Alder Creek, as we first encounter it, seems like a pretty idyllic place. The reader will assume, as the characters do, that being artistic means the citizens are open minded and accepting. We don't have to read very far to see the cracks, blind spots created by racial, financial, and gender privilege. Unsurprisingly, the addition of a Black friend forces Amoris to see her town through new eyes. It also forces her to take a much harder look at herself and her own family, the cruel and insensitive things that she brushes off in the name of peace. Through the plot, Grace asks us to consider not only what prejudices we might be dismissing but also what the appropriate response is when we come from a place of privilege. Questioning our environment is an obvious message. The more subtle messaging is the difference between being an ally and being a savior. The messaging is a bit heavy handed and Amoris's wilful ignorance becomes a bit tiresome, like Grace is working a bit too hard to keep her sympathetic. If it serves as a starting point to discuss more complex social topics, though, it's worth a read.

Im going to be 100% honest...at first I was curious to see how a white female author could pull off a book about racism. And then magic happened!


This isn't to say that this book has everything completely accurate but as Crane states in her authors note... the door is now open.

As a white woman in today's world I want to do everything I can to simply not hurt others. This is my goal. Be a kind human. This book gave me quite a few thought proving aspects that I really quite enjoyed. Also, there is an adorable love story that I just couldn't get enough of.

Thank you Alcove and Netgalley for the advanced copy. All thoughts are my own.

Thanks to NetGalley for an arc of Only the Pretty Lies in exchange for an honest review!

I struggled with this book. It took me a while to get through for a few reasons—the writing wasn’t my favorite because there was a lot of summarizing events rather than seeing the events play out, and there was a lot of telling and not a lot of showing and description. In addition to that, almost all of the character were extremely unlikeable, including the main character, Amoris. Amoris did have some character growth, but it felt rushed to fit the ending.

This book tried to tackle a lot of important issues—microaggressions, racism, homophobia, addiction, and family problems, to name a few—but ultimately, it was too much for how short of a book this was, which lead to several of those issues being just glossed over. And there were moments where the lessons being portrayed were entirely well-intentioned, but they ended up coming across as just preachy.

The ending was also very rushed and overall pretty unsatisfying. I wanted more resolution and to see that Amoris really had learned something from her experiences in the book, because by the end, I wasn’t sure she had.

I think if it had been longer, this book could’ve really given these issues the space they needed to be fairly explored, but instead, it just fell flat.

By the end of this book, there is a lot going on. But I think that is true of being a teenager in their senior year of high school-there's just a lot of things going on both literally and mentally. "Only the Pretty Lies" follows Amoris, a hippie-style senior who loves her town of Alder Creek and plans to stay there, working at the café her grandma started before Amoris was born. She's very status-quo for herself. Then, her best friend from childhood, Jamison, whom she hasn't spoken to in 3 years moves back to town. After some awkwardness, they reconnect a little, and school starts up. Jamison is one of the only black students attending their high school, much less, in their town, and immediately starts experiencing prejudice and racism. When he tries to open Amoris' eyes to it, she is resistant to believe it, causing trouble in the friendship. The rest is a snowball effect of that plus Amoris trying to win over Jamison plus having friend troubles plus having family troubles. Like I said, there's a lot.

Overall, this way a good, quick read. Usually I would call it fun, but this book dealt with a lot of heavier, serious topics. Crane usually does that in her books, which is great, but this one felt a little heavier than most of her other work. I didn't jump to care for the main character as I usually would, though by the end of the book I was glad for her and the choices she finally made. I'd recommend this book if you enjoy Crane's other work, like YA novels, particularly ones that discuss intense topics like racism, figuring out yourself and your opinions, and family/friend drama. 3.5 stars rounded up.

Thank you to Netgalley and Skyscape for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When I read the summery of this book I really thought I was going to love it, but sadly that wasn't the case. The book caries an important message and talks about racism, family struggles and addiction. However, it all felt really forced to me. I felt like there was just too much going on for it to feel natural. The main characters were okey, but I wasn't able to relate to them as much as I had hoped I would and to be honest there were times when I even found them annoying.

With that being said, I do think that if you are looking for a thought provoking book, you should definitely give this book a chance.

This was a book with important
timeless messages but they weren't conveyed in a immersive exciting way.

I found the main character to be a bit annoying with too many flaws and an unsatisfying character arch. The themes had potential but weren't executed properly.

This was an okay read that had potential. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the E-arc! All opinions are my own.

