3 stars -- It's okay.
Deadly Little Lies is the sequel to Deadly Little Secrets. I rated Deadly Little Secrets 4 stars on Amazon, but this book really only garners 3 from me. I don't remember Deadly Little Secrets very well, so I can't tell you what would make the difference between the 3 and 4 stars; I just know I didn't like this one as well.
Deadly Little Lies, a Touch Novel, still follows the story of Camelia and her attraction to Ben, a boy with extraordinary powers. The last novel finished with him leaving her, but now he's come back.
I think part of the problem I had with this book is that the characters are far too "Twilighty." Replace Ben's name with "Edward" and Camelia's with "Bella," and you could have scenes right out of Twilight. All about her aching for him to touch her, and he unwilling to make contact. Lips trembling with the desire as he reaches toward her wrist, only to pull back without even brushing her skin. And of course, there's the whole stalker issue with him showing up outside her house, crawling in her window, coming to her work uninvited.
It wasn't just Twilight, however, that this copied from. While I know the premise of the series is about Camelia being in danger and Ben saving her, I feel like a lot more could have been done with this book without making it such a repeat of the first.
Camelia has just recently (4 months previously) been abducted and saved, and yet, when the terrorizing notes, intimidating pictures, and threatening phone calls start pouring in, Camelia doesn't go to any real authority for help. In fact, she even lies about it to her dad once, glossing over the details. And while there is always an excuse--her mom hearing bad news about her suicidal aunt, her dad being too busy to hear her quiet voice, a friend's trouble always coming up--when it's your life in danger and you've just been traumatized, it's more believable for me to think you would get help ASAP.
On the other hand, it was nice to have a main character that did pay attention to her friends' troubles (unlike a recent book I've read).
I just don't think that this book added much to the series. We got rid of a character who didn't have to be brought in, added a love triangle that we know isn't going anywhere, and made Camelia go through another traumatizing attack (which, let's face it, if every book is about her getting traumatized, Camelia will probably end up being very untrustful of others and pretty messed up).
Hopefully the next book moves us forward and gets us back on track, because the first book was pretty good.
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