Everything but the Truth: Gillian McAllister

Product Information

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." Holiday Mathews and her mother have recently moved into a very posh retirement home in Seattle called Sunrise House. This is where the wealthy go to retire, and she just happens to live there too. Her mother is the new leasing manager and while she goes about doing her business and proving her worth, Holly visits with some of the residents and does odd jobs for them. It's a great gig because not only does she actually enjoy talking to them, but at the same time she's making tips on the side to put away for college. 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. Once I'd started I was of course powerless to stop. Everything But the Truth is a dream debut, brilliantly executed, clever and utterly realistic. I loved it." - Jill Mansell

Everything but the Truth - Wikipedia

Use italics (lyric) and bold (lyric) to distinguish between different vocalists in the same song part The If Only books are YA contemporary (clean) romance stories that remind me a lot of some of the books I used to read when I was a teenager. So I always love receiving a new one--Thanks Bloomsbury!--and giving them a go. I take each one as it comes because some haven't worked for me. But when they do, I adore them. The ending was just perfect. I closed the book with an 'awwwwwww' that left me feeling optimistic and excited about life.

Everything But the Truth is a wonderful story with a lot of depth. Sure, it's a romance at heart but there's so much more to this story. It explores a very close relationship between a mother and daughter who get along so well she can open up about anything. It's also about the strong friendship between two best friends who are soon going off to different colleges and feel like they might be losing touch with each other. And ultimately, it's about a very intelligent and nice girl who is willing to go above and beyond to help the elderly residents. Everything but the Truth is Gillian McAllister's stunning breakthrough thriller about deceit, betrayal and one woman's compulsive need to uncover the truth from the publisher's description An e-galley was provided by Bloomsbury USA Childrens via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. Mandy Hubbard introduces us to yet another light-hearted, seemingly impossible romance, and shows how it can work, against all odds. I share a name, a complicated version of grief and a proclivity towards paranoia with the narrator, so the book really affected me at times. There is a line about 'your perfect thing forever being stained' which made me want to cry, I’m sure it’s a feeling we can all identify with.

Everything but the Truth - Kindle edition by McAllister Everything but the Truth - Kindle edition by McAllister

If you’re looking for an easy-breezy type of romance, you could give Everything but the Truth a try. It may not blow you away, but I promise it’s not a chore to read either. It’s fun, it’s cutesy, it has its share of funny moments. I don’t regret getting to know these characters at all. I think all of the books in the If Only line are great for an afternoon of summer reading; I’m definitely looking forward to future books in the series! When wealthy playboy Malik assumes Holly is another rich relative visiting family in the fancy retirement home her mother manages, she doesn't correct him. Things between them were never going to get serious - they come from different worlds and in just a few months Holly is leaving for college. But when flirting leads to one date and then another, Holly finds it harder and harder to tell Malik the truth. He's been hurt by others who have lied to him to get close. How can Holly come clean and without losing her new relationship? I enjoyed this book quite a lot, even if the first thirds extremely captivating atmosphere did let up and that the story took off in a different direction than I expected. The likewise unexpected ending I kind of liked though - it worked well with the established protagonist and their quite complex personas. What did not work for me was that the main character was supposed to be a (quite experienced) MD. I found the character not convincing - rather in the same way as Denise Richards wasn’t as Dr. Christmas Jones, Nuclear Physicist in The World is Not Enough. Oddly enough, I managed to overlook this integral part and wasn’t too distracted.

While the romance between Malik and Holly was very much a fairytale, it's Holly relationships with her friends and mother that I appreciated the most. I did enjoy the characters and plot, even with the dose of anxiety, and had fun with this predictably fun and entertaining story. Thank you to Bloomsbury Australia for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! 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. Richly textured and complex in character, the secrets in the book are slowly revealed. This beautifully written book leaves the reader with thought-provoking questions for which there are no easy answers. I did not like Rachel for most of the book, but in the end it was easy to understand her, and most IMPORTANTLY ... forgive her for rubbing me the wrong way.

Everything but the Truth by Gillian McAllister | Goodreads Everything but the Truth by Gillian McAllister | Goodreads

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. One of the things I like most about the If Only line of books - and in particular Everything But the Truth - is how they deal with growing up. Holly is only months away from college and becoming an adult. This book manages to show how mature she is becoming at the same time as showing how she is still a teenager. I loved the romance and appreciated how this love story was developed.

While the story is one that has been seen in YA before, Mandy Hubbard's nuanced characterizations for Holly, makes her a likable character that readers will want to root for. Holly's struggles to tell Malik the truth, along with the moments where she lets her genuine personality and interests shine through, makes this a fun tale that will keep readers reading and engaged. Rachel is a doctor who looks after cancer patients. On her rounds she befriends a patient. But is there a line that must be drawn in the sand of how close Doctors should get to their patients? In a split moment Rachel makes a judgement call that leads to her catastrophic secret. 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. As for the romance, I liked how we slowly got to know Holly and Malik a little better. They're both fully-formed characters. Holly is a bit girly but not overtly so. She likes antiques and interior decorating, and she has plans to attend Washington State University in the fall. Malik is set to run his grandfather's business - but he doesn't really want to. I was worried that part would be totally cliche, but it's not. He loves to read, and after a party boy past, he's actually realized the good he can do in this world and he's working toward ways he can do that and still take over his grandfather's company like expected. Holly Mathews lives in a retirement home because her mom is the manager. She loves living there, because it's the nicest place she's ever lived, the people are nice, and she can indulge her love of antiques (this place is fancy). Holly has a bright spirit, and I liked her fascination with art history and antiquing. I have a special love for books where the heroine wants to do something non-standard, and Holly's dream of being a curator fits the bill.