Live Your Best Lie is reminiscent of One of Us is Lying but with less likable characters and plot. I truly wanted to like this book, but I found all the hashtag this and hashtag that and the influencer trope just not what I was hoping for. Overall, the book was fine, but I wanted more.

The fact that so many people had motive to kill a teenage girl is sad. I was a bit surprised at how manipulative she truly was. I wish I could say I was surprised by who her killer was, but the secret that the victim was going to spill about the killer was the truly surprising bit. I wouldn’t have suspected that secret. I enjoyed this book.

This is a swiftly paced narrative, featuring multiple points of view, that revolves around the enigmatic murder of a teenage influencer. The story delves into the toxicity embedded within her relationships and online persona. Presented through a variety of mediums such as social media posts, flashbacks, and text messages, the focus seamlessly shifts from one suspect to another. This brings into sharp focus her camp roommate, ex-partner, closest friend, and an aspiring individual.

The diverse array of formats and skillful use of flashbacks kept me engrossed, compelling me to unravel the concealed truths of each character. This is an accomplished mystery catering to the young adult audience.

This book held my attention and had an interesting ending that didn’t shock me, but also that I didn’t see coming. One reader mentioned the clues were there all along, but I didn’t pick up on them. I’m not much of a re-reader, but this one might be an exception to the rule to see if the clues really are there.

I thought the author did a pretty good job with showing how teenagers are consumed by social media, their online persona vs. their real-life one, and the great lengths they will go to always put their best face forward.

I’m not sure how this story will spin off into a sequel, but it looks like this is where it’s heading. I’m on the fence about sticking around for the ride. 3.5 stars bumped up to 4.

Live Your Best Lie by author Jessie Weaver is a rousing YA thriller showcasing the hard truth that no social media filter is strong enough to mask the lies we may tell ourselves. Told from multiple points of view interspersed with social media posts and flashbacks, Live Your Best Lie has twists and turns that will keep readers guessing until the very end.

Summer is the girl that everyone loves to hate, and yet her five million Instagram followers – as well as those who think they know her best – cannot help but be drawn to her. Is it because of her looks? Her fashion? Her philosophy? Or perhaps the secrets she keeps…

Live Your Best Lie is a refreshing and relevant teen thriller novel. Addressing the almighty influence of social media, this story is one among many that was begging to be told, and Weaver did an expertly creative job. Framing it in a murder-mystery setting made it not only more literally interesting from a thriller-genre perspective, but also made it more interesting in theory as one reflects on how far one would go to uphold their reputation, portray a certain image, or keep the ultimate secret hidden. Things are not always what they seem, and yet, the view is so seductively pretty.

The writing style and different points of view – namely that of Grace, Adam, Laney and Cora, intermingled with Summer’s previous Instagram posts – serve this story well and make each character one of interest, depth and intrigue. The characters themselves are all very different from one another, and the fact that I felt invested (more or less) in each character’s version of events is testament to the author’s fine storytelling. I really was kept guessing until the very end and although the ending did seem a little bit left field in the final chapters, it remains a reasonably solid, believable conclusion that tied up many loose ends.

I read this story via audiobook, however I would not recommend listening over reading for this one. Despite the narrator doing an excellent job, the book includes lots of social media posts, hashtags and comments, and hearing a narrator painstakingly read each hashtag and comment to you instead of just glossing over them like you would reading a book (or an actual Instagram post), was tedious and heavy-handed on the ears. I did not know the format of the book going into it, but now that I do, I definitely recommend reading this one with your eyes instead of your ears. It’s a real devious, murky, alarming treat, better to be seen and not heard.

This book reads much like One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus. Summer - a teenage influencer - is found dead at a Halloween party she is hosting. The story is told from the POV of Summer's "friends" - Adam (ex), Grace (BFF), Cora, and Laney. It's a classic 'who dunnit" story as Summer had secrets on all the friends and she was going to put the secrets in her soon to be published book. It is a good mystery if you are looking for one.

This was a fun mystery to read. I like reading the different POVs, it helped make the characters more likable.

This is the kind of book true mystery enthusiast will gobble up. Rather than being an impossible solve or so obvious you've got Mr. Peacock in the library with the candlestick by page 50, this is a true crime solvers' read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publishers for the ARC!

