Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
This novel has given me mixed emotions. First, some insight -
The Lie is about a girl named Emma, whose holiday with the girls quickly unfolded into a nightmare as she realised that their retreat hosts were really the hosts of something more sinister.
The story seems fascinating - and it is a very well devised plot if one does not tire of the childish friendship melodramas and some frankly unexplained irredeemable characters. Motives are not offered for their bad actions, but if you move past this you can definitely appreciate the creativity in the storyline.
But it is badly written, at least in my eyes - too informally written, too much unnecessary swearing and unnecessary details that do not help build the world, for example the full title and singer of the song that plays on a phone's ringtone. This cheapens the overall prose, taking away from any potential 'timeless' quality. The writing just seems crude, not pretty - and while this applies to most novels nowadays, I prefer my stories to be poetic and wordy. I'm a Nabokov girl at heart.
I will however applaud the author where it is due! The pacing was extremely well done, wrapping up the past and present quite seamlessly together with very little filler. Just perfectly timed! This is important to me as I often find in this style of novel that one storyline will have more content than the other, and one might appear stretched or rushed in response.
That being said, I was not happy with the ending, wherein in such a short space of time a character with extremely poor if any motivation decides to burn down an animal sanctuary and...well, it just seems so rushed! Not only rushed, but the ending itself doesn't make sense. It isn't a satisfying ending to all the buildup. I have to wonder whether this was what the author had had in mind all along.
The Lie is about a girl named Emma, whose holiday with the girls quickly unfolded into a nightmare as she realised that their retreat hosts were really the hosts of something more sinister.
The story seems fascinating - and it is a very well devised plot if one does not tire of the childish friendship melodramas and some frankly unexplained irredeemable characters. Motives are not offered for their bad actions, but if you move past this you can definitely appreciate the creativity in the storyline.
But it is badly written, at least in my eyes - too informally written, too much unnecessary swearing and unnecessary details that do not help build the world, for example the full title and singer of the song that plays on a phone's ringtone. This cheapens the overall prose, taking away from any potential 'timeless' quality. The writing just seems crude, not pretty - and while this applies to most novels nowadays, I prefer my stories to be poetic and wordy. I'm a Nabokov girl at heart.
I will however applaud the author where it is due! The pacing was extremely well done, wrapping up the past and present quite seamlessly together with very little filler. Just perfectly timed! This is important to me as I often find in this style of novel that one storyline will have more content than the other, and one might appear stretched or rushed in response.
That being said, I was not happy with the ending, wherein in such a short space of time a character with extremely poor if any motivation decides to burn down an animal sanctuary and...well, it just seems so rushed! Not only rushed, but the ending itself doesn't make sense. It isn't a satisfying ending to all the buildup. I have to wonder whether this was what the author had had in mind all along.
This is a fun to read, creepy psychological thriller. The book goes back and forth between Jane in the present and five years ago when an incident occurred that caused her to change her name and her life. Now, it seems that her past is catching up with her. She barely survived five years ago. Will she survive it now? The book was fast paced and kept me wondering who were Jane's friends, and who were her enemies. I received this book free to review from Netgalley and I enjoyed it and recommend it.
"Your past doesn't have to define your future, not if you won't let it" is one of the messages in The Lie. Told in the first-person perspective of Jane/Emma, the story alternates fluently between the present and the past. 5 Years ago, Jane was known as Emma. She embarked on the trip of a lifetime with three female friends visiting a "retreat" in Nepal. 5 years later, she's living a secluded life in Wales, working in an animal shelter and using a different name. What happened during their time abroad and why is somebody taunting Jane/Emma now after all this time?
This was my first time reading a book by British author C.L. Taylor, and I really enjoyed it. The Lie was a very sinister and atmospheric tale of psychological suspense. At one stage, I was doubting everybody who was around Jane, completely unsure whom to trust. Jane was a very likable character, but there weren't many of those.
