Liars and Losers Like Us by Ami Allen-Vath // My achy breaky heart!

I received this book for free from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Liars and Losers Like Us by Ami Allen-Vath
Genres: Coming of Age (YA), Contemporary (YA)
Pages: 240
Goodreads

Keep calm and make it to prom night—without a legit panic attack.
For seventeen-year-old Bree Hughes, it’s easier said than done when gossip, grief, and the opportunity to fail at love are practically high-fiving her in the hallways of Belmont High.
When Bree’s crush, Sean Mills, gives her his phone number, she can’t even leave a voicemail without sounding like a freak. Then she’s asked to be on Prom Court because Maisey Morgan, the school outcast nominated as a joke, declined. She apologizes to Maisey, but it’s too late. After years of torment and an ugly secret shared with their class’s cruel Pageant Queen, Maisey commits suicide. Bree is left with a lot of regret…and a revealing letter with a final request.
With Sean by her side, Bree navigates through her guilt, her parents’ divorce, and all the Prom Court drama. But when a cheating-love-triangle secret hits the fan after a night of sex, drinks, and video games, she’s left with new information about Sean and the class Pageant Queen. Bree must now speak up or stay silent. If she lets fear be her guide, she’ll lose her first love, and head to prom to avenge the death of the school outcast—as a party of one.

Additional FTC Disclaimer: The eARC I received of Liars and Losers Like Us was an unfinished copy of the book — because of this, I am not going to go too in-depth into the “Writing” category of my review (since it may be different in the final edited version). I thought that it was fair for you guys to know this 🙂

Pre-Warning*: While this is not a main element of this book, there are several mentions of mental health and suicide.

*I will be including this section in reviews of books that I think contain sensitive material that may be upsetting to some so you can decide whether to continue reading

OH. MY. I. CAN’T. This story went down a road I didn’t expect, hit some soft spots for me then tore my heart apart.

And I loved every minute of it.

It’s a very honest portrayal of high school life. A time when you’re too focused on yourself and the latest gossip to really see people for who they are. It’s a reminder to not assume you know what people’s lives are like –  you don’t walk in their shoes.

At first, I was a bit skeptical. I mean, it made fun of Forrest Gump and who the hell makes fun of Forrest Gump!? I thought it was just going to be another typical YA contemporary, but by the end of the book, turned out to be so so so so so much more.

All the characters in this book are flawed, and it’s perfection.

The main character, Bree, is the typical teenage girl. I liked that she fell in between the “popular” group and the “unpopular” group of kids at her school (because they do exist and I feel like they are never in books). She handles some situations very immaturely, but hey, she’s young. Overall, I found her character genuine and realistic.

I enjoyed pretty much every character in the book, even the mean girl – because, guess what, she served a purpose! Yay! (If you don’t know what I’m referring to, please read this post in which I complain about mean girls 😉 )

What was so enjoyable about the characters is that they are all relatable. If not to yourself, you knew/know someone in high school that matches each of the characters’ personalities. And with a story like this one, that is very important.

It started off a little slow for me, but at one point, I got hooked, couldn’t put the book down and my heart got broken.

From what I can tell from the writing, it has that typical YA contemporary feel (that’s not a bad thing). I enjoyed the descriptions and the emotion behind Bree’s character but also the authenticity of feeling like I was hanging out with a group of friends (when I was in high school).

Allen-Vath definitely had a way of making me feel like I was in high school again while capturing all the emotion.

If that makes sense, I don’t know, let’s just say I liked it 😀

Love. Love. Love. Love this book. It completely surprised me. The story and the characters just feel real. No parts left me saying “yeah, okay, that would never happen in high school”. That authenticity really helped support the message (I got) from this story. Lets put it this way: This is the first book that has made me cry in a very, very long time.

I would recommend this book to everyone. Although, it does touch on some very sensitive topics such as sex, sexual abuse, and suicide. So, if that is something that may bother you, proceed with caution.

Rating Report
Plot
Characters
Writing
World Building
Overall:	5 / 5