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emjayae149's review
1.0
TELL ME NO LIES by Alex Sinclair did not hold my attention. I felt the storyline had potential but was not particularly well executed. There is excessive and unnecessary repetition during the first half of the book that made it a slog to get through. The latter half was a faster read given Grace finally decides to stop asking herself the same questions over and over again, and actually tries to get answers.
In the end, I did not believe in the characters nor the story. I felt too much information was held back in an attempt to maintain the suspense. Further, the relationship between Grace and John had me scratching my head. One minute they are both excited to be celebrating their anniversary, the next we discover that it’s all smoke and mirrors. I don’t mind an unreliable narrator in a thriller but with Grace it often felt like a case of self-delusion but with the expectation that the reader will be empathetic. I was not.
Review copy courtesy of Netgalley
In the end, I did not believe in the characters nor the story. I felt too much information was held back in an attempt to maintain the suspense. Further, the relationship between Grace and John had me scratching my head. One minute they are both excited to be celebrating their anniversary, the next we discover that it’s all smoke and mirrors. I don’t mind an unreliable narrator in a thriller but with Grace it often felt like a case of self-delusion but with the expectation that the reader will be empathetic. I was not.
Review copy courtesy of Netgalley
nietzschesghost's review
2.0
Tell Me No Lies is psychological thriller specialist Alex Sinclair's fourth novel, and although his biography states he loves to pen fast-paced reads will killer twists, unfortunately, I found this slow, tedious and extremely repetitive. Not only that but it commits the cardinal sin that all experienced thriller writers should be able to avoid - a completely predictable plot. The conclusion was, however, a fitting way to end and gave the story a little credibility at least. The characters were also stereotypical to the genre, whereas I much prefer those that fall outside of the usual cookie cutter mould.
That said, the two points of view were original and most intriguing - one perspective is Grace whilst married to John and the second as a "widow". However, this makes use of the classic " you don't know him/her as well as you think you do" trope, and it could've worked well as a premise had the other aspects mentioned above not made it a very mediocre read. As we headed towards the back end of the book everything completely unravels with Grace learning with each passing day more and more about her husband who is presumed dead. If you need likeable characters to get behind then this may not be for you as they are all pretty much unlikeable, not very believable or relatable and at certain points annoying. They also lacked sufficient depth. Some of what happens I would class as far-fetched and detached from reality. The premise, albeit decent, has been used a gazillion times before, so the only people I couldn't really see enjoying this is those that aren't regular readers of crime fiction. But for me, this was verging on dire.
Many thanks to Bookouture for an ARC. I was not required to post a review, and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
That said, the two points of view were original and most intriguing - one perspective is Grace whilst married to John and the second as a "widow". However, this makes use of the classic " you don't know him/her as well as you think you do" trope, and it could've worked well as a premise had the other aspects mentioned above not made it a very mediocre read. As we headed towards the back end of the book everything completely unravels with Grace learning with each passing day more and more about her husband who is presumed dead. If you need likeable characters to get behind then this may not be for you as they are all pretty much unlikeable, not very believable or relatable and at certain points annoying. They also lacked sufficient depth. Some of what happens I would class as far-fetched and detached from reality. The premise, albeit decent, has been used a gazillion times before, so the only people I couldn't really see enjoying this is those that aren't regular readers of crime fiction. But for me, this was verging on dire.
Many thanks to Bookouture for an ARC. I was not required to post a review, and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
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