No Filter and Other Lies

by Crystal Maldonado

Overview

You should know, right now, that I’m a liar.

They’re usually little lies. Tiny lies. Baby lies. Not so much lies as lie adjacent. But they’re still lies.

College girl Max Monroe has it all: beauty, friends, and a glittering life filled with adventure. With tons of followers on Instagram, her picture-perfect existence seems eminently enviable.

Except it’s all fake.

“Max” is actually 17-year-old Kat Sanchez, a quiet and sarcastic teen living in drab Bakersfield, California. Nothing glamorous about her existence—just sprawl, bad house parties, a crap school year, and the awkwardness of dealing with best friend Hari’s unrequited love.

But while Kat’s life is far from perfect, she thrives as Max: doling out advice, sharing beautiful photos, networking with fans, even making a real friend in a follower named Elena. The closer Elena and “Max” get—texting, Snapping, even calling—the more Kat feels she has to keep up the façade.

But when one of Max’s posts goes viral and gets back to the very person she’s been stealing photos from, her entire world – real and fake — comes crashing down around her. She must figure out how to escape the huge web of lies she’s created without hurting the people she loves...

But it might already be too late.

A Seventeen Best Young Adult Book
A POPSUGAR Best New YA Novel
A Nerdist Most Anticipated Book
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
* “Ultrasmart.”—Publishers Weekly
“Thought-provoking.”—POPSUGAR
“Stunning.”—Nerdist
“A first purchase.”—School Library Journal
“Really genuine.”—YA Books Central
“Bittersweet and complicated.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Compelling and heartening.”—Shelf Awareness

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780823453320
Publisher:	Holiday House
Publication date:	02/07/2023
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	597,919
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Crystal Maldonado is a young adult author with a lot of feelings. Her debut novel, Fat Chance, Charlie Vega, is a New England Book Award winner, a Cosmopolitan Best New Book, and a POPSUGAR Best New YA Novel. Her next novel, No Filter and Other Lies, explores teenage life in the social media age—and the lies we tell to ourselves and others. By day, Crystal works in higher ed marketing, and by night, is a writer who loves Beyoncé, shopping, spending too much time on her phone, and being extra. Her work has also been published in Latina, BuzzFeed, and the Hartford Courant. She lives in western Massachusetts with her husband, daughter, and dog. Find her everywhere @crystalwrote or CrystalWrote.com.

Editorial Reviews

★ "Maldonado (Fat Chance, Charlie Vega) once again displays her gift for portraying complex family dynamics and layered interiority in this bighearted sophomore novel. . . . Maldonado's writing has a warm and relatable feel, full of insight regarding societal expectations, accountability, and the need to belong within one's own family and the wider world. An ultrasmart contemporary that fully understands what teens face in today's social media–obsessed landscape."—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review  

"Kat is an effective antihero whose insecurities and validation-seeking are believably laid bare without excusing her behavior. . . . The characters feel lived in, and their big feelings and extreme reactions will be understandable for many readers. "—The Horn Book

"A really fun read. . . . A cute queer romance centering a fat, biracial smart-ass—one I'd follow on Instagram in a heartbeat if I could."—Autostraddle

"A thought-provoking story for the digital age."—POPSUGAR  

"Another stunning YA release from author Crystal Maldonado."—Nerdist

"Crystal Maldonado strikes again with her latest novel."—People en Español

"A fun read, not to mention a lesson in the importance of telling the truth."—Good Housekeeping

"[A] love letter to brown, fat teenage girls."—Refinery29

"Kat's struggle for authenticity with her family and friends, not to mention her own sense of self, sparks important questions about what is valued and what is truly valuable."—Kirkus Reviews

"Ideal for fans of E. Lockhart or Karen M. McManus, this title urges young readers to appreciate their worth as well as understand and accept the consequences of their actions."—School Library Connection

"Readers looking for a drama featuring a bisexual character that's unrelated to coming out will appreciate this contemporary story with a strong sense of setting. . . . Fans of Leah Johnson's books and Kevin Panetta's Bloom will fall for this novel."—Booklist

"Coming of age isn't easy; especially when you are pretending to be someone else. A first purchase for high school realistic fiction collections."—School Library Journal

"Hand this one to readers who like messy characters who make mistakes and have to deal with the consequences of their actions. . . . [A] look at identity and discovering real things while being so fake."—Teen Librarian Toolbox

"Crystal Maldonado has become one of my official auto-buy authors. . . . No Filter and Other Lies perfectly articulates the pressures of social media and the need to construct the perfect version of yourself and how, little by little, that veneer of perfection cracks over time. If you're looking for a fat, brown, messy bi-sexual character. . . this is the book for you!"—Latinxs in Kidlit

"No Filter and Other Lies is a compelling and heartening read with a remarkable protagonist, authentic characters, an addictive plot and vital messages about healthy relationships. . . . Maldonado (Fat Chance, Charlie Vega) allows her characters to act like real teens: emotional, messy. They bicker with each other, stop talking and resume talking, tease and encourage. Though Kat comes into her queerness during the story's events ('So, bisexuality confirmed'), the plot doesn't shift focus to a coming-out story. Her newfound attraction to girls is portrayed as a natural path in her wider journey, not as a hardship. . . . Kat's certainty about who she is, what she likes and what she wants to be known for adds an important element: Maldonado's protagonist is a self-confident teen who simply wants a say in how people see her."—Shelf Awareness

