A review by readbydusk
The Perfect Lie by Jo Spain

2.0

2.5 stars. The Perfect Lie starts with a bang with the death of Erin's husband right in front of her. Soon, she finds out that he has secrets and he's not the man she thought he was. I really enjoyed the writing and I thought the double timeline creates suspense at first.

However, I found the blurb and synopsis quite misleading. I was not a fan of the misdirection as I was looking forward to finding out about Erin's husband and why she is charged with his murder despite the evidence that suggests otherwise. I also thought Erin is incredibly naive as a protagonist and it was hard to root for her. The book's portrayal of sexual assault victims is heartbreaking but I wish the storyline is treated more seriously because it got really over the top at the end. When the villain seems to know everything without a plausible explanation, it was hard to be convinced by the story. This just missed the mark for me.

CW: sexual assault, rape, domestic violence, suicide

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for a review copy.

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