Famous teen author Thistle Tate struggles to keep her biggest secret: the real identity of the author of her bestselling books. 

Thistle Tate is a glittering wunderkind–only seventeen, and a bestselling author of the wildly successful Lemonade Skies series, with the highly anticipated final book due to publish next year. She has diehard fans across the globe, flashy tours, and steep advances. And now she’s finally started to date her best friend and next-door-neighbor, Liam, the only one who knows her deep dark secret: she’s not the real author of the Lemonade Skies books.

Thistle’s guilt about lying intensifies after she meets the surprisingly charming Oliver, who introduces her to his super-fan little sister–but how can she have friendships based on deception? All she wants is for this last book to be written so she can be done with the ruse for good.

Then with just two weeks left to deliver the manuscript to her agent and editor, a dramatic turn of events puts everything in jeopardy, and Thistle must grapple with her own identity. Is she a victim, a fraudster, or both? On top of that, Liam is increasingly jealous of Thistle’s budding friendship with Oliver–a friendship that leaves Thistle more than a little confused about her own heart.

As the book deadline looms closer, the stakes ever higher, a startling family truth comes to light, and it’s only a matter of time before something gives–and Thistle’s world becomes undone.

For fans of Rainbow Rowell and E. Lockhart, this YA is the perfect summer read for teen bookworms everywhere, with a love triangle, an insider’s depiction of the publishing world, and nonstop, page-turning action.

Thank you so much to Edelweiss for this ARC! I saw this book being compared to Rainbow Rowell’s work, and I did not waste time to immerse myself in this intricate and honest world. It was a roller coaster from start to finish, with tension mounting from the very first page.

We are introduced to Thistle as she has just released the second book of her Lemonade Skies trilogy. She is a passionate, nerdy, and selfless girl with a huge secret: she is not the true author of her best-sellers. Her mother died when she was young and in a desperate attempt to make ends meet, her father grows tired of being rejected for his own world and submits his newest creation under Thistle’s name.

The idea itself came from Thistle, and she wanted nothing more than to make her dad happy, so she went along with it. She had no idea how the lie would strip so many childhood experiences and well-being away from her. She shared this secret with one other; her confidant and best friend, Liam. It seems like her dreams are coming true as the trilogy is coming to an end and her friendship with Liam is evolving into something more, but her hopes are dashed in one fell swoop after disaster strikes.

She turns to a sickly girl and her brother for solace and help as her world crashes down around her, but she finds out that she has what it takes inside of herself. It’s an uplifting coming of age story that urges you to remember that your worst moments are exactly that: moments. You can learn, grow, and change. And just like Thistle, your story is just beginning.

5/5 stars