The Lies We Tell

Starred review from September 26, 2022
Midwestern teenagers and academic rivals join forces to solve a cold case while navigating the aftermath of a hate crime in this intense thriller by Zhao (How We Fall Apart). After returning to Michigan from a summer with extended family in Beijing, Anna Xu starts her freshman year at Brookings University. Best known as the elite alma mater of many of Anna’s affluent white neighbors, it’s also where her former babysitter, East-Asian-cued Melissa Hong, was murdered in a seven-year-old cold case that Anna, hoping for closure, resolves to covertly investigate. As she balances college life with her inquiry, she reconnects with childhood rival Chris Lu, whose family soon opens Sunny’s, a bakery in direct competition with the Xus’ own struggling business, Sweetea. But when Sunny’s is vandalized with a racial slur, and signed with a tag that is related to Melissa’s murder, Anna and Chris begin a dangerous search to resolve the dual investigations. Unease permeates the narrative, and the mysteries tap into the feel of contemporary social consciousness. Zhao thrills and perturbs with a fast-moving plot that examines themes of racism, fetishization of Asian women, and white privilege. Ages 14–up. Agent: Penny Moore, Aevitas Creative Management.