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A review by vienna_books
Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I listened to the audiobook in one day and thoroughly enjoyed it.
The book follows Lucy a young woman who returns to her hometown in Texas after 5 years in LA for her grandmothers 80th birthday. She moved away because everybody in her town is convinced she murdered her best friend Savvy a few years ago. Lucy was found covered in blood with no memory of what had happened to her or Savvy in the night the latter was found dead but the police did not have enough evidence to arrest her. A podcast is being made to uncover what really happened that night.
Usually I’m not a fan of the memory loss trope especially when it’s the main character in a mystery but I think Amy Tintera did a really good job with it. I really like true crime podcasts in audio books, that element made the story feel more real. Hearing the different interviews and how the publics opinion shifted when new episodes came out was also interesting.
The main character Lucy is pretty flawed (reminds me a little bit of the protagonists of “girl on the train” and “woman in the window”) but I enjoy reading from a unique perspective, so I liked her sarcastic sometimes mean nature.
Many other characters were a little bit one dimensional in my opinion, especially Lucy’s family members.
Would recommend the book to everyone looking for a quick thriller mystery, just be warned that it includes a lot of cheating as well as domestic abuse scenes.
Spoiler:
I was completely wrong when it came to the murderer at first. I was pretty convinced that it was Lucy’s father. Later I caught on (when Lucy first remembered that she had kissed someone at the wedding) but it took a while and I always love when I can’t solve the mystery right away. I didn’t really like that the murderer seemingly changed his whole personality suddenly but then that’s probably how it often is in real life: the Mr Nice guy whom nobody would suspect turns out to be the murderer.
The book follows Lucy a young woman who returns to her hometown in Texas after 5 years in LA for her grandmothers 80th birthday. She moved away because everybody in her town is convinced she murdered her best friend Savvy a few years ago. Lucy was found covered in blood with no memory of what had happened to her or Savvy in the night the latter was found dead but the police did not have enough evidence to arrest her. A podcast is being made to uncover what really happened that night.
Usually I’m not a fan of the memory loss trope especially when it’s the main character in a mystery but I think Amy Tintera did a really good job with it. I really like true crime podcasts in audio books, that element made the story feel more real. Hearing the different interviews and how the publics opinion shifted when new episodes came out was also interesting.
The main character Lucy is pretty flawed (reminds me a little bit of the protagonists of “girl on the train” and “woman in the window”) but I enjoy reading from a unique perspective, so I liked her sarcastic sometimes mean nature.
Many other characters were a little bit one dimensional in my opinion, especially Lucy’s family members.
Would recommend the book to everyone looking for a quick thriller mystery, just be warned that it includes a lot of cheating as well as domestic abuse scenes.
Spoiler:
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Toxic relationship
Minor: Infidelity and Mental illness