Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.46 AVERAGE
3.46 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Lies, Lies, Lies is a complex page-turner that will make you think twice before you ever tell a lie again. The ending is shocking, and the journey to get to that is dark and full of twists and turns.
The language of Lies, Lies, Lies is straightforward. It is almost taciturn in its stark choppiness. It reminded me of Raymond Chandler or Dashiell Hammet with their noir mysteries. This style of language gave extraordinarily little away as I made my way through the novel. I do not usually gravitate to this writing style, but I did appreciate its effectiveness for keeping hidden all the lies.
The characters are well-developed despite all the lies and misdirections, mostly because it centers around a group of friends who have known each other for over 20 years. I loved the friendships and all that they brought to the story. It is interesting to see how they have stuck together all these years and each character's role.
The conflict and lies between Daisy and Simon make the first third of the story go amazingly fast. The second third does not contain any conflict and thus drawls on very slowly without a distinct direction. Then the last third picks back up the steam from first third and all but spirals out of control. My only wish is that the middle's pace had not slowed down as much as it did. It was tough for me to keep my focus on the story during this section.
I loved the surprise ending. It is a bit head-scratching, but I loved the twist after twist in that last third. I am all about being shocked and surprised, and this book did not disappoint. The action is very intense. The lies layered upon each other to the point I cannot imagine even the one telling those lies can discern between truth and non-truth.
There are a few trigger warnings with this book, and those scenes are very intense- rape, physical abuse, and cruelty toward animals.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
The language of Lies, Lies, Lies is straightforward. It is almost taciturn in its stark choppiness. It reminded me of Raymond Chandler or Dashiell Hammet with their noir mysteries. This style of language gave extraordinarily little away as I made my way through the novel. I do not usually gravitate to this writing style, but I did appreciate its effectiveness for keeping hidden all the lies.
The characters are well-developed despite all the lies and misdirections, mostly because it centers around a group of friends who have known each other for over 20 years. I loved the friendships and all that they brought to the story. It is interesting to see how they have stuck together all these years and each character's role.
The conflict and lies between Daisy and Simon make the first third of the story go amazingly fast. The second third does not contain any conflict and thus drawls on very slowly without a distinct direction. Then the last third picks back up the steam from first third and all but spirals out of control. My only wish is that the middle's pace had not slowed down as much as it did. It was tough for me to keep my focus on the story during this section.
I loved the surprise ending. It is a bit head-scratching, but I loved the twist after twist in that last third. I am all about being shocked and surprised, and this book did not disappoint. The action is very intense. The lies layered upon each other to the point I cannot imagine even the one telling those lies can discern between truth and non-truth.
There are a few trigger warnings with this book, and those scenes are very intense- rape, physical abuse, and cruelty toward animals.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
ORIGINAL POST: http://www.nerdprobs.com/books/book-review-lies-lies-lies-by-adele-parks/
**A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.**
Adele Parks is no amateur and has 20 books available according to her website. I was surprised I had never heard of her, me being an avid mystery and thriller reader. Lies Lies Lies sounded like a great way to start on her novels. Domestic thrillers really interest me and adding a psychological twist always makes them more interesting. I really expected to love this book.
I want to start by saying the story is interesting. I think the plot line could have been great, but the way the story was plotted out made it more frustrating than intriguing. The characters were all well plotted out and developed, even the best friends of the main characters all had their quirks or flaws to their characters that made me think of people in my own life; the friend that is always planning gatherings, the one who tries to be nice to everyone, but you can see her annoyance in her eyes. I loved their quirks.
My biggest issue was the layout of the story. The first half of the book read just like an average life for a family with some pretty deep problems. Interesting enough, but for a novel? Not really. I felt like the story was written up to a point and then the author figured out that the story was lagging and added a huge twist that really didn’t jive with the rest of the story. It didn’t feel as though it was plotted out and instead just wrote and realized it wasn’t as exciting so added some almost unbelievable twists and turns. Every single major point in this book was later on told to be a lie to the reader and not what it seems. Which sounds like it COULD be good… but it came across as trying to hard to make the story more interesting.
I wished some of the bigger twists were written in to a really thought through story with these characters. It would have been far more interesting to me and not felt forced.
I do love the characters and their developments so I will definitely be trying out another Adele Parks book to see if I love one of her other ones. I definitely see why she has done so well as an author. Lies Lies Lies just didn’t speak to me. I always encourage readers to try for themselves though, because you may love it! Unfortunately this one just wasn’t for me.
**A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.**
Adele Parks is no amateur and has 20 books available according to her website. I was surprised I had never heard of her, me being an avid mystery and thriller reader. Lies Lies Lies sounded like a great way to start on her novels. Domestic thrillers really interest me and adding a psychological twist always makes them more interesting. I really expected to love this book.
I want to start by saying the story is interesting. I think the plot line could have been great, but the way the story was plotted out made it more frustrating than intriguing. The characters were all well plotted out and developed, even the best friends of the main characters all had their quirks or flaws to their characters that made me think of people in my own life; the friend that is always planning gatherings, the one who tries to be nice to everyone, but you can see her annoyance in her eyes. I loved their quirks.
