ONE TINY LIE follows the other Cleary sister, Livie in the second installment to the Ten Tiny Breaths series. Livie has always been the steady one, the rock of the family and the one who seemed in most controlled. However, Tucker shows a much more vulnerable side to her in ONE TINY LIE.
Livie has closed herself up from the world after the tragic event that changed her life. Her therapist, Dr. Stayner says she is emotionally repressed and must learn to come out of her shell. Therefore, he pushes her out of her comfort zone, trying to get her to loosen up. As someone who has a Psychology background, I found Tucker's depiction of a therapist to be unbelievable. Stayner's meddling in Livie's personal life just doesn't happen in real life. So I found his character to be very hard to accept. I also thought his diagnosis to be too broad and thus, inaccurate. After what Livie has gone through, her behaviours seemed normal to me. The only way to "cure" her was if Livie made the decision to start living her life on her own terms.
Cheating has become prevalent in a lot of contemporary novels as of late. Tucker uses cheating quite a bit in this novel. The hero, Ashton is attached to a woman named Dana, but isn't shy about finding his pleasure with others. Livie, the heroine becomes involved with Conner, Ashton's best friend but also doesn't deny herself from the chemistry sparking between her and Ashton. As a reader who doesn't like cheating in their books, I found this aspect to be unnecessary to the overall plot. In fact, I think it had the opposite affect and made me love Conner, the hero I would like to see Livie with, instead of Ashton. As a result, I was not a fan of this aspect of the book.
That being said, there was one thing I enjoyed about ONE TINY LIE. Tucker likes to use humor in a way that feels like an extra character. It breathes life into the book. Some scenes had me laughing out loud.
Though ONE TINY LIE didn't exactly meet my expectations, I am still very eager to read the third book in the series, Four Seconds to Lose, hoping that this one is more to my liking.
Make me proud.β These were the last words Livieβs father
ever spoke to her. In the seven years since her parentsβ
tragic death, Livie has done her best to keep this promise
through her every choice, word, and action, while looking
after her sister with strength and maturity. But with
college right around the corner, unexpected challenges will
test her resilienceβand her heart.
Livie walks into Princeton with a solid plan, and sheβs dead
set on delivering on it: Rock her classes, set herself up
for medical school, and meet a good, respectable guy to
marry someday. What isnβt part of her plan are Jell-O shots;
a lovable, party animal roommate she canβt say βnoβ to; and
Ashton, the arrogantβand extremely attractiveβcaptain of the
menβs rowing team who makes Livieβs usually non-existent
temper flare. Worse, heβs best friends and roommates with
Connor, who fits Livieβs criteria perfectly. So why does she
keep thinking about Ashton?
As Livie finds herself facing mediocre grades, career
aspirations she no longer thinks she can handle, and
feelings for Ashton that she shouldnβt have, sheβs forced to
let go of her last promise to her father and, with it, the
only identity that she knows.
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