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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
Holy hell that was good! What a terrific “wife” psychological thriller. This book had three things going for it: #1 it had a great balance of predictable/you figure it out vs total surprise, #2 slightly different approach to telling it (it’s a little like getting 2 books in one) and #3 all showing no telling!
Highly recommend if you like page-turning thrillers
Highly recommend if you like page-turning thrillers
Where do I even begin with the disappointment that was this book? Do you remember how the movie Dark City gives away its entire plot in the film's first minute?
This book gives away its entire plot in the first two pages.
Only in the case of Dark City, the intro was an idiotic last-minute insertion by the studio and the film was actually pretty good if you could ignore that (see the Director's Cut). In contrast, Lies She Told continues to give away its entire plot in just about every chapter. I mean, did the author really think she was being clever by naming her main character "Liza" and the fictional character Liza writes "Beth"? Is "Elizabeth" supposed to be a rare and unheard of name or something? It's like the author saw what Secret Window did with "John Shooter / SHOOT HER" and thought, "This is just as good!"
It's not just that though. Other hints drop in every chapter as to who the real killer is, and when I say "hints," I mean "flashing neon signs." I kept on thinking, "This has to be clever misdirection on the author's part. She can't really be making it this obvious who the killer is." Nope! The killer is exactly who all of the "hints" say the killer is!
Almost no part of the plot's "twists" surprised me.
And don't even get me started on David. He's a such a growlie and unlikable character that it's hard to feel any sympathy as things unravel for him and Liza. But he's not unlikable in such a way that his demise is enjoyable. He's just irritating and trite.
There's a reason I'm awarding this book a rare one-star rating (something I've done for only one other book) rather than two stars. As a victim of infidelity myself, normally, I enjoy a good infidelity revenge plot. Whatever the film's other flaws, I could watch Johnny Depp murder Amy Rainey and Timothy Hutton all day. I'm not in favor of violence against real-life adulterers, mind you, but let's kill off all of the fictional adulterers in the world.
But this wasn't a straight-up adultery revenge plot. The main character's husband is a closeted gay who has a gay affair, and the main character responds by murdering his affair partner. Then she gets away with it. "Cheating because I'm gay and don't have the courage to come out" is a little different from run-of-the-mill adultery. It's still wrong---honest conversations and requests for open marriage and/or divorce are still the way to go in that situation---but it's at least more understandable than "I started 'working late' with my secretary." This makes the main character's actions not just wrong, but ugly.
In conclusion, this Secret Window / Silent House -esque plot has been done before, and done way better than this. This book was a total waste of time.
This book gives away its entire plot in the first two pages.
Only in the case of Dark City, the intro was an idiotic last-minute insertion by the studio and the film was actually pretty good if you could ignore that (see the Director's Cut). In contrast, Lies She Told continues to give away its entire plot in just about every chapter. I mean, did the author really think she was being clever by naming her main character "Liza" and the fictional character Liza writes "Beth"? Is "Elizabeth" supposed to be a rare and unheard of name or something? It's like the author saw what Secret Window did with "John Shooter / SHOOT HER" and thought, "This is just as good!"
It's not just that though. Other hints drop in every chapter as to who the real killer is, and when I say "hints," I mean "flashing neon signs." I kept on thinking, "This has to be clever misdirection on the author's part. She can't really be making it this obvious who the killer is." Nope! The killer is exactly who all of the "hints" say the killer is!
Almost no part of the plot's "twists" surprised me.
Spoiler
Nick is gay and a metaphor for Colleen? Made pretty obvious by the odd details about Nick's short stature and how he only dates women with short hair (who look like men?). In fiction, short men who are also hot are vanishingly rare, so I knew that couldn't have been an incidental detail. David is gay and was having a closeted affair with Nick? Given away by his extreme aversion to having sex with his wife. Liza's subconscious seemed to insist on having Beth bury the gun, even though it would have been colossally stupid to hide a murder weapon across the street from the scene of a murder and in the same place where she dumped the body. But she had to write it that way, because Liza buried the weapon when she did it, of course.And don't even get me started on David. He's a such a growlie and unlikable character that it's hard to feel any sympathy as things unravel for him and Liza. But he's not unlikable in such a way that his demise is enjoyable. He's just irritating and trite.
There's a reason I'm awarding this book a rare one-star rating (something I've done for only one other book) rather than two stars. As a victim of infidelity myself, normally, I enjoy a good infidelity revenge plot. Whatever the film's other flaws, I could watch Johnny Depp murder Amy Rainey and Timothy Hutton all day. I'm not in favor of violence against real-life adulterers, mind you, but let's kill off all of the fictional adulterers in the world.
But this wasn't a straight-up adultery revenge plot. The main character's husband is a closeted gay who has a gay affair, and the main character responds by murdering his affair partner. Then she gets away with it. "Cheating because I'm gay and don't have the courage to come out" is a little different from run-of-the-mill adultery. It's still wrong---honest conversations and requests for open marriage and/or divorce are still the way to go in that situation---but it's at least more understandable than "I started 'working late' with my secretary." This makes the main character's actions not just wrong, but ugly.
In conclusion, this Secret Window / Silent House -esque plot has been done before, and done way better than this. This book was a total waste of time.
I was hooked especially in parts 2 & 3. Ending was nothing I expected.
The main character, Liza Cole, is a romance/suspense writer. She has been in a writing rut due to the stress of trying to conceive a child and her husband's grief over his missing law partner and best friend doesn't seem to be helping any. Now this is where you need to pay attention especially if you listen to the audiobook ( I was going back and forth from the audiobook to the physical book because it got a little confusing for me) Liza's main character in the her current book is Beth, which by chapter 5 I'm feeling is more like this is Liza's alter ego because the situation she is writing about is becoming eerily close to Liza's life - this is where the confusion or clarity begins - depending on how you want to look at it or as my husband says how observant you are and I my friends sometimes am not the most observant person and why I love thrillers like this so much.
Cate Holahan did a good job at dual stories and keeping you on the edge of your seat. It was a bit predictable for some of the story, by chapter 3 to 5 I had guessed correctly at some of the story plots and why I gave it a 4 star instead of a 5 star however it was still intense enough for me that I did not expect some of the rest of the story to go the route that it did.
I had this book on my shelf from book of the month for probably longer than I cared to admit to and I'm like why. It is a great book that I would recommend and will read again and again.
Cate Holahan did a good job at dual stories and keeping you on the edge of your seat. It was a bit predictable for some of the story, by chapter 3 to 5 I had guessed correctly at some of the story plots and why I gave it a 4 star instead of a 5 star however it was still intense enough for me that I did not expect some of the rest of the story to go the route that it did.
I had this book on my shelf from book of the month for probably longer than I cared to admit to and I'm like why. It is a great book that I would recommend and will read again and again.
This was a good thriller/suspense book. There were times I could guess the next events but most of the time, I was shocked.
Neat how the book is written. Goes back and forth between the author writing a book and telling her own story. Full of twists as turns. Different than most trillers currently on the marker.
Not my favorite book, probably not one that I’ll recommend to anyone. But, it was fast paced and entertaining given the unreliable narrator
Awful writing, predictable plot, and a total waste of time.
I’m not sure how I feel about this book. After some initial struggle with flipping between two characters/storylines I was really enjoying the tension but I just felt like the ending was too unbelievable. For 2/3 of it though I really enjoyed the tension and buildup. It’s really. 3.5 rating for me but it was interesting enough to not just be a 3.