Amoris comes from hippie parents and lives in a mountainous, liberal Midwest town. In her eyes, everyone is tolerant and you can be whoever you want to be! When her best friend, Jamison, returns to town after 3 years of being away, Amoris’s world is turned upside down. Jamison is one of the only Black people in Alder Creek, and he is tired of Amoris ignoring and even defending the many microaggressions and racist encounters he endures on a daily basis. Amoris’s senior year suddenly shifts from caring about where to go to college, what songs to cover on guitar, and what to do about her long-distance boyfriend to realizing silence is an act of violence.

The premise of this book is incredible and important. The characters of Jamison and Sam were well executed and perfectly demonstrated the experience of marginalized teens (Sam is Asian-American and gay). While Amoris’s friend, Ellis, was supposed to be unlikable, Amoris herself seemed to be somehow exempt from many of the same behaviors her friend is criticized for. She ignores her brother being homophobic, agrees to cheat on her boyfriend because her friend told her to, gets mad at her boyfriend simply because he’s being nice, and watches as Jamison gets treated awfully and does nothing. It’s really hard to root for a character like that, and I just couldn’t buy into her last-minute character development. It felt performative, and I don’t think she ever really “got it.”

Not only does this book tackle racism, but it also discusses addiction, family struggle, and grief. Because this book is only about 300 pages, I did feel these issues were rushed and felt awkwardly placed. I think if the book was longer, maybe this could have worked.

In short, this book had potential but just wasn’t it for me. I hope the teens that read this do take something from Jamison’s experiences and think critically about the things they do and say and what they *don’t* do and say when they should.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

I'm a big fan of Rebekah Crane but for me, the almost preachy nature of the book took away from what really could have been a homerun. I do enjoy Crane's writing style and this book was well written, it just didn't sit entirely right with me due to the way I felt like I was being lectured. I do think some of my students will enjoy this story but overall, it isn't my favorite by this author. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was a cute book and I loved the characters of Only the Pretty Lies by Rebekah Crane. The themes were great and it was overall a well-written book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Skyscape for the arc of Only the Pretty Lies by Rebekah Crane.

I opened this book with no expectations about what to read and found myself entranced, horrified, reflected, and sobbing by the end. Reminiscent of The Hate U Give Only the Pretty Lies tells a story about racism and the effect that it has from the outside perspective. From the perspective that too many of us have as privileged white beings.
Amoris and Jamison have known each other for their entire lives, born on the same day at the same time their mother's have been friends forever and the two were inseparable until Amoris caught Jamison kissing her best friend. Now that Jamison is back in Amoris' life the attraction is undeniable but there is something different about their relationship in Amoris' hometown of Alder Creek compared to when they would see each other in Kansas City.
Crane's book is peppered with important quotes and the theme of having to actually look and speak up about racism when it is seen, even if it isn't overt. If not "it's a pretty lie - the kind of lie meant to keep the peace, to keep life comfortable."
You don't want to like or even relate to Amoris at the beginning of the book, she seems cold and distant. She doesn't really care about her boyfriend, and she's simply just stopped talking to Jamison when she felt hurt by him, letting the silence speak for her. But the more you read the more I connected with Amoris and thought about my own action, or inaction, by the end you see that the most important thing in life is to be seen and to be heard. Not to be depicted or spoken for.

Crane's book is so important. Not just to speak about racism and homophobia and all the other world problems that are so important to be shown in fiction as well as the real world. But also how important it is for books like this to exist, "books that make us feel seen."

This is one of those books that will teach readers a lesson: don;t stay silent and expect things to change. Also, youre not doing anyone any favors by staying silent, whether it's about racism or something else. I didn't care for the narrator and found the book to be a bit preachy, but teens might love it.

A wonderful story with great characters. I enjoyed the evolution of Raine. Beautifully written and it felt honest and real.

A love story about breaking painful legacies.
From the first page I was in awe! I enjoyed these characters they were fun and engaging!
The story itself was great. Fun. Quick read!

2.5 stars

This is a book with great ideas and the best of intentions, but it just didn’t land right with me. There’s no denying the value, importance, and timeliness of the anti-racist message the author is clearly conveying. I just wish the story had felt more natural, the characters developed more fully, and the stakes for each character really shown (Huge stakes for Jamison, essentially none for Amoris).

I can understand that in a relatively short YA story, Crane had a lot of nuggets of how-to-be-better wisdom to demonstrate and that perhaps it didn’t allow the organic development of relationships and protagonist growth that I find makes for a great read. Unfortunately though, the protagonist was just deeply unlikeable and entirely self-centered, to a point that I struggled to celebrate her finally beginning to acknowledge her flaws.

