Such an interesting read. A great look into the world of a skater. Strong characters.

The Big Lie is a novel of heartbreak, protest, oppression, freedom, and choice. It is not knowing what you truly stand for or what the people around you stand for. It is propaganda used at its finest. It is what it means when you have been forced to turn a blind eye for so long that you don’t know what to do when you see the truth.

It’s terrifying to think about what could have been if the German Nazi Regime was still up and running today. However, it is even more terrifying to think of how the people living within the regime would go about their lives not knowing anything was wrong and believing in a lie (and that anyone in any country today that controls what media you can consume and what things are legal and illegal to have could possibly be living in a big lie as well). The Big Lie is a work of speculative fiction that especially rings true in today’s times where the media is constantly questioned and we are always wondering if what we are being told is the truth.

The number one takeaway I got from this was that even though this story follows Jessika and talks about what life is like for her under the German Reich (especially with her sexuality) that this book was showing that it was never going to end with this girl just as much as it wasn’t going to end from Clementines efforts either. Revolutions are a process and it is rare for us to ever see the end of any kind of oppression in our lifetimes.

What I also loved about the choice of Jessika as the main character is that she was never particularly strong, but she was real and made many many mistakes and was still trying to find out who she was in a place where she was only ever breed to be married and have kids later in life. It also left me with a lot of mystery around Clementine as someone who does know what she stands for and believes in (the main mystery being what was her true past).

The Big Lie is an urgent and emotional take at what life would be like now under the nazi regime. For those who are curious about World War 2 and what could have been, this book is for you.

The book starts with an interesting premise that unfolds like a mystery. A dystopian future is constructed where Great Britain lost WW2 with Germany, and the citizens are living under a Nazi Reich in 2012. The book is imaginative and the main character is complex. Overall, the book is well-written and offers a fascinating what if? My only complaint about the story is the way the story cuts back and forth between different times (the present and the near past), especially toward the end of the book. I found it difficult to follow the jumps, which took me out of the story more than I cared for. However, the feminist, LGBT, and political undertones throughout the book were refreshing and offer ample opportunity to lay the groundwork for interesting discussion among many age groups.

A chilling portrayal of an alternate England where the Nazis won the war. I can't hate Jessika, despite her informing on her best friend, because she honestly thinks that she is saving her instead of condemning her. She is utterly naive to the truth of what happens to dissenters until it happens to her. A riveting story.

"You question EVERYTHING. Just because you can. Because it's rught there in the laws of your land. But is there nothing you'd greet with a simple Yeah, Okay, fine? What if the love of your friends depended upon it? The love of your family?
Would you tell a lie? People who are good don't lie, but a good person might, quite reasonably, leave out something that they didn't realize was really very crucial to everyone else. That isn't a lie. But it can be as bad as telling a lie, I have come to understand."

This book I went into it knowing as little as possible because it would be modern time Nazi Europe. Having said that this book won't be for everyone. If you don't like reading alternate history or what could have happened if the Nazi's would have won don't read it.

This book I went into it knowing as little as possible because it would be modern time Nazi Europe. Having said that this book won't be for everyone. If you don't like reading alternate history or what could have happened if the Nazi's would have won don't read it. Also, this books is very white and is true to what the Nazi's were going for during WWII.

This book is very bleak most of the time. The best I can compare it to is kind of like what North Korea currently is thought to be, or what we kind of know Soviet Russia being before it fell. The Big Lie world is one that is very controlled and everyone must do their part for the Reich just like how it was during WWII for the Nazi's. Now there is no fighting and instead, they are all living 'normal' lives. Neighbors still report neighbors and kids go to special schools and have meetings they attend after. It seemed like very little had changed since the war.

Jessika is a character that was seen as the good girl and did what she was told, but she had a secret of her own, one that could get her killed. She is on the LGBT spectrum and that isn't allowed. So instead she hides it as best as she can and she goes about 'normal' life. She is one of the best ice skaters and is set to represent her country.

But she's also friends with someone who isn't who they say they are and after a while, things start going terribly wrong. For both of the girls because of this.

The Big Lie is told in memories that 2014 Jess is reliving. We see her go from a teenager and living her life, to being held in a camp because of what she does. We see her start a new life after she proves she is good again. But most importantly throughout all of this Jess manages to still keep who she is and she learns a lot about how her country works to control EVERYTHING and why.

"I am good Jessika and Bad. All of it is in me. But I am whole. And I am here."

I find myself drawn to the same books continuously. When it isn’t thrillers or suspense titles, you can find me stuck in a good romance or some historical fiction. Preferably, fiction set around the Second World War, tales of human resiliency and the rebellion fascinate me. Ironically, with all my changing genres, I don’t read a lot of novels in the YA genre, but when I do, I often find myself drawn to the dystopian sort. I love getting lost in this sort of “what if” world that feels too real, too close for comfort. Needless to say, when I stumbled across The Big Lie, the upcoming novel by Julie Mayhew, a dystopian, coming of age, YA novel set in modern day Nazi occupied England, I threw this one at the top of my TBR pile and dove in.

