Book Report by Aarene Storms: To Be Perfectly Honest

To Be Perfectly Honest : a novel based on an untrue story  by Sonya Sones

How can you tell if Colette is lying?

Her mouth is open.

Colette is a truly unreliable narrator. She continually lies (she likes to call it "reimagining reality") to make her life seem more interesting ... and to annoy her movie-star mother, who rarely pays attention to Colette and her little brother Will.

When Colette's summer plans change from "Paris with friends" to "San Luis Obispo with mom and Will and Mom's new co-star," she gets mad ... and the lies start to stack up.  

In the middle of this comes Connor, Colette's first real boyfriend. If only she could stop lying to him!  

HERE AT LAST is a book with a believable main character who actually says "NO, I don't want to have sex with you (yet) and sticks to her decision throughout the book. Not because she isn't attracted to Connor -- she is. But because she really doesn't feel ready for sex.  

Connor is not prepared to accept "no" as a final answer from Colette ... and he's prepared to lie through his teeth to get what he wants.

This book is a quick, fun book-in-verse filled with enjoyable -- but unreliable -- characters.  

Rating:

No sex, but a few steamy close calls, some minor cussing, and some underage drinking and drug use. The adults are easy to dislike at first, but they (especially Colette's mom) really redeem themselves at the end.

Recommended for readers ages 14 and up.

The events may not have happened; still, the story is true.  --R. Silvern

Aarene Storms, youth services librarian

Richmond Beach and Lake Forest Park Libraries, KCLS