I thought the book was extremely good at depicting the dynamics of groups. Firstly, the female toxic friendships that were shaped by competitiveness, envy and bitterness and secondly, the group dynamics at the "retreat" in Nepal, which showed how easily people can be manipulated and how dangerous a situation can turn once a follow-the-leader environment has been established. However, there were some situations in Nepal as well as in Wales where I felt the plot was losing some credibility. Nevertheless, it was such a tense, fast-paced and provocative story, which was refreshingly different, I really liked it and will seek out more by this author.
Many thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark for my copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This was my first time reading a book by British author C.L. Taylor, and I really enjoyed it. The Lie was a very sinister and atmospheric tale of psychological suspense. At one stage, I was doubting everybody who was around Jane, completely unsure whom to trust. Jane was a very likable character, but there weren't many of those.
I thought the book was extremely good at depicting the dynamics of groups. Firstly, the female toxic friendships that were shaped by competitiveness, envy and bitterness and secondly, the group dynamics at the "retreat" in Nepal, which showed how easily people can be manipulated and how dangerous a situation can turn once a follow-the-leader environment has been established. However, there were some situations in Nepal as well as in Wales where I felt the plot was losing some credibility. Nevertheless, it was such a tense, fast-paced and provocative story, which was refreshingly different, I really liked it and will seek out more by this author.
Many thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark for my copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Fast paced psychological thriller. I enjoyed the twists and turns here.
The Lie was a pleasant surprise in my to be read pile! I found the story to be so compelling and I really couldn’t stop reading until I discovered what was traumatic enough for Emma to leave her former life and become present-day Jane.
The story flips between past and present with the catalyst for the plot being a note Jane receives stating that they know her real name isn’t Jane. Jane has tried to rebuild her life after the events on a Nepal holiday with her former girlfriends, so she becomes terrified of everything being snatched away.
The characters weren’t very likeable. I kept wondering why they were all friends since each of them had reprehensible character traits. I wanted to reach through the book and shake some sense into them. I guess I wasn’t totally shocked how things fell apart in the way they did.
The suspense was so awesomely done. The author never gave much away besides a few breadcrumbs here or there. The climax is explosive and well worth the long wait.
Overall, a great book from a new to me author. Can’t wait to read her other books!
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Thanks to the publisher for a copy of the novel for review!
The story flips between past and present with the catalyst for the plot being a note Jane receives stating that they know her real name isn’t Jane. Jane has tried to rebuild her life after the events on a Nepal holiday with her former girlfriends, so she becomes terrified of everything being snatched away.
The characters weren’t very likeable. I kept wondering why they were all friends since each of them had reprehensible character traits. I wanted to reach through the book and shake some sense into them. I guess I wasn’t totally shocked how things fell apart in the way they did.
The suspense was so awesomely done. The author never gave much away besides a few breadcrumbs here or there. The climax is explosive and well worth the long wait.
Overall, a great book from a new to me author. Can’t wait to read her other books!
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Thanks to the publisher for a copy of the novel for review!
SPOILER ALERT - proceed with caution
I really enjoyed this one. It was so creepy and atmospheric and the idea of cults and the power they have over people is so fascinating to me. I’d love to find some more books that cover this topic.
I really enjoyed this one. It was so creepy and atmospheric and the idea of cults and the power they have over people is so fascinating to me. I’d love to find some more books that cover this topic.
I've been looking forward to this one for a while now. I really enjoyed The Accident, which I read last year. But I knew from reading the author's blog that I would either love or hate it - because it touches on so many themes that resonate. Friendship and betrayal, secrets and lies - and a weird cult.
I'm avoiding spoilers, so I won't say a lot about the story, but the characters were three dimensional and their behaviour convincing. The story is told in two narrative strands, Present Day, and Five Years Earlier - and both storylines are completely gripping, so that I was annoyed by the switch for a second or two, then immediately grabbed by the continuing story. I wasn't exactly surprised by the ending, although there was one hugs surprise along the way that I didn't see coming - but there was plenty of doubt and suspicion along the way and the narrator, who I'd come to care about, was in ever increasing jeopardy. Not only that, she never really did anything that I couldn't understand, or I thought was just there for the sake of the plot - it was all very convincing.
