Book Review: The Thing About the Truth by Lauren Barnholdt

Title: The Thing About the Truth

Author: Lauren Barnholdt

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Published on: July 10, 2012

Source: own copy

In this humorous love story from the author of Two-Way Street, an unlikely romance is the best sort of surprise—but the wrong secret can ruin everything. Kelsey’s not going to let one mistake ruin her life. Sure, she got kicked out of prep school and all her old friends are shutting her out. But Kelsey’s focused on her future, and she’s determined to get back on track at Concordia High.

Isaac’s been kicked out of more schools than he can count. Since his father’s a state senator, Isaac’s life is under constant scrutiny—but Concordia High’s his last stop before boarding school, so Isaac’s hoping to fly under the radar and try to stay put for a change.

When Kelsey and Isaac meet, it’s anything but love at first sight. She thinks he’s an entitled brat, and he thinks she’s a stuck-up snob. So it surprises them both when they start to fall for each other. Kelsey’s happy for the first time in months, and Isaac’s never felt this way about anyone before...But nothing’s ever completely perfect. Everyone has secrets, and Isaac and Kelsey are no exceptions. These two may have fallen hard, but there’s one thing that can ruin it all: the truth.(goodreads)

My Thoughts:

The synopsis gives off an impression that the novel is really serious, but it's not. I mean, the story is not a joke,per se, but it's not heavy drama. I've read other Lauren Barnholdt books and I liked their stories, this one's not far from them too. I kind of think they have the same theme: teenager love life problems, but wiith different causes. And the titles of the books are like statements that say a lot about the story.

The thing about truth, for example, revolves around the events that happened that lead to the "Aftermath", because of one little lie. Told from alternate POVs of Isaac and Kelsey and the "before" and "after" the incident. I think Lauren has other books with this kind of format, and truthfully, not all novels are compatible to be told in that "present and the retelling of the past" format, but this novel fits right. The story starts with the present: Isaac and Kelsey having a meeting with the superintendent, to look into their case and to get to the bottom of what really happened. I like the excitement the novel gives to its readers when there's a hanging question in the present and then the retelling of the story begins and it answers the hanging question. Everytime. And so by the time it ends, we already know the whole story. 

Each novel's success is also dependent on the characters it has. I like Isaac even though he's not perfect, but who is? Isaac is actually funny even when he is not trying to be one. He did a lot of bad things in his life,but the story didn't dwell on that, or the fact that his life changed when he met Kelsey. I like his honest comments and sarcastic lines. Kelsey, on the other hand is not a unique character but she's not difficult to relate too. 

The novel has a main issue and lits of side stories and supporting characers who made the characters who they are and how they ended up with this particular sitch. I know, the way I speak of the novel sounds like this one's a deep one, but it's not really, I even feel like it's super light and kind of  breezes thru the story.

It's funny but difficult to think how one little lie can cause a lot of damage, especially to our relationships. When you made the lie, it didn't seem to matter but when something big happened because of it, we start to ask ourselves why did we lie? That's what happened here. We have our own reasons but no matter, in the end we learn that the truth will always come out and lying isn't the solution. I say this like I'm some kind of an expert but I'm not. The story did remind me of that life lesson and hopefully it will to you too.