Everything We Ever Wanted by Sara Shepard

Everything We Ever Wanted is an adult novel by Sara Shepard, the author of Pretty Little Liars and The Lying Game series. I'd only had one experience with Shepard previous to this novel when I read The Lying Game, so I was definitely interested to see if she maintained the same mystery and suspense I loved in The Lying Game, but hopefully with a more satisfying conclusion. 

Everything We Ever Wanted is the story of a family that should have the perfect life. Sylvie is at the centre of the Bates-McAllister clan, but having recently lost her husband she has also discovered that she may not have known him as well as she thought she did. When the novel begins her world is changed when a phone call lets her know that her adopted son Scott may have played a role in the suicide of one of his students. Scott has lead a complex life, having been adopted at a year and a half old and being of mixed race in a community where White rules. Sylvie's biological son is Charles, and he envies Scott, feeling like he will never live up to the expectations his father set for him. Charles has recently married Joanna, a woman who grew up in a world very different from the Bates-McAllisters, and wonders if she will every truly belong.

It's always interesting to read an author's crossover into another genre, and since Shepard is known for her young adult fiction- although she has published one previous adult novel in 2009, The Visibles- I was curious to see if her adult fiction would vary significantly, or if it would be similar but with older characters. In reality, Everything We Ever Wanted is very different than The Lying Game, but both are easy to read, taken place predominately in a wealthy world, and are filled with suspense and secrets of the most delicious kind. The characters in Everything We Ever Wanted are unique although not entirely likable, but I could appreciate the complicated struggles and decisions Sylvie faced with regards to her sons.

Although the ending of Everything We Ever Wanted was rushed, it is definitely a stand-alone novel which I appreciated. The novel is quick-paced and full of suspense, but with a little more dimension to the story than The Lying Game, although the major mystery was less crucial to the plot. I definitely think that it is a novel worth picking up by older fans of Shepard's YA work. Like Shepard's young adult fiction,  Everything We Ever Wanted is a dramatic tale about privileged individuals and the darkness that lurks beneath the shiny exterior, the difference is that not only are the characters older but they are also slightly more complex. However, like The Lying Game, Everything We Ever Wanted kept me interested the whole time I was reading, but disappointed in the ending.

Release Date: October 11th 2011
Pages: 352
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Source: Netgalley

The Lying Game by Sara Shepard

The Lying Game by Sara Shepard is about two twin girls, separated at birth. Sutton is adopted and raised in a wealthy family, while the other twin, Emma, spends her early years with their flaky mom before being put into foster care. When the novel begins Sutton is dead, and yet she is still on earth and following Emma around, unable to remember how she died, or even how she lived. When Emma sees a video featuring a girl, a girl who appears to be killed and who looks exactly like her, but isn't her, she realizes something is terribly wrong. With nobody to turn to, Emma slides into Sutton life, trying to figure out what happened before the same killer that got her sister, gets her as well.

Although I hadn't read any thing by Sara Shepard before, the television show based on her teenage mystery series, Pretty Little Liars, definitely has me hooked. Unfortunately there are already a billion (or at least 9) books released so when I found out she was releasing a new series, I figured I'd start from scratch. It turns out The Lying Game has also been turned into a television show, so I get to add another guilty addiction to my weekly schedule.

I listened to The Lying Game on audiobook and really enjoyed listening to the narrator, Cassandra Morris. That said, I am undecided about the story itself. Sutton is an incredibly materialistic girl who has done a lot of bad things in her life, but her voice (as the ghost) seems so kind and gentle- is that the true Sutton, or is the real one evil? It's hard to tell and it bothered me.  Present Sutton seemed so much nicer than Past Sutton and I have to wonder how Shepard is going to reconcile the two personalities. I enjoyed most of the other characters though, Emma seemed reasonably conflicted over what was going on and Sutton's friends were so self-adsorbed it was easy to believe they didn't realize she was missing, although I was less convinced that none of her family members would have noticed either. It also felt like it took quite awhile for the story to get started, but there was plenty of intrigue and mystery once it did. In The Lying Game, it seems like everyone is hiding something in a way that makes it absolutely delicious to read about.

This is completely and utterly the first book in a series- already there are two sequels, Never Have I Ever which was just released and Two Truths and a Lie which is coming out in February. Although I am very intrigued to see how things turn out, I have to wonder exactly how many books I will be expected to read in order to learn; if The Lying Game is anything like Pretty Little Liars, than quite a few it seems! I'm conflicted over reading the books as they are released, reading them once the series is done (if ever?) and just tuning into the television show.

Ultimately, The Lying Game is a suspenseful novel packed with intrigue and questions, but lacking in answers, if you can handle the Massive Cliffhanger Ending then there is definitely enough drama to satisfy any craving you might have.

Release Date: December 7th, 2010
Pages: 305
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Source: ARC from Publisher and Audiobook