ARC Review: The Almost Truth by Eileen Cook

Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publishing Date: December 4th, 2012
Genre: YA Contemporary
Pages:256 pgs
ISBN: 9781442440197
Source: ARC received from Simon & Schuster Canada for an honest review

Summary from Goodreads:

Sadie can’t wait to get away from her backwards small town, her delusional mom, her jailbird dad, and the tiny trailer where she was raised…even though leaving those things behind also means leaving Brendan. Sadie wants a better life, and she has been working steadily toward it, one con at a time.

But when Sadie’s mother wipes out Sadie’s savings, her escape plan is suddenly gone. She needs to come up with a lot of cash—and fast—or she’ll be stuck in this town forever.

With Brendan’s help, she devises a plan—the ultimate con—to get the money. But the more lies Sadie spins, the more she starts falling for her own hoax…and perhaps for the wrong boy. Sadie wanted to change her life, but she wasn't prepared to have it flipped upside down by her own deception. With her future at stake and her heart on the line, suddenly it seems like she has a lot more than just money to lose...

My Review: 

 Wow, what can I say about this book?  It was fantastic! I have been in the worst reading slump I have even been in since I can remember.  It started in August and continued until this month and this is one of those books that reaffirmed that I indeed do LOVE to read.  This book is about Sadie whose mother steals her college money from her.  Sadie then has to think of a new scheme to try and get money to get away from all the chaos of her current life.  She pairs with Brendan and comes up with a pretty intense scam which may or may not involve a story in which Sadie was kidnapped as a child.  This scheme ends up opening doors that Sadie never really wanted opened in the first place and in the end she learns a ton about herself and her relationship not only with her parents but also with her partner in crime Brendan.  

I don't know what it was about this book that I loved.  I don't think it's just one thing but a combination of many things.  The writing sucks you in and is light at times but is also serious at other times.  You can't help but feel for Sadie but at the same time you fall in love a bit with Brendan.  He is a bit of a player but he has deep feelings for his best friend Sadie.  I think that a part of my love for Sadie is the fact that I could totally relate to her.  When I was a teen the one thing I wanted to do was get out of my small town and away from my family.  This is something that I did but I never really stopped to think about how my decisions and my deep want to leave would affect the rest of my siblings and my good friends at the time.  

Long story short, I love love loved this book!  I couldn't put it down and I would definitley recommend it if you need a fun contemporary with a great main character.