It was nice to see how these two meet and grow to admire one another and push each other in the right directions. Sweet really the amount of encouragement that Holly gives Malik throughout the book to help find himself. The relationships with the parents, friends and family members are also very thoughtful. It’s hard being in a retirement home but it’s great when young people show involvement in their lives to help ease their transition from complete independence to having to live in a home. It's hard not to put yourself in Rachel's position, wondering how you yourself would come to terms with the discoveries she's making, but it sure makes for a compelling read. The ending was just perfect. I closed the book with an 'awwwwwww' that left me feeling optimistic and excited about life. It's consistently good. Not a lull or dull moment. Nothing is rushed here. I imagine the author to be a perfectionist and I say that as a compliment. Such a great book!

Everything but the Truth By Gillian McAllister |The Works

Her own secret is woven throughout the book and becomes sort of easy to guess. I figured out the event but got the how wrong. Too much of that story was obvious for the big reveal to have any impact.Wow! Just….Wow! Shall I just leave it there? A book reviewed in just one word?! If I could I would but I need to tell you all why I have been blown away by this beautifully written debut by Gillian McAllister. She has written an intriguing and intelligent psychological suspense that has been perfectly plotted to make yourself ask “what would I have done?” An utterly unique story with a deep heartbeat and expertly crafted moral dilemmas' Holly Seddon, author of Try Not To Breath Everything But The Truth enters my long list of Top Books of 2017 - worthy of its place there and a contender for one of my top 17 books of 2017. I'm hungry for more from Gillian. A favourite author now, insta-love. The title of the book for me is really fascinating. That and the cover and bio really caught my attention. I know why it has such a big score on here. The title however is intriguing in itself. Is it always important to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth? Or is there again a line where telling the truth can be far more harmful then a little white lie? Everything but the Truth is without a doubt a read that will have you totally engrossed in it. The author weaves a story that will have readers hooked from start to end. I’m not sure what I was actually expecting from this book as I thought it sounded like it could be a psychological thriller from the description, which it isn’t by the way. What it is though is a story that is shrouded in lies and suspense and without a doubt makes for an engaging read. Hard to believe this is the authors debut novel and very excited to read more by her in the future.

Everything but the Truth by Gillian McAllister | Goodreads

Everything But The Truth by Mandy Hubbard is mainly centered around Holiday (Holly) Mathews and Malik Buchannan. Their story is mainly set at a fancy and expensive retirement home, known as Sunrise House, where Holly's mom works and where they live and where Malik visits his extremely wealthy grandfather. Holly is known for voluntarily helping the staff and keeping the residents company. Malik is Hollywood-famous and well-known on the internet, but secretly he wishes that people would like him for who he is, not for who they think he is. The main conflict is introduced soon after Holly and Malik first meet. When Holly is about to introduce herself to Malik, one of the residents walks by and calls out to Holly. But, instead of using Holly's real name, the resident calls her "Lucy." Holly then lets Malik believe that that is her real name, brushing away the thought that soon it would matter what her name was. Based on Holly's illogical thinking about her growing lie and Malik's inner thoughts, a main theme of the story is many can know who a person is, but few actually know who that person is. An initial action that hooked me was when Holly texts her best friend, Alex, that she found her "new boyfriend." There are questions at every turn in this book, and I liked that it seemed quite realistic, overall – the storyline, though dramatic at times, wasn’t overly ridiculous or unbelievable. It was crazy enough without making me think, “this is stupid” – something I unfortunately do feel a lot with books in this genre. It had just the right balance, and it makes you think about human nature and what you’d do in this situation. This one, about a young boy who wants to talk, intrude himself in adult affairs, is delicious. And the gorgeous Maureen O Hara, one of the few remaining female Hollywood movie stars still alive - with Laureen Bacall and Olivia De Havilland - is always worth seeing. I won't never be tired of her. Universal Studios is one of my all favourites, because it offered us pretty good pieces of work, as well in horror, scifi, crime, westerns, adventure films. And these were never boring or corny films. And often grade B pictures, but fancy B pictures. This comedy movie is also somewhere a B movie, pure Universal product, so charming and entertaining. An e-galley was provided by Bloomsbury USA Childrens via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration.

Thus, a wonderful entertaining, suspenseful, compelling read; tense and intriguing, without ripping my guts out.

Everything But the Truth by Lucinda Williams Lyrics for Everything But the Truth by Lucinda Williams

Everything But the Truth is definitely my favorite of the If Only books to this point. If it weren't for the plot being based on a stupid lie, I think this would have been a higher rating for me. The books in this series can definitely be read alone but it’s still good to see a group of authors working together to make a series along the same theme. In this installment we meet Holly who isn’t as well off as the residents in the retirement home her mother works and lives at. But she’s genuine and real, especially when she meets Malik Buchanan. But then again not that genuine as he’s under the impression she’s really someone else, mistakenly of course. I hugely enjoyed this novel and found it was a brilliant, riveting read which left my feeling satisfied.

Toys

Sadly, this book's biggest fault was its predictability. I don't know if it's a result of the genre or just my ability to predict how things will turn out, but it was pretty easy to figure out what would happen and how things would be resolved in the end. As I mentioned earlier, in relation to Holly, there were also a lot of resolutions that were entirely too convenient. This goes hand-in-hand with the predictability aspect. This book is set into three parts who? What? Why? Each section unravelling to answer each of these questions. Which I thought was fascinating and really clever. I was completely absorbed by this book. It's quite a steady story, but it really gets under your skin. An outstanding debut by, Gillian McAllister, and I genuinely hope there is more to come. I was drawn to this story from the premise, I thought it sounded utterly intriguing and in many ways, it lived up to that thought and will be enjoyed by readers who appreciate a good mystery with a few twists and turns along the way.