It's me, back again reading another book about rich people doing bad things to each other. I know, I'm surprised, too. We've already been over my fondness for Gossip Girl et al, but knowing "Liar's Beach" is also an Agatha Christie retelling, I had to pick it up.

Linden, a lax-playing teen on scholarship at a fancy boarding school, is staying with his rich friend Jasper's family for the summer at Martha's Vineyard. He's desperate to seem as cool & carefree as the rest of them--especially Jasper's sister, Eliza--even when (as usual) things aren't always what they seem. After someone is found unconscious in the pool, Linden & his childhood friend, Holiday, decide to (in Linden's words) "LARP an attempted murder in order to spend time together". Of course, everyone is a suspect, culminating in a dramatic hurricane party where everyone is locked in a house together, a la "Bodies Bodies Bodies".

It's not groundbreaking, but I read it in a day & had a good time. There were moments where Linden reminded me of Leo from "Stargirl" with how he viewed both Eliza & Holiday (manic pixie dream girl vibes) but the behavior was called out, making it a refreshing angle on the trope & also almost making me spit my drink out:

"You've spent the last week projecting every Daisy Buchanan fantasy you have onto this girl & now you can't even consider the fact that you might be wrong about her, because your entire worldview will come crashing down like some sad house of cards & you'll have to shoot yourself in the head to cope with it. I've read that book already, in ninth-grade Honors English. It was boring then too."

The line-by-line writing was a blast; I highlighted a ton that made me snort & may have liked the author's voice more than the story itself. The main mystery was solved, but there were some backstory elements about Linden that weren't clarified that make me wonder if there will be a sequel. I'd have preferred a longer standalone that tied everything together, but I'll check out a book 2 if there is one.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, & the author for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review of “Liar’s Beach”.