Thank you, NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for this advance copy of Lies That Bind in exchange for an honest review.

"In the aftermath of her father’s death and the crash that killed her mother and five-year-old sister, Jess is determined to take care of her surviving brothers, teenage Frankie and nine-year-old Tom. But as the three siblings struggle through grief, ever-present questions loom: Why did their dad take his own life? Where was their mother going? It’s not only sorrow and unanswered questions that torment Jess and her brothers. A sinister presence lurks in the family home, strange noises in the night, disturbing visions, household items moving. Are they being haunted, or is the threat they all feel more real? Jess is committed to finding out the truth, but will she risk exposing her own dark secrets?"

This thriller was EXCELLENT!
It is a dual POV book, mainly focusing on Jess with a few chapters from Frankie's POV.
What I loved about it the most was the is there / isn't there supernatural elements happening.
I was convinced at 30% of the way through that I knew what the twist would be, but I wasn't even close. The final twist as well as other surprises along the way were not obvious at all.

It was very fast paced and I couldn't stop listening. The narrators were fantastic and the audio quality was perfect even sped up a little.

Finally, why doesn't anyone ever just TURN ON THE LIGHT?! : )

Plot holes and the ending wasn’t put together all nice and neat. I feel like is was left wanting more out of it

***I received this ARC audiobook free from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

In The Lies That Bind a tragedy has taken both parents. The remaining children are trying to figure things out and make life work. Along the way they stumble across many life altering lies! Some of these lies could take down the rest of the family.

This book is well written. The characters are relatable and easy to like. Their story is tragic and frightening. What would you do in their shoes?

As far as the audiobook, it was very easy to listen to. I highly recommend you read this book!!

An interesting premise, a good writer. Grief, unanswered questions, pressing responsibility, A hint of supernatural. An enjoyable book.

This was a fantastic listen! Great narration, great characters. The grief was very much palpable and well written. I will definitely keep an eye out for further titles from this author!

Wow, what a sad story. I cannot imagine losing my father and mother and sibling all on the same day. And one of them by suicide nonetheless. But this is what 20 year old, Jess was up against. Not only that but she and her two brothers were left as orphans. Frankie being 17 and Tom being 10. Jess had to put her life on hold to obtain guardianship for her two brothers. She was determined not to let them go into the foster care system. I don't blame her one bit. There were some surprising twists and turns at the very end, which I didn't expect at all. But with that being said, I wish there was a little bit more closure and finalization of some of the storylines. All in all this was a very intriguing mystery, thriller. The narrators were brilliant. They did an excellent job and it made me feel emotions for this story. Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

First off, I have to say that I really enjoyed the narration on this one. I was able to bump it to 2x or 2.5x without any audio quality issues. The inflections also help true even when sped up, and the two voices added depth.

The story itself didn't grab my attention. It was clear early on that there were family secrets that would take awhile to develop, and sometimes the slow pace and runaround just felt tedious. There are many triggering topics throughout the story as well, so it reads as a bit of a minefield in that regard.

Jess is a likeable enough main character. It's clear she's young and inexperienced, but she wants the best for her brothers. The trauma not being addressed (by extended family or mental health professionals) is a bit worrying. Simultaneous storylines sometimes crossover and sometimes run parallel, so it's a mind game to try to keep all the clues and stories straight when everyone is only half truthful.

Still, a worthwhile listen for a low-stakes suspense story.

Overall: 3.5 stars

I'll tell my students about: language, trauma, sex, abortion, adultery, alcohol, crime, fraud, infidelity

**Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the free ALC prior to publication. All opinions expressed are my own.**

This was an interesting story of family secrets. The story had some surprising twists that added some flair. But it was a little slow in parts and I was about to loose interest a few times but a twist would happen and the story would pick up again! All in all it was an enjoyable read!

the story was suspenseful and eerie and had me grasping for answers. Everything was wrapped up too fast for my liking. I do think it was well written and I thoroughly did enjoy the book.

Honestly, this is such a great book. I really enjoyed it. I never knew what was coming or what to expect. It has some really interesting twists and turns. The characters are likable. The plot is good. The ending is great. There are some things that still don't fully make sense, but a lot of the questions were answered in the book. If you like thrillers and mystery, this one is definitely for you.

"The Lies That Bind" begins with a bang.

The main protagonist's father commits suicide.

A few hours later, the protagonist's mother and two of her siblings are killed in a car crash.

(Yikes!)

After this quick influx of action, the book's "thrills" and action suddenly STOP.

Although the book's "Why did my father commit suicide?" premise was compelling, the book suffered from very, very slow-paced melodrama and too many plot holes.

