This really wasn’t a book for me. The blurb sounded like this was going to be psychological thriller, but in fact it was just a teenage girl throwing a bit of an extreme tantrum over a personal discovery.
Beyond falling massively short of my expectations, I had some other issues with this book.
The main character, Ella, was almost entirely unlikeable and unrelatable. She was short tempered, overreacted easily, callous to her parents and incredibly reckless. After discovering something personal about her past, she decides to just run off in Brazil and live on the streets. It was the biggest overreaction I have ever read about.
There was some ridiculous instalove in here too (I think this author must really like the instalove trope, because her other book – The One Memory of Flora Banks – was also heavy in this area) and I couldn’t even enjoy the romance because we know literally nothing about Christian except for a sad story about his sister, but after only one meeting she is completely and utterly in love with him.
Her ‘adventure’ into Brazil was choppy and rushed. We don’t learn much about Brazilian culture and honestly, I found most of this quite dull and her ridiculous reckless behaviour had me rolling my eyes.
As for Ella’s darker, evil persona – Bella – this seemed to just be a side story thrown in to make the book sound more gripping and intriguing. We learn virtually nothing about Bella and there is no explanation for this other side of her personality or even what happens with it at the end. So that was a massive let down also.
For me, the whole book was unrealistic and not at all what the blurb suggested. Ella was a terrible main character and I disliked her almost from the start, she irritated me hugely throughout the whole book. And the plot was just random and seemed to have absolutely no point to it.
I think, generally, this book just wasn’t suited to me at all. I can see that others have really enjoyed it but sadly I did not.
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The Truth and Lies of Ella Black Kindle Edition
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Emily Barr
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Emily Barr
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Length: 349 pages | Word Wise: Enabled | Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled |
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Product description
Review
Barr is superb at evoking the heightened emotions of adolescence: the exhilarating thrill of first love, the intensity of fear and rage at adults' deception and the need to discover one's own identity.
With disturbing undertones, vivid characters and authentic dialogue, this is a worthy successor to her wonderful debut, The One Memory of Flora Banks
Evoking Ella's intoxicating new surroundings while skewering the facile assumptions of "poverty tourism", Barr's second YA novel is a fast-paced, dramatic search for answers to the secrets of the self (Guardian)
Colourful setting and pacy plot. If you like dark fiction you'll devour it (Heat)
Emily Barr already proved she could hit all the right teen-fiction notes in last year's The One Memory of Flora Banks. This taps the same vein. Ella's parents are doting to the point of smothering but they don't know about the dark and twisty part of her that threatens to destroy everything (i) --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
About the Author
Emily Barr (www.emilybarr.com) began her career as a journalist at the Guardian before realizing that she was more drawn toward books. After taking a year to go backpacking for a column assignment, she returned home with the idea for her first book, New York Times bestseller Backpack, and never looked back. She has since written 11 other books for adults. The One Memory of Flora Banks, her young adult debut and international bestseller, published to critical acclaim in 2017. Emily lives in Cornwall with her partner and their children. Follow her on Twitter @emily_barr.
--This text refers to the paperback edition.
Book Description
This second novel from Emily Barr is a race-against time thriller and a true coming-of-age story. It explores the highs and lows of first love, all set under a blazing Rio sun.
--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
Product details
- ASIN : B073KXY38D
- Publisher : Penguin; 1st edition (12 October 2017)
- Language : English
- File size : 1240 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 349 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: 406,940 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- Customer Reviews:
Customer reviews
4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
48 global ratings
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Top reviews from other countries

Zaide Nicholas
1.0 out of 5 stars
Not the thriller you expect
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 11 June 2018Verified Purchase
3 people found this helpful
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CMP
1.0 out of 5 stars
Not for me!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 13 October 2018Verified Purchase
Not for me. I usually really enjoy Emily Barr books but only managed a few pages when I decided to put it to one side. Went back to it a couple of weeks later, read about a page, got to page 14 where she smashes the birds head with a hammer that she keeps under her bed and decided that this book was definitely not for me. Book is now in my charity box - I am not even going to try to read one more page.
One person found this helpful
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Clairey
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not only for young adults!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 12 June 2018Verified Purchase
I enjoyed this and read it in two days. I was a big fan of Flora Banks and I thought this was nearly as good. I really like the author's mix of psychological stories with travelling. For me it's easy holiday reading without being too light. I agree the love at first sight romance was a bit silly but I thought the portrayal of Ella as a teenager was spot on.

Babs
5.0 out of 5 stars
I loved this book.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 January 2018Verified Purchase
I found this book a little slow to get into but suddenly I realised that I was captivated by it. It was an amazing book and totally original.

S. Goddard
4.0 out of 5 stars
Another good story by Emily Barr
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 17 November 2017Verified Purchase
I'm not quite sure why Emily Barr has started writing Young Adult novels but still good writing.
One person found this helpful
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