Review Detail

I felt the pacing was a bit better than in its predecessor Hunger (which I really struggled to get through for the first 2/3), and there are a couple of scenes which will haunt me later in dreams (like when Bug finds that Panda has crashed a car over the cliff, and what that means in terms of feeding Caine's remaining followers), but I'm still left feeling mostly unimpressed.

I liked that Grant provided us with different points-of-view by switching between many different characters, but I also felt like how it was done was a little too choppy. There were a few story lines which weren't really tied up (like what's going on between Brianna and Jack), which then left me wondering why they were included at all. I didn't really enjoy the inclusion of a new set of characters - Sanjit and crew - not because I didn't enjoy the characters, but because I felt like anyone who had lived in Perdido Beach for their entire life should have known about this island, and when the scouts were sent to look for food, a rich actor's mansion should have been on the top of the list of places to search. I'm also going to go ahead and assume that all of the references to the "flu" going around is to foreshadow what's to come in the next instalment, Plague, and not just useless filler. I just wish Grant was able to tie up all the loose ends a little cleaner, and that the ending hadn't been so rushed. Astrid fitting together the pieces to uncover how the events unfolded in the way they did was skimmed over, and it wasn't fully explained how she got to all of her conclusions.

I also picked up on a few inconsistencies, which I feel should have been caught. Based on information provided in the first two novels, we know Sam and Caine are twins - at one point in Lies, Sam mentions that they are half brothers; Dekka is much more open about her love for Brianna, calling it love at first sight, but in Hunger she admits her feelings developed during their time spent imprisoned together; and finally, what happened to Astrid's powers? In Gone we learned she registered as a 2 bar on Diana's scale, but they have yet to make their presence known. This seems quite strange, as any other "freak" has discovered their power by this point.

The thing that upset me the most in Lies though, and which has been my biggest problem with the whole series, is how chaos continues to rule the FAYZ. I understand that there are extreme events which keep happening which might disrupt day-to-day activities, but Astrid has been preaching that they need to become a new society with a government and laws since the end of Gone. She has not shown any useful power, and is not currently employed (unlike Quinn the fisherman, or Mother Mary). So what is she doing all day? In Lies we see her hold several Town Council meetings, where absolutely nothing is accomplished, she yells at Sam for not filling her in on events as they happen, and she spends a lot of time telling people how they should be behaving. At this point they have been living in the FAYZ for 7 months. How is it that in 7 months no one has been able to come up with a working list of laws? At one point she even mentions a few of her failures - not restoring the church and having Sunday services; not continuing Little Pete's therapy sessions - and all I can think is, you have nothing but time! So what are you doing with it all? I just can't understand how Albert can create a system for currency, open a Mall where kids of the FAYZ can sell and trade goods, and manage to supervise both the hunting and fishing industries, and Astrid can't use her genius to come up with a few rules to live by.