I loved both the Sam and Jamison characters, though struggled to see how they could both treat Ellis (a basic caricature of self-centered, privileged teens who feel the world owes them something) as a complete Undesirable (she is!), but then not paint Amoris with at least parts of the same brush. Jamison spends most of the book reminding Amoris of how she does not understand him, how she hurts him, and how everything she does is about herself. Yet, we as readers are supposed to feel some kind of magical, fated connection between them. The romance element here falls completely flat for me. All the way to the end, all I could do was hold her up next to Jamison who (spoiler) despite all his hard work, does not get into his dream school, whereas she does not even need to go to college because she’s privileged enough to come from a family who are financially stable, support her wish to travel and find herself, and she knows that her small town and grandmother’s ex-cafe will be there for her as a fall-back if things don’t work out.

Having read the summary, I really wanted to love this book. It was a nice, easy read full of sage advice and lovely musings about life, but unfortunately the lack of organic character development, and some huge missed opportunities for meaningful conversations between Amoris and her deeply interesting family, left me wanting. In place of what could have been fantastic, engaging and encouraging conversations about change between Amoris and her seemingly open-minded mother and father, and difficult but significant conversations for growth with her flawed and hurting brother, what I got was a series moments in which one person said the right thing, or reacted in the ideal way, much like an after school special might hire actors to role play for teaching. I can acknowledge this is probably a ME problem. I didn’t get what I wanted from this book because of my expectations of it. For all I know, this book will serve its exact purpose.

With teaching in mind, and the importance of getting this message out, perhaps this book will do great things in terms of showing a younger generation of readers various ways to speak up and not to allow silence to make them accessories to further hurt.

A few of the great lines and thoughts that I highlighted:
‘People want a witness to their pain,’ Rayne said. ‘Not a judge.’

Bigotry isn’t a disease, Amoris. You don’t just have it or not have it. It’s something you participate in, whether you like it or not. Excusing people for bigotry only makes it worse.

The secret to a good education has nothing to do with reading or multiplication, or facts. A good education is about belonging. It’s about being seen.

‘Books are like hearts,’ he said. ‘They should be shared with the people we trust.’

It’s thought provoking, fast pacing, easy read to get invested! I mostly enjoy YA novels because seeing things from their perspectives we can learn a lot from them and revisit our youth, remembering our choices we made and how we evolved.

The story takes place in small town named Alder Creek and told by Amoris Westmore: senior in high school, living with her eccentric family. But interestingly Amoris loves her town and she never thinks to leave the place. She gets startled when she finds out her first crush Jamison Rush moved to next door with his mother,planning to apply for the state tuition for being able to go to the college he dreams of.

As they become close again, Amoris realizes Jamison sees her lovely town from different perspective. There are still some black students at Alder Creek high school but after Jamison’s discovery of racist mural at Alder Creek High, Amoris’ worldwide completely changes. She starts looking at the people, their beliefs, manners, motives, actions from different eye.

At some point I got a little frustrated about Jamison’s acts around Amoris. She tries so hard to empathize with his problems but he acted harsh and blamed on her being clueless about what’s happening around her. That was a little unfair for her.

Throughout Amoris’ journey, it was definitely satisfying to see how her character changed, getting more mature, seeing things with different point of view!

Overall: it was soft, engaging read with great character development which earned my full four stars!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Skyscape for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.

✨Review✨
This was such an eye opening read. I loved that the author took a real life experience from a friend and put it into words to share with the world. It also made her consider what role she would have taken on in the story. We would like to think we would have taken the action role, but the truth is you won’t know until your in the middle of it. Jamison and Amoris were such unique characters, just trying to navigate the world and the role they wanted to play in each other’s lives. The message was powerful and moving and pushes for change. The only thing I would add is that I don’t like that Amoris was always seen in the “wrong” to Jamison. She was learning and doing her best, just like I and others are trying to do. But it didn’t matter what she did, it wasn’t good enough and was immediately seen as selfish. I know the point that was being made from it, for Amoris to dig deeper. But our actions shouldn’t always automatically be judged as selfish when taking a stand. Who is someone else to judge where our heart is? There were also a couple of instances in Amoris’s relationship with Jamison where he never had to take responsibility. But I know it was trying to point to a bigger picture. Which was the point. Overall, I couldn’t put this book down and it was beautifully written 💞