I really enjoyed this book, it was realistic and disturbing and ultimately heartening. This also surprised me because I did not anticipate the change of events which led to the climax of the story. Like Ella, I felt the rug get pulled from under my feet.
Ella Black is a girl who feels she is hiding a dark secret, she has a side nicknamed “Bella” or “Bad Ella” and when she emerges, she is prone to dark thoughts and violence. Ella has found ways of coping with this but she fears how this side of her may overtake her. Suddenly she is called away from school and taken to Rio by her parents though they won’t tell her why. She is suddenly away from the world she knows. We follow her on a whole rollercoaster of emotions as she falls in love while finding out who she really is. It is a truth which completely shocks her and when you read this, you will find out why. At first she thinks it all explains why she has Bella and Bella threatens to triumph.
This story nearly made me cry – amid all her inner turmoil, I felt myself willing her to find herself because she’s stronger than she realises. Ella is the type of girl who doesn’t like herself much but doesn’t realise that she is more likeable than she realises. It was a reminder of how it is to be a teenage girl struggling with identity and also how emotional that time can be.

I quite enjoyed the story line and there were a few surprises that I wasn’t able to predict which always scores points for me however this wasn’t one of my favourites.
I felt the writing was repetitive and found myself skimming over a lot of sections. I also felt the love connection was ridiculous and rushed making it unbelievable.
I really wanted to love this book because I’ve liked other titles by this author.

I found this book incredibly slow to start off with. I had read the blurb and nothing in the first 20% of the book seemed to match up- to the point where I was wondering if it was the same book. Once it got going it was excellent. Quite unbelievable, but interesting and gripping. I struggled at the beginning but flew through the rest of it in an afternoon. One criticism is that it seemed to touch on Ella having mental health difficulties, that there was a bad side to her that she couldn't control and I assumed it was schizophrenia but nothing definitive came of it.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publishers for allowing me to read this book in advance in exchange for an honest review.

Firstly I want to say that this book covered some topics that possibly should come with a trigger warning. These include self-harm, animal abuse, violence and some mentions of rape. So if these are triggers for you then please think hard before trying this book.

I found this book very hard to get into and I almost gave up at the animal abuse a few pages. The book is very far-fetched and unrealistic plot-wise. I also felt the writing style was a little immature for me personally. The story contains some Insta-love which normally doesn't bother me but in this instance it seemed very unrealistic. Ella meets Christian they spend a few hours together, before Ella does a runner. Christian then spends almost a month tracking her down before moving to live with her in Rio. I also didn't like how easy it was portrayed that someone with anger issues was able to just start teaching children without any passport checks I hope in reality this couldn't happen!

This is my opinion on the book and it's not to say you will agree. I think if you like the sound of the plot then give it a go after the first few chapters it had enough to keep me interested but after reading the whole story it simply isn't a story for me.

A beautifully written book - very plausible. Ella Black, almost 18, thinks she has a problem as she is always being urged to do bad things by an invisible presence who she calls Bella, One day she is summoned to the Headteachers office, only to find her mother there looking worried, and is told that she is being taken away for a while, but no further explanation. Within no time at all she, together with her mother and father are on a plane to Rio, a city she has always wanted to see and explore. Her parents try to restrict her but will not explain why. After having made one 'escape ' which she thoroughly enjoyed she decides she has to discover why her parents have refused to let her have her mobile phone and, whilst they are breakfasting, she manages to break the code on the room safe and majesty starting discovery which leads her to disown her parents and to run away. Please read this book to find out why!

I received an advance copy of this book via Netgalley & Random House.
I've never read and of Emily Barr's previous works and though I think the "The Truth & Lies of Ella Black" is a good book but, in many ways I found it disturbing and uncomfortable. Given the main protagonist's situation I would have expected to sympathise more with her. I couldn't do it albeit I didn't come down on the other side.
I recommend you read it I think it has many merits it just wasn't for me.

