Scan barcode
A review by nicolem_young
Never Lie by Freida McFadden
4.0
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4 Stars= It was a very good read. Might read it again.
First off, I need to apologize to Freida McFadden because, when I started this book, I thought I had the twist all figured out about 20% in. I thought she really thought her readers were stupid and couldn't see what she was doing. Well, I was wrong, and I couldn't.
In hindsight, the things she made us notice were so blatantly obvious to piece together that it was too convenient. Although some twists in her books are over the top, I feel like this one wasn't and was believable. That being said, do I think her writing is the best? No. But are her books engaging, entertaining, and fast reads? Yes.
One of the big issues I had with the story was the repetitiveness. In the first few chapters of the book, we find out that newlyweds Tricia and Ethan have only been married for six months, and boy do we not get the chance to forget it. It is beaten into our brains, similar to the way a math teacher beats in algebraic equations. We are also consistently reminded that the couple has only known each other for a little more than a year. One of the characters, Dr. Adrienne Hale, is referred to as Dr. Adrienne Hale or Adrienne Hale over and over again. Once we get introduced to her, a simple "Adrienne" would be enough for the readers to know which character was being referred to. We do not need to continuously hear her surname.
Tricia often eludes to the fact that she has to tell Ethan a big secret, and she isn't sure how well he would handle it. Honestly, it wasn't even that insane of a secret. It was mediocre.
Anyhow, Ethan and Tricia are attending a showing for a house that they might be interested in buying. On the night the showing is scheduled, there is a horrible blizzard. This results in them getting stranded in this huge, gorgeous house. They are now stuck there. Which isn't ideal for either of them. The home belonged to psychiatrist Dr. Adrienne Hale, who had gone missing roughly three years earlier. The house has been vacant since Dr. Hale's disappearance and is covered in dust (my husband's allergies would have been screaming). Which the couple seems to handle pretty well given the fact that they make themselves at home. Ethan more so than Tricia, who quickly gets a funny feeling in the home. They find food in the fridge. Fresh food that has not expired yet. Which throws Tricia off but doesn't seem to concern Ethan. They start eating said food. They make sandwiches and eat them! Ethan also uses the shower and wears clothes that he finds in the home. Ethan, sweetie, what are you doing? Soon, Tricia gets on board and wears some of Adrienne's clothes.Tricia starts snooping around Dr. Hale's house and finds some tapes from patient sessions that had been previously recorded. She also found a tape player sitting on Adrienne's desk in her office. And guess what? The tape player conveniently worked, even though the batteries were 3 years old. The doctor must have dished out the money for those Duracell Outlast ones. Since they were stranded in the house, our boy Ethan decided to get some work done on his laptop. But I'm not sure how he did that when the house had no internet connection. They couldn't even get a cell phone signal, for Christ's sake.
I can deal with Ethan and Tricia being a couple of weirdos and possibly absolutely bananas. But Adrienne was insufferable. Her character was just the worst. She was so full of herself, it was disgusting. She was just so damn unlikeable. Needless to say, I don't think anybody missed her once she was gone. I know I wouldn't.
I was able to deal with all that because the twist I thought I had figured out was not it at all (which I mentioned above). I was so far off base, it wasn't even funny. The twist left my jaw unhinged. But wait, there's more. We don't just get one twist, but ,TWO. Two twists that, in my opinion, were just *chef's kiss*.
If you are looking for a fast-paced, interesting, and entertaining read, pick this book up.
4 Stars= It was a very good read. Might read it again.
TRIGGERS: MENTAL HEALTH, MURDER
POV: Dual, First Person
Series/Standalone: Standalone
Part of a series: No
Safe or Dark: Safeish (see trigger warnings)
"I believe that any human being is capable of terrible things if you push them hard enough."
First off, I need to apologize to Freida McFadden because, when I started this book, I thought I had the twist all figured out about 20% in. I thought she really thought her readers were stupid and couldn't see what she was doing. Well, I was wrong, and I couldn't.
In hindsight, the things she made us notice were so blatantly obvious to piece together that it was too convenient. Although some twists in her books are over the top, I feel like this one wasn't and was believable. That being said, do I think her writing is the best? No. But are her books engaging, entertaining, and fast reads? Yes.
One of the big issues I had with the story was the repetitiveness. In the first few chapters of the book, we find out that newlyweds Tricia and Ethan have only been married for six months, and boy do we not get the chance to forget it. It is beaten into our brains, similar to the way a math teacher beats in algebraic equations. We are also consistently reminded that the couple has only known each other for a little more than a year. One of the characters, Dr. Adrienne Hale, is referred to as Dr. Adrienne Hale or Adrienne Hale over and over again. Once we get introduced to her, a simple "Adrienne" would be enough for the readers to know which character was being referred to. We do not need to continuously hear her surname.
Tricia often eludes to the fact that she has to tell Ethan a big secret, and she isn't sure how well he would handle it. Honestly, it wasn't even that insane of a secret. It was mediocre.
Spoiler
Tricia finds out she is pregnant much sooner than the couple had planned. It was accidental. She was taking birth control but was not taking extra precautions while on an antibiotic for an infection, since she didn't know that antibiotics often counteract birth control pills. She even says, "Who knew?". Everyone, honey, 95% of doctors will let a woman on the pill know that antibiotics can cause them to be less effective. She needs to get a new primary care provider. Once Ethan found out the news, he was very happy (surprise, surprise). He even insisted on doing everything for her since she was pregnant and needed to rest. At this point, she wasn't even showing and was maybe 3 months preggers at the most. She was very capable of doing things on her own.Anyhow, Ethan and Tricia are attending a showing for a house that they might be interested in buying. On the night the showing is scheduled, there is a horrible blizzard. This results in them getting stranded in this huge, gorgeous house. They are now stuck there. Which isn't ideal for either of them. The home belonged to psychiatrist Dr. Adrienne Hale, who had gone missing roughly three years earlier. The house has been vacant since Dr. Hale's disappearance and is covered in dust (my husband's allergies would have been screaming). Which the couple seems to handle pretty well given the fact that they make themselves at home. Ethan more so than Tricia, who quickly gets a funny feeling in the home. They find food in the fridge. Fresh food that has not expired yet. Which throws Tricia off but doesn't seem to concern Ethan. They start eating said food. They make sandwiches and eat them! Ethan also uses the shower and wears clothes that he finds in the home. Ethan, sweetie, what are you doing? Soon, Tricia gets on board and wears some of Adrienne's clothes.Tricia starts snooping around Dr. Hale's house and finds some tapes from patient sessions that had been previously recorded. She also found a tape player sitting on Adrienne's desk in her office. And guess what? The tape player conveniently worked, even though the batteries were 3 years old. The doctor must have dished out the money for those Duracell Outlast ones. Since they were stranded in the house, our boy Ethan decided to get some work done on his laptop. But I'm not sure how he did that when the house had no internet connection. They couldn't even get a cell phone signal, for Christ's sake.
I can deal with Ethan and Tricia being a couple of weirdos and possibly absolutely bananas. But Adrienne was insufferable. Her character was just the worst. She was so full of herself, it was disgusting. She was just so damn unlikeable. Needless to say, I don't think anybody missed her once she was gone. I know I wouldn't.
I was able to deal with all that because the twist I thought I had figured out was not it at all (which I mentioned above). I was so far off base, it wasn't even funny. The twist left my jaw unhinged. But wait, there's more. We don't just get one twist, but ,TWO. Two twists that, in my opinion, were just *chef's kiss*.
If you are looking for a fast-paced, interesting, and entertaining read, pick this book up.