A Small Note:

I've read this book before so this review will have thoughts on what I thought before and after rereading this book again. I wasn't able to write a review before so I'm making up for it with this one. If you haven't read the first two books you might get some new details ruined for you naturally.

My Thoughts:

Two Truths and a Lie picks up with Emma discovering Thayer in her bedroom. Thayer has become a new prime suspect with Sutton's friends and sister being cleared so she's terrified when he suddenly appears looking menacing. Thayer, clearly has a history with Emma's dead twin sister Sutton and Sutton's sister Laurel. Whenever they interact you can feel the tension between them. He's angry and the way he talks to her makes her suspicion arise against him even more. Like his father he is known to be pretty volatile so there's another thing stacked against him. He doesn't seem like the type to beat up a woman because I'm sure he doesn't like that his sister was when he was at home. He does act very hostile towards Emma though. You don't really know where he's been but, you do get hints with Sutton's flashbacks about what type of person he was before she died. I have always liked her flashbacks because you never know what they are going to reveal. It can also be a trap because Sutton doesn't remember everything right away.

Shepard is very good at filling in the details of what's happened so far in the story. My reason for rereading this story was because I wanted to read the fourth book so it came in handy to have all that information from the past two books laid out for me. It feels very much like a Lemony Snicket move to do that. I felt like I was getting a second chance to glimpse at who could be the killer and there are still plenty of suspects left.

Laurel plays a more prominent role in this one than I remember from the past books. I know she's always had a crush on Thayer and they were best friends but can she be any icier towards Emma? I vaguely remember them being nice with each other for a while. When Thayer comes rolling into town everything changes. She talks like Sutton would as if Emma was her enemy which is not good for Emma. What could be more terrifying than having your sister's killer sleeping in the room next to you?

Emma and Ethan are an item in this book. I like how Emma always tries to be nice and protective towards his feelings. Ethan acted really weird with Thayer like he is frightened with him which also gets me thinking he might still be a suspect. For all I know everyone could still be a suspect except one person is definitely ruled out in the end. Also, I'm pretty sure her parents didn't do anything to her either. Actually I'm positive. They each had interactions with Emma. They were both very sweet with her which gets me thinking how unaffectionate Sutton was towards them. However, I feel like I got to see a whole new side to Sutton this time around. I feel like she was always overcompensating because she was adopted. Other things that came to light about her and some of her friends make me like them more. Although, they've all gone too far on their Lying Games which happens to be the cause of Sutton's death... I probably wouldn't forgive what they would do to me because every prank that they do seems to end up humiliating or ruining someone's life not to mention that one time where they almost got Sutton killed. So it could really be anyone. Maybe someone we haven't even met yet.

I know that I didn't like this book as much as the others. I mean I liked it more this time because I anticipated the one thing that bothered me last time - not much Thayer time. He was supposed to be the center of the whole thing in this book. I did get glimpses of his life in the flashbacks but there wasn't much face to face talk with him and Emma. That being the only thing I didn't like about this book I would say it isn't that big of a deal even though it felt like a filler book.

I know this was more like an examination of possible suspects although I basically said it could really still be anyone. I mean there have been some crazy twists before so I wouldn't be surprised if it was someone I never suspected. I hope for the next book and for the rest of the series it becomes even more action packed and suspenseful like it was with the two previous books. I also really want Alex, Emma's best friend, to come along. Wouldn't it be a shock when she starts calling her Emma in front of everyone? I would like to see how Shepard spins that! I really want to see more of Thayer. Mainly, I don't want Emma to die. I'm really sure she won't because it's not that type of series but I do worry. She didn't deserve all of this. She's such a nice person and I wish she's happy in the end. I can't believe it's been a month in Emma's world with half of the book series over. Please be good Hide and Seek! ( )

In book three the reader revisits familiar characters, but they become more developed as they become suspects in the murder of Sutton. All of these characters are only considered suspect by Emma; aside from Ethan, no other person knows Sutton is dead. Emma knows because she is the identical twin of Sutton and she has seen a snuff film in which Sutton was killed. Even Emma does not know that Sutton is a continuing ghostly presence. The ghost also wants to know why she was killed, but she cannot offer any material help to Emma, she has no memories of what happened on the night she died. She only has memory flashes when Emma has experiences, but the memories are fleeting and not definitive or long lasting enough.

