The Undoing of Thistle Tate

By: Katelyn Detweiler

Narrated by: Laura Knight Keating

Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

Famous teen author Thistle Tate struggles to keep her biggest secret: the real identity of the author of her best-selling books.

Thistle Tate is a glittering wunderkind - only 17, and a best-selling author of the wildly successful Lemonade Skies series, with the highly anticipated final book due to publish next year. She has diehard fans across the globe, flashy tours, and steep advances. And now she's finally started to date her best friend and next-door-neighbor, Liam, the only one who knows her deep dark secret: she's not the real author of the Lemonade Skies books. 

Thistle's guilt about lying intensifies after she meets the surprisingly charming Oliver, who introduces her to his super-fan little sister - but how can she have friendships based on deception? All she wants is for this last book to be written so she can be done with the ruse for good. 

Then with just two weeks left to deliver the manuscript to her agent and editor, a dramatic turn of events puts everything in jeopardy, and Thistle must grapple with her own identity. Is she a victim, a fraudster, or both? On top of that, Liam is increasingly jealous of Thistle's budding friendship with Oliver - a friendship that leaves Thistle more than a little confused about her own heart. 

As the book deadline looms closer, the stakes ever higher, a startling family truth comes to light, and it's only a matter of time before something gives - and Thistle's world becomes undone. 

For fans of Rainbow Rowell and E. Lockhart, this YA is the perfect summer listen for teen bookworms everywhere, with a love triangle, an insider's depiction of the publishing world, and nonstop, enthralling action.

©2019 Katelyn Detweiler (P)2019 Recorded Books

3.5 Stars

This is one that I almost passed by, but something about the story sounded interesting. I was not sure if this was going to a hit or miss. I ended up really enjoying this. This is story around finding yourself, the domino effect of lying, and more important things in life. It takes a turn around mental health the second half including depression and possible suicide. It is one of the first books I have found that (on the surface) covers Chrones disease. I was not expecting that at all. It is not the center of the story, but I still like that it is mentioned as my mother has Chrones. I did not like the dysfunctional relationship between Thistle and her father. I did not like how her father manipulates Thistle for his own grief of losing his wife/her mom. It moves towards a story around mental health. The ending was a little too long and drawn out for me. I almost feel the first half and the second half were two separate books when it moved on to the story about her mother. This does have a story within itself. You get a glimpse into the Lemonade Skies and how it parallels with Thistle and her own loss of her mother. I like what it brought to the story. There is also a love triangle that does include some teenage cheating. The romances were cute though as you find Thistle torn between a new love interest and a long term friendship romance. Overall, I enjoyed this one so much more than I was expecting though.