I enjoyed this despite the frankly rather ridiculous premise and finale. It could have been so much better though with a real examination of Ella /Bella spilt personality and personal circumstances etc. I also refuse to believe that any teenager wouldn't find a way to contact her friends even if her parents took her phone away.

Not really sure about this book,not very realistic. Characters very odd,tho the characterisation of what goes on in her head was well done.

DId not finish at 40%
I loved the summary for this book, straight away I knew I wanted to read it. But something about Ella didn’t click for me. She was a spoiled brat who, more than once, I wanted to kick in the shins and tell to grow up. The scene at the beginning with the bird put me right off, but as of received a free copy I tried to soldier on.
I really wanted to like this book, especially after reading The One Memory of Flora Banks, but the pages I did read of this were like walking through quicksand, long, tiring and eventually, I was going to lose.

Another great YA read from the author of The One Memory of Flora Banks. Familiar themes abound - a young girl on the brink of adulthood, a disorder and a home life that is actually more chaotic than it appears from the outside. I really love the three dimensional, young, independent women that Barr creates. Despite their obvious problems, these characters are good role models for young women - they are independent and feisty and can definitely stand on their own two feet. The book opens with Ella trying to hide her bad side, Bella from her friends and family. Bella appears without warning and makes Ella do bad things. Then suddenly Ella finds herself rushed out of school and hussled, mysteriously to Rio by her parents with such speed that she arrives still wearing her school uniform. As Ella tries to figure out who she really is, she falls in love - with Rio and with a young man she meets there. Cut there is trouble ahead for Ella and if she is to survive she'll need all her wits about her. She'll even need to allow Bella out from time to time. Flora Banks was a tough act to follow, but Barr has once again produced an inspiring character with an intruiging back story.

Although this was advertised as a teen/ya (which I certainly am not) I was intrigued by the cover. I found it to be a very strange 'coming of age', teen romance story. Very much a scenario that every teenager fantasizes about at some point.

Ella has a dark side to her personality that she calls Bella. As Ella reaches towards her 18th birthday she feels Bella becoming stronger and harder to hide from her friends and family. One day she is whisked from school by her parents and fly to Rio, a place which has always fascinated Ella. Whilst in Rio Ella discovers some disturbing secrets and her whole life is turned upside down.
This is a story for mature readers which although lost my attention in parts, still made me read to the end.

Ella Black is seventeen, artistic, slightly shy and insecure. She is a girl that tries to fit in at school but suffers from some bullying and some condescension. Ella, however, has a darker side which she can struggle to control. She calls her other side Bella – bad Ella and she is violent and angry. Ella has two special friends, Jack and Lily but even they don’t know about Bella.

During one normal day at school Ella is suddenly whisked away by her parents on the pretext that her father has to go to Brazil. She finds herself in Rio. Her parents are reluctant to explain to her why they have had to leave the country so quickly but she soon establishes that it has nothing to do with her father’s job and more the fact that they are not her natural parents and she is adopted.

The story continues with Ella finding love in the form of a Cuban America called Christian but also with her running away and hiding out in one of favelas in Rio whilst she tries to find out who her natural parents are. It is pretty obvious that the discovery is not going to be a good one.

The story is written in the first person but the narrative is a little inconsistent. Ella sometimes sounds more like a sulky fourteen year old than a girl who is shortly going to be eighteen. The novel attempts to cover a host of teenage issues: peer pressure; mental health; self-harming; first love. It does this quite well but I felt a similar inconsistency in the handling of the Ella/Bella issue as I did with the language used. It also attempts to be all encompassing with Ella’s friend Jack being gay and Lily is mixed race.

This novel is classed as a YA publication and that is accurate. Being a little older than that I’m not sure whether today’s YAs would find it patronising or not; that is a question for them. It was a good story and I raced through it in a day.

I received a complimentary copy of the book from NetGalley and publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you.

