True Story

By Kate Reed Petty,

Book cover of True Story

Book description

"A gripping, ripped-from-headlines tale." -People

"Spellbinding." -Megan Abbott, The New York Times Book Review

Tracing the fifteen-year fallout of a toxic high school rumor, a riveting, astonishingly original debut novel about the power of stories-and who gets to tell them

2015. A gifted and reclusive ghostwriter, Alice Lovett makes a…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked True Story as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

A rumor about teenage sexual assault has long-term repercussions on a handful of characters in this superb novel that toggles among different genres—thriller, mystery, women’s fiction, coming-of-age literary, even screenplays—with voices in first, second, and third person, a fascinating way of looking at a single event from every angle. The characters are astoundingly well-drawn, in particular the spot-on portraits of teenaged boys, which are a master class on how to write credible, realistic, and true characters that are well beyond the novelist’s own experience. Even the title itself is a clever subversion.

If you love True Story...

Ad

Book cover of Tap Dancing on Everest: A Young Doctor's Unlikely Adventure

Tap Dancing on Everest by Mimi Zieman,

Tap Dancing on Everest, part coming-of-age memoir, part true-survival adventure story, is about a young medical student, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor raised in N.Y.C., who battles self-doubt to serve as the doctor—and only woman—on a remote Everest climb in Tibet.

The team attempts a new route up…

Want books like True Story?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like True Story.

Browse books like True Story

Book cover of Your House Will Pay
Book cover of Mercy Street
Book cover of Lush Life

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,756

readers submitted
so far, will you?

Ad

📚 If you like True Story, you might also like...

The Stark Beauty of Last Things by Céline Keating,

Book cover of The Stark Beauty of Last Things

This book is set in Montauk, under looming threat from a warming climate and overdevelopment. Now outsider Clancy, a thirty-six-year-old claims adjuster scarred by his orphan childhood, has inherited an unexpected legacy: the power to decide the fate of Montauk’s last parcel of undeveloped land. Everyone in town has a…

The Road from Belhaven by Margot Livesey,

Book cover of The Road from Belhaven

The Road from Belhaven is set in 1880s Scotland. Growing up in the care of her grandparents on Belhaven Farm, Lizzie Craig discovers as a small girl that she can see the future. But she soon realises that she must keep her gift a secret. While she can sometimes glimpse…

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in alcoholism, sexual assault, and wildfires?

Alcoholism 108 books
Sexual Assault 26 books
Wildfires 29 books