Perfect for fans of the New York Times bestselling novel, Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch It’s no one’s fault that Hallie Jacob is alone. That her grandpa got sick half a world away and so her parents yanked her to Colorado the last semester of her senior year. That career-wise, she’s specialized in fighting fire, and now she’s surrounded by ice, snow, and a thousand cousins she’s … thousand cousins she’s half-banned from hanging around with. But that’s what’s happened. That’s what her December looks like.
On one big family weekend in the freaking tundra, Hallie sneaks off with those cousins to an abandoned ski slope. But they get caught in a random mudslide, and what started as a Secret Bonfire Party goes in a Potential Donner Party direction real fast. With some cousins in desperate need of medical attention, Hallie leaves their camp for help—and is surprised when Jonah Ramirez (her cousin’s extremely off-limits—absurdly hot—best friend) joins her.
Facing paralyzing temperatures, sharp-toothed animals strong enough to survive a climate with hardly any water or air, and weather phenomena so wicked they’ll wreck a mountain before you can blink, Jonah and Hallie have no choice but to trust each other as they search for the way to town to send help back to their stranded friends and family. And THAT may be more impossible, even, than making it out alive.
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Hallie feels like an outsider with her cousins. She doesn’t see them often living on the other side of the country. With her strict parents, Hallie doesn’t have a sense of adventure like they do. She errs on the side of caution which will serve her well as a future firefighter. Spending time with her extended family is especially hard because she has a crush on their best friend Jonah, even though she doesn’t know him all that well. So when all the kids decide to have an adventure, she does the most un-Hallie thing ever, she joins them. Little do any of them know the trouble that lay ahead.
I started this one yesterday and could not put it down. I loved how inclusive the characters are and how well they all get along. I think it’s easy to judge Hallie for being weak in the face of her parents, in not challenging them when they are clearly in the wrong. But bending to their will is her life, and it’s not easy to break out of that shell. I loved Hallie and Jonah together. This book has me alternating between the feels and laughing out loud. If I could wish for anything more in this book, it would be a book 2, with not only more of Hallie and Jonah and their new dynamic, but more of the whole crew. I guess I wasn’t quite ready to let them go. A fun read from start to finish.
The Liar’s Guide to the Night Sky is a survival story about Hallie Jacob a Massachusetts transplant to Colorado. Hallie is excited and nervous to be included in an outdoor bonfire adventure with her cousins in the snowy woods of Colorado. Her father has spent the last few years at odds with his family which has made it difficult for her to bond with her cousins even though they are all the same age. A landslide forces Hallie and family friend Johan out on their own and fighting for their lives.
I appreciated the survival aspect of the story and there were a lot of humorous moments. I also like how forthright Hallie was and how she made choices that moved the story forward. I will add that there was effort put in to the characters to make them as inclusive as possible which some readers may enjoy for representation. But, I actually found it made them less relatable for me on a personal level. Along with that there are several labels discussed about sexuality such as bisexual, Pansexual and aromantic and discussions about what that means to each character. Jonah also has some very strong ideas about monogamy that are a little tiresome coming out of the mouth of a 20 year old but these concepts might be revolutionary to see on the page for some YA readers. Most of those revelations are within two pages so it’s a lot to digest at once. Along with language and sexual content I will also put this on the upper end of YA because there are a few times that I wondered if it was sponsored by a marijuana cooperative because there were SO MANY weed references.
I recommend The Liar’s Guide to the Night Sky for YA and New Adult readers who are looking for an intense survival story with representation of POC, LGBQT and the Jewish faith.