This may be the first time I've encountered the elite private school plot for a middle grade audience and I'm not sure it works especially well. Certainly I understand the themes of lying that Gerber is exploring here. But overall the reading is kind of flat. The character dynamics are thin and uninspired. And since the plot goes in rather unbelievable directions, there wasn't much keeping me engaged. I'd pass on this one.

“Truth before trust. Truth before everything.”

The Liar's Society reminded me of a younger version of The Inheritance Games. I was so invested in the characters and their mysteries and I cannot wait for the sequel.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC.

This one was hard for me to get into in the beginning. I tried and tried to start this book, once the kids got to school and the mysteries started to happen I got drawn in and I enjoyed it very much.

A fast paced mystery that I think kids will enjoy but was a little predicable. Will work great with the correct audience.

Weatherby sails, and sails well. Taught by her “uncle” Skip, she starts making a name for herself and wins the local regatta, also landing herself a scholarship at the prestigious Boston School. As soon as she enters those hallowed halls, she finds herself in awe of the money, prestige, and lies around her and winds up in a secret society with Jack Hunt, a student with the most cache in the school. She and the rest of the society are put to a task and what side they end up on will affect the rest of their lives.

Talk about compelling - this book is a thrilling ride I couldn’t put down. This is definitely a story for mystery readers, students who want fast-paced thrillers, or anyone who enjoys boarding school/prep school books. Weatherby is a cool, independent kid and a heck of a protagonist, adrift in a sea of money and power. The setting is spot on, Gerber’s world-building is key to the plot and an absolute character on its own. I like how Jack begins as a younger sibling with an attitude and evolves into more. There are so many twists and turns I couldn’t keep track! I really enjoyed this book - my only caveat is that it is SUCH a cliffhanger that I felt upset that more was not wrapped up at the end. I think it will definitely make everyone read the next installment!

I really loved Weatherby. She was a fun character to follow.

I enjoyed following the group as they tried to figure out what was going on. I look forward to book two.

I was instantly drawn into this fascinating prep-school mystery. I appreciate having a middle school book about sailing and regattas as this is not a sport many of my kiddos are familiar. The story did surprise me and kept me on my toes for the long-run. I didn't see the ending coming at all which thrilled me! I loved the cast of characters and how unique each one came across despite the short length of the book. I see lots of possibilities for sequels, so I'm eager to read more installments of this series.

Weatherby Walker is an avid sailor who dreams of going to the prestigious Boston School, the same prep school her late father attended. After winning a district wide sailing regatta, even beating the Boston School's star sailor Jack Hunt, Weatherby is offered a full scholarship to become a student. There's only one problem. Weatherby accidentally cheated in the race, and coming clean will jeopardize everything. But when she arrives at the Boston School, it's quickly apparent that Weatherby's not the only person keeping secrets. Before long, Weatherby and Jack are both tapped in as prospective members of the secret Last Heir society, just as the funds for the class trip go missing. Now, their initiation into Last Heir involves investigating the disappearance of the missing funds -- and may include coming clean about all of their secrets.

This is a fast-paced mystery thriller just right for middle grade readers. Told in alternating perspectives, both Jack and Weatherby make for sympathetic narrators despite their many secrets. A planned series, this book opens up a world with lots of secrets to unpack. Young readers will be clamoring for future installments.

This was such an interesting read! This middle grade book has so many twists and turns with positive themes of friendship and doing the right thing even if no one else is.
I think Weatherby and Jack were the perfect protagonists. They were opposites in many ways, so it was a nice way to figure out more about the Boston school world. Weatherby was a classic example of the newcomer while Jack had always lived among the rich. While most of the other kids are not as fleshed out in this book, it leads up to other books to come in the series.
This is a mix of a school read with also some adventure tossed in. The kids are resourceful and determined, and they work together well. But I didn’t love how there wasn’t a lot of positive adult representation. The kids are forced to work against their corrupt parents.
I would definitely recommend this book! It was a fascinating read that will definitely hook a middle grader, and it was clean without any romance.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the publisher through Netgalley. All views expressed are only my honest opinion, a positive review was not required.

The Liars Society was a fantastic middle grade mystery. There were so many wonderful twists and it kept my interest from start to finish.

This was a fun read, perfect for its target audience! It's fast paced and the characters were interesting to follow. I think this series will be great for middle grade readers! I would recommend this! Special Thank you to Scholastic, Alyson Gerber and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book.

The Liars Society is perfect for fans of mystery, and a great window to the private school world. I think upper elementary and middle school readers will love this engaging read.

