An original and sharp book about desegregation in Virgina in 1959, and two young women whose lives are changing because of it.
The main characters, Sarah and Lydia, two bright young women who were engaging main characters. They both have strong opinions and are talented, and I think they were fleshed out well.
The main thing about "Lies We Tell Ourselves" that I didn't understand was the romance. It was barely a step above 'insta love', and the characters fell for each other surprisingly rapidly. I just don't see how it happened, especially so quickly.
I definitely think it could have been much shorter. For a 400 page book I think quite a few of the scenes were dragged out, and there was far too much internal dialogue. There are stretches of text where characters will internally ask themselves questions and lay out situations, seemingly for the benefit of the reader, but it was a bit too much. I strongly believe Talley's ideas would have been more strongly emphasized if this book was more concise.
I think this is an interesting book, and well-researched! Personally, I just didn't connect with it fully, and believe it could be better if it was shorter. ( )

This book was heartbreaking to read but a necessary thing to understand. As a white person who grew up in Europe the world of segregation America is very far from me. But it's something that I need to learn to understand more. I'm glad I read this book and I'm glad that it was realistic, even when that realism meant I had to be uncomfortable while reading. I wish there was a bit more to the LGBT theme of the book but the messages about racism and discrimination are infinitely more important. ( )

Several other one-star reviews explain why this book was so problematic, better than me. Several book and author recommendations are given by those reviewers, too, and I further encourage searching for them. This was not Robin Talley's story to tell. FWIW, she did an absolutely horrid job of portraying another minority category in "As We Descended". In that book, she tried to portray a disabled person and it was AWFUL. I am a disabled person! She -desperately- needed a sensitivity reader and to -think- for a moment what it would be like to portray as disabled person as a vengeful, unhinged teenager. She needed to think -why- she could do this, as a person who is to my knowledge, not disabled. Onto this one. When I first read it, the opening line gave me chills and dread. "The white people are waiting for us." I hung onto every word because back then, I thought the way this book was written was vivid and good, even though it was a sloppily done enemies to lovers. Even then, it felt more like a soap opera. Now, my opinion has lowered even more. Linda's racist throughout. She never values Sarah as a person, just drools over her and paws at her. If this was Talley attempting an Enemies to Lovers, she did an absolutely terrible job. One girl having a crush on the other is only mentioned at the forty percent mark and it's out of nowhere. The kiss happens for plot contrivance at the fifty percent mark. No buildup, no reason, no emotions. They'd been arguing nastily right beforehand.

The book was alternately infuriating, sad, and boring. Linda and Sarah had no chemistry, nothing in common, and hated each other. Why would they get together? The POV switching was not an effective device here. It was inconsistent and seemed done for no real reason. I wanted to hear more from Sarah! Linda got too much page time, especially since her actions matched her thoughts. I never felt she truly changed. I never felt she was truly conflicted about anything, except Jack leaving. Her dad seemed like a stereotypical villain just so she could seem slightly more humane. I was unhappy. Why did Talley write this? ( )

Buddy read with Lola 😊

Really interesting novel about the desegregation of schools in the US in Virginia in 1959, and the African-American students who endured terrible torment and racism as they integrated a previously all-white school. I found the narration of Sarah, Ruth, Ennis, and the other students raw and gripping as they had to push their way into the school while being spit on, mauled and screamed at. It made me very angry to read at times when there was no help to be found, not from teachers, not from any of the students, I can just imagine how terrified and angry and violated I would have felt, helpless to do anything while this sea of horrible people swarmed around me… and I had to go to school there.

Sarah’s life is such an interesting contrast to Linda’s, the white girl whose father runs the local paper, and who is a younger redheaded bullhorn for his racist views. Sarah has the strong family support system, but is constantly fighting institutionalized racism. The way the author writes every minute of her school day is just so exhausting. And honestly, reading Linda’s perspective is exhausting, too, listening to her babble on, so convinced of her racist diatribe. Linda is intended to become a love interest for Sarah, but it’s hard to picture her as such. Even when she thinks half-heartedly of a compliment towards Sarah, it’s always nastily tied in the same sentence to some little racist jab. Sarah, it’s easy to cheer for. Linda, you really want off the page.

There were parts of this book I find absolutely amazing. The way Robin Talley writes the sequence of Sarah’s fear and self-loathing and desperation following the kiss with Linda felt so visceral and real and just made me ache for her. One of the very best sections in the book. You really get the sense of how trapped she feels in more than one sense. And then I also loved the small triumph of singing Amazing Grace so beautifully, even if few white people applauded, to persevere despite the pianist trying to screw things up. Such great scenes. My problem in this section was that the kiss itself rang untrue for me. I just have a really hard time imagining… not that Sarah could be attracted to a white girl, but that she could be attracted to this white girl, who may put on her party manners one minute, but then has no problem making extremely racist statements the next. So the fact that Sarah in that moment just went in for that kiss… I was pulled out of the narrative.

I really enjoyed reading Sarah’s journey, and to some extent, Linda’s which felt like a beginning. I feel like this book might have been better though, if it hadn’t been a romance. Linda, ultimately remained racist… she just also had an attraction to Sarah… and you have to kind of wonder why that worked for Sarah? Because I ultimately liked a lot of other things about the author’s writing, I think maybe it was because Sarah feels she has no other options. She believes to be attracted to another girl is something wrong with her, certainly something she can’t tell anyone, and maybe views Linda as her only chance to have a girlfriend.

Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader.
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This was a difficult book to read, but it was completely worth it. The point of view switches between Sarah, a black teenager who is one of the first to attend Jefferson High School and Linda, a white teenager who is the daughter of one of the town's most vocal opponents of integration. Forced to work together on a school project, Linda and Sarah eventually become to see beyond the color of each other's skin to the person underneath.

Sarah's descriptions of what the black kids endure from the white students are incredibly painful, as are Linda's justifications for the behavior of both white kids and adults. Talley does a really good job of writing from both points of view. Both Linda and Sarah have very strong, unique voices and both changed as a result of knowing the other. ( )