obviously going to have a thing for each other, but I am not sure if it was the dialect or maybe it was me not quite connecting fully with this book, but It just wasn’t there the first half of the book. I wish there would have been more bickering back and forth or something of that context to really increase the chemistry between them. I will say that this was one of my main issues with this novel, but like I mentioned before it did get better! It felt so refreshing when I got to the part were I felt the chemistry between them. I was waiting for it for so long and I literally screamed inside when it finally started to click. Other than that I will say I was pretty impressed with this novel! I read it in less than a day and it’s always nice to have a fun super short read.

I would recommend this book to someone who is looking for a fun, light summer read. Just be patient with the pace of the book and you will love it <3

Did not get to this book in time but I did buy myself a finished copy. I will read it this summer hopefully.

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this title. Unfortunately, I have lost interest in the title, partly due to trusted reviews, and will not be reviewing the title. I have, however, promoed the title through my weekly recap with links to Amazon. Thank you again, and I apologize for the inconvenience this may cause.

Loving this one. I can think of several students who will love this one.

I love summer romances and this one was pretty good too.

Financial troubles force Phoenix and her family to spend the summer at a camp. Phoenix feels extremely lonely because her family is falling apart under the financial strain and she's recently broken up with her cheating boyfriend. Although Phoenix isn't looking for romance, she finds herself drawn to superstar, aloof counselor Callum. I loved that Phoenix's family's reconciliation was a huge part of this story, but I was a little less enthusiastic about the romance. Callum's harshness and judgmental nature just didn't inspire a lot of swoon for me. I think this book is going to find fans amongst readers who enjoy Sarah Dessen and Kasie West.

There are YA books, and there are YA books . . . I don't think I made it through the first chapter before one sibling was calling the other something with "turd" as a prefix or suffix, and that's when I knew TRUSTING YOU & OTHER LIES was not a good fit.

“Trusting You & Other Lies” is a nice summer romance that has some teeth.

It’s refreshing to see a sibling relationship that is loving and a family that is struggling in a realistic way. The teenage emotions rang true and brought back quite a bit of nostalgia, along with a lot of “glad I’m past that phase of my life” thoughts. Last but not least, there was no instalove. That is always a bonus in YA romances.

I recommend “Trusting You & Other Lies” for anyone looking for an emotional read about young relationships, both with family and romantic interests.

Review: 3 out of 5 stars

Trusting You and Other Lies was a quick, easy and light-hearted read and was kindly provided to me by Random House Children’s via Netgalley.

Our main character Phoenix isn’t overly thrilled to be spending her summer as a camp counsellor at Camp Kismet, not an ideal situation because of the current strain within her family but she sees it as an opportunity to work through a few problems and spend some time with her younger brother Harry.

Phoenix wasn’t an instantly likeable character, she complained, she whined and she could be dramatic but there was growth throughout the book and I came to like her as a character.

Helping to train Phoenix is head counsellor Callum, he is a little rough around the edges and often ran hot and cold so it did talk a while for me to warm up to him but once I did I worked out where he was coming from and why he was the way he was. Phoenix and Callum complimented each other well.

Trusting You and Other Lies didn’t come without drama and a bit of angst but it wasn’t over the top or frustrating. I found the pacing to be slow in parts so I was skimming on the odd occasion. I loved Phoenix’s relationship with her brother Harry, they shared a sweet bond.

I didn’t completely love Trusting You and Other Lies as I have Nicole William's other books but it was an easy, entertaining read with some great life lessons in it.

Thank you to Random House Children’s via Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Phoenix wanted to have one last summer spent at the beach having fun with her friends before the start of senior year. She wanted to stay away as far as possible from her parents and sort the mess in her head. But more importantly, Phoenix didn’t want to be lied to anymore.

She was convinced that Camp Kismet would be the place where she says goodbye to a carefree summer, shares a tiny cabin with her family and works as a camp counselor with no idea how to. As the summer progressed, Camp Kismet surprised her in an unexpected ways. It became the place where Phoenix figured out more about herself, learnt to trust again and give second chances.

This Young Adult novel is soft and sweet like a day spent at the beach. It’s not packed with manufactured drama just for the sake of it and doesn’t promise you anything it can’t deliver. It took me slightly longer to warm up to it during the quick reads afters work, but once I brought it with me outside under the sun on a holiday, it sped up instantly. 
Williams has the talent to immerse you into the page not with action and convulsive sentences that an everyday sixteen-year-old would not normally have the patience for, but with charm and understanding. She’s emphatic to her characters and wants to see them grow.

Trusting You & Other Lies stands out in the genre with its positive simplicity and compassion. The protagonists are not crafted to be someone else, they are exactly who they should be — teenagers going with the flow with adolescence and also trying the taste of early adulthood.

I have kindly received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley and Random House Children’s Crown Books for Young Readers in exchange of a fair review.

Trusting You and Other Lies is Nicole Williams' new YA romance. I don't read a lot of YA, but I love Nicole and I've loved all of her books I've read in this genre. Even though I'm not remotely close to the ages of these characters, I could still relate to their struggles. I remember being that age and going through what they are dealing with. It's not easy. It feels like the end of the world. But sometimes things happen for a reason and you are meant to be where you are even though you hate it. At first. As with all of Nicole Williams' books, the writing is fantastic. The story is well developed and the characters are extremely likable. Extremely! This is Phoenix's story. She's almost eighteen, hates her parents, and is being forced to spend the summer away from her friends. Complete torture. But she loves her little brother, Harry, and she wants him to have fun and make friends. She's going away to college soon and she needs to know he's going to be ok. No matter what happens with her parents. The one good thing about this summer is she gets to work and earn money. She needs a car. When an unexpected meeting with a sexy counselor shows her she might actually have a little fun, her attitude starts to thaw. Callum, the lead counselor, and Phoenix are going to be working closely together for a few weeks. He's a hard a**, but he shows her glimpses of something else. He's funny, handsome, sweet and he has an amazing laugh. Not a lot of people get to see this side of him and she loves and hates that. He says the right thing at the right time and he's wise beyond his years. They both have major trust issues and lies are a deal breaker. But they are attracted to each other and they have fun together. Phoenix thinks Callum is destined for more and she vows to help him achieve his goals. Late nights lead to more and they soon become engrossed in each other. But what happens when one of them gets distracted? Do little white lies do as much damage? Phoenix has to overcome her trust issues or she's going to lose the best thing that's ever happened to her. Callum has to start believing in himself and open up his heart. I loved this story. Being a teenager is really tough! Thinking about going to college and what you want to do for the rest of your life is scary. But, finding someone who lets you be who are you is rare. Age doesn't matter. Distance doesn't matter. What's in your heart and soul is what matters.

He kissed me like I'd wanted to be kissed my whole life - like I was everything.

"God, Phoenix. I can't breathe when I'm with you."