Liar: The Scarab Beetle Series: #2 (The Academy Scarab Beetle Series)

I'm not going to rehash the plot here, read the book description or many of the other reviews, you'll get the general idea. I will say that I was hoping to like this series more than The Academy series, mainly because the h in this one is older and the group of guys she's going to have (eventual) happy polyamory with is smaller. That being said, I found the plot in this book very plodding. I'm not a fan of the weird love triangle between h, the academy boys and the idiot/liar rich guy. This girl gets led around by her hormones more than I can stomach. There is no character growth at all and h seems less self-aware than in the last installment. The timeline here is going the way of the first Academy series which is on book 7 and has only covered about 2 months chronologically. So be aware that this is just Day of Our Lives in literary format. h will be battered about by the dramatic winds of fate and H(s) will save her. I've stopped reading at about 30%, since I tend to gravitate towards books that have a point. This is high school drama that feels really immediate and life altering but, with time and perspective, is just worth an eye roll. That's what I'm doing now, rolling my eyes and moving on while thanking god I'm no longer a teenager.

Liar is the second book in the Scarab Beetle series and at least now I understand the series name! I still see potential in this series, but I am getting frustrated.Kayli is still uncertain about the boys and Academy, untrusting, reckless, and at times just not very nice. This book also shows her to be judgmental and hypocritical. It's a bit of a mystery why any of the guys would be interested in her at this point. She is so self-centered and seems to disregard their feelings and safety to get her way. However, even with her suspicious, mistrusting nature, she still manages serious kissing time with each boy. I would prefer to have more connecting time; find out more about the boys, spend quality time with her interacting with each separately instead of her messing around with each one. And even though she's already kissing most of the guys, it still doesn't seem like we are moving forward with them. They kiss, then distance themselves.This plot was a bit more believable than the one in book one. I loved the introduction of Future. Hysterical character. But my biggest issue with the book is Kayli's interactions with Blake. Why she would trust him over the Academy boys is a mystery and frankly angers me. This guy was dishonest from the first moment and willing to endanger hundreds of people. But he's good looking, a good kisser, and rich. Kayli's actions with him do not show her in a good light.I will continue on with the series but I need more from the next book.

I Usually don’t give so few stars for books but this one was a tough read for me . I’ve been trying to read this book off and on for almost a year . I didn’t like how she kept kissing all the guys, or thinking about who she liked and who liked her. I could only read a few pages and then I’d put it down again.i usually read a book in a day or so that is this long but it was really hard to “get into” it. I’ve still not finished it yet but I’m writing this review. Maybe it will get better and if it does, I’ll alter my review but I’m going to read another one and try to come back to it later.

I never was interested in the scarab beetle series. I was a total fan of the academy team. Didn't think I'd ever read anything else while waiting for the next academy book to be released. On a whim, I downloaded the first scarab book, The Thief, I was soon falling in love with a completely new team, it runs along the lines of the academy theme, scarred girl befriended by a group of teenage boys. But there however, it takes a different road, there is more mature love occurring among them. At first I saw wow, but then I enjoyed the more adult relationships. It's real and honest. I read all of the scarab books, now I can't wait for the next one to come out. Hoping I can get back to the puppy love of the academy books.

Don't get me wrong, I love books by C.L. Stone, her books are my guilty pleasure and I often giggle while I read them. But there were something in Liar that didn't set well with me, and I am not entirely sure how I feel about Kayli yet.Follow by Theif, Kayli finally learned the crude truth from his father, meanwhile her younger bother Will's missing may turn out to be intentional. Despite having the Academy guys' supports and helps, Kayli still can't quite trust the guys yet. When she discovered the boys have files on both her and Will, she started to investigate about who the boys are and what the Academy is really about. But what she found out may confused her furthermore about the guys.Kayli is uncertain and still acting rather reckless in this book, which none of the guys can do anything about it, in fact they sort of let Kayli leads them to do whatever she wants. In some way I am happy Kayli is a dominated character, but she can be a handful sometime.The romance in this book I thought was progress in a much faster pace than I would've like. I knew this would be a five guys one girl situation (in case you didn't know), so I've expected when Kayli start developing feeling with the guys. However, this is only the second book of the series, and Kayli and the boys hardly had a proper chance to "get to know" each other. Thus, when Kayli started to make-out with the guys, along with her "confused" inner voices and her quite frequent "weak moments", well, I just don't know how to feel about it. Not to mention the author is throwing Blake into the equation (in case you were wondering, I don't perticlar like Blake's character). I feel Kayli is taking advantages and playing with the guys, which really made Kayli look bad.I am not sure if it's because this series is a New Adult genre, but I find the boys can be too aggressive sometime, there are one particular scene which involves Raven and Kayli that just seem unnatural and flat out weird for me. I've expected this series to be more mature and maybe steamy, but I didn't quite get the "aw" effects when the boys are showing, expressing their feeling and desire to Kayli. I think some relationship building is in need at this point.In baffled me that Kayli would easily accept Blake's reasoning, and so-called evidents against the Academy boys. For someone who is also in the "gray" area, Kayli is surprisingly quick to judge and thinks only in black and white.Finally we are learning something new about Will, which may explain certain situations in another series (Ghost Bird series), or not since it wasn't much.While I enjoyed going along with the boys and Kayli on their Academy missions, there are tons actions that was quite fun to read. However, the lack of relationship building can makes the romances somewhat awkward to read. Overall, I liked Liar, but I don't love it.Happy Read! XO