Unlike books one and two, Ghost Sutton’s observations have become difficult to separate from Emma’s. For example, Emma might say “I went to visit my friend Charlotte…” The very next line, in a new paragraph, might be “I remembered the way Charlotte helped…” The second quote, however, might be from Ghost Sutton. A fast reader will find the need to go back and clarify who is saying what. I did not find this to be true in the first two books of the series.

The writing remains highly engaging, although I found no surprises in this book. All of Emma’s friend, and even sister Laurel are suspects at one time or other in the death of Sutton. And almost all of them are also eliminated as potential suspects. All factors leading to proof of guilt or innocence are only in the mind of Emma with a little help from discussions with Ethan, the only person who knows that he is talking with Emma. Which leads me to suspect Ethan, but there is no reason to suspect that in this book.

There are a few unresolved issues in this book, though. It seems that Dad Mercer, a doctor, has discovered a new, faint scar, on Emma’s/Sutton’s chin. Something to keep in mind during the read. Then there is the continuing mystery of Thayer. Where has he been? Why won’t he tell anyone where he has been? Why does Dr. Mercer hate Thayer so much?

This is book three in a series of six. There is continuing character development that sustains reader interest enough to buy the next book. ( )

Thayer was never a threat in my eyes (because I've seen some of the show) but the mysterious return was pretty well written. I am getting bored of the constant circle that the books are going in.

Meet someone new (or find out something about someone). Assume they killed Sutton. Hate them. Try to prove they killed her. Find out they didn't.

**rolls eyes**

I love these books but in my opinion most of this book was just filler. ( )

Thayer's back. The brother of one of Sutton's best friends disappeared, two months before Sutton's murder. leaving no one any clues as to where he might be.

Up until now he's been the one big unknown as Emma, Sutton's long-lost twin sister who has had to assume her identity, searches for her killer.

Emma has been able to work through Sutton's love life, tangled though it may have been, discovered what the Lying Game was - and is, found out some of the secrets Sutton and her friends were keeping, but she still doesn't know just how Thayer fits into it all. And Emma hasn't had a chance to find out.

Until now.

In the middle of the night, during a sleepover with her friends, Thayer appears in her bedroom - well, Sutton's bedroom.


In keeping with the style of the previous two Lying Game books - and the Pretty Little Liars books - Two Truths and a Lie is a three steps forward and two steps (if not two and three quarters) back book. You almost feel like you don't learn enough at the end . . . but you go into them knowing the whole mystery isn't going to be solved.

It's about the other knowledge that is gained - about the other characters, about the mystery as a whole - over the whole book that make any seemingly backward movement completely worth it. That and, of course, the fact that the drama in The Lying Game is oh so delicious. It's so almost over the top, but Emma being an outsider to it all keeps it somehow grounded.

There are times you want to shout at the characters to just talk to each other because it seems like that could solve so much, but then things happen that make you wonder if the person you obviously thought could be trusted, really can be, after all.

This series definitely keeps you guessing. While it doesn't seem to divulge a lot in each installment, we still learn a lot in the things that seem to just be little bits and pieces and always know more at the end - even if it seems we're back behind where we started in some ways.

All signs point to Thayer in Two Truths and a Lie, the third installment in The Lying Game series. After Thayer's surprise "attack" and subsequent arrest, Emma tries to gather evidence against him to prove he killed Sutton. But did he? Or is it someone closer to Sutton who did the deed? Maybe her sister Laurel?

All dissenters beware! I actually like this series. Honestly, it isn't like Pretty Little Liars at all. It might actually be more simpler, albeit Shepard's thing with twins aside. I like how spirit Sutton knows absolutely nothing and the fragments she does get are meant to tease the audiences, to make us go full throttle in the wrong direction after the wrong person based on what we read.

I would love it if it turned out Laurel killed Sutton and knew all the time who Emma was. That would be so intense! But what is going on with Ethan? What is his story? What if he couldn't let go of losing his science scholarship and snapped? Then why save her during the snuff prank? Was it because he actually felt bad or he saw the great and powerful Sutton Mercer can be taken down?

I know in the next book all signs will point to Laurel. However, it won't make sense because who hit Thayer with the car? Laurel loves him and there was nothing to indicate from the flashback that the car was trying to hit Sutton and Thayer just got in the way. That is assuming that the same person who hit Thayer also killed Sutton. It could two separate incidents. Two separate people.

Damn you, Shepard, you've done it again! More questions and like one answer. ( )