Read this review on my blog Lauren Reads YA for photos of the hardcover and favourite quotes. 
 Seven Ways We Lie was intense. Filled to the brim with topics such as sexuality, feminism, slut-shaming, jealousy, broken families, and that student-teacher relationship, it was a lot to take in -- and all of these topics were explored through the perspectives of seven different characters. It might even have been too much to pack into one book -- so much so that there wasn't a great deal of room left for genuine character development. For example, the student-teacher affair that is mentioned in the synopsis was crazy underdeveloped for something which forms the main plot of the story. 
 I wasn't planning on picking this up (even though the cover is gorgeous!), but then I was told that there's an asexual character in here, and I was immediately intrigued. Most books I've come across that have ace or aromantic characters (or mention asexuality) are either self-published, terrible, disrespectful towards the ace/aro community, or all of the above. 
 Because I focus on asexuality on this blog (amongst some other topics), I want to get my opinions on the ace character out of the way first. I'm disappointed by it, but it's still progress. It's great that it's a guy -- asexual and aromantic men need this kind of representation even more than us girls, because of the way men are viewed as these oversexed animals, and I can't imagine what that must feel like for an asexual or aromantic male. 
 "Part of me wonders what it would feel like, a kiss. I've never felt compelled to try putting my mouth on somebody else's mouth. I refuse to believe it feels like a symphony of violins, or a ferociously panning camera, or an eruption of emotion in the center of my chest, or anything else it's supposed to be." 
 What I wasn't so happy about was that the ace (actually aro too!) character is an outcast, a loner. In a way, this seems logical because we feel so disconnected from most people when all they seem to talk about is sex and relationships, but at the same time, it's a big stereotype. On top of that, he often feels like he's better than others, says he hates people, and has trouble communicating. 
 "What, you have a crush on one of them or something?" 
 "I don't do those." 
 "Do what? Crushes?" 
 "Yes, those," he says. "And no, I don't." 
 "What are you, one of those love-is-a-social-construct people?" 
 "I don't know about that. I just don't get crushes." 
 It's not necessary to mention the words 'asexual' or 'aromantic' when writing an ace spectrum character, as you can read about in my 'writing asexuality' tag, but I was still hoping for it to be mentioned. Another character, this one pansexual, fully explains his sexuality to someone, which, of course, is also necessary and important, but now it just makes the ace character seem like a people-hating asshole. 
 Overall, this was a fun read, but a bit too 'high school' for me. Recommended if you prefer reading about characters rather than plot. 
 Thanks to the publisher, Abrams, for providing me with a physical copy in return for an honest review. In no way does this affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.