Justice: Deck of Lies #1By Jade Varden
23rd December 2011
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.
Initially I didn't think I would enjoy this book because at first it seemed to be another story of how a normal teenage girl, living a normal unprivileged life couldn't possibly fit in with the rich and powerful students at her new school and I couldn't help but despise the cliche but boy was I WRONG!
I really should take my own advice and not judge a book by its cover because this story was not even close to what I was expecting. Varden's writing is fast paced and leaves you wanting more, the secrets come thick and fast and where each secret is revealed and resolved a new one quickly rushes in to take its place.
At times the story was a little predictable but this in no way ruins it because it is great to see how Rain deals with everything thrown her way. I like Rain, I think she's genuine and easy to connect with. She's a typical teenage girl: awkward and shy at times but she's always herself no matter how much the people around her want her to change. Her situation is far from normal but she seems to take everything in her stride and it's endearing to say the least.
The interesting thing about this story is that there isn't a love triangle it's more of a love quartet. Revolving around Rain, River, Tom and Owen. This may make it seem like there's too many characters in play but Varden doesn't make things easy and the results are surprisingly unexpected.
River is an interesting character and although he seems like the typical bad boy/damaged kid in the beginning, he is far more than that. It's not surprising that he has more than a few secrets of his own. I really like him as a character and I really hope his his issues get resolved in the next book because I am dying to see more of him. His relationship with Rain is complicated and yet surprisingly easy at the same time, when they are together i can't help but smile. He distracts her with normalcy at a time in her life when everything is far from normal.
And Owen? I can't even begin to describe how i feel about his character, at first I really thought he was just a sweet, nice guy that was obviously with the wrong girl but now? Now I believe he's got deep dark secrets of his own that are just waiting to be spilled. I have a feeling they are going to be far worse than anything else we've covered in the book so far.
This book is a rollercoaster of emotion, full of so many twists and turns that it's hard to remember what's real. Everyone has secrets but these secrets are unlike anything Rain has ever come across.
I reccommend to anyone that wants a book that's shrouded in mystery, tainted with sadness and full of intrigue. Varden does not disappoint. I can't wait to read the next in the series The Tower: Deck of Lies #2
Check out Jade Vardens blog here
Rating * * * * *
- Stephanie
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