It’s always safer to stay between the pages: All of this Is True by Lygia Day Peñaflor @lygiaday @dh_books #BlogTour

Yes, you read this right. Today, I am reviewing a Young Adult story! I wish I had my friend Marie’s talent for this but I will do my best to talk about All of this is True.

I would like to thank the author, and my darling Sweechie for inviting me to be part of this blog tour. You have been brilliant!

Title: All of this is true
Author: Lygia Day Peñaflor
Publisher: HarperTeen
Date of publication:  2018
Format: uncorrected proof copy
Number of pages: 432
No more star ratings!

Miri Tan loved the book Undertow like it was a living being. So when she and her friends went to a book signing to meet the author, Fatima Ro, they concocted a plan to get close to her, even if her friends won’t admit it now. As for Jonah, well—Miri knows none of that was Fatima’s fault.

Soleil Johnston wanted to be a writer herself one day. When she and her friends started hanging out with her favorite author, Fatima Ro, she couldn’t believe their luck—especially when Jonah Nicholls started hanging out with them, too. Now, looking back, Soleil can’t believe she let Fatima manipulate her and Jonah like that. She can’t believe that she got used for a book.

Penny Panzarella was more than the materialistic party girl everyone at the Graham School thought she was. She desperately wanted Fatima Ro to see that, and she saw her chance when Fatima asked the girls to be transparent with her. If only she’d known what would happen when Fatima learned Jonah’s secret. If only she’d known that the line between fiction and truth was more complicated than any of them imagined. . . .

Haven’t we all admired someone? Obsessed about them? I know I have, especially as a teenager. I would imagine what it was like to befriend them, to reach them, to be part of a world that was so far away from my reality.

Well, this happens to a group of teenagers. Miri, Soleil, and Penny are very different but that doesn’t stop them from being friends. Then a book changes their lives. Literally. A book and its author. Again, I could relate. Some books have changed my life for the better while some authors have brought me so much joy and kindness I feel like the luckiest woman in the book world. But the similarities stop there!

Our teens take different approaches to the book and to Fatima, the famous author who suddenly appears in their lives. I loved discovering each girl thanks to a distinct format. We have a long-lasting interview going back on what happened before and page after page, pieces of a puzzle come together to reveal what exactly happened. But the story takes its time, exploring each character’s voice and motives, feelings and scars from the aftermath. I loved digging and wondering and just listening to those unique voices telling me all about dreams turning into a nightmare and what you think might be luck is in fact a disease in disguise!

Many subjects are dealt with in All of this Is True. Carefully at times, raw and painful at others, just like life with any teen! The balance between the girls, the different angles of the story, and the hints for the reader to form their own opinion was good. I only wish we’d heard about the “famous” Fatima. But learning to know her through all those eyes and personalities reminded me of how you perceive someone through their social media, what TV says about them. There is a wall between you and this person, and it hurts when you don’t see it.

All of this Is True was a great way to spend an afternoon in good company. It fed my growing curiosity with each chapter and I was sad to say goodbye to the people in this world!

You can find the book on Amazon

And don’t forget to stop by all the fantastic posts my blogger friends have been posting!

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