I've read a lot of psychological thrillers over the past few years and this was one of the best.
My only disappointment is that I can't read it again for the first time.
I'm avoiding spoilers, so I won't say a lot about the story, but the characters were three dimensional and their behaviour convincing. The story is told in two narrative strands, Present Day, and Five Years Earlier - and both storylines are completely gripping, so that I was annoyed by the switch for a second or two, then immediately grabbed by the continuing story. I wasn't exactly surprised by the ending, although there was one hugs surprise along the way that I didn't see coming - but there was plenty of doubt and suspicion along the way and the narrator, who I'd come to care about, was in ever increasing jeopardy. Not only that, she never really did anything that I couldn't understand, or I thought was just there for the sake of the plot - it was all very convincing.
I've read a lot of psychological thrillers over the past few years and this was one of the best.
My only disappointment is that I can't read it again for the first time.
This was a book that sadly did not live up to my expectations. On the surface, it has many of the features I would associate with a good thriller, but aside from the concept and some occasional moments of tension, various aspects are lacking in effectiveness.
The concept was indeed interesting and fairly original. It explores the theme of female friendships relatively well, and creates tension with the help of a menacing setting, and a potentially unreliable narrator. The problem was, it was never gripping.
The story alternates between the present day, and the events of five years earlier. Of the two, the latter is more strongly developed and accounts for most of the darker and more unsettling areas of the plot. By comparison, the present day storyline felt half-baked and ever so slightly contrived.
I found it frustrating that there were moments within the present day that actually revealed possible plot twists for later on in the book. They felt like spoilers, and removed any sense of intrigue for at least part of what was going to happen at the end. Even then, there were some important questions left unanswered.
One of my biggest issues was that I struggled to seriously warm to any of the characters. Jane/Emma is an average protagonist, but at times she is terribly naive. This is the kind of book where you need to connect with some of the characters in order to like it, and that just did not happen for me here.
The ending was disappointing, too. As well as the unanswered questions, it all felt very rushed, with little or no explanation for what had happened during the five-year period between the two storylines. Like a lot of the book, it just lacked substance.
Overall, I would say that this a book that promised a lot but did not deliver. There are moments that I liked, such as the detail and description of the Ekanta Yatra setting, but to me the plot just felt all over the place, resulting in a dissatisfying conclusion. Just not my cup of tea, I'm afraid.
The concept was indeed interesting and fairly original. It explores the theme of female friendships relatively well, and creates tension with the help of a menacing setting, and a potentially unreliable narrator. The problem was, it was never gripping.
The story alternates between the present day, and the events of five years earlier. Of the two, the latter is more strongly developed and accounts for most of the darker and more unsettling areas of the plot. By comparison, the present day storyline felt half-baked and ever so slightly contrived.
I found it frustrating that there were moments within the present day that actually revealed possible plot twists for later on in the book. They felt like spoilers, and removed any sense of intrigue for at least part of what was going to happen at the end. Even then, there were some important questions left unanswered.
One of my biggest issues was that I struggled to seriously warm to any of the characters. Jane/Emma is an average protagonist, but at times she is terribly naive. This is the kind of book where you need to connect with some of the characters in order to like it, and that just did not happen for me here.
The ending was disappointing, too. As well as the unanswered questions, it all felt very rushed, with little or no explanation for what had happened during the five-year period between the two storylines. Like a lot of the book, it just lacked substance.
Overall, I would say that this a book that promised a lot but did not deliver. There are moments that I liked, such as the detail and description of the Ekanta Yatra setting, but to me the plot just felt all over the place, resulting in a dissatisfying conclusion. Just not my cup of tea, I'm afraid.
While this book kept me entertained and on the edge of my seat it did not live up to my expectations. I expected to be blown away by the suspense and mysterious backstory, but it felt flat. It was an overall okey book with some interesting characters and creative plot points, but it did not live up to the hype that surrounded it.