ARC Review: Liar & Spy

Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead, August 7, 2012. 180 pages. Published by Wendy Lamb Books. Source: Won.

When seventh grader Georges (the S is silent) moves into a Brooklyn apartment building, he meets Safer, a twelve-year-old coffee-drinking loner and self-appointed spy. Georges becomes Safer's first spy recruit. His assignment? Tracking the mysterious Mr. X, who lives in the apartment upstairs. But as Safer becomes more demanding, Georges starts to wonder: how far is too far to go for your only friend? 

First Sentence:

There's this totally false map of the human tongue.

When I started Liar & Spy I was not sure what to expect at all-fro the actual book to the author's writing. Instead, I came across a book that was subtle in its story and rich in characterization.

Liar & Spy is definitely going to go down as one of my favorite middle grade reads this year. It is going to be in good company with a long list of middle grade books that I have loved reading throughout this past year.So, y'all are probably curious as to how this book landed on my favorite list, well, that comes with an easy answer. Ms Stead's writing and characterization in Liar & Spy were just amazing. I loved that while I was reading I was expecting one outcome, like, when it came to what had happened to Georges mom, but then she went and made it

One of the things I enjoyed most while reading Liar & Spy would have to be the odd friendship that develops between Georges and Safer. What made it so interesting was tat as your reading the book you cannot help but be against some of the things they do and the path that Safer is leading Georges down, but as the book progresses and you see things for what they are the story and game takes on a whole new meaning, which definitely made for a fascinating read.

I found Georges to be an interesting character because while he seems  a little lost and easily swayed by Safer, I enjoyed that as time progressed and the game got more intense that he became to question whether or not he should comply wit the rules and continue to follow along.

There are few books that I read in which I can find no fault, but that is what happened with Rebecca Stead's Liar & Spy. What makes this truly a great book is that the plot is subtle and everything comes to light at the right point. I really liked how Georges had to come to terms with what happened to his mother before the reader got to see what had happened. It definitely made the reveal all the more poignant because you saw how it impacted him and that he was, in a way, trying to cope with the news and come to terms with it at his own pace.

Final Verdict: Liar & Spy turned out o be nothing like what I was expecting, and sometimes that is exactly what one needs in a book.

Liar & Spy earns 5 out of 5 pineapples.