My rating: 2 out of 5 stars
Goodreads rating: 4.00 with 36 ratings (as of 2/24/2019)

Guilt, lies, and betrayal–all before first period. 

After finding his headmaster father slumped over his desk from a gunshot wound, Levi Abrams is ready to sever his ties to Hulbert Academy with a sharp blade. Though the authorities have ruled his father’s death an accident, Levi has his doubts. But with graduation only weeks away, Levi wants to get his diploma and move on. 

Then Troy Byrne returns to school.  …more

200 Word Review

When I read the description of School Lies by Kimberly G. Giarratano on Goodreads I could not wait to start it. “Guilt, lies, and betrayal–all before first period.” What a great tagline.

Unfortunately I thought the book was just OK, 2 stars using Goodreads’ rating system. There seemed to be a lot left out of the story. It felt as if it was only allowed to be a certain length and much of the story needed to be deleted to fit the length or if this was a second book in a series where I had not read the first book.

I could not relate with the characters and the story felt as if there were gaps in it. I would have stopped reading except the writing was adequate and I did not hate the book. Also, the page was less than 300 pages so I was well into the story and did not have much left before I thought of stopping. The book has a high rating on Goodreads, 4.0, and I would be willing to give Kimberly G. Giarratano a 2nd read but I would not put her at the top of my “authors to try again” list.

Review published on Philomathinphila.com, Smashbomb, Goodreads, Twitter, Facebook, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble on 2/24/19.

Genre: Young adult, Mystery, LGBT, Romance
Print Length: 294 pages
ISBN: 1722607297 ISBN13: 978-1722607296
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Publication Date: July 5, 2018

Purchase at Amazon Barnes and Noble