When I picked up Liar by Justine Larbalestier, I was expecting a realistic fiction book that gave the reader insight into what goes through a pathological liar’s mind. This is not at all what I got. This book is the author’s most popular, set in the present day. The premise is that Micah, a biracial girl living in New York City, is a pathological liar. She swears she is telling the truth, causing a very interesting dynamic.
At the beginning of the book, Micah’s “after hours” boyfriend, Zach, is found dead. Because of her untrustworthy nature, her classmates gossip, saying that she had something to do with it. When the detectives investigate, they quickly suspect Micah, but they don’t have sufficient evidence. The other suspects in the case …show more content…
Although on the first page she swears she will tell the whole truth, how can the reader trust her completely? She can’t. This makes Micah one of the best examples of an unreliable narrator. Toward the end of the book, she “revises” some of her past confessions. She says that this is truthfully the real truth. But how can we know that? She has lied before, and she could lie again. In fact, the last line of the book is “Would I lie to you?”. The author keeps us guessing to the very end and the reader develops a love-hate relationship with this character. Micah is relatable in some ways, always feeling out of place, something everyone has experienced one time or another. But, she becomes almost annoying because of all her lies. People like to know that the story is true, and that is never clear in this …show more content…
This character is Micah’s mentor. Yayeko is Micah’s safe haven from her family and her peers. She is who Micah goes to for help in Micah’s time of need. Even though Yayeko does not understand her completely, she helps her nonetheless. However, because of Micah’s lies, we don’t know for sure if Yayeko is even real. She could just be a symbol for someone Micah needs in her life. Yayeko is painted as perfect -- smart and caring. She believes in Micah. Micah shows this to the reader when she narrates, “They don’t think I’m smart enough. I know I am. My favorite teacher, Yayeko Shoji, says so”(28). She is too perfect; her flaws are either left out and ignored, or she doesn’t exist. In fact, we don’t know if any of the characters exist. This is the aspect of Larbalestier’s novel that I think is the best. Everyone can come up with their own version of the real story. Frustrating yes, but annoyingly
At the beginning of the book, Micah’s “after hours” boyfriend, Zach, is found dead. Because of her untrustworthy nature, her classmates gossip, saying that she had something to do with it. When the detectives investigate, they quickly suspect Micah, but they don’t have sufficient evidence. The other suspects in the case …show more content…
Although on the first page she swears she will tell the whole truth, how can the reader trust her completely? She can’t. This makes Micah one of the best examples of an unreliable narrator. Toward the end of the book, she “revises” some of her past confessions. She says that this is truthfully the real truth. But how can we know that? She has lied before, and she could lie again. In fact, the last line of the book is “Would I lie to you?”. The author keeps us guessing to the very end and the reader develops a love-hate relationship with this character. Micah is relatable in some ways, always feeling out of place, something everyone has experienced one time or another. But, she becomes almost annoying because of all her lies. People like to know that the story is true, and that is never clear in this …show more content…
This character is Micah’s mentor. Yayeko is Micah’s safe haven from her family and her peers. She is who Micah goes to for help in Micah’s time of need. Even though Yayeko does not understand her completely, she helps her nonetheless. However, because of Micah’s lies, we don’t know for sure if Yayeko is even real. She could just be a symbol for someone Micah needs in her life. Yayeko is painted as perfect -- smart and caring. She believes in Micah. Micah shows this to the reader when she narrates, “They don’t think I’m smart enough. I know I am. My favorite teacher, Yayeko Shoji, says so”(28). She is too perfect; her flaws are either left out and ignored, or she doesn’t exist. In fact, we don’t know if any of the characters exist. This is the aspect of Larbalestier’s novel that I think is the best. Everyone can come up with their own version of the real story. Frustrating yes, but annoyingly