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.

The Truth and Lies of Ella Black
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©2017 Emily Barr (P)2017 Penguin AudioBooks
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Product details
Listening Length | 9 hours and 34 minutes |
---|---|
Author | Emily Barr |
Narrator | Kelby Keenan |
Whispersync for Voice | Ready |
Audible.com.au Release Date | 14 December 2017 |
Publisher | Penguin |
Program Type | Audiobook |
Version | Unabridged |
Language | English |
ASIN | B076PSSYR3 |
Best Sellers Rank |
207,093 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
179 in Thriller & Suspense Stories for Children 11,521 in Literature & Fiction for Children (Audible Books & Originals) |
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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