There Will be Lies by Nick Lake

There Will be Lies by Nick Lake was the next cheapish Kindle purchase.  Also, its cover makes it look like a typical dystopian adventure, of which I am a massive fan, so I expected to love it.  I did love it, but it’s utterly not a dystopian adventure, despite its cover looking a lot like Uglies.

Lake was previously shortlisted for the Carnegie for In Darkness. I didn’t realise this until my friend, who happens to be the school librarian mentioned it after I told her I’d read it. I absolutely would not have known that the author was the same person.  Looking back with the benefit of retrospect, the expert handling of a dual narrative, although less obvious in this novel, was employed again.  I much preferred this novel though.  Although In Darkness was powerful, it took about half the book before I even understood it, let alone started to enjoy it.

I enjoyed this book from the very beginning.  It reminded me of Room in lots of ways, although it is more appropriate for a YA audience than that novel.  It’s a very clever exploration of relationships and how we construct our view of ourselves. 

There are twists aplenty, as the title suggests there will be, and they all had me flummoxed.  The plot moves swiftly and is interesting, the heroine is complex and likeable.  I absolutely love it.  I don’t think it will win, because it isn’t self-consciously literary enough to win the Carnegie, but I think it’s great.  It’s not quite my winner, I don’t think, but it’s a very, very good read.