I really enjoyed this book. As a debut novel, I thought it was very creative and am looking forward to reading more from Jessie Weaver. I loved the Instagram posts and comments that were between chapters and I really enjoyed the back and forth of present time with flashback that helped to tell the story. The ending was nothing that I could have predicted!
I was hoping that there was going to be a sequel (you'll see why when you read the book) and was super excited to see that on Goodreads, there is information for a second book.

This was a great book! I love a good multi-POV YA thriller/mystery and this had just the right amount of surprise and suspense. Thank you so much to the publisher, author, and netgalley for allowing me access to an early copy! Love it and can't wait for more by Jessie Weaver!

I was expecting a fun, but quick read but it became long because it was so boring. The pacing is a bit off: the reader is left wanting information for so long and the payoff turns out not to be worth it.

The Gist: Instafamous Summer is throwing a Halloween party that no one will every forget. However, when the hostess goes missing everyone is a suspect.

Pairs Well With: One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus for distorted Breakfast Club team ups; How We Fell Apart by Katie Zhao and the film Unfriended for queen bees attacking from beyond the grave; Netflix series Control Z for teens being destroyed by social media hackers; Tell Me What Really Happened by Chelsea Sedoti for a more interesting influencer

YAYs

Mixed Media Fun: I love a book with some mixed media in and this one delivers. The story is intercut with instagram posts from Summer. Due to her going missing early on, the instagram posts are really the only insight into her personality. Of course she isn't being completely honest on instagram (who is) but it’s a nice view into her life all of the same. Reminded me of Rebecca in way. We only know about the character of Rebecca from how people speak about her. Summer is the same way.

Badass Heroine: The books is mainly told from Grace’s point of view. Grace is Summer’s best friend and has zero interest in being an influencer or famous. She is the only daughter of a single mother holding a big secret. And for once, the big secret in a YA book is ACTUALLY a big secret. I loved the final twist. She did what needed to be done.

Friends to Lovers Trope: The relationship between Grace and Adam, Summer’s ex and Grace’s other best friend, is adorable. They are clearly into each other and allowed themselves to be manipulated by Summer but eventually find their way back to each other.

Decent Mystery: Everyone who is mentioned as a suspect had a good reason for wanting to get rid of Summer. The mystery is nicely done and I really loved how it was wrapped up. Shout out to Cora, Summer’s kinda stalker, who the author made into a really believable character rather than one dimensional. It would have been so easy to write Cora off but I loved the detail put in to understanding what made her tick.

NAYs

Deeply Unpleasant Victim: Oof. I really hated Summer. Everything that was revealed about her just made her deeply hate-able. The book hinges on her and the power she had over everyone. But it was hard to understand why she was so liked since all of her posts/online persona was so blah which leads me to…

Unbelievable Influencer: There is nothing special about Summer and her instagram “ideas.” There are so many influencers out there and Summer was just repeating what everyone had heard a billion times online. I could believe she was popular at her school, being rich and pretty, but I don’t buy that she had millions of followers. Also, her book deal? Completely unbelievable. There is no way a major publishing house would pay millions of dollars for a book by a minor who was telling damaging secrets about other minors. That’s a lawsuit lawyers would salivate over. Plus, I just don’t think people would care.

Dragging Out the Plot: I swear if I hear about Griffin Park one more time I will lose it. The author dragged it out way too much for it to end up being such a nothing burger.

Overall, I liked the book. It would have been a favorite if Summer was more believable. But I would recommend reading it if you love a good mystery and a badass heroine, be sure to check this one out.

I am fairly sure that YA readers who love mysteries and thrillers will love this book. I liked the style in which it was written and I think young readers will, too.

Loved this YA mystery. This will be a popular one amongst my thriller readers in my high school library, already pre-ordered a couple of copies!

This book was so damn messy and I loved it. I have to say it was more about the subject matter than the actual characters. This was so strange for me because I’m usually a character centered reader, so when I read books with terrible main characters, I usually hate it. But for whatever reason, I didn’t with this one…

The terrible main character is a social media influencer who is just about to release a book about her experience as an influencer. But at a party she’s throwing, she’s killed…. But by who? As it turns out she’s a bully and has been for a while. And that is what made me hate her lol But then she got killed and I felt bad. But the rest of the characters were also terrible. I’m not sure what kept me reading this, but I stayed and I was actually surprised in the end.

The plot of this is what drove this home for me. I was glued to the pages. The main character wasn’t who we thought she was throughout the whole book. So seeing it play out was really out there. Some of the things that happened I was not expecting. And man, them damn teens were some good ass liars. I couldn’t tell who it was. I had a theory, but I didn’t make it till close to the end because the clues lead you to that.

The ending of this was terrible tho. It literally went off the rails and I really don’t know how we got there. And I really wish authors would give us all the clues in the book and stop throwing out a clue here and there to keep us from guessing. Because when it finally comes down to it, the ending always feels hella rushed. And this one was the same. And it hardly even made sense. Because even after the killer was revealed, there’s still someone that comes up and gives more info on the killer. Like had you hinted to this or even revealed this in the story, I probably would have guessed it. I know the object isn’t to guess it, but let me not guess it because your writing is good. Not because you’re purposely witholding clues from me. I don’t know how to explain it.

This book was good, and I liked the subject matter, even though I didn’t like the characters. The whole thing made me hate everyone, so be careful who you trust! I don’t want to say anymore because I don’t want to give any spoilers. But if you choose to read this, please know that the writing style is good, up until the ending, and literally all the characters are terrible. If you can deal with that, you will be fine.

Live Your Best Lie is a murder mystery that you will want to read when you don't have to put down the book - because you'll want to keep reading until the end to figure out who killed Summer, a high school influencer. Full of twists, turns, and compelling characters this will keep you up all night.

It took me some time to really get into the book; I guess the way it was written with the Instagram posts style at the time deterred me from wanting to continue reading it. I didn't give up, and I was a bit surprised at who was behind it. I think teenagers will enjoy this a lot more as they can relate to the teens and the whole social media aspect.
I also enjoyed the ending and what that entitled just because it looks like some juicy stuff there.
The characters are very different, and you tell who has a strong personality.
I will say it felt a bit like the game where you got to find out who did it. Such as, was Mr. Brown hit with the candlestick in the library, or did he?
There are clues to solve; you must truly pay attention to what you read.
It is told through different points of view; pay attention to who you are reading about.

Live Your Best lie is a multiple perspective murder mystery reminiscent of One of Us is Lying. As far as mysteries go, it did keep me guessing as to who was guilty, and the reveal was an unexpected twist. Clues to the final twist were peppered into the story, but not in the most seamless way. Influencer-based mysteries often make its characters one-note and shallow. I do feel like the characters portrayed here were more realistic, and were not all fame-seeking and vapid. I do wish that the victim had not been such a stereotypical bully character that everyone hated. I personally feel like this trope is played out, but it is a personal preference. Overall, I would recommend this over any other influencer-based murder mystery that I have read, so if you are a fan of the genre, this book will be a hit.

Although not appropriate for my less mature readers, I really enjoyed this read! Will be buying a copy for my personal library and recommending to friends, as well as mature readers.

Trigger Warning: bullying, murder, child abuse, toxic relationship

Summer Cartwright seemed like she had it all: millions of online followers, admirers all around, trendy clothes for her closet, and a crazy huge book deal coming out soon. Every second of Summer’s life is planned and cultivated to show her #LivingHerBestLife.

When Summer shows up dead at her own Halloween party following an unscheduled post, most eyes turn towards four people: her best friend, her ex-boyfriend, her frenemy, and her - what some would say - the wannabe stalker. The four band together to figure out who the real killer is before someone else gets the blame.

Live Your Best Lie is told through multiple POVs, flashbacks, and Summer’s social media posts and is a fast-paced mystery that is constantly switching lenses between the top suspects. You get clues starting from page one, and of course, some of them you don’t realize until the last few pages. Jessie Weaver did an amazing job at keeping the answers just out of reach until she was ready to give you the answers. There were a handful of times I backtracked pages to relook at something I had a hunch about - and that to me, is a good mystery / thriller.

For those who love true crime and books like One of Us is Lying, they will devour this book as well. Weaver keeps you tangled up and interested until the very end when there’s a twist you don’t see coming!

*Thank you Disney Book, Melissa de la Cruz Studio, NetGalley, and Publishers Weekly for an advanced ebook of this novel in exchange for an honest review