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3.2 AVERAGE
3.2 AVERAGE
A pretty good book. I was waiting for it to be more suspenseful, but there weren't high stakes until the end of the book. I definitely saw the ending coming from quite a ways off. It was interesting to see how it all played out. But it never really got into WHY she was trying to figure out the mystery of the murders. It was just something she was doing instead of being a motivated choice, which was strange.
I really enjoyed this YA thriller/mystery. I figured out the whodunnit fairly easily, but this is YA so I take that into consideration. This was a quick read and the pacing kept me interested. If you are looking for a quick read and a light thriller, I highly recommend picking this one up!
Quick review for a read that I finished quickly, but felt a little like a slog in places. I probably should have opted to read "Grit" before "The Lies They Tell" because I had more investment in the premise of the former than the latter. Somehow I got my hands on this one and I couldn't stop until I finished it. That's not to say that the experience of "The Lies They Tell" was a compelling one. I wanted to know what happened...and while I got that, it didn't feel very satisfying upon finishing the book.
There are some mysteries where you know what's going to happen and who the villain turns out to be from very early on in the story. However, such stories still manage to thrill you for the journey the story takes you on and seeing how the pieces fit together. This is not one of those books. The bare bones of the mystery is compelling, some of the characters definitely have interesting backgrounds and conflicts, but the overarching narration of this plodded for much longer than it should have. The prologue showing the fire and the family that died was tragic enough, yet it took a while for the story to get going. This isn't to knock Pearl's point of view (told in third person), whom I did end up caring for throughout the story. Her overarching story was worth following as well - between the conflict with her father/family, her changing personal relationships, even trying to understand who might've actually done the crime to get the blame of the town off her father's back.
None of excuses that you literally can guess the villain from the first few chapters of this book. And if it isn't obvious then, the creepy cave-dwelling sequence makes it really obvious (I will admit that was one of my favorite scenes in this novel, so I'm not knocking that, but seriously, you can guess the villain then.) And none of it excuses the rather lazy way that the final act of this book came together and how Pearl figures it out. (Really? So that set up was basically a way to make a Lifetime movie worthy action sequence at like the 97% mark of the novel? There were scenes that foreshadowed that eventual encounter, but still. Arggggggh.)
I wanted to love this book much more than I did, especially since I'm a big fan of YA mysteries (and mysteries in general). There were parts of it I did like, including the audiobook narration by Caitlin Davies. It gets a solid 3 stars from me, but it's not a book I would re-read after going through it the first time through.
Overall score: 3/5 stars.
There are some mysteries where you know what's going to happen and who the villain turns out to be from very early on in the story. However, such stories still manage to thrill you for the journey the story takes you on and seeing how the pieces fit together. This is not one of those books. The bare bones of the mystery is compelling, some of the characters definitely have interesting backgrounds and conflicts, but the overarching narration of this plodded for much longer than it should have. The prologue showing the fire and the family that died was tragic enough, yet it took a while for the story to get going. This isn't to knock Pearl's point of view (told in third person), whom I did end up caring for throughout the story. Her overarching story was worth following as well - between the conflict with her father/family, her changing personal relationships, even trying to understand who might've actually done the crime to get the blame of the town off her father's back.
None of excuses that you literally can guess the villain from the first few chapters of this book. And if it isn't obvious then, the creepy cave-dwelling sequence makes it really obvious (I will admit that was one of my favorite scenes in this novel, so I'm not knocking that, but seriously, you can guess the villain then.) And none of it excuses the rather lazy way that the final act of this book came together and how Pearl figures it out. (Really? So that set up was basically a way to make a Lifetime movie worthy action sequence at like the 97% mark of the novel? There were scenes that foreshadowed that eventual encounter, but still. Arggggggh.)
I wanted to love this book much more than I did, especially since I'm a big fan of YA mysteries (and mysteries in general). There were parts of it I did like, including the audiobook narration by Caitlin Davies. It gets a solid 3 stars from me, but it's not a book I would re-read after going through it the first time through.
Overall score: 3/5 stars.
Ok. So this was alright enough. But it could have been so much better. (Like read This is our story by Ashley Elston because it’s actually a better choice.)