My biggest issue was the layout of the story. The first half of the book read just like an average life for a family with some pretty deep problems. Interesting enough, but for a novel? Not really. I felt like the story was written up to a point and then the author figured out that the story was lagging and added a huge twist that really didn’t jive with the rest of the story. It didn’t feel as though it was plotted out and instead just wrote and realized it wasn’t as exciting so added some almost unbelievable twists and turns. Every single major point in this book was later on told to be a lie to the reader and not what it seems. Which sounds like it COULD be good… but it came across as trying to hard to make the story more interesting.
I wished some of the bigger twists were written in to a really thought through story with these characters. It would have been far more interesting to me and not felt forced.
I do love the characters and their developments so I will definitely be trying out another Adele Parks book to see if I love one of her other ones. I definitely see why she has done so well as an author. Lies Lies Lies just didn’t speak to me. I always encourage readers to try for themselves though, because you may love it! Unfortunately this one just wasn’t for me.
The beginning was a bit slow but then it turned into a page turner. The Narrators both did a fantastic job!
I think I just need to stop reading these kinds of books. Every so often I go looking for something that's an easy read and a bit of a diversion but then end up hating it precisely because it's silly and not very challenging - my own fault entirely.
Anyway this one had twists that you could see coming a mile off and the most ridiculous ending I've encountered in a while. The characters were shallow, Daisy's passivity was particularly infuriating and Darryl was straight out of the psychopath playbook. I thought the portrayal of Simon's descent into, and recovery from, alcoholism was carried out quite well but apart from that there wasn't much to recommend here.
I listened to it on audible so didn't notice some of the typos and grammatical errors that others have mentioned but I did notice the narrator saying 'exasperated' instead of 'exacerbated' which I assumed was their error, I see now that it was written like that.
Anyway this one had twists that you could see coming a mile off and the most ridiculous ending I've encountered in a while. The characters were shallow, Daisy's passivity was particularly infuriating and Darryl was straight out of the psychopath playbook. I thought the portrayal of Simon's descent into, and recovery from, alcoholism was carried out quite well but apart from that there wasn't much to recommend here.
I listened to it on audible so didn't notice some of the typos and grammatical errors that others have mentioned but I did notice the narrator saying 'exasperated' instead of 'exacerbated' which I assumed was their error, I see now that it was written like that.
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Ok, after a few hours of sobering up from this book I can confidently say I didn't hate it, but man it was a struggle. TECHICALLY I DNF-ed it at 98% but who's counting??? The story was slow to ramp up, then once we hit the time skip the story braked down to a crawl. Truly, over half of this book could have been pruned down and the author could have actually fleshed out the lies and issues at hand.
But really now, that revelation in the epilogue, WHY. WHY WHY WHY. It was something so cringey and just outright gross.
But really now, that revelation in the epilogue, WHY. WHY WHY WHY. It was something so cringey and just outright gross.
Thank you to MIRA (Harlequin) and NetGalley for a free e-arc of this title for review.
I've got to say, I really think this book is miscategorized -- it's a domestic drama, *not* a mystery/thriller. To that end, I think it's better suited for fans of Colleen Hoover or Liane Moriarty than those looking for mystery/suspense.
Lies, Lies, Lies felt like a rather realistic portrayal of alcoholism and infertility (including reference to previous rounds of IVF). There's also domestic abuse and misogyny.
The perspectives alternate between the two spouses, Daisy, and Simon (the one with alcohol abuse issues). This book wasn't really mysterious in the least for me, nor did it feel like it showcased "lies" -- rather, it featured two people struggling to manage. (Even the synopsis, saying that things "one night" spun "horribly out of control" seems a bit off-base -- had things been *in* control prior to that evening? Certainly didn't seem so.)
Recommend for those looking for a domestic drama focused around the issues mentioned above.
Content warning: alcoholism, infertility in the past,domestic abuse (including rape), misogyny, Alzheimer's, child neglect, car accident involving a child, killing of the family pet, incarceration (reference to threats, physical assault, drug abuse), references to previous infidelity
I've got to say, I really think this book is miscategorized -- it's a domestic drama, *not* a mystery/thriller. To that end, I think it's better suited for fans of Colleen Hoover or Liane Moriarty than those looking for mystery/suspense.
Lies, Lies, Lies felt like a rather realistic portrayal of alcoholism and infertility (including reference to previous rounds of IVF). There's also domestic abuse and misogyny.
The perspectives alternate between the two spouses, Daisy, and Simon (the one with alcohol abuse issues). This book wasn't really mysterious in the least for me, nor did it feel like it showcased "lies" -- rather, it featured two people struggling to manage. (Even the synopsis, saying that things "one night" spun "horribly out of control" seems a bit off-base -- had things been *in* control prior to that evening? Certainly didn't seem so.)
Recommend for those looking for a domestic drama focused around the issues mentioned above.
Content warning: alcoholism, infertility in the past,
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes