"Live Your Best Lie" by Jessie Weaver is a riveting audiobook that delves into the glamorous yet deceptive world of social media through a suspenseful narrative that keeps listeners on the edge of their seats. This contemporary thriller not only provides a gripping storyline but also offers a critical examination of the impact of social media on our lives, particularly focusing on the lives of teenagers immersed in the pursuit of online fame.

The story centers around Summer Cartwright, a social media influencer who epitomizes the illusion of a perfect life on Instagram. With millions of followers, a life filled with luxury, and a façade of happiness, Summer's existence seems enviable. However, the disappearance of Summer during her annual Halloween party and a mysterious post claiming she would be dead in five minutes unveil the unsettling reality that behind the curated posts and filters lies a much darker truth.

The audiobook excels in its use of multiple points of view, offering listeners a multifaceted perspective on the unfolding mystery. The characters—Grace, Summer's reserved best friend; Adam, her gamer ex-boyfriend; Laney, her enigmatic camp roommate; and Cora, an aspiring influencer—are all intricately developed, with their own secrets and motivations. Their investigation into Summer's death peels back layer after layer of deceit, revealing the complex web of lies that social media can perpetuate.

What makes "Live Your Best Lie" particularly compelling is the seamless integration of social media posts and flashbacks within the narrative, a technique that enhances the storytelling experience in the audiobook format. This structure not only builds suspense but also provides critical commentary on the curated realities presented on social media platforms. The shifts in perspective, combined with the engaging vocal performances, create a dynamic and immersive listening experience that captures the essence of the characters and their emotional journeys.

Jessie Weaver masterfully crafts a story that is both a mystery and a cautionary tale about the digital age. The plot is cleverly constructed, with twists and turns that keep listeners guessing until the shocking conclusion. No character is as they seem, and the revelation of the true killer is a testament to Weaver's skill in weaving a complex and unpredictable narrative.

"Live Your Best Lie" is more than just a thriller; it's a thought-provoking exploration of identity, authenticity, and the pressures of living life under the constant scrutiny of the public eye. It challenges listeners to reflect on the lies we tell ourselves and the facades we maintain for the sake of appearances. This audiobook is a must-listen for fans of suspenseful stories that not only entertain but also engage with relevant social issues. Jessie Weaver has delivered a captivating and insightful audiobook that resonates with the complexities of modern life.

*NetGalley review*

It took me awhile to get through this one. I kept picking it up and putting it down. The plot was somewhat interesting, but I wasn't really intrigued or invested. The writing style was difficult to get into on audiobook, but I do think I would have enjoyed the style more if I was reading the physical book. The ending didn't wow me, but it was a good wrap-up to the story and left you wondering if there will be a sequel. Thank you to NetGalley, Disney Audiobooks, and Jessie Weaver for the chance to listen to Live Your Best Lie in exchange for an honest review.

It was a bit cliche and while I personally didn’t connect to the story I feel like many teens will. I felt a lack of suspense for such a suspenseful novel

Not very realistic in a plot sense but overall an enjoyable teen mystery. Narrator does a good job with voices so you know whose is talking before being told.

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.

I didn't especially like this one. Not only is it an extreme version of teens (life ruining secrets they're willing to kill to hide!) the motivations for murder here aren't very strong. Especially for the humiliating method of murder at play. And I wonder about the messaging that readers will take from this. It's enough to make me hesitate to recommend it.

Social Media novels are trending. This one was captivating. It starts off with Summer Cartwright’s murder. And as the story unfolds you start to dislike her very much. Trying to unravel this whodunnit keeps you on your toes. Summer is the classic mean girl and a cautionary tale. Some secrets can get you killed.

https://wakelet.com/wake/TaeviJZrgKcC0eCkLZEGY

I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher.
Summer Cartwright, an influencer, is murdered at her party. Her friends are the suspects. They become more suspicious as chapters from Summer's tell-all book come out ahead of her book being published. Each chapter gives one of her friends a reason why they may have killed her.
The book is ok overall. It moves at a slow pace. The information and clues are dropped too slowly. The ending felt a little underwhelming and unbelievable.

Live Your Best Lie is an ensemble cast of characters, zipping from the past to the present to solve the mystery of who murdered Summer Cartwright. The killer wasn't revealed until the end of the book, and I had not guessed it beforehand. Good character development and plot movement.

The narrator did a great job voicing each of the main characters.

Summer Cartwright is #livingherbestlife and her 5 million followers either love or hate her, but they can’t stop liking, following, and commenting on her every post. During her exclusive, annual Halloween bash, a weird post on Summer’s Instagram, and then she is found dead. It turns out that Summer seems to have dirt on everyone in her life, and she planned to spill all the tea in her yet-to-be-released book, giving everyone (best friend Grace, brother Harrison, Ex boyfriend Adam, frenemy Laney, and wannabe Cora) a motive to stop her...but would they kill her?
This was. a fast-paced mystery and sure to appeal to many teens. There are some harsh realities about social media, family obligations, and friendships addressed.

A dead girl. A prank. A series of scheduled social media posts. With so many motives, who really killed her? A perfect addition for teen libraries.

Live Your Best Lie is the story of everything that glitters is not gold. Summer Cartwright is a social media influencer with a huge following yet her life offline is anything but what is portrayed to the world. When Summer is found dead at her Halloween party, the list of suspects is wide as she seems to have dirt on just about everyone. Summer traded secrets for popularity and she finally learned someone's secret that could ruin everything. Was a secret worth killing over?

This book kept me guessing the whole time! I did not see the ending coming and still can't believe how casual people can be about murder. Definitely a book worth recommending to others just so you have someone to discuss this "who done it" with.

Live Your Best Lie is the story of a teen influencer named Summer Cartwright who is found murdered in her bathroom on Halloween Night. The suspects in her murder are her best friend Grace, ex-boyfriend Adam, wannabe stalker Cora, and Elaine, a random girl who was Summer's roommate at an academic camp.

The story has promise, but it did not come together for me. The story contains snapshots of Summer's Instagram posts, which become increasingly aggressive and unbelievable. She is also an incredibly obnoxious one-dimensional character; bizarrely, she becomes more one-dimensional as the story progresses.

Grace, the best friend, is sort of the main character? But she, too, feels quite one-dimensional. The book also posits that Grace has a Big Secret that the reader is strung along with the entire book and then when it gets revealed it feels half baked, at best. It left me with more questions than answers, and certainly didn't justify or explain anyone's actions related to it/her.

Lainey is probably the most interesting and compelling character, and the one who does the least. Lainey's mother died in a car accident and since then, she has been torn up by the grief and guilt she feels over her mother's death. Now, her father has remarried, and irritatingly, Lainey can't find a single reason to hate her new stepmother or her new stepbrother. She has ambitions and talents and thinks about more than Summer and/or a boy (which is every other character). But her actual involvement in the central plot is very peripheral and by the end I wasn't sure what she was even doing in the story.

Adam and Cora are fine. I guess. I think Adam would fail whatever the opposite of a Bechdel test is, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, I suppose. Cora is absolutely unfailingly annoying and self-centered. Cora is interchangeable with Summer, which shouldn't be the case. Yes, Cora idolizes and imitates Summer, but there isn't enough character development of either girls to really make either of them feel substantial.

Perhaps readers who want One of Us Is Lying knock-offs will like this, but I found it to be too slow to fit that category. I will not be purchasing this for my library.

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.

Murder mystery influencer style. When Summer Cartwright a famous influencer suddenly dies at her Halloween party all those close to her are suspects. Summer knows deep dark secrets about those who are close to her. Did one of them kill her or was it someone else? Twists and turns until the very end.

This audiobook sucked me in immediately, and I din't think it's just because of it's format. I figured out who the killer was about 3/4 of the way through, but there was enough of an element of "maybe not" to keep me reading. Loved it from beginning to end.

This murder mystery grew on me as the story went on. When I first started it, I was very turned off/annoyed by Summer and her nauseating social media posts, but once I knew that I was supposed to be nauseated by them, the reading experience got better. The twist was pretty good, but not great. I liked the pacing and the way the story was put together. I will buy it - not sure it is Battle worthy.,,.we’ll have to see how other murder mysteries compare,

Summer is an instagram influencer. She has a ton of followers and posts constantly about self love. She is having a Halloween party and only the best are invited and she will be livestreaming the party on her insta. Her best friend Grace is helping her set up and they're both dressed as sexy fruit. Summer's ex-boyfriend makes an appearance and wants to make sure how Summer is doing after their break up a week ago. One of Summer's biggest fan's is there, a lower classman who has an instagram account that shares about Summer's outfits. Summer's ex-roommate from an exchange program to Cambridge is there too, with a secret mission.

The party seems normal enough until Summer is found dead in the bathroom with #toxic written all over her face. And who found them? Her best friend, her ex-boyfriend, her biggest fan, and her ex-roommate. Who could have done this to Summer and why?

The rest of the book unravels the details of each of the suspects relationship with Summer from each of their points of view and what happened that night at the party.

I really enjoyed this title and the audiobook did a good job of narrating the instagram post captions and text conversations between the characters. Every time you thought a character had redeeming characteristics the storyline would hint at a secret and when it was revealed that they were flawed they would redeem them again.

Live Your Best Lie is a thrilling and fast paced ya mystery that keeps the reader guessing the murderer’s identity. Weaver’s method of telling the story through multiple points of view creates a connection between the reader and the characters that makes it difficult to unravel the mystery.

This was a fun thriller that, I think, will be very popular with teen readers.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
#LiveYourBestLie #NetGalley

When social media influencer Summer Cartwright is found murdered during her Halloween party, there are four clear suspects. The investigation unveils a darker side to the sunny personality Summer portrays online. As the story progresses through flashbacks, posts, and different points of view, a shattered picture emerges. The final twist was beautiful. The narrator did an excellent job setting the tone between the different characters and different types of media. This is a great who-dun-it with a dazzling rich setting.