Liar's Dice

 
“Liar’s Dice” by Juliet Faithful
Published by Random House
 
This is not your typical coming of age story.  In this book, the main character has a twin with cerebral palsy and epilepsy in a small village in Brazil in the late 60s, early 70s.  At the age of about 12, the sister is sent away to a hospital in England while the rest of the family moves to Rio. So, not only is she struggling with all the things that come with being a pre-teen, she’s also starting a new school (hiding that she’s illiterate) and missing her twin terribly, with no way of knowing if she’s dead or alive because her parents won’t discuss it.   The story itself is told in dual timelines – the year leading up to the sister being sent away and the years immediately following.  In all honesty, I think having it split out that way, took away from the flow of the storyline.  In this instance, because there wasn’t a lot of time between the two timelines and because there wasn’t some big give-away being kept secret, I think it could have been told in a single timeline and been smoother.  That’s obviously just my personal opinion.  Overall, I still think it was a great read and definitely recommend it.
 
Side note – I wish I knew there was a glossary at the back of the book for some of the Brazilian words, terms, and references.  If you read this, please refer to it as needed for clarifications to make it an easier read.
 
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the complimentary copy of this e-book.  As always, the opinions expressed within this honest review are completely my own.
 
Finished 4/24/26 – 4/5 stars

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