I think my brain just broke in the best possible way…
I heard about this book in a podcast (unfortunately, I don’t remember which one) and immediately put it on my hold list at the library. This book started off slow but the ending did not disappoint. It is full of realistic, smart, empowered women, each with their own challenging circumstances, societal expectations, and dreams. This book explores how people become who they are and who they are behind the scenes.
Everyone Is Lying to You by Jo Piazza is a thriller that critiques influencer culture, traditional Christian values, and much more. Lizzie has watched Bex, her previous best friend from college, online for years. Bex now goes by Rebecca with a handle of BareFootMama who lives the viral traditional life: wife who has sex with her husband frequently, mother of six, lives on an idyllic farm, and maker of delicious homemade bakery items. Rebecca, out of the blue, invites Lizzie to an momfluencer conference. An invitation that Lizzie, a reporter at a struggling magazine, can’t turn down. The conference only just begins when Rebecca’s husband is reported as violently murdered. Rebecca and her kids are nowhere to be found. There may be bad history, but Lizzie is worried about Rebecca’s safety and realizes she won’t be able to leave until she finds out what happened.
Books you might like if you liked this one:
- Julie Chan Is Dead by Liann Zhang – influencer thriller, transracial adoption, young adult
- Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera – podcasting true crime thriller, critiques how women are perceived/believed
I’ve been trying to get away from just listing my favorite quotes in books. A lot of times, looking back on the quotes would be entertaining but not actually hold that much information about the books. As an adoptee, I can’t pass this one up though:
“there’s a huge hole right now in the adoption influencing market, just waiting to be filled”
There is so much to unpack in that single statement. I’ll limit it to the fact that adoption, in many many many instances, is already all about influencing. Adoption is the legal buying and selling of human beings. It has the ability to create invaluable relationships and bring people together. At the same time, this practice has become an industry fueled by capitalism and savior complexes in a society that devalues social services that support less privileged families. Adoption is often marketed as a way to save children, seeing those that are adopted as lesser, as things to be possessed, as a badge for the adopters to prove that they are good people. As an adoptee, I mostly see content made by adopters, not adoptees. There is an echo chamber of people saying they are good people for adopting, people agreeing, and then other people deciding to adopt in order to get that validation. Whether or not there is a current viral adopter, adoption from the view of adopters is always savior complex cat nip. (note: I’m not against adoption as a way to strengthen and support children by creating interwoven communities. I am against the industry of adoption that mainly supports the adopters without considering the full experience and identity of the adoptees.)
***Spoilers***
Olivia is my favorite character. She remains an enigma throughout the novel, pulling strings to get the women she consults with a LOT of money. She is a badass Black woman. It is a little frustrating that she isn’t more fleshed out as a character. At the same time, her mystery underlines her as being a behind the scenes fixer. I would 100% read a book about her. Olivia’s involvement in the murders is never fully uncovered, but I’m haunted by Lizzie’s musings about how much control Olivia really had over the whole double murder.
I saw the twist of Katie having Bex’s kids. I did not see the twist of Bex’s husband mixing in his friends sperm with his own to get Bex pregnant. Who would guess that? I thought Bex’s husband got his friend’s wife pregnant. I was wrong. I full on thought that Olivia stole Bex’s husband’s best friend’s gun. I did not guess Veronica was lying about it being her husband’s gun. I also did not see it coming that Veronica actually killed Bex’s husband. In other words, I was blindsided by most of the twists. A wild ride.