How to use this Page

Title: My Life with the Liars
Author: Caela Carter
Published: 2016
Source: Edelweiss


Summary: Zylynn has been taken by the liars, away from the loving compound where she grew up knowing that she was going to heaven and sure of all the rules. If she wants to go back home, she'll have to prove she deserves it by escaping.

But the liars are crafty. They let her have as much food as she wants, they buy her clothes that are full of color, they even make her feel as if she really is part of their family. What if their lies aren't lies? And if they aren't liars, who is?

First Impressions: This was really good! I loved how disoriented and out of place she felt, trying to make sense of her new life through the lens of her old one.

Later On: Cults are a popular topic in YA because it's so often paired with religious fundamentalism and gender-based injustices, which are pretty handy straw dolls to fire arrows of authorly rage at. Because this is more aimed at middle grade, that's not quite as front and center, but you can still see it around the edges. This book is so powerful precisely because it doesn't spend much time lovingly lingering on how unfair it all is.

The focus is on Zylynn's gradual realization that the life she knew wasn't as perfect as she was always told it was. In her flashbacks, you can tell that she was a rule-follower, terrified of the consequences. In her new life, she's still trying to follow the rules of her old one, but she's gradually starting to question the value of those rules as she learns to accept the love and generosity that her newfound family offers her.

More: Kirkus

Welcome back to Upcoming Titles, our monthly feature where we highlight books releasing this month. As always, this is by no means a comprehensive list of forthcoming releases, just a compilation of titles we think our readers (and our contributors!) would enjoy.

Summer is in full swing and two of our PubCrawl contributors have books coming out this month, including our very own Jodi Meadows and Julie Eshbaugh! Julie’s debut will be coming out this month and we are so, so, so excited for her book to finally be out in the world!

Without further ado:

June 7

• The Leaving by Tara Altebrando
• The Long Game by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
• Tumbling by Caela Carter
• With Malice by Eileen Cook
• My Brilliant Idea (and How It Caused My Downfall) by Stuart David
• Julia Vanishes by Catherine Egan
• The Loose Ends List by Carrie Firestone
• My Lady Jane by Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand, and Jodi Meadows*
• Being Jazz by Jazz Jennings
• You Know Me Well by Nina LaCour and David Levithan
• The Museum of Heartbreak by Meg Leder
• How It Ends by Catherine Lo
• True Letters from a Fictional Life by Kenneth Logan
• The Vanishing Throne by Elizabeth May
• The Way to Game the Walk of Shame by Jenn P. Nguyen
• Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies by Lindsay Ribar
• All the Feels by Danika Stone
• American Girls by Alison Umminger

June 14

• The King Slayer by Virginia Boecker
• Look Both Ways by Alison Cherry
• The Girls by Emma Cline
• Sea Spell by Jennifer Donnelly
• Ivory and Bone by Julie Eshbaugh*
• Autofocus by Lauren Gibaldi
• Cure for the Common Universe by Christian McKay Heidicker
• How It Feels to Fly by Kathryn Holmes
• Change Places with Me by Lois Metzger
• The Geek’s Guide to Unrequited Love by Sarvenaz Tash

June 21

• Mirror in the Sky by Aditi Khorana
• The Marked Girl by Lindsey Klingele
• Never Ever by Sara Saedi

June 28

• The Distance to Home by Jenn Bishop
• Winning by Lara Deloza
• Empire of Dust by Eleanor Herman
• Run by Kody Keplinger
• United as One by Pittacus Lore
• Never Missing, Never Found by Amanda Panitch
• The Bourbon Thief by Tiffany Reisz
• The Darkest Magic by Morgan Rhodes
• And I Darken by Kiersten White

* PubCrawl contributor

That’s all for this month! Tell us what you’re looking forward to reading and any titles we might have missed!