This story was missing what makes mysteries/thrillers interesting to read ... the sense of urgency. The reader feels no urgency to collect clues. No urgency to try to figure out the whole “who done it”. And Pearl, the main character/narrator, while kind of motivated seems not to feel that sense of urgency either.
This would have been a much more powerful story if Pearl had been Paul (or some other P dude name), the weird dead end romance plot lines were dropped, and the story focused on the male characters and their friendships instead. This story really needed a male narrator trying to figure out what his friend (good friend, new friend, frienemy ... all situations would have worked better than the actual one) may or may not have done. Pearl just felt weak and underdeveloped ... also she comes off as ambivalent (in almost all areas of her life - that can’t be explained away as growing up a “have not”) even through she’s trying to prove her father’s innocence.
This story was missing what makes mysteries/thrillers interesting to read ... the sense of urgency. The reader feels no urgency to collect clues. No urgency to try to figure out the whole “who done it”. And Pearl, the main character/narrator, while kind of motivated seems not to feel that sense of urgency either.
This would have been a much more powerful story if Pearl had been Paul (or some other P dude name), the weird dead end romance plot lines were dropped, and the story focused on the male characters and their friendships instead. This story really needed a male narrator trying to figure out what his friend (good friend, new friend, frienemy ... all situations would have worked better than the actual one) may or may not have done. Pearl just felt weak and underdeveloped ... also she comes off as ambivalent (in almost all areas of her life - that can’t be explained away as growing up a “have not”) even through she’s trying to prove her father’s innocence.
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I really wanted to like this book but there was honestly not much about it that was likable. Pearl was a super boring main character that kind of annoyed me and I honestly didn't care at all about what happened to her. It felt like the author regularly forgot that the book was supposed to be a mystery and preferred just to write the teen drama scenes in the middle, which to be fair were interesting, but didn't do much for the plot. Pearl found all the clues mostly by coincidence and the premise that she was hanging out with the rich boys for information didn't really work. The reveal at the end was super predictable since there was really only one suspect and we never find out the killers motive for killing the whole family which annoyed me a lot.
What I did like was the setting, the beach vibes, and a lot of the teen drama scenes which were fun to read. Bridges was my favorite character since he was weirdly charismatic in comparison to all the others. Overall, it wasn't super thrilling but it wasn't boring either, and was a pretty fast read.
What I did like was the setting, the beach vibes, and a lot of the teen drama scenes which were fun to read. Bridges was my favorite character since he was weirdly charismatic in comparison to all the others. Overall, it wasn't super thrilling but it wasn't boring either, and was a pretty fast read.
It was... fine.
French is a good writer, the characters (more or less) avoid being stereotypes, and Pearl isn't the damsel in distress in the murder mystery. But, it lacked excitement. And when the big reveal was made it was the obvious choice for the killer. I went in thinking it would be darker and twistier and it ended up being pretty standard.
French is a good writer, the characters (more or less) avoid being stereotypes, and Pearl isn't the damsel in distress in the murder mystery. But, it lacked excitement. And when the big reveal was made it was the obvious choice for the killer. I went in thinking it would be darker and twistier and it ended up being pretty standard.
This book is between a three and a four star read for me. I really liked it because I did feel drawn into the setting and characters and I did finish the book within a couple of sittings. My only disappointment came from the lack of a big "aha" moment. The mystery was too easy to figure out and the ending not very satisfying. I did like the main character a lot and I felt her relatable and realistic.
I don't know why I gave this a pitiful one star. I can't even remember the plot. Then I read the summary and it predictable came back to me. Meaning I knew immediately why this book was deserving.
Take the poor girl, rich boy trope. She's wary of him but can't seem to shake off this sensitive side he exudes that's different from his arrogant peers. They get close so they can find the true culprit of the arson killing his entire family. Well, you know where this is going. Betrayal ensues. The writing doesn't inspire much and couldn't carry this beaten cliche.
Take the poor girl, rich boy trope. She's wary of him but can't seem to shake off this sensitive side he exudes that's different from his arrogant peers. They get close so they can find the true culprit of the arson killing his entire family. Well, you know where this is going. Betrayal ensues. The writing doesn't inspire much and couldn't carry this beaten cliche.
challenging
slow-paced