Vacation Reads Giveaway Hop - Deck of Lies by Jade Varden

Blurb (from Goodreads):
A House of Cards...

When you build an entire life on a foundation of lies, it only takes one truth for the whole thing to come crashing down. I never invited the truth in. I never went searching for it. I never had any reason to suspect that the two people I loved most were dishonest with me every second of every day.

I made one bad decision, and in a single day my entire world changed. If I'm ever going to discover the truth about myself and my parents, I have to trace all the lies back to their source. I have to try to find the truth that they're hiding.

The more I discover about myself, and my past, the more I realize that lies really are better than the truth. But now that I know the lies are all around me, I can't stop until I've discovered them all. I'll pull each lie away, one by one, and examine it to see what's underneath…until this house of cards crumbles into dust at my feet.

I just hope I can survive the crash.

Justice by Jade Varden

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

(Source: I received a digital copy of this book for free from the author on a read-to-review basis.)
OMG! I really don’t know where to start with this book, but man, is ‘Deck of Lies’ an apt title for this series!
If you’ve read the blurb (above), you’ll notice that it is very cryptic and doesn’t give much away, so I didn’t really know what to expect when I started reading this book, and let me tell you, I was very pleasantly surprised!

I don’t want to give too much away, because it is the mystery that makes this book such a captivating read, but I will tell you a little bit – because if you have an idea what this book is about you will be rushing to download a copy too 

16-year-old Rain Ramey lives with her parents and older brother. She’s starting at the prestigious ‘Sloan Academy’ having won a scholarship, and she knows that things will be very different for her starting at a new school where nobody knows her.
What Rain could never have guessed, was that when she left home that day for her first day at Sloan Academy, that she would never really go back to her parents and her home again.
An unfair trick, played on her by the new school’s queen bee – Carsyn, changes Rain’s life as she knows it forever, and nothing will ever be the same again.

As I said I really don’t want to tell you any more, because this book is just full of mystery, and I really couldn’t guess what was coming next. Every chapter bought fresh excitement, and even more questions to light, and I just had to keep reading.
Rain is just such a likeable character, has such a clear, fresh voice. Rain’s thoughts almost felt like my own whilst reading this book, and I was living every moment of this book right alongside her.

There was a touch of romance in this book, although it is almost a side-story, what I liked most about the romance aspect of this book though, is that even when two different guys are interested in Rain, she’s open and tells guy number 2 that she is sort-of dating guy number 1, and doesn’t string him along. I’m not the biggest fan of love triangles, and I like that Rain was honest enough to try and prevent the situation happening to her!

There is so much more I could say about this book, but I really want you to uncover the mysteries yourself and hopefully enjoy it as much as I did! I’m off to read the next in the series!
Highly recommended YA fiction!
8.5 out of 10.
(Book length: 3765 kindle locations)





Blurb(from Goodreads):
Death brings some families closer, but it’s ripped mine apart. I wanted to convince the police that they had the wrong suspect...but I never expected them to start suspecting me. Now, I have no choice but to keep searching for the truth, even if all my relationships fall to pieces around me.

Someone is trying to make me look guilty. I never thought my mission to prove my own innocence would lead me to more family secrets. I thought I had already discovered the truth about myself. But every answer raises more questions, and everything I think I know is about to change...again.

I have to find the truth, no matter how much it hurts -- before I get charged with murder.

The Tower by Jade Varden

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

(Source: Downloaded from Smashwords.)
Well, once again we have a very cryptic blurb for this book, and once again this book is full of mystery, and lies upon lies are uncovered.

I’m not going to tell you too much about this book, because not knowing what is going to happen is part of the fun, but once again poor Rain is in for a rough ride.
In book 1 (Justice), Rain’s life was turned absolutely upside down and back to front by a prank played on her by a girl at her new school, and now, on top of all the drama still going on surrounding that event, Rain has a murder to solve.
A girl at her new school was strangled to death, and Rain’s only friend – River, has been accused of her murder and locked up in jail. Rain knows that River could never hurt someone like that, no matter what other people are saying about him, and she knows that any evidence they have is fake. What she doesn’t realise is how tightly interwoven her own life and the dead girl’s are.

Once again, Rain’s life is further shattered by lies told by those older than her, and this time she’s worked out one hell of a complicated family tree, connecting several teens at her school. The question still remains though; who had the means and will to murder one of her classmates? And what were they trying to hide?

I really enjoyed this book. I picked this one up straight after finishing the first one,’ cause I couldn’t wait to find out what happened next! This book picked up pretty much where the last one left off, but this time we had more than one mystery to solve, and once again, layers and layers of deceit. It’s difficult to say much without giving too much away, but this book is just so cryptic, and has such a complex storyline, the mind boggles.
I love Rain, she has such a fresh, clear voice, and you can totally image her saying and doing the things she does. She’s also incredibly normal, even when she feels guilt for telling white lies.
I have to say that the ending left me wanting more! It was a bit cryptic – Rain knows who the murderer is and how they covered it up, but she doesn’t actually tell us! Thanksfully though, there is more to come, and I am really looking forward to the next book – ‘Death’.
8 out of 10.
(Book Length: 3819)

I cannot tell you how mad I am that I have not been able to read the third book yet! I have so many other reviews to do but I am getting round to this soon!

Author Interview - Jade Varden!

When did you start writing?

I started writing short stories when I was around 11.

What was your inspiration for the ‘Deck of Lies’ series?

I was intrigued by the idea of a girl being taken from one family and put right into another.

What three words would you use to best describe the ‘Deck of lies’ series?

Secrets. Surprises. Deception.

What are your favourite things about Rain?

She’s brave. Sometimes, that’s a flaw, but I like the fact that she doesn’t shy away from something if she believes in it strongly enough. 

This series has a really complicated storyline? Can you tell us how you came up with such twists and turns without giving too much away?

The people who live in the Deck of Lies series, the people who surround Rain, are good at putting on masks and lying to others. Some of the twists happen when Rain sees behind those masks, but some of the twists are because Rain’s trying to figure stuff out and it takes her a few wrong turns before she gets to the truth.

Do you already know how Rain’s story will end, or will it come to you as you write it?

I know how it will end. I had a vague idea in my head for the events of the entire series, and I plot each book with an outline before I start writing it.

When can we expect to hear more from this series?

I’m writing the fourth and final book now, which is scheduled for release in fall 2012.

Can you tell us a bit about the other books that you are working on?

Judgment (Deck of Lies, #4) will complete Rain’s story. It will introduce new characters, and it will answers to many of the questions that are still left over from Justice, the first book in the series. In this book, Rain’s past, present and future will all collide – everything about who she’s been and where she’s going comes together.

Other than your own, what are your favourite books?

Gone with the Wind is my absolute favorite, but there are many authors I return to again and again. I love Tony Hillerman’s books, Mary Higgins Clark, the Harry Potter books – I have a long list.

Random Question – What’s your favourite treat?

Iced coffee. I adore it.

 

Thanks so much for stopping by Jade, I am gutted that there is only 4 books in this series!

Anyway, on to the giveaway! Thanks so much to Jade for making this possible! 

Here is your chance to win the first 2 books in this amazing series!

 

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