Little White Lies (Debutantes #1) - Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Book Synopsis: "I'm not saying this is Sawyer's fault," the prim and proper one said delicately. "But." Eighteen-year-old auto mechanic Sawyer Taft did not expect her estranged grandmother to show up at her apartment door and offer her a six-figure contract to participate in debutante season. And she definitely never imagined she would accept. But when she realizes that immersing herself in her grandmother's "society" might mean discovering the answer to the biggest mystery of her life-her father's identity-she signs on the dotted line and braces herself for a year of makeovers, big dresses, bigger egos, and a whole lot of bless your heart. The one thing she doesn't expect to find is friendship, but as she's drawn into a group of debutantes with scandalous, dangerous secrets of their own, Sawyer quickly discovers that her family isn't the only mainstay of high society with skeletons in their closet. There are people in her grandmother's glittering world who are not what they appear, and no one wants Sawyer poking her nose into the past. As she navigates the twisted relationships between her new friends and their powerful parents, Sawyer's search for the truth about her own origins is just the beginning. Set in the world of debutante balls, grand estates and rolling green hills, Little White Lies combines a charming setting, a classic fish-out-of-water story, and the sort of layered mystery only author Jennifer Lynn Barnes can pull off.
What's with the memes (was my initial thought)? They look like paid advertisements. I didn't realize until later that it had something to do with the story. The images were comparable to a noise interference in the book and did not add anything to the experience... it actually gave me a bad taste in the mouth, so to speak. To make matters worse, there's a link to a fake website, Secretsonmyskin.com/community didn't even exist, I even tried typing it into the search engine.
What I liked about this book AKA what worked...
Honestly, not much. I don't understand why so many people are raving about this book. I didn't really enjoy my experience or time spent or wasted reading it. The only aspect of the book that I found myself drawn to was the cover. It's beautiful, a blush pink torn up pieces of a rose shattering like glass.
What didn't work...
Practically everything, the pictures I hated, the characters were dry, and I had a hard time relating to anyone in the book. The twist though, it was kind of shocking, but to be honest, not really that surprising. Not to mention that Sawyer wasn't that likable, I wasn't rooting for her at any point. Harsh, I know.
Also, I'm not sure if I'll be continuing this series, but I am somewhat of a person who likes to finish what she started, even though I'm not that enthusiastic to soldier on.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆ 2/5 Stars
Meh.