A fresh, funny story about white lies, brutal honesty and a bangle with special powers, from award-winning journalist and author Radhika Sanghani.
Priya Shah lies. A lot. She pretends everything in her life is perfect, so she doesn't disappoint anyone.
But when she puts on a bangle left to her by her Ba - the one person she was always honest with - she finds herself unable to tell a lie.
Priya is mortified. She tells her dad she hates his cooking, she tells Dan Zhang about her huge crush on him, she shares her best friends' secrets at school. She can't get the bangle off, and she can't stop the truths pouring out of her.
As more things go wrong, and Priya's truth-telling spirals out of control, can Priya learn to be honest without hurting the people she loves?
There's something very Disney Channel Original Movie about this story, and I absolutely mean that as a compliment. The mix of something a bit magical and real life problems would suit that channel very well - and boy, do Priya and her friends have real life problems.
I felt so bad for Priya because I know exactly how she felt. Not about the magic truth telling bangle, of course, but about keeping things in to avoid hurting others. I think we've all done that in our time, and hopefully, like Priya, we've learned that it doesn't always help and that sometimes honesty actually is better. Used carefully, of course, because as Priya found, uncontrolled honesty can be just as bad. It's a fine line!
The characters here were great and I really enjoyed reading about them, and I'd happily spend more time with them. Perhaps Pinkie's box really is magic? I'm sure there's a story there!
This is a great read and I'm really looking forward to seeing it on shelves.
The Girl Who Couldn't Lie publishes on the 4th of May, 2024. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.
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