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iridescentdreams's review against another edition
dark
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Addiction, Murder, Violence, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, and Domestic abuse
dilani's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I was glued to this book. I mean I was itching to read it on my breaks and lunches at work. Lucy is a refreshing MC to follow. She’s brutally honest and sarcastic af. Despite the world thinking the worst of her, she found the strength to discover the truth about her best friend’s murder..even if it meant dredging up awful memories.
I think Lucy says it best, “I am not responsible for the fake version of me you created in your head.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Violence, Murder, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Alcoholism and Sexual content
Minor: Sexual harassment
enzopudge's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship
abookwanderer's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
4.0
When a copy of Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera landed on my doorstep—kindly provided by the publisher—it wasn’t a book I’d planned on reading anytime soon. But I’d noticed all the buzz around this thriller, and I couldn’t help but be intrigued. It seemed like everyone was reading it! While thrillers and mysteries aren’t my go-to genre, I do enjoy them when they’re good, and within the first few pages, I was hooked!
I sped through this one quickly, entranced and entertained—a great cast of characters, a creepy small-town setting, all wrapped around a podcast I would listen to. A few things gave me pause, but let’s start with what I liked.
Books set around a podcast are popular right now, and I don’t mind it one bit. I just finished a romance/mystery that featured a podcast theme (The Other Side of Disappearing by Kate Clayborn), and I thoroughly enjoyed it, as well. I like alternating between the narrative and the podcast, which breaks up the story, building the suspense. I like how podcast hosts are basically the modern-day version of an old school detective.
Listen for the Lie is set in my home state of Texas during the smoldering summer, and I could easily identify with every description of the oppressive heat. It also successfully matches the growing pressure to solve this cold case.
The cast of characters are pretty much all unreliable, but I didn’t mind. They’re each distinctive and easily recognizable. The story is told from Lucy’s point of view with the podcast transcripts and interviews alternating some of the chapters.
Even if Lucy is unreliable, I liked her. She’s witty and sharp-tongued, but she’s pretty much been forced to put up a wall of protection around herself since almost everyone—including most of her family—thinks she may be a murderer. And thanks to her amnesia, she doesn’t even know the truth herself. I found myself rooting for Lucy, even if she did kill her best friend!
A few things did make this story a bit unrealistic for me—most that I can’t talk about without spoilers. While they took me out of the book at moments, I was able to shrug them off and keep reading. For example, almost everyone in this town is cheating on someone. I can understand one or two instances but at some point it just becomes redundant. And as much as everyone drinks and sleeps around, I found it hard to believe that the key characters hadn’t let any secrets slip.
I rarely read a thriller where the ending wraps up perfectly for me, so I’m always prepared to be underwhelmed at the end—it’s just not something I necessarily require to enjoy a mystery. If the bulk of the book has been good, I can forgive a weaker ending. And while the climax of this story was rewarding, the reveal felt a little too predictable for me, but not so much that it affected how I felt about the entirety of the book.
Listen for the Lie kept me invested, I didn’t want to set it down, so for me that’s a win! If you’re a fan of podcast mysteries or dark comedies, add this one to your tbr. It’d be a perfect vacation or poolside read for the summer!
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you to Celadon Books for providing me with a copy.
Check out my reviews and playlists at A Book Wanderer
I sped through this one quickly, entranced and entertained—a great cast of characters, a creepy small-town setting, all wrapped around a podcast I would listen to. A few things gave me pause, but let’s start with what I liked.
Books set around a podcast are popular right now, and I don’t mind it one bit. I just finished a romance/mystery that featured a podcast theme (The Other Side of Disappearing by Kate Clayborn), and I thoroughly enjoyed it, as well. I like alternating between the narrative and the podcast, which breaks up the story, building the suspense. I like how podcast hosts are basically the modern-day version of an old school detective.
Listen for the Lie is set in my home state of Texas during the smoldering summer, and I could easily identify with every description of the oppressive heat. It also successfully matches the growing pressure to solve this cold case.
The cast of characters are pretty much all unreliable, but I didn’t mind. They’re each distinctive and easily recognizable. The story is told from Lucy’s point of view with the podcast transcripts and interviews alternating some of the chapters.
Even if Lucy is unreliable, I liked her. She’s witty and sharp-tongued, but she’s pretty much been forced to put up a wall of protection around herself since almost everyone—including most of her family—thinks she may be a murderer. And thanks to her amnesia, she doesn’t even know the truth herself. I found myself rooting for Lucy, even if she did kill her best friend!
