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A review by bridgetjj
Lies She Told by Cate Holahan
1.0
Where do I even begin with the disappointment that was this book? Do you remember how the movie Dark City gives away its entire plot in the film's first minute?
This book gives away its entire plot in the first two pages.
Only in the case of Dark City, the intro was an idiotic last-minute insertion by the studio and the film was actually pretty good if you could ignore that (see the Director's Cut). In contrast, Lies She Told continues to give away its entire plot in just about every chapter. I mean, did the author really think she was being clever by naming her main character "Liza" and the fictional character Liza writes "Beth"? Is "Elizabeth" supposed to be a rare and unheard of name or something? It's like the author saw what Secret Window did with "John Shooter / SHOOT HER" and thought, "This is just as good!"
It's not just that though. Other hints drop in every chapter as to who the real killer is, and when I say "hints," I mean "flashing neon signs." I kept on thinking, "This has to be clever misdirection on the author's part. She can't really be making it this obvious who the killer is." Nope! The killer is exactly who all of the "hints" say the killer is!
Almost no part of the plot's "twists" surprised me.
And don't even get me started on David. He's a such a growlie and unlikable character that it's hard to feel any sympathy as things unravel for him and Liza. But he's not unlikable in such a way that his demise is enjoyable. He's just irritating and trite.
There's a reason I'm awarding this book a rare one-star rating (something I've done for only one other book) rather than two stars. As a victim of infidelity myself, normally, I enjoy a good infidelity revenge plot. Whatever the film's other flaws, I could watch Johnny Depp murder Amy Rainey and Timothy Hutton all day. I'm not in favor of violence against real-life adulterers, mind you, but let's kill off all of the fictional adulterers in the world.
But this wasn't a straight-up adultery revenge plot. The main character's husband is a closeted gay who has a gay affair, and the main character responds by murdering his affair partner. Then she gets away with it. "Cheating because I'm gay and don't have the courage to come out" is a little different from run-of-the-mill adultery. It's still wrong---honest conversations and requests for open marriage and/or divorce are still the way to go in that situation---but it's at least more understandable than "I started 'working late' with my secretary." This makes the main character's actions not just wrong, but ugly.
In conclusion, this Secret Window / Silent House -esque plot has been done before, and done way better than this. This book was a total waste of time.
This book gives away its entire plot in the first two pages.
Only in the case of Dark City, the intro was an idiotic last-minute insertion by the studio and the film was actually pretty good if you could ignore that (see the Director's Cut). In contrast, Lies She Told continues to give away its entire plot in just about every chapter. I mean, did the author really think she was being clever by naming her main character "Liza" and the fictional character Liza writes "Beth"? Is "Elizabeth" supposed to be a rare and unheard of name or something? It's like the author saw what Secret Window did with "John Shooter / SHOOT HER" and thought, "This is just as good!"
It's not just that though. Other hints drop in every chapter as to who the real killer is, and when I say "hints," I mean "flashing neon signs." I kept on thinking, "This has to be clever misdirection on the author's part. She can't really be making it this obvious who the killer is." Nope! The killer is exactly who all of the "hints" say the killer is!
Almost no part of the plot's "twists" surprised me.
Spoiler
Nick is gay and a metaphor for Colleen? Made pretty obvious by the odd details about Nick's short stature and how he only dates women with short hair (who look like men?). In fiction, short men who are also hot are vanishingly rare, so I knew that couldn't have been an incidental detail. David is gay and was having a closeted affair with Nick? Given away by his extreme aversion to having sex with his wife. Liza's subconscious seemed to insist on having Beth bury the gun, even though it would have been colossally stupid to hide a murder weapon across the street from the scene of a murder and in the same place where she dumped the body. But she had to write it that way, because Liza buried the weapon when she did it, of course.And don't even get me started on David. He's a such a growlie and unlikable character that it's hard to feel any sympathy as things unravel for him and Liza. But he's not unlikable in such a way that his demise is enjoyable. He's just irritating and trite.
There's a reason I'm awarding this book a rare one-star rating (something I've done for only one other book) rather than two stars. As a victim of infidelity myself, normally, I enjoy a good infidelity revenge plot. Whatever the film's other flaws, I could watch Johnny Depp murder Amy Rainey and Timothy Hutton all day. I'm not in favor of violence against real-life adulterers, mind you, but let's kill off all of the fictional adulterers in the world.
But this wasn't a straight-up adultery revenge plot. The main character's husband is a closeted gay who has a gay affair, and the main character responds by murdering his affair partner. Then she gets away with it. "Cheating because I'm gay and don't have the courage to come out" is a little different from run-of-the-mill adultery. It's still wrong---honest conversations and requests for open marriage and/or divorce are still the way to go in that situation---but it's at least more understandable than "I started 'working late' with my secretary." This makes the main character's actions not just wrong, but ugly.
In conclusion, this Secret Window / Silent House -esque plot has been done before, and done way better than this. This book was a total waste of time.