I received the first one in the series for free and was so drawn in, I decided to buy this one. I'm about halfway thru this one and I guess my age and life experience is creeping in now. Not so much the 'Academy' side of things (I'm not even going to go there) but the main female character getting involved with a bunch of lads (who I can't see at their age being as experienced as they all are in their various fields but hey ho, that's me a cynic) who are individually great looking and that the female lead has ended up snogging pretty much all of them and............. At that age, what is she? 21 I think, but could be wrong. Anyways at that age, I certainly wouldn't be responding/reacting to such romantic interest as she has and so it's not believable at all. Romantic fantasy with a bit of a thriller intertwined I guess. That said, will I go on to read the other of the series? Chances are, I will as I'm hooked regardless lol.

(MAY CONTAIN SMALL SPOILERS)I have been sucked in by C.L Stone and the world of The Academy. Yet again!!When this new series came out I told myself that under any condition was I to buy this book!! Obviously that didn't happen as I have now just finished the second book.The reason I didn't want to buy Thief - the first book - was because I knew it couldn't compare to the Ghost Bird Series (And in my opinion, it doesn't, I like Ghost Bird better) I'm not a writer, but I'm guessing it's quite hard to have 15 different guys, with different personalities in 2 series, and not mix them up a bit. But somehow C.L Stone does it without any problem. Sure throughout this series there have been moments when I'm reading and one of the guys will say or do something that will remind me of one of the Ghost Bird boys, and there are some traits of some of the boys that make me compare them, for example - Corey reminds me of Kota, with his smart, nerdy and shy ways Raven, he's bossy and has tattoo's like North, built and protective like Silas (Although he may be dirtier than both of them-You guys know what I mean ;) Other than them little traits and a few others I don't really mix them up. Good for C.L.I like the fact that this book is a little more mature, there's A LOT of kissing between the first two books, 2 naked men and a little touchy feely. But the reason I like this book more is because it's a little more realistic (Not that Ghost Bird isn't realist - it is - Its just that it's hard to believe that 9 very good looking guys are all single and not one is bisexual or gay) Which comes to my next point, when I read the first book and Brandon told Kayli that Corey is gay, I thought he was lying so he didn't have to compete with his brother. At the end of this book you find out Brandon wasn't entirely lying and that Corey is in fact Bisexual and he has a major crush on one of the guys, we don't find out who that is but I have a feeling that it's Marc, I don't know why, I just do. I really like Blake, out of all the boys, he is actually my favourite and I thought maybe he could join in with the group, there's just something about him that I like, I'm not sure what it is, but I just hope that C.L Stone doesn't turn him into a bad guy, although there was one point in the first book when I thought he could be Volto, but he doesn't know Sang and he's not apart of the Academy so he couldn't be, although he seems quite smart, One thing I didn't like was that Kevin wasn't in it a lot at all, which is sad because I kind of wan to know a bi more about him, it also confuses me because he has a girlfriend, which means he won't be near Kayli a lot so does that mean he won't be getting into her like the others, will h leave the Academy to be with his girlfriend. I hope not because I think it'll be a good story like for him to b on a job with Kayli so they can get to know each other better, I hope we get to know him a little more in the next book.The thing I love about C.L Stone is that she doesn't need a cliffhanger to keep her readers interested to buy the next book, we buy it because we want know what happens next. The only bad thing is that we have to wait a month for book 3 of Scarab Beetle and have to wait what seems like a year for book 8 of Ghost Bird, which makes me sad. Other than that this series is amazing and I can't wait for the next book.

I love the author and I love the academy series that's probably why I'm being biased and giving this 4 stars. For some reason I don't feel the connection with these characters, as I do with the the academy series ones. However I love the style of writing and how she keeps us on our toes. I'm still going to wait for the other book in the series because that is the type of person I am.

Adventure filled series totally enjoyable. However this is dependent on your expectation on reading this series. If you are looking for adventure then it's the place to be. And if you are looking for romance......you will have a very long wait, because Hayli aka Bambi is not in a rush for that kind of interaction.

I love all the characters in this series but the whole love "web" (you can't even call it a love triangle) is starting to get out of hand near the end of this book and I'm not sure who I want her to end up with at this point.It was entertaining throughout and just as good as the first book, will definitely be buying the third one.