I listened to the audiobook read by Gail Shalan and Chris Devon.

Neither narrator had the "narrator charisma" that this book required and sorely needed.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

2 stars rounded up.

I found this a very long drawn out book. I was trying to see where it was going. Many times I found myself struggling to finish this book. In my opinion I found that most of what was in this had nothing to do with the ending in any way.

I devoured this book within one day.
This story was suspenseful and creepy. I was on the edge of my seat while reading this. I was very entertained by this story.
I only wish the author hadn't rushed the ending. Everything wrapped up way too fast.
Published Jan 26, 2023.
Thank you to Dreamscape Media & NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 Stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for an audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Jess is away at college when she receives a horrific call from her younger brother, Frankie, who has just found their father after he committed suicide. On the way to to the hospital, her mom, baby sister and youngest brother, Tom are in a fatal car accident with only Tom surviving. The three surviving siblings must now bond together in their grief to try and make it through this tragedy but with everyone keeping secrets that is becoming harder to do. Jess can not come to terms with why her father would kill himself and where was her mother going that fateful night? When Tom begins to sense someone in his room at night their secrets may come back from beyond the grave.

I enjoyed the set up of this book and the pace is fast with enough suspense and twist to keep me intrigued through the ending. I appreciated Jess' attempt to handle the situation as best she could regardless of what impacts it would have on her future. I did not like Frankie as much, I know he is a teenager, but he could easily grow up to be a stalker serial killer and was overall creepy. I expected Tom to be a little more traumatized or useful in finding out where their mom was taking. There are some decent twist along with some plot holes. The ending was okay but was a bit of a stretch. Overall for a debut novel this is pretty solid.

I had the audio version read by Gail Shalan and Chris Devon who both did a good job. I was more invested in Shalan's narration than Devon but that was probably more of my growing dislike for the Frankie character than Devon's reading. Thank you to Dreamscape Media and I look forward to more work from everyone involved.

I listened to the audiobook version and loved the narrators! These book kept me interested and engaged most of the time. It was a definite rollercoaster ride but had some slow parts. I did enjoy reading it.

Jess has had a relatively standard time at university, but one night her life changes in an instant. Her father commits suicide and her mother and younger sister die in a car crash, leaving Jess as the caretaker of her younger brothers. As they try to navigate their grief and changed circumstances, Jess feels that there are too many unanswered questions. And then strange noises and moving shadows begin to occur in the house, causing Jess to frantically try to uncover the truth before it’s too late.

This work is classified as a “mystery and thriller” – I agree with the mystery, but it didn’t become a thriller until maybe the last two chapters. The suspenseful aspect started off relatively strong, but that part of the story was lost for the most part by the middle of the work. The pacing of the work was not consistent – the first 80% was a slog to get through, then things slowly began to build, then the last 2% is when everything happened. The twist at the end was a little absurd and predictable, and there were a couple of plot holes related to it that made the reveal unsatisfying and the ending frustrating. Jess had her own secret that wasn’t revealed until near the end of the work, but it was so heavily hinted at throughout that it hadn’t been a “secret” since about halfway through the work.

The characters were okay. They were written well enough to be tolerable, but aside from Jess, it was difficult to connect with them. Their development was a little lacking overall. I felt that the author completely missed an opportunity to study how trauma is manifested in different people of different ages; for the most part, the siblings just kind of muddle through without many realistic responses or discussions relating to the loss of three of their family members.

I found this read to be boring overall – I think it would have been more interesting if the author had chosen to make it a study of grief and trauma rather than a “thriller.” But I know several folks who enjoyed this one, so you might too. My thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This one was just not for me. It felt like an eternity for any action to happen. I don't really know if I would consider this a real "thriller". I listened to the audio and felt bored the whole time.

Thank you Net Galley for an audio copy of Lies That Bind by C.J. Stone. Jess's world is turned upside down when her father committed suicide and she loses her mother and sister in a car crash. This was a good one and I will be reading more from this author!

This was a good book but nothing jumped out as surprising it suspenseful other than thinking it might be a ghost story a few times

CJ Stone has written an incredible book centering around a young woman (Jess) who must face many challenges when her parents and younger sister die on the same day, under very different circumstances. Jess is forced to become the caregiver to her two younger brothers. While telling the story of Jess and her brothers Frankie and Tom, a mystery evolves as Tom begins to hear noises and sees someone in his room,

I was captivated by the story and listened to the entire book in one day. The narrators were wonderful. I like the female narrator for Jess and the male narrator for Frankie. The twist, in the end, was very surprising and quite satisfying.