Before I state my feelings about it, I just want to say that this is a middle grade novel, and I am above the target age range. I’m trying not to look at this book too critically compared to others, as being older than the intended audience, I might find faults with things that honestly aren’t really that important

The plot of this book is good, there were plenty of plot twists that I couldn't see coming, and I loved the secret society aspect of the novel. It shocked me that I was still surprised by some of the twists, as normally with younger books I can figure out everything easily.

The only thing I didn't like was how unrealistic it all was. Weatherby and Jack go from enemies to friends working together to get into a secret society with a matter of pages. Jack just suddenly accepts that Weatherby, someone he despises, has the same opportunity he has. It didn't make sense to me.

I think this was a pretty good middle grade book, but it just wasn’t aimed at me, and that’s okay! I didn’t necessarily love it, but someone more interested in middle grade could totally enjoy this and I’d definitely recommend it to them!

Truth before trust…question is, who to trust? “The Liar’s Society” is an intriguing story that mixes mystery, privilege, and the complexities of who we are. Weatherby begins a journey at a fancy school in Boston, full of suspense as she deals with big challenges: fitting in, making boat one on the sailing team and trying to discover what secrets her father discovered on Hart Isle. Alyson Gerber tells a story about unexpected friendships and trying to fit in. The story has lots of surprises and interesting characters that make it a one-sitting read, similar to One of Us Is Lying and even the Inheritance Games. I loved the use of anagrams throughout the story. It’s a perfect mix of exciting moments and emotional parts, exploring how important trust and loyalty are, and how far people will go to keep their secrets safe.

Weatherby is in a regatta(sailboat race) with Skip. They win the regatta. A man approaches Weatherby to offer a scholarship to Boston School. Weatherby is amazed — it’s a school she always wanted to attend. She tells him she has to ask her mom. He agrees but lets her know that he really wants her to attend. His father acts as Jack is a big loser. Another regatta contender is Jack who wanted to win which he almost won but didn’t. He doesn’t like the winners". His father will be disappointed that he didn’t win. Little does he know that Weatherby will be attending his school. When they are assigned to be a team on a sailboat, Jack is not a happy sailor. Weatherby manages to defuse Jack. At the next regatta, Jack and Weatherby win first place. When they get an invitation to a very special secret society, Jack and Weatherby are so excited. Only later after finding out that their invitation to join was not real. They decide to make their own secret society which they call Liars Society. It was done to find out the secret of a private island that has been given to Boston School. What they find disturbs them greatly. What can they do?

The author has written a novel that is full of mysteries and secrets. Last Heir, the Boston School’s elite secret society, seems made to support corruption annd indoctrinating generations of students is one of the secrets. I liked how Jack and Weatherby and their friends worked on trying to understand the secrets that they discovered. It is quite a challenge. The novel has a cliffhanger ending. Does this meant that there will be another book to follow up on? I hope so!

All you have to do is lie…we all know no good can come from this motto! In a school where rules and traditions run generations deep, apparently so do the lies. When Weatherby’s excitement as a new student at the prestigious Boston School is ruined when a thief steals the money for the coveted class trip to Hart Island, the chaos only escalates for her new friends and the reader gets a front row seat to it all! The characters are so well written with beautiful layers and depth. Will they continue to get stuck in the lies or will they finally be the generation to break free? The Liar’s Society is a gripping read, written at a middle grade level, but the storyline will captivate readers of all ages!

I really enjoyed the book, it was fast paced. I did order this for my school library as I think that kids will enjoy reading this.

I loved this book full of delicious plot twists and mystery. I'm so glad to have something like this with lots of intrigue and heart for a middle grade audience.. My students are going to love this one. I'm going to need two copies!

This exciting mystery book is told in two voices-Weatherby and Jack, who come from very different backgrounds, but ultimately want to be able to sail and make their families happy. Jack comes from a highly privileged background and Weatherby, not so much. When they both end up at the same school and on the same sailing team, they find they make better partners than adversaries, but that's when the real mysteries start unfolding. This is a very fun book to read, with lots of great plot twists and complications. I think the kids are going to like this one a lot.

I've been asking for edgier, clean middle grade books and this one didn't disappoint. Weatherby loves sailing, so when she wins the district regatta and is offered a scholarship to the prestigious Boston School, she's over the moon. Not only do they have an amazing sailing program, but the father she never knew went to school there. She just knows it will bring her closer to him. But things, and people, at Boston aren't what they appear. It seems everyone has a secret and these secrets could get them into big trouble.

This book has mystery, anagrams, twists, and turns. It's a fast read and promises a sequel. Weatherby is a likeable narrator, and she's joined by Jack to tell the story of how The Liars Society comes to be. A promising new middle grade series that I'm eager to add to my junior high library.