Secrets and Lies (Truth or Dare)
Gr 9 Up—Readers who have an extraordinary ability to suspend disbelief will be the primary audience for this sequel to Green's Truth or Dare (Little, Brown, 2013). The novel picks right back up with main characters Emerson (a model who had an affair with the father of a classmate), Sydney (a talented photographer who is also an arsonist), and Tenley (a mean girl beauty who is afraid that her breast implants will become public knowledge) as they receive letters and texts threatening to divulge their secrets to the world at large: "Time for a new game, girls: Show and Tell. The only rule? Don't tell. Or I'll show your secrets to the world." Terrified of exposure, the teens are desperate to figure out who killed the five "Lost Girls" in their hometown of trendy Echo Bay, MA, and to avoid becoming the next victims. Red herrings abound as the clueless protagonists face attacks, such as glass bottles being thrown at their heads, being pushed underwater in a hot tub, locked into a club vault, and finding a murdered pet. A confusion of characters, unrealistic and overly dramatic plot, a completely unresolved ending, and choppy writing may further limit the potential audience. Casual drinking, sex, and some drug use make this book suitable for older readers. Suggest the YA classic Lois Duncan's I Know What You Did Last Summer (Little, Brown, 1973) as a better choice.—Susan Riley, Mamaroneck Public Library, NY