The novel surrounds a young girl, Jessika, who is a model citizen living in Nazi-run England. She obeys her father, she tries to impress her elders and she is loyal to her country. However, her neighbour and best friend Clementine is not the same. Clem is loud and outspoken, much to Jess’ dismay. The louder Clem gets, the more nervous Jess becomes until she finds herself wrapped up so tightly in Clem’s world that things start to feel confusing. Jess has always thought she was doing the right thing, but what happens when the right things start to feel wrong?


First, I thought the concept of this book worked brilliantly. The fall of the Nazi empire is a well known and discussed part of history; thinking about what it would be like if the Nazi’s had not fallen makes an incredible dystopian backdrop. The Nazi propaganda and thought process littered throughout the text made it all feel eerily realistic.

Another exciting surprise was the LGBTQ aspect that was worked and weaved throughout the character arcs; I was not expecting that! I will stop at that since I do not want to give away any spoilers but I loved this inclusion into the story.

One of my only complaints was that I did find the novel dragged a bit by the end and I began to lose interest. I felt like the last quarter of the book was starting to feel redundant and I also was not 100% pleased in the end, without giving away any spoilers (of course!) I felt like the character switched directions a little bit and moved a few steps backward which really disappointed me, especially since the rest of the text felt so progressive.

However, overall, I felt like this was a stellar read! Reminiscent of books like The Handmaid’s Tale and 1984, I felt like this book held my interest and made me think.

Oi, this was disturbing to read, but I mean that in a good way. I'm sure many people have wondered what would have happened if the Germans had indeed won World War II when they were at their height of invincibility, and this book has an interesting take on it.
It is as oppressive, brain-washing and militaristic as you would expect, and it was utterly fascinating. It's literally the Germany of 1940 and fast-forwarded to the 2000's with a few more technology advancements. It was interesting too to get a glimpse of the rest of the world order with most of Europe under the Reich.
I did struggle a little bit with following along. It was a bit challenging to get into it at the beginning, taking three/four days to get going, but I flew through the last half of it in a day. The second part of the book was also difficult to understand what was going on, as it jumps back and forth between two time frames. However, I think that issue came from my NetGalley copy, as the formatting was atrocious and there was no break to indicate a change. I wish we could have seen a little bit more from the main character as she did come across as a little flat and dull at times, but I suppose concessions can be made for her being programmed by the Reich.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book.

I didn't enjoy this as much as I thought I might. The concept intrigued me, as I love learning about World War Two and I love alternative-history novels; however, the writing style and characters didn't really live up to my expectations.

First, the writing. I realized after I stopped reading that this book was first published in 2014, which isn't a bad thing, but it helped me pin down what felt off about the book: it had a very 2014 vibe. In 2014, I was taking part in a YALSA group, and a lot of the mediocre books we read had the same feeling to them when I read them. It was kind of like taking a blast from the past, and even though 2014 was only three years ago, there have been great strides towards diversifying YA fiction. The inclusion of an LGBT plot was something that was honestly very out there and progressive in 2014, and while it is still mildly progressive now, reading a plot about two cisgender white girls just doesn't excite me as much as it would have in 2014. It would have been nice to have more POC diversity.

Second, the characters. At the beginning, I really liked Jessika and the allusions to her eventual rebellion, but after the first few chapters her character fell flat for me. I couldn't get invested into her life or Clem's life, and that was really what broke the book for me.

I am just ... very tired of books that do the "what if Nazis won WWII!" thing. I have been very over it since Charlottesville. I downloaded The Big Lie prior to that event, and afterwards, I had no taste for it. I don't need to see what it would be like because it is like that, right now.

I went into this book expecting a bleaker world than what was going on in the 1940s. Instead, I found rebellion, an LGBT character, and feminism. The story is set in an alternate world in which Nazi Germany won the war and took over Britain. I believe the year is 2014 in the book.
I didn't like Jessika, the protagonist. She just lacked....ambition. She was blind to how wrong her way of life was and how immoral. When you compare her to Clementine, who sees Nazi Britain as wrong and has so much fire in her, it's striking. I think that was when I decided to believe Jessica's lackluster charm was done on purpose.

I loved the psychology of The Big Lie and the way it made me wonder what was right or wrong.
It was an engaging read.

This book will hook you from the beginning. The story is very interesting. Modern-day Nazi England. Okay this is something different.

But about 35% left in the book I started to lose interest. I wasn't a big fan of how the story end. Something felt odd.