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The Truth and Lies of Ella Black

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About this listen

Penguin presents The Truth and Lies of Ella Black by Emily Barr, read by Kelby Keenan.

Ella Black seems to live the life most other seventeen-year-olds would kill for . . .

Until one day, telling her nothing, her parents whisk her off to Rio de Janeiro. Determined to find out why, Ella takes her chance and searches through their things.

And realises her life has been a lie.

Her mother and father aren't hers at all. Unable to comprehend the truth, Ella runs away, to the one place they'll never think to look - the favelas.

But there she learns a terrible secret - the truth about her real parents and their past. And the truth about a mother, desperate for a daughter taken from her seventeen years ago . . .

 Family & Relationships Growing Up Growing Up & Facts of Life Literature & Fiction Multicultural Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Thrillers & Suspense Fiction Adoption Mystery
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This is one of the best books I’ve ever listened to, please write a sequel to it. You are the best writer ever

Amazing

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Not up to Emily Barr's usual very high standard. Normally she will give us an interesting cast of characters who we begin to care about and want to learn their secrets, which are beautifully written twists and turns in the story.

In this case, the main 17 year old behaves like an obnoxious spoiled brat. Everyone falls over themselves to help her, in more and more ridiculous ways and she pushes everyone away without showing any signs of learning from the experience.

Her 'job' really got on my nerves. She was far to happy to have found herself a 'job' and started to look after herself, as if it was proof she could do this on her own. The fact it wasn't a paid job, that the people around her were paying for the privilege to be there didn't seem to bother her. She will push everyone in her life away, allow them to believe she's dead, but will still rely on them for major financial support for her ridiculous whims.

I kept waiting for her to learn from the experience as the secrets revealed themselves. I was left disappointed and irritated.

Unlikable main character

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