Seven Minutes in Heaven (The Lying Game #6) by Sara Shephard

Seven Minutes in Heaven

In this final installment of The Lying Game, the mystery killer is finally revealed!

For the last few months, Emma Paxton has been masquerading as her dead twin sister, Sutton Mercer, in an attempt to stay alive and find out who really murdered her sister. As we left off the 5th book, Sutton’s long-time rival Nisha Banerjee was just found dead in her swimming pool, a suspicious circumstance because she was a great swimmer. She also had something important to say to Emma/Sutton right before she was found dead. But time is running out for Emma, as Thayer Vega, Sutton’s true love, is continually disbelieving her attempt to be Sutton, and her family, the Mercers, just found out that Sutton had a twin sister. Her charade implodes entirely when police find Sutton’s body and reveal the true Emma, making Emma the number one suspect in her sister’s murder because of her terrible foster kid past and the lies she’s been living. Though Emma is innocent, the one person she trusts is Ethan Landry, her boyfriend. Can Emma reveal the true killer, win her family back, all without sharing her sister’s fate?

You won’t be able to put this final book down!

 

Spoiler hint alert!

Wow! What do I say about the mystery?

I had a hunch about the true identity of the killer for a few books now, but it just seemed so cruel! Seriously, how does a girl LIVE through that?! Obviously her mother had legitimate innate mental issues, but all of that betrayal and lies and awfulness would be enough to break anyone and probably make Emma develop a disorder like a panic or anxiety disorder, possibly something much worse. That aspect of it is the only thing I found rather unbelievable about the whole ending.

 

The Lying Game series by Sara Shepard

The Lying Game series:

1)The Lying Game

2)Never Have I Ever

3)Two Truths and a Lie

4)Hide and Seek

5)Cross My Heart and Hope to Die

6) Seven Minutes in Heaven

In this gripping mystery series by popular Pretty Little Liars author Sara Shephard, Emma Paxton is called to Arizona when she finds out the twin she never knew she had, Sutton Mercer, has been murdered and Emma must pretend to be her or she’ll be dead too. Emma must secretly find out who her killed her sister because she deserves justice. There are many suspects like Sutton’s best friends, her boyfriend, her sister, her parents, her birth mother, her nemesis…and Emma must pretend as if nothing is wrong and fool everyone that she is Sutton. Emma herself has her own issues. She was raised in the very flawed foster system and now she has a loving family, close friends, and the great attention of the student body, especially the male cohort. Can Emma play the Lying Game the best it’s ever been played and still come out alive? Or worse, could she be endangering her friends and family by trying to search out her sister’s killer?

As the series progresses, Emma finds love, true friendship, and sometimes more trouble than she bargained for. If you for some reason tried to read Pretty Little Liars and didn’t care for it (I had this problem), try again with this series. Emma is funny and likeable trying to fill her sister’s popular and fearsome façade. If you love mysteries or thrillers, why haven’t you read this yet?! It keeps you on the edge of your seat and finds you rooting for bad girl Sutton to find a bit of redemption as well as give underdog Emma a happy ending (and I’m not talking about an enjoyable death).

The content in this series is better for high school rather than middle school due to sexual references, violence, paranoia, and just plain creep factor! So far I’ve read up to #5, but haven’t read #6 yet. I really like them although I find them incredibly easy to read and then be finished (and upset), going, “Wait! What happens next?!”

This isn’t a series I will buy for myself just because I don’t feel quite like it has the power to be a much beloved classic. Most mysteries are for present entertainment or popular reading, not to keep you coming back to re-experience the magic, much like we re-read Harry Potter. 

One more note: I haven’t yet watched the television show, so I’m not quite sure how much you’re missing or not missing by reading the books. I plan to watch eventually, but I’m just too busy!

Happy reading!