All The Truth That's In Me, an examination of moral shades of gray

All the Truth That's In Me by Julie Berry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This story caught me by surprise, sneaking up on me when I thought I wasn't really going to like it. Lyrical or artistic writing is often hit-or-miss for me. Sometimes I like it, sometimes it drives me crazy (not in a good way). But With All The Truth That's In Me, I found the writing style exactly fitting to Judith and her mental state. It made sense, the way she thought, moved, reacted.

Her obsession with Lucas was a little disturbing at first, but it fit with her history. He's one of the few good points in her life, the ivory tower she can admire from afar, never thinking she has a chance to be near it. He frustrated me some--how long it took for him to notice Judith, but at the same time, it made him more human. And I think that's what I liked best about this story; all these characters were very, very human, and very imperfect. No one always made the right decision or thought entirely logically, but their mistakes weren't idiotic either. They were emotion-based.

If you enjoy books that explore the human character, and show how people aren't easily definable as good or evil, you'll probably enjoy this book. A teen reading this should probably be more mature, able to understand all the moral shades of gray.

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