I was a huge fan of The One Memory of Flora Banks so I was quite excited to read this. I had loved Flora and her character touched my heart and stayed with me long after I finished the book. This book however was a bit disappointing, as the main protagonist was a lot whiny and sounded like a 12 year old rather than 17.

Probably more like 2.5 stars. Hit and miss.

I was a huge fan of The One Memory of Flora Banks so I was quite excited to read this. Flora touched my heart and is the kind of character that stays with you. Unfortunately this time not so much with our main protagonist who frankly was a little bit entitled and a lot whiny.

Anyway though - there were good things and bad things.

The Good: The portions of the story where she's alone in Brazil, the life there - it came alive on the page and made you feel that you could actually go anywhere and do anything and life didn't have to be a static, mundane thing. That portion too dealt with the pure good hearts of some of our fellow human beings and had the theme running through that outward appearances don't necessarily reflect personality or intent. This was a lot of the central part of it and I banged through these bits wanting to live like Ella was living...

The Bad: Ella is supposedly 17 but reads more like a 12/13 year old, for no real reason. She didn't have an issue that would make her read this way, in fact to all intents and purposes she had a normal upbringing mostly and was an intelligent girl. Her reaction to the central secret read more like a toddler throwing a tantrum than a clever girl who has had her whole life fall apart. Supposedly explained away by her alter ego "Bella" (and please for the love of GOD stop explaining that Bella = Bad Ella we got it already around page 4) it didn't really ring true. Although it did mean she ran off and had an adventure, which was the bit I liked. And please with the "I'm in love with you even though I met you yesterday" - seriously young adults don't really do that as far as I know but it seems to be a thing in Young Adult novels.

So yes hit and miss. It didn't have the depth and sense of feeling that Flora Banks had - which doesn't mean it isn't a fairly good read if you can get past the annoyances and is worth it for the bits in Rio.

I'll continue reading Emily Barr but Ella Black can be resigned to the "not really going to remember this tomorrow" pile.

Ella Black’s life is turned upside down when her parents reveal secrets they have kept hidden from her for all of her seventeen years.
I am neither a fan of nor an expert on YA fiction, but I enjoyed this novel and imagine it might appeal across all age ranges. Emily Barr’s strength lies in her story telling, and her ability to keep the reader on board regardless of how unlikely her plots become, and there are many unlikely events in this one. There is also a shortage of likeable or credible characters, and even though difficult circumstances usually turn out for the best rather than the worst, and that the ending is difficult to get to grips with, The Truth and Lies of Ella Black still works as an entertaining read.
With thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Random House UK

I found this book intriguing, there are lots of contrasts, good and bad, darkness and light, truth and lies. I liked it because I liked the construction of Ella as a character. As the story develops so does Ella, her issues within herself resolve as her life develops and changes. It is an unusual story and perhaps stretches credibility a bit but it is worth pursuing to the end. There were points where I thought do I want to continue but was interested to know where it was going. One thing is true, it is certainly different.

I have seen some negative reviews and was unsure what I’d think if this. I have read all of the author’s adult fiction and enjoyed them.
I think people who left negative reviews were adults and forgot this is aimed at teenagers.
It’s a good read. A good story and I enjoyed it in the main. It’s not as detailed as her adult books but it is aimed at younger people hence the book being a bit more simple.
I’ve bought a copy for my goddaughter who is 16.

I really enjoyed this book - its about a girl called Ella who is 17 , lives at home with her parents and apart from the demons in her head appears to have a 'normal' life - One day her parents take her out of school and to Rio and here she discovers that her parents have been keeping secrets about who she really is for the last 17 years. I found it a little hard to get into at first especially about Ella/Bella and thought it was going to be a book all about mental health problems but happy to say that it had me gripped . I wasn't really happy with the ending but overall I enjoyed this book. Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this book.

Everyones lives have their ups and downs, filled with truth and lies.. but this is something else! Brilliant read!