Two Truths and a Lie by Sara Shepard

Sutton Mercer watches from the afterlife as her long-lost twin, Emma Paxton, takes over her identity to solve her murder. But after ruling out her early leads, Emma still hasn’t found Sutton’s killer. A lot of people wanted her dead—but one name keeps popping up: Thayer Vega. When the gorgeous and mysterious Thayer returns to town, Emma has to move fast to figure out whether he’s back for revenge…or if he already got it. (Synopsis provided by GoodReads)

My Review

I did not enjoy this book as much as the second one, Never Have I Ever, but I still enjoyed it. This book seemed to repeat many of the events from the second book just with a different story. The date that Emma have in the middle of the book seems similar to the photography date from the second book. In the second book Emma struggles with deciding to date Ethan or not and in this book decides if she wants to tell Sutton's friends they are dating. These events are similar and have related results. 

I was surprised that Emma still made mistakes in the romantic department in this book. I would thought that after the conflicting events in the previous book between her and Ethan, she would be able to just tell the truth of their relationships. Emma also suffers an identity crisis in the middle of the book where she starts behaving like Sutton and lying to much. All the pretending she is do is changing her personality to become similar to Sutton a bit. Emma is still funny and nice but she is unsure of who she really is in this book. She struggles with Sutton's friends and sister being mad at her. 

I enjoyed the moments between Emma and Thayer in this book. I am glad to find out what Thayer and Sutton's relationship was really like. I enjoyed the flashbacks more than usual in this book because Sutton and Thayer's relationship is exciting to read about. I wish there were more moments like the last two chapters between Thayer and Emma. I am excited to see how their relationship changes in the next book. 

I also liked how there were bonding moments between Emma and Mrs. Mercer. The last two books barely touched the relationships between Sutton and her adopted parents. With Mr. Mercer, I am curious to see why he dislikes Thayer so much. 

Mostly, this book series is easy to become obsessive with. It has interesting mysteries that still need to be solved. This story is more than just the mystery of who killed Sutton. It also includes mysteries about the other characters past actions and deceptions that could have resulted in the murder.  Sara Shepard is an amazing writer whose creates chapters that are coherent and enjoyable to read. 

Theories: 

Might contain spoilers. 

Who do I think the killer is? 

I think the killer is Ethan because of the prank that Sutton pulled on him freshman year. I found several instances throughout this book where he acted a little shifty. I also do not think it is a coincidence that the killer has not bothered Emma since Court Party and that the incident at the court party occurred after Emma rejected him. 

Another possibility, is Garret. He is the only teenage character that does not have a definite alibi. He could have slipped once he saw Sutton and Thayer together on August 31st, the night of Sutton's death. The reason I am a little doubtful he is the killer is because he does not act at all like he knows Emma is not Sutton. All his interactions in the series make it appear like he is just jealous and mad at Emma. 

What I am wondering?

I have a feeling that whoever hurt Thayer is the killer, but I feel there could be chance the car stealer isn't the killer. The car stealer could be Sutton's dad punishing Thayer for returning and meeting with his adopted daughter. I highly doubt that Sutton's dad could be the killer, but feel that he hates Thayer enough to punish him. 

Alas, I can't wait to Hide and Seek!

Out July 31, 2012