THE BASICS
- Title: The Lies We Told
- Author: Camilla Way
- Genre: Psychological Thriller
- Structure: Dual storylines
- First Line: “At first I mistook the severed head for something else.”
Synopsis: The highly acclaimed author of Watching Edie returns with a new novel of dark psychological suspense that explores how those closest to us have the most to hide… When Clara’s boyfriend, Luke, disappears, everyone believes that he’s left her, but Clara thinks she knows the truth. Recent evidence suggests that Luke had a stalker, and Clara worries that he’s been kidnapped. Then Luke’s older sister, Emma, who vanished twenty years ago, suddenly reappears. Emma wants to help Clara with her search for Luke, but she refuses to talk about what happened–even though it nearly destroyed her family when she vanished. And the deeper Clara digs into Luke’s mysterious disappearance, the more convinced she is that the two incidents are connected.
THE GOOD
Usually, I’m fine with reading thrillers, mysteries, and horror novels, but halfway through this one, I realized I was dissociating to the high heavens, which means my PTSD was in full force. I have no idea why this book activated my PTSD so strongly because it doesn’t touch on topics as to why I have PTSD. The only conclusion I have is that it’s that good. I did skim through the rest though because, by God, I was not about to stop halfway and be left wondering. That would’ve killed me. So, I do know how everything played out. Here’s some more detailed thoughts:
- As far as “psychological thriller” goes, spot on. Obviously. Hence, the PTSD thing. This is such a good read and I’m honestly bummed that I had to stop halfway because I was wholeheartedly enjoying the story. If you’re looking for a great thriller, here it is.
- I think part of what makes this such a great thriller is the writing. The writing is engaging and captivating. You feel like you’re sucked into the book and into a different world. It’s the perfect mixture of description and letting the story unfold before you.
- I liked the characters. I never had a moment where I thought “wow, this person is my twin and I’m looking in a mirror”, but I did find the characters relatable and relevant. I also thought their background stories were incredibly interesting.
- I love dual storylines: the type of book where you’re following two different stories and they merge somehow at the end. I think the author did a fantastic job with this technique. Both stories had me engaged. The endings of chapters were killer because I always felt like cheating and skipping ahead to where the story picked up again, but the other story was so engrossing that I’d become immersed immediately in the next scene.
THE UNFAVORABLE BITS
While I truly liked this book, there were times where I became overwhelmed by the tropes. When you read a lot of books, particularly mystery/thriller, you notice certain themes repeated frequently: characters introduced randomly to throw you, weird love triangles, infidelity, the most random character quirks. Usually, these are done to throw the reader off the scent of “who done it”, but they can become boring aspects after awhile. If you’re not plowing through mystery/thriller books constantly, then this won’t bother you and you’ll love it. For me, there were moments where I felt like it was lacking creativity and I felt myself saying “meh, same ole’ story”.
As always, I give you a heads up about strong language or graphics in case you’re sensitive, or if the person you’re recommending the book to is sensitive. This book does have some strong language.
CONCLUSION
I rate this book 4/5 stars. I probably would’ve rated this an honest 3.5/5 stars, but I rounded up because I wasn’t able to get through the entire book due to PTSD (previously formed, not from this book!). This book is incredibly gripping and captivating. You are immersed all the way until the end. I think it lacks some creativity in the sense that you will find some standard mystery/thriller scenes thrown in, but otherwise, I think this is a great read.
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I received The Lies We Told from the Book of the Month Club. It was so great to receive personalized book recommendations at my doorstep! Honestly, I’m not sure if I would’ve picked up and experienced The Lies We Told if it wasn’t for BOTM. You can join the club here for under $15 a month!
