Critical acclaim for it rhymes with truth
BookLife/Publisher's Weekly [Editor's Choice]
"Miller’s storytelling is charming and contemplative... subtly showcasing the defensive psyche of a child shaped by a rough childhood. A vital, moving novel."
Kirkus Reviews [Starred Review]
"A masterfully controlled tear-jerker of a novel about found family....Miller’s deeply felt tale illustrates how life’s greatest challenges always arrive before we’re ready for them, and how they shape us into the people we become."
Blue Ink Review [Starred Review]
"[A] thoroughly engaging novel—by turns, funny, thoughtful, sweet, and sad…. This book is wonderfully fresh, thanks to the author’s breezy style incorporating song lyrics, drawings, and funny footnotes….The book’s conclusion is heart-wrenching as the pieces of the story fall into place."
Readers' Favorite, Unanimous 5-Star Reviews
"It Rhymes With Truth is a superb novel that will please fans of most genres while reminding us that we are never too old (or too young) to make a difference."
Jenn Bailey, award-winning author of Henry, Like Always and co-author of the forthcoming The Not So Quiet Life of Marcel Marceau
"You made me cry. What a lovely book in ways that shouldn't be lovely. You made me feel deeply about these very flawed people, and that is what books are supposed to do."
Heather W., Reader
"I loved this book so much that I mourned when I finished it, swearing to never read it again…then I read it 10 more times, finding new ways to love and mourn it again."
Former book editor at Simon & Schuster
"A beguiling novel about the hopes, fears, joys and terrors of being a parent and being a child."
Readers' Favorite, Unanimous 5-Star Reviews
"I lost count of how many times I laughed out loud while reading It Rhymes With Truth.... [The novel is] an absurd and unforgettable tour de force."
Readers' Favorite, Unanimous 5-Star Reviews
"It Rhymes With Truth is a heartfelt literary work that leaves a lasting impression, making me eager to read Miller’s future works, and to recommend this to fans of accomplished character-led dramas everywhere."
Amity J., Reader
"Absolute must-read. The storytelling in this novel is so engaging. The characters are vivid, complex and so beautiful."
Teri S., Reader
"A must read for your summer book list."
Readers' Favorite, Unanimous 5-Star Reviews
"With a mischievous wit and a cast of characters as quirky as they are endearing, Rich Miller's debut novel hurtles toward a heart-wrenching confrontation with the truth....The writing is superb, and including the narrator’s artwork makes it even more enjoyable. The cultural setting is enhanced with Spanish expressions sprinkled throughout the narrative. Rich Miller has crafted a heartwarming tale that will resonate with readers, using quirky characters, sparkling dialogues, exquisite prose, and a deft exploration of genuine human connection."
Clarion Reviews [5 Star Rating]
"The nature of memory is interrogated at every turn, and the possibility of love is never denied in It Rhymes with Truth, a poignant novel about a cross-generational friendship.... With equal parts wit and tenderness, Rich Miller’s heartfelt novel It Rhymes with Truth looks for answers to the question of loneliness in the relationship between a young boy and an old woman. It Rhymes with Truth burns with compassion and delights in all of the absurd, beautiful, and painful ways that people try to care for one another against the crushing weight of alienation."
Haley S., Reader
"Rich Miller is a masterful story teller and artist!"
Readers' Favorite, Unanimous 5-Star Reviews
"It Rhymes With Truth is provocative in the sense that it asks important questions without ever leading the reader to conclusions: What is the nature of love? What are its limits? What makes a family a family? What is the price we must pay for doing good deeds? Are some people truly evil, or is their meanness born of pain? In so doing, Miller makes his readers integral characters in the narrative by demanding that they think for themselves to find the hidden truths the story offers."
Readers' Favorite, Unanimous 5-Star Reviews
"It Rhymes With Truth by Rich Miller is a truly original tale, masterfully rendered by a gifted storyteller clearly born to the craft."
IndieReader [IR approved rating]
"A heartbreaking story, witty banter, humor, and creative storytelling.... The novel delves into themes of loneliness, friendship, healing, and self-discovery. It highlights the profound impact small interactions and gestures can have in shaping a person’s identity and understanding of the world."
Clarion Reviews [5 Star Rating]
"The ambitious form of the novel—it is itself the memory book the narrator is writing—lends it a confessional, voyeuristic tone. The narrator is writing to an audience of one. Scattered throughout the pages are ephemera from the life Ruth and the narrator shared, like sketches of birds, Sudoku puzzles, and sticky notes. Footnotes loop back on endless inside jokes. Affection and regret bleed through the prose, but not without a heavy dose of evasion."
BookLife Prize
"It Rhymes with Truth is an imaginative and cleverly written debut novel, driven by a powerful childlike simplicity that recalls Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime."
BookLife Prize
"It Rhymes with Truth has two brilliantly realized central characters, an eight-and-a-half-year-old homeless boy and a slightly peculiar elderly woman. Their touching, funny and engaging relationship evolves effectively over the course of Miller's impressive novel."