"Crystal Maldonado's thoughtful tale tackles complicated family relationships, social media obsession, and authenticity. . . . As Kat tries to make sense of the mess she's made, teens will realize that social media doesn't define their self-worth and understand the importance of communication, honesty, integrity, and staying true to themselves."—Common Sense Media

"A really complex story [with] thought-provoking themes around social media, friendships, and family. Kat is still learning and growing. . . . Dealing with social media can be tough [and] the bias towards white and thin people is one she grapples with as a plus-sized brown girl. . . . Kat is also coming to new realizations about her sexuality that felt really genuine."—YA Books Central

"Characters are flawed and nuanced. They make mistakes and learn from them and will continue to make mistakes after that because that's what humans do. . . . Kat works hard to create the perfect online aesthetic through her Instagram account, but even though she spends hours finding the perfect shot and editing her photos, engagement is low which obviously discourages her. . . . That lack of validation and feeling of isolation leads her to create the Max account, and suddenly, now that the person speaking her words has a beautiful, thin, and white face, people care and want to listen. . . . Maldonado once again hit it out of the park with a story that tackles important topics but doesn't come off as preachy or trite."—Tea Time Lit

From the Publisher

03/01/2022

Gr 9 Up—Seventeen-year-old aspiring photographer Kat Sanchez is addicted to Instagram and the validation it provides. After a drunken night of partying, Kat decides to create a new Instagram profile as "Max" using the pictures she has taken of her friend Becca. Max immediately begins receiving the attention Kat desperately craves. So what if it means lying to Becca about her pictures and lying to Elena, a girl she meets online and has a crush on who doesn't realize that Kat and Max are the same person. When Elena meets and begins to like Kat in person as herself, and Max begins to ghost Elena online, the teen has to figure out a way to reveal what she has done without hurting the people she cares about. Kat's closest friends are given enough depth that readers feel connected to them as much as to her. Kat is biracial, fat, and questioning her interest in girls while maintaining a "friends with benefits" relationship with her best guy friend Hari. There is family drama as Kat lives with her grandparents while her parents and brother live a few houses down in the same neighborhood. Family problems and lies eventually catch up with Kat as she tries to salvage various relationships. Realistic consequences make this a cautionary tale for anyone who thinks catfishing is a good idea. VERDICT Coming of age isn't easy; especially when you are pretending to be someone else. A first purchase for high school realistic fiction collections.—Ashley Leffel

School Library Journal

Narrator Frankie Corzo’s sparkling performance brings just the right amount of gusto and humility to this social-media-savvy coming-of-age story. Corzo’s youthful, bubbly voice perfectly embodies Kat—an artistic teenager who creates “Max,” a fake Instagram influencer. The more successful Max becomes, the more secrets Kat has to keep from her rowdy male friends and loving grandparents. Kat’s large inner circle gives Corzo an opportunity to demonstrate her ability to seamlessly add and remove years from her voice. Listeners will appreciate her smooth delivery of social media elements and emojis, which ramp up as Kat connects with a real-life girl through Max. Corzo provides an emotional and satisfying performance as Kat’s misadventure starts to have devastating consequences. J.E.C. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

APRIL 2022 - AudioFile

Narrator Frankie Corzo’s sparkling performance brings just the right amount of gusto and humility to this social-media-savvy coming-of-age story. Corzo’s youthful, bubbly voice perfectly embodies Kat—an artistic teenager who creates “Max,” a fake Instagram influencer. The more successful Max becomes, the more secrets Kat has to keep from her rowdy male friends and loving grandparents. Kat’s large inner circle gives Corzo an opportunity to demonstrate her ability to seamlessly add and remove years from her voice. Listeners will appreciate her smooth delivery of social media elements and emojis, which ramp up as Kat connects with a real-life girl through Max. Corzo provides an emotional and satisfying performance as Kat’s misadventure starts to have devastating consequences. J.E.C. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

APRIL 2022 - AudioFile

2021-12-15
Kat wants to be wanted and liked for her true self, but failing that, she will settle for having a desirable alter ego.

Kat Sanchez—fat, Puerto Rican and White, 17—has complicated relationships but finds an emotional outlet in photography. However, her Instagram account sees little engagement, even from people who know and supposedly care about her. Kat’s place of creative escape is just another venue for feeling disconnected and rejected—until she creates a fake account using photos she took of a co-worker who has sworn off social media. Blond, beautiful Max, Kat’s alter ego, quickly gets lots of likes and even connects with a fellow creator, pale, blue-eyed, “fat femme” Elena, who also calls Southern California home. Kat knows her burgeoning relationship needs to be built on an honest foundation, but the allure of getting likes and the risk of losing face make it difficult. As her online lie inevitably crumbles, Kat is forced to become more open, honest, and real in her IRL relationships. Kat’s struggle for authenticity with her family and friends, not to mention her own sense of self, sparks important questions about what is valued and what is truly valuable. Maldonado’s willingness to let Kat be unlikable at times and to embrace a bittersweet and complicated ending highlights the need for nuance and grace in the stories we tell about ourselves and others.

As with social media, the real story here requires digging beneath the surface, and it richly rewards the effort. (Fiction. 13-18)

Kirkus Reviews