Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - This Lie Will Kill You

My cover of This Lie Will Kill You announces that its audience is ‘fans of One of Us Is Lying’, which I’ve neither seen nor read. Despite that, I picked it up at my local tube station because the premise sounded interesting. Reading a mystery by a completely untried author is a different experience than with other genres. Whenever a clue is sufficiently noticeable, you have to ask yourself whether this is going to be a red herring or if the author just isn’t very good.

Fortunately, Chelsea Pitcher proved not to be an author who’d drop clues too obviously and too early. Early indications did point in one particular direction, which was paid off around the midpoint of the book and, crucially, did not turn out to have given the ending away within five chapters. In addition to whatever similarities This Lie Will Kill You bears to One of Us Is Lying, there are also clearly inspirations from Agatha Christie. The structure is similar to And Then There Were None in that the reader is trying to work out which of the characters summoned to the location is involved in the plot, as well as the truth about all of their pasts.

Instead of (supposedly) rational adults, Chelsea Pitcher’s characters are teenagers, so of course the emotions are turned up to eleven, especially when romance is involved. Adult readers may not be convinced that a brief high school relationship amounts to soulmates meant to be together forever — but what matters is that it’s totally in character for Chelsea Pitcher’s teens to think so. The elegance and beauty of the prose helps to sell it without becoming distracting.

In some ways, the plot is similarly over-the-top and doesn’t entirely hold up to rational scrutiny, but then, high conceit mysteries don’t really play by the same rules as more realistic fare. It’s inherent in the subgenre that people are going to go to an awful lot more trouble than is really credible. As long as it holds together in universe, it’s still enjoyable reading. Where This Lie Will Kill You somewhat steps out of keeping is when it expects the reader to sympathise with the person putting this whole machination together. Given what ends up happening, the ending is just a little too light and hopeful to feel comfortable. (The ending would’ve hit harder if it had engaged with the darkness the way The Tulip Touch does.)

Content Warnings

carbinara's review against another edition

Go to review page

reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

The plot was fine and I quite liked it, but I hated how the characters were written. Well, mostly; I liked Brett, Juniper, and Gavin.

However, I found Ruby to be a bit of a mary-sue and her character totally changed after we find out she’s planned this (although I did sorta prefer her after). Also, Shane was the weirdest manic pixie dream boy character, and the whole slow dancing w Ruby on first meeting was just odd. Parker was too one dimensional as a villain. That being said, I liked the narration from him. </spoilers>

Plot wise, it was fast paced, which is always appreciated and I found myself shocked with some of the reveals

(mostly just that Juniper was sorta innocent)

Overall, a fun read but lacked well-written characters.

Content Warnings

loandbeholdx's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

This was a wild ride, and one that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. It helped me to get out of a reading slump, as I didn't want to put it down. After checking reviews when I had finished reading it, I was shocked that it wasn't getting much love. I personally thought this book was gripping, I was so invested in the characters, and I was so intrigued behind everyone's motives for their actions. Yes, it was a little bit unrealistic in places, but I felt that it made it all the more fun to read. It was pretty dark in places for a YA thriller, and explored some themes that are a little more adult, so check content warnings if you're planning on reading this yourself.

Content Warnings

thebookishnerd_'s review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

2.0

This book read to me like an episode of Pretty Little Liars. Only, not as thrilling. All of the characters were unlikeable and flawed. I don't have anything against unlikeable main characters, but it came to the point where they had little to no redeeming qualities. One small thing that irritated me throughout the book, was the constant use of dolls and fire metaphors. Even in the first few chapters, you couldn't go a page without reading about dolls. A plot point that I found unlikely was how Parker was so easily manipulated (and the reveal that he was behind it was quite jarring). If parker is as manipulative and controlling as the book wants us to believe, then he shouldn't have been so willing to put his classmates in danger without realising that he would be in danger. I also felt that Brett's romantic interest in him was forced. Another thing that I wasn't a fan of was the last 50-100 pages. There were so many twists that it made the ending confusing to me. How Ruby was involved with it, and Parker tried to kill her even though he murdered a guy for her. But then Ruby killed him and then almost killed herself but Juniper walked near the fire and everything was alright. Also, it took forever for the police to arrive at the scene but when they did arrive they didn't go to the scene of the crime and allowed Juniper and Ruby to have a long deep discussion. When they did finally finish their conversation and joined Gavin who was with the police, none of them was questioned. The police didn't speak to them at all, even though they were the only witnesses. One final thing that didn't seem right about this book, was that it was so easy to climb into each other's houses without being seen. Even as six-year-olds they could magically climb up the side of a house to get to their friend's window. Overall, this book wasn't for me. I will give it credit and say that it was a fast read, but I don't recommend this book.

Content Warnings

mxbluet18's review

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Trigger warnings include: alcohol use, bullying, car accidents, child abuse, physical and emotional abuse and domestic violence, death, fires, gaslighting, murder, revenge porn, suicide (past and mentioned) and violence.
~
~
So, I've just finished this book and quite honestly I'm not sure what to think. In short, I'm confused.
~
It's a murder mystery YA book. And within it's pages there are many stories told, many lies and half truths, many twists and turns. and I don't really know what to think about it. I don't know what's true and what's not with it. And I can't really work out who the real killers were, who survived the story and who didn't exactly.
~
When it comes to murder mystery stories and thrillers, typically while they're not cut and dried, you finish with a sense of knowing what happened, knowing the full story of events. But with this one, at least for me, I don't have that feeling. I don't really know, and maybe that's just my inability to follow it entirely.
~
Regardless, I really enjoyed it and I've been meaning to read it for several years and I'm glad I finally have.

Content Warnings

mxajlikesbooks's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Content Warnings

jillkaarlela's review

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

CHECK TRIGGER WARNINGS!! Mysterious letters arrive inviting students to a murder mystery themed scholarship dinner for a $50k scholarship. It seems legit, until they arrive and things go horribly wrong. This dark, twisty ya mystery explores revenge and how loss can affect your psyche. So many twists and turns kept me listening for more. This book is very dark and could be quite triggering for many people, so I would seriously check the trigger warnings. However, this book was not very remarkable and did not stand out much from the other mysteries I have read before. I could predict many plot points. I don’t know if it’s just because I’ve read so many in this genre, but I am just not very affected by this book. I probably won’t remember it in a few weeks. It was fairly good, not bad by any means, it just didn’t stand out compared to the others I have read in this genre.

Content Warnings

maferencak's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I loved the story. It was compelling, mysterious, and even though I sensed very early on of who was the person behind it all, it still kept me on my toes until the end. The characters are very morally qustionable and my feelings toward some of them are, well, complicated. I love them, I understand them yet I don’t quite condone them. The only thing that kind of struck me as a tad too exaggerated were some of the relationships and the conversations. I know they had to be as strong for the story to make sense, but it didn’t stop me from cringing at some parts.

Seriously, the conversations between Shane and Ruby made me want to barf at times.

I did, however, like the way the book touched certain triggering topics.

But seriously, Ruby, get help. Like, professional one.

Content Warnings

More...