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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The Five Year Lie is the first Thriller I've read by Sarina Bowen. The story follows April a single mom who works for her family company. Shortly after the book begins she receives a text message that shakes her foundations and imitates a mystery that she starts looking into. This story had me distrusting almost all the side characters, trying to solve the mystery and discern what is tru and what is a lie. I am happy to say that I did narrow down the suspects, and when the reveal occurred I had narrowed down correctly. This story has romantic elements and is told from multiple perspectives in two different time periods, present and 5 years ago. I think the story was really well done, I was entertained and toward the end I couldn't put it down. The set up took some time for me to get into the story as the characters, setting and backstory was explained. Once the action started I was completely hooked.
I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley and voluntarily give my honest review.
I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley and voluntarily give my honest review.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Five Year Lie is Sarina Bowen’s first thriller, but it doesn’t seem like it. Or at least it makes me wish it wasn’t so I could go and read every single one. Like yesterday! But hopefully she will not stop at two. There’s at least another one coming next year and I cannot wait!
But first things first. I loved The Five Year Lie, and I think it’s almost perfect. The setup is genius: getting an alarming text from your dead ex boyfriend. And make it a secret ex boyfriend to make it even better. Everything that happens starts there. And the way the story unfolds is perfectly paced and beautifully crafted. It’s told in two timelines: the present and five years ago. I think that style can sometimes be annoying, but the story flows perfectly intertwining both timelines, so it worked for me.
I don’t know if people actually skip prologues, but don’t skip this one. It’s the perfect cliffhanger that will make the book impossible to put down until you reach the end. I just didn’t want to stop reading. The mystery slowly starts to evolve, getting progressively more complicated and enthralling until you find all the answers in a very satisfying ending. And the way the characters are written will make you emotionally invested in them. You cannot help but wanting them to stay safe. It’s nerve wracking.
I think the tech and cybersecurity aspects in this story make it even more fascinating, relevant, and thought provoking. It makes you think about the importance of privacy; how willing people are to give it up without a second thought, and how easily cutting-edge technology can be manipulated in a potentially dangerous way. It’s scary.
The Five Year Lie blends—in an outstanding way—a very succesful domestic thriller with a great love story. It will keep you on the edge of your seat and completely invested in the fate of these characters. I had a great time reading it, and it will definitely be one of my favorite books this year. I highly recommend it.
*5 Stars*
ARC kindly received for an honest review.
What can I say? This book was amazing! I always love Sarina Bowen books, but this new foray into thriller/suspense novels was a huge win for her. I was absolutely hooked by this story. I think I smashed it out in like two days (around work etc). The start of the book grabs you, there's little bits and pieces that you go, huh, that's weird, what's happening here?
And then, as the story goes on, more and more pieces come together and before you know it, you're fully invested! I don't want to spoil anything, but there are a couple of mysteries that are happening in this - and when it all comes together, wow! There were many surprises, lots of bits to love and I really hope we get more of these kinds of books from Sarina.
I can't recommend this enough! 5 huge stars from me!
ARC kindly received for an honest review.
What can I say? This book was amazing! I always love Sarina Bowen books, but this new foray into thriller/suspense novels was a huge win for her. I was absolutely hooked by this story. I think I smashed it out in like two days (around work etc). The start of the book grabs you, there's little bits and pieces that you go, huh, that's weird, what's happening here?
And then, as the story goes on, more and more pieces come together and before you know it, you're fully invested! I don't want to spoil anything, but there are a couple of mysteries that are happening in this - and when it all comes together, wow! There were many surprises, lots of bits to love and I really hope we get more of these kinds of books from Sarina.
I can't recommend this enough! 5 huge stars from me!
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I did not enjoy this book at all. This pacing of this book is incredibly slow, and there is no suspense built up at all, in my opinion. There were “twists” I guess you could say, but all of them were completely predictable. I almost couldn’t finish this book because it was so boring. It was far too “techy” and all of the unnecessary tech jargon ended up making this book a solid 30% longer than necessary. There were too many characters and it made the plot completely convoluted. The “surprise” at the very end was what made this book go from three stars to two for me. Absolutely do not recommend this book.
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙔𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙇𝙞𝙚 𝙗𝙮 𝙎𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙖 𝘽𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙣
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4/5
❗️I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily❗️
Overall I really enjoyed this books. I do feel there could have been more at the end, it felt a bit rushed to me. I also was able to figure it out rather early who the bad guy was, so that took away from the story for me.
I love Ariel and her fierceness as a mother. I connect deeply with that aspect of her. I love that she did things on her own terms. Buzz is such a sweet character. As a boy mom, I absolutely loved all the parts with him in it.
Blurb: She thought it was love. Then he vanished.
On an ordinary Monday morning, Ariel Cafferty's phone buzzes with a disturbing text message. Something’s happened. I need to see you. Meet me under the candelabra tree ASAP. The words would be jarring from anyone, but the sender is the only man she ever loved. And it's been several years since she learned he died.
Seeing Drew’s name pop up is heart-stopping. Ariel’s gut says it can’t be real. But she goes to the tree anyway. She has to.
Nobody shows. But the text upends everything she thought she knew about the day he left her. The more questions she asks, the more sinister the answers get. Only two things are clear: everything she was told five years ago is wrong, and someone is still lying to her.
The truth has to be out there somewhere. To safeguard herself—and her son—she’ll have to find it before it finds her. And with it, the answer to what became of Drew.
For fans of Laura Dave and Julie Clark, but with a heart-stopping romance that only Sarina Bowen can execute, The Five Year Lie is a page-turning, spine-tingling thriller that will have you guessing until the very end.
I was hooked in the beginning. It’s revealed early on that the text Ariel received was one of hundreds of five-year-old texts that, due to a cell tower malfunction, went undelivered to the people of her town until that moment. All the texts originated from a short span of time during which her boyfriend disappeared without a word and her father died. The reveal immediately upped the tension and raised so many questions. Not just about the boyfriend (What did he need to tell her so desperately? What happened that made him give up on trying to reach her and instead run for the hills? Is he actually dead then?), but about everybody (Who else got a delayed text? What new mysteries or information might they have suddenly learned? What might they have done because they didn’t know? How will things change now that they do?) and the situation (Why did this happen? Was it intentional? How does everything that happened five years ago tie together?)
Suddenly everyone in Ariel’s life has a little scrap of information from this moment in time when her life was upended with no explanation and she has no way to know if it’s as meaningless as a missed notification for a delivery or as crucial as the evidence to a murder nor who has something to hide.
Unfortunately, the story lost some steam as it went along. The characters’ attitudes towards their situation felt inconsistent. Ariel both realizes she’s getting deep into some dangerous stuff and should be worried and is totally oblivious to obviously worrying behavior from her friend and fellow investigator. The love story half of the book was slow and not particularly engaging, maybe it just didn’t mesh well with the rest. Most of the twists weren’t very twisty; it’s going right where you suspect after you get past the set-up.