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[skygiants]

I wasn't really planning on reading Justine Larbalestier's Liar - it sounded interesting, but I'd bounced off of her book Magic or Madness when I picked it up before and already had a to-read pile a mile high. But then saramily raved about it, and I picked up the book out of curiosity in the bookstore and read the first chapter or two, and this is what a strong first-person narrative voice does to me, because I went and reserved it from the library right away.

I still don't actually know what I think of it, though! I mean, it was definitely a gripping book - Larbalestier makes great use of an unreliable narrator, and Micah's voice is incredibly strong. You have probably heard the basic description already, thanks to the cover controversy that it may be impossible to talk about the book without mentioning, in which the publishers put a white girl on the cover of a book with an explicitly biracial protagonist with the line of reasoning that "well, it's ambiguous because she's a compulsive liar!" Micah being biracial is not meant to be ambiguous. But she is a compulsive liar, which is a problem since her part-time secret boyfriend Zach has just been murdered. Micah didn't kill him! She absolutely swears. And she has promised to tell the reader the whole truth, absolutely, except for maybe that one thing that she elided over but that wasn't really a lie and maybe that other thing but that was just out of habit but now, now she is telling the whole truth, for real. What, you don't believe her? Yeah, she figured you wouldn't.

I raced through the book (I was spoiled for one of the big things, but I don't think that affected my reading too much) and I didn't really feel disappointed by the ambiguity of the ending because I think there are enough clues to put together several interesting versions of a coherent narrative, but . . . hmmm. I think in the end this is in a lot of ways a story about complete disconnection from other people. So I found it fascinating, and enjoyed reading it, and will probably reread it someday to catch stuff at the beginning in light of the ending, but also I found myself a little disappointed by the emotional connections that came to nothing and therefore in the end I did not love it. I think. Perhaps I will feel differently in a week or so! It is that kind of book.

My optimistic warning note here: MAY BE PLOT SPOILERS IN THE COMMENTS. In other words, feel free to discuss away, because I am of course desperately curious what other people thought happened in the book! :D

Comments

[obopolsk.livejournal.com]

I may have already told you what I thought about the book -- I've talked about it to a lot of people and I can't remember now whether you were one of them, or if we've just talked about Larbalestier's other books. I was pretty frustrated by the ambiguity of the ending. I liked the voice, but I didn't, in the end, really feel like I wanted to spend any more time with the character. I also thought the paranormal component of the book kinda came out of left field -- which didn't bother me but did bother other people I know who aren't regular sci-fi/fantasy readers.

My overall feeling about the book was that it's the kind of thing that would be an amazing exercise to try as a writer, but ends up being not nearly as satisfying as a reader. Which is also how I felt about Libba Bray's Going Bovine, unlike what seems to be 99.9% of that book's very enthusiastic audience.

[skygiants]

We have talked about Liar, but it is good to talk about it again now that I have actually read it and know what you are talking about!

I actually really liked the paranormal component, and thought it was decently foreshadowed, but I was spoilered slightly for it going in, so I knew to expect something like that and was watching for clues - and also I am a regular sff reader, so, you know, personal taste. (Of course, YMMV on whether any part of the paranormal element was 'real' within the universe of the story or another elaborate lie, but . . . YMMV on basically anything in the book, so.)

I do remember talking with you about Going Bovine! And from what I you told me about the ending, it seems like it would be even more frustrating than Liar - at least with Liar you can decide to believe whatever you think makes the most interesting story and the most sense for the character, you know? Like a choose-your-own adventure except more depressing literary.

[obopolsk.livejournal.com]

Yes, exactly! With Going Bovine I felt deprived of at least the possibility of a non-depressing ending.

One other thing I really liked about Liar was the narrative structure. Forgot to include that in my earlier tally!

[skygiants]

Admittedly I didn't think there was much potential for a non-depressing ending with Liar either. But at least there was the chance that it was depressing with werewolves!

Everything about the structure I thought was really cool, I agree! I actually did like the no-really-no-really-no-now-really-seriously of it.

[saramily.livejournal.com]

Oh cool, you read it!

Yeah, I raced through it too and it is something I want to reread because I think it's the sort of book that rewards rereading.

I didn't have the disappointment in the end that you did, I think in part because I'd given up on expecting Micah to articulate emotional connections? I think for me it was almost that you had to see them in the things she doesn't say about people, because so many of the things she does say are lies.

[skygiants]

I did! I actually finished it last week on the bus ride home and then forgot to say. *sheepish* But also because I was trying to marshall my thoughts!

I don't think I was so much expecting Micah to articulate emotional connections, but I did keep hoping for a successful emotional arc involving Micah-and-someone-else even in the face of the fact that the book was patently not going to give me that. I mean, even her fake 'happy ending' mostly involves a character who was not really part of the emotional backbone of the story at all. Maybe because she can't conceive of one that involves people who actually do . . .?