It’s honestly difficult for me to believe that one of my peers has written a book. Like, an actual book. There were literary agents and editors involved in the production of this book; she has done author readings and book signings to promote her novel. I held this book in my hands, read its pages, and my peer wrote it.
Seven Ways We Lie, written by Kenyon senior Ríoghnach Robinson under the pseudonym Riley Redgate, was published in early March by Amulet Books, a children’s and young adult imprint of ABRAMS. Kenyon has its fair share of successful YA writers in its alumni network, the most famous of whom are John Green and Ransom Riggs, but I don’t think that any Kenyon writers have published a novel before graduation. Redgate’s novel is so artfully crafted and tenderly written that it’s hard to believe that it’s a debut novel, never mind one from an author who hasn’t even received her Bachelor’s Degree yet.
The story begins with the eruption of a school scandal: an anonymous source has notified administrators of Paloma High School of an illicit student-teacher romance. The ensuing weeks are captured from seven different perspectives, each a student at Paloma High who is affected by the affair. These students belong to different cliques, but they are brought together to deal with the repercussions of the scandal. This student-teacher romance is not the only secret floating around the hallways of Paloma.
Each student is meant to represent one of the seven deadly sins. Much of the pleasure that came from reading this book was deciding which sin corresponds with which character. Some matches can be made almost immediately, while some took the entirety of the novel for me to figure out. At times, it seemed that some characters represented more than one sin, or none at all. I appreciated that this gimmick was so nuanced and that the author never flat-out told me what to believe about her characters.
Obviously, this novel is extremely character-driven. As a reader who especially relishes twist endings, I was a bit disappointed that I learned which student and teacher were involved in the affair relatively early in the novel. But I was too emotionally invested in the characters to care. Creating seven completely distinct first person points of view is an almost impossible feat, and Redgate certainly rose to the challenge. Each voice is different, and each character is complex. Every reader will find at least one character with whom they can identify. And though the plot wasn’t the most ground-breaking I have ever read, it was exciting to learn about new developments regarding the scandal through they eyes of seven different individuals.
My one critique of the novel is that some of the dialogue felt too preachy. I applaud Redgate for including topics rarely discussed in contemporary YA literature, such as pansexuality as a valid sexual orientation or the implications of slut shaming. When discussing these issues, it seemed as if many characters were talking directly to the reader, perhaps borrowing certain arguments that Redgate herself may have read on Tumblr or other websites with an emphasis on social justice. Redgate was more successful in depicting other issues, such as the possibilities that a character may be asexual or suffering from a development disorder such as Asperger’s syndrome, because she was so ambiguous. These nuances left the reader to question the problems presented in the novel on her own, without the looming presence of the author telling her what to think.
Beyond a few nitpicks, Seven Ways We Lie was an absolute joy to read. It tore at my heart at times, was beautifully written, and featured a cast of unforgettable characters. It’s unbelievable to think that this novel was written by a college student, and I could not be more proud of an author from my alma mater.
Image Credit: She Altitude, Kenyon College, Goodreads