Little White Lies by Jennifer Lynn Barnes follows Sawyer Taft, a girl supporting herself through a job as an auto mechanic who’s been raised by a single mother when suddenly her life dramatically changes. Her grandmother shows up one day unannounced and offers her five hundred thousand dollars if she’ll live with her for the summer and go through all the activities and traditions of being a debutante. To Sawyer Taft, this is the most horrendous thing she could imagine as her mom ran away from that life and kind of scared her away from it too, but she needs the money for college, so she agrees. This brings on a life of drama, designer clothes, and rich kids who she cannot stand. She does find two friends in this messed up world though, Lily and Sadie-Grace, and when a mystery starts taking over their lives, they decide to solve it. Now she has to balance this investigation and pretend to be a pretentious and rule-following debutante to get her six figures. Will she make it to the debutante ball without being caught?
I loved this book for many reasons. It takes place in a hilarious and frivolous world of debutantes and ball gowns where drama and scandal are everywhere. The main characters were far from perfect and super relatable which made them really interesting to read about. The mystery of the novel is fun to try and solve and trying to figure out who Sawyer Taft’s biological dad is is also enjoyable, but shocking once it’s revealed. The comical things, like sabotaging a fancy sports car or trying to reason with the police officer holding them in a cell, that all the girls do just in solving the mystery are extremely fun to read and the ease at which they do them is priceless. I would give this novel a rating of 4 out of 5 stars because it’s hilarious and entertaining. If you like funny mysteries, stories about rich people, or novels about friends, pick up Little White Lies by Jennifer Lynn Barnes.
Review Written by Ada, 9th Grade