By Tessa Pulyer Posted on

The Lies I Tell by Julie Clark #BookReview #PsycologicalThriller #5StarRead

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Two women. Many aliases.

Meg Williams. Maggie Littleton. Melody Wilde. Different names for the same person, depending on the town, depending on the job. She’s a con artist who erases herself to become whoever you need her to be—a college student. A life coach. A real estate agent. Nothing about her is real. She slides alongside you and tells you exactly what you need to hear, and by the time she’s done, you’ve likely lost everything.

Kat Roberts has been waiting ten years for the woman who upended her life to return. And now that she has, Kat is determined to be the one to expose her. But as the two women grow closer, Kat’s long-held assumptions begin to crumble, leaving Kat to wonder who Meg’s true target is.

The Lies I Tell is a twisted domestic thriller that dives deep into the psyches and motivations of two women and their unwavering quest to seek justice for the past and rewrite the future.

My Rating:

Rating: 5 out of 5.

What’s it about (in a nutshell):

The Lies I Tell is a thoroughly engaging psychological thriller about what it looks like when a need for revenge becomes a quest for justice. Or is it still just revenge after all?

Initial Expectations (before beginning the book):

I’ve heard awesome things about this book from people who have already read it. The cover is intriguing, and it shows a picture of a woman’s face torn in half, or based on the blurb, it could be the top part of one woman’s face and the bottom part of another. The blurb refers to cons, seeking justice, and many identities – it definitely sounds like it has all of the components of a wonderful thriller.

Actual Reading Experience:

I just loved this book. It was everything I was expecting and much more. It’s full of twists and turns as someone tries to con a con just to be conned by the con, or were they? Is it more about expectations, or is it a reality? I’ll never tell, but if you followed that, you could imagine how absolutely and delightfully twisty turny this story is. It reads so fast. I couldn’t believe how far I got in just a short time. And I loved every short minute of it!

But, the twists, turns, and fast pace are just a small part of what made this book an excellent read for me. I loved how character-driven it was and how Kat and Meg make the story the fascinating read that it is. The depth that making this story character-driven brings is incredible with its many layers and complications, making me question more than once if I was on the side of what was right or if I had ventured to the dark side of morality.

The story is told in first-person narration through both Meg and Kat. I never confused which narrated, even if I didn’t catch the name at the chapter head. Their voices are uniquely their own. It is also told with a dual timeline, which is absolutely necessary, and both timelines are equally as engrossing. Of course, saying more about this story would compromise your enjoyment of discovery when (not if) you read it, so I’m going to stop here.  Just know, this is one of my favorite thrillers this year!

Characters:

Meg is an anti-hero of sorts. As a teen, she all but blended into the background, enjoying only one sort-of friendship. Life had dealt her a raw deal, and she did what she had to survive. Taking on different names and occupations in various towns across America, she follows the girl code she learned from that one high school friend, “Girls have to look out for each other because no one else will.”

Kat has struggled to find out who her adult self is. Placed in a job her mother arranged for her, she worked to make a place in journalism for herself. Kat becomes obsessed with the woman who turned her boyfriend in for his relationships with teenage girls. This case was being written about by the journalist she fact-checked for. That obsession created a path for her from which there is no going back.

Reminds Me Of:

It reminded me a little of Catch Me If You Can because it elicits those same feelings where you find yourself loving the cons and the person who can think so creatively and intelligently that no one sees them before it’s too late.

To Read or Not to Read:

If you love domestic or psychological thrillers and if you love revenge versus justice stories, The Lies I Told is a book you will kick yourself for not reading.

18 Replies to “The Lies I Tell by Julie Clark #BookReview #PsycologicalThriller #5StarRead”

  3. Renee Nash says:

    Amazon just rejected my review of this for violating Community Guidelines. I will post my exact review on Insta and have my QOTD. What the hell got the algorithm into a snit. Happy publication day!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lady Tessa says:

      You mentioned NetGalley in your review. Try taking out the last sentence and resubmit it. I bet it will go through. The other possibilities would be the title of Clark’s other book and Kindle. Their rejections are often about specifics like that.

      Like

  6. WendyW says:

    I like the sound of this. And I like that Meg is such a good character even if she’s not on the right side.

    Liked by 1 person

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