A few things did make this story a bit unrealistic for me—most that I can’t talk about without spoilers. While they took me out of the book at moments, I was able to shrug them off and keep reading. For example, almost everyone in this town is cheating on someone. I can understand one or two instances but at some point it just becomes redundant. And as much as everyone drinks and sleeps around, I found it hard to believe that the key characters hadn’t let any secrets slip.
I rarely read a thriller where the ending wraps up perfectly for me, so I’m always prepared to be underwhelmed at the end—it’s just not something I necessarily require to enjoy a mystery. If the bulk of the book has been good, I can forgive a weaker ending. And while the climax of this story was rewarding, the reveal felt a little too predictable for me, but not so much that it affected how I felt about the entirety of the book.
Listen for the Lie kept me invested, I didn’t want to set it down, so for me that’s a win! If you’re a fan of podcast mysteries or dark comedies, add this one to your tbr. It’d be a perfect vacation or poolside read for the summer!
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you to Celadon Books for providing me with a copy.
Check out my reviews and playlists at A Book Wanderer
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Murder, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Grief
aliciagrasby's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Murder, and Violence
katiescott's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Toxic relationship, Death, and Sexual content
Moderate: Domestic abuse
amandafitz's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I was hooked from the first pages. I fell asleep reading and picked it back up in the morning. I loved Ben’s cocky but sweet smugness. Lucy’s sarcastic comments during awkward situations were hilarious. I loved her grandmother’s personality even more. I’ve never laughed so much while reading a thriller like I did while reading Lucy & the grandmother’s interactions with other people. I would love to see a series come from this with Ben’s podcasts solving other cold cases (but not without Lucy and her grandmother of course 😏)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Murder, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Minor: Misogyny, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Sexism, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
and5678's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-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? Yes
5.0
I can’t stop thinking about this book. It was more complex than I thought it would be and the twists kept me guessing. The ending was everything I wanted and more. Solid 5 stars for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse and Toxic relationship
lauraelovesbooks's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-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? Yes
5.0
I could not put this down! The blend of sarcastic humour, murder mystery, and small town dynamics was so captivating.
Lucy is such a great character. I loved her wit and her resilience in the face of almost everyone automatically assuming the worst about her.
The way the book was formatted, with transcripts of the podcast woven in, lent itself particularly well to an audiobook (and the narrators did a fantastic job with the different voices of the characters).
The whole experience of this book was such an enjoyable one. There were plenty of twists and turns, but never any that went too over the top (there is so much pressure these days to have jaw-dropping plot twists, often at the expense of plausibility). It’s strange to say, but I was enjoying this book and its characters so much I didn’t even really try to guess what was going to happen next, I was just happy to be along for the ride
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Domestic abuse, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Toxic relationship and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual content and Sexual assault
colorcrystals's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book was amazing. I was literally hooked with the very first sentence, and I read the first 70% in one sitting, only stopping because I had to go to bed for work in the morning. I absolutely loved the main character, Lucy. She was sassy and snarky and tough, and yet Tintera was still able to show us how vulnerable and imperfect Lucy underneath the bravado.
The cast of characters around Lucy were exceptional. There were some minor characters that didn’t get fleshed out, but all of the major players were dynamic and well-developed. Ben, as the podcaster investigating the murder, obviously played a major role, but I really enjoyed how Tintera wrote his character. He was decently developed, but he was written to be somewhat of a mystery. We never really know what he’s thinking. And not only does that fit really well with the purpose of his character within the story, but it also meant that he was never really central enough to upstage Lucy. This is Lucy’s story, not Ben’s. And I really like how Tintera handled that dynamic.
And overall, it was just really engaging and fun. Even with the seriousness of the topics discussed (which include domestic violence, gaslighting, murder, etc.), Tintera still made me laugh. I was invested in the story from the beginning, and it was a fantastic ride.
The cast of characters around Lucy were exceptional. There were some minor characters that didn’t get fleshed out, but all of the major players were dynamic and well-developed. Ben, as the podcaster investigating the murder, obviously played a major role, but I really enjoyed how Tintera wrote his character. He was decently developed, but he was written to be somewhat of a mystery. We never really know what he’s thinking. And not only does that fit really well with the purpose of his character within the story, but it also meant that he was never really central enough to upstage Lucy. This is Lucy’s story, not Ben’s. And I really like how Tintera handled that dynamic.
And overall, it was just really engaging and fun. Even with the seriousness of the topics discussed (which include domestic violence, gaslighting, murder, etc.), Tintera still made me laugh. I was invested in the story from the beginning, and it was a fantastic ride.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Violence, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Death, Murder, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Medical content