Good writing, interesting characters, but just did not have the depth and thrills of her previous books. The first 75% of the book was fairly slow and a little hard to get through, but then the pace picked up. None of the characters really stood out. I was a bit disappointed!

I expected this to be an 4+ star book based on how much I enjoyed Ware's earlier publications, but for the longest time I felt I was going to be stuck giving it a mere 3 stars. The character's attitudes about their predicament were over the top and frustrated me. Also the first half of the book I felt the story almost dragged. A decent enough story had been developed, yet there didn't seem to be much room for it to expand. Like painting oneself into a corner. It's lovely work up to the point where you find yourself unable to do anymore because you're trapped, and short of walking through the finished portion and redoing it you haven't got much in the way of options. At times it felt like the author had come up with a story that was just alright and then had to figure out how to pull more out of it to meet her publisher's length expectations.

Then just like that, out of left field, Ware pulled out the stops and things began to take shape in a whole new light. The twist was salacious and perfect. Suddenly, what hadn't really added up to begin with became obvious, and the thrill factor that Ware is known for was back. It took some time getting there this time around, but the time and energy invested in sticking with The Lying Game paid off.

Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for yet another fine review opportunity.

Ruth Ware has written another tense yarn to unravel. Four close friends come back to the site of the boarding school where they all briefly attended before a catastrophic event pushed them all back to other lives. One mysterious text brings them all back to the scene, and they spend the next few days piecing together what really happened seventeen years earlier and who else knows about it. All are forced to confront who they think the others are, who they themselves are, what roles they played then, and what they will do now. A page-turner with a great mystery, interesting characters, and many relationships in flux.

I received this title from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

May contain spoilers.

This was an interestingly spun tale but something was lacking, detail and across the board character development. There was plenty of detail, too much almost at some times but not in the right places. There seemed to be so much back story and build up that when the plot finally developed enough to hold my attention I was more than halfway finished. I stuck it out to see the resolution, but I don't think I enjoyed it as much as I wanted to.
Within the book I saw so much focus on the baby...Freya everything! For as much as the storyline focused on her, I expected Checkov's gun somehow. But no.
Perhaps telling from different viewpoints would lend something more to the book, but as is, I feel as though some critical connections were left out.

Although I loved her previous books, this was not as good. Lackluster characters and Not a very compelling story

Thank you to netgalley.com as well as the publisher - Gallery, Threshold, and Pocket Books - for an advanced digital copy of this novel.

I like Ruth Ware - really liked both "In a Dark, Dark Wood" as well as "The Girl in Cabin 10". Both stories, from start to finish, really kept my attention as well as kept me guessing as to the end. That is, in my opinion, the definition of a great psychological thriller. Unfortunately, "The Lying Game" did not live up to this same potential.

As with her previous novels, Ware does "hook me" with an interesting start - an "I need you." text from one of the characters in the novel to the main character. Reminded me quite a bit of the start of a Harlan Coben novel, and I typically enjoy reading his books. The plot of the story was initially well-done, really had me thinking and wondering how it would conclude. However, a little over halfway through the novel, the story started to sputter. Not sure why the main character's baby daughter was in the story - other than as a quick scare, "my daughter is missing!", for example. Also, not sure if I really caught the idea of why Ambrose (the father) was killed. Just left me disappointed.

Again, a great start to the novel - I just wish it would have finished strongly in the end. I just wanted to be done with the novel by the end of it.

This book had me hooked from page 1 . Loved how it went from the present to the girls lives at the school and all their history. A brilliant beach read!

Isa is a successful London lawyer with a good job and a newborn. But when she receives the simple three-word text, "I need you" she knows she must drop everything and return to the seaside village of Salten, the location of her former boarding school. Now Isa, along with high school friends Kate, Thea, and Fatima must relive the horrible secrets and lies they shared as schoolgirls after a body is uncovered on the Salten marshes. In The Lying Game, Ruth Ware does it again, weaving a suspenseful tale of lies and deceit, but as the story progressed, it felt as though the pace became too slow and the plot was becoming too drawn out, just for the sake of the story. While certain to be another hit, The Lying Game does have the tension and atmosphere like Ware's two previous novels, In A Dark, Dark Wood and The Woman in Cabin 10, but doesn't seem to be as strong as the previous ones.

When Kate, a school friend she hasn't seen for nearly seventeen years texts "I need you," Isa Wilde drops everything and rushes to the salt marsh town of Salten, where she and two other former classmates learn that bones have been found on the shore. Back then the four girls were inseparable and played a "lying game" where they scored points for fooling others.

This is a good, suspenseful read, but for me it just didn't have the punch of Ware's other books. I did guess a couple of the twists early on and wish that I could have learned more about Thea and Fatima, the other two friends in the game.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.

Not as eerie as In a Dark, Dark Wood (though here the marsh works much the same as the woods), not as suspenseful as The Woman in Cabin 10 (though it does have the sudden surprise element as that book), this was still another good novel from Ware, who I am continuing to find a reliable read. In some ways this reminded me a bit of The Secret Place by Tana French (boarding school plus dangerous teenage secrets) and Into the Water by Paula Hawkins (just because of the ominous proximity of a body of water that is almost a character unto itself) - but it was much better than both of those. (I feel especially horrible saying this because of how much I love Tana French, but that was by far my least favorite of her books.) I do wish this was a bit more suspenseful. It definitely had a panicky feeling because the women could go to prison for what they did as girls and the tension there is palpable. However, even as Isa teases out new details, the suspense doesn't feel threatening until the very end. Despite that, I think readers could make a claim for this being Ware's best book because her study of how different people handle guilt and grief is quite good. And Isa's protective instinct toward her daughter is enough to scare anyone away from having kids! Oh, and if I do, I'm definitely never sending them to boarding school. Fiction is brutal toward boarding schools!

I will post my review closer to the publishing date. http://hotcupofteaandagoodbook.blogspot.ca/


Isa, Kate, Thea and Fatima meet when beginning a school year a residential school in Salten. They seemed to destined to be best friends when they bond over a lie. This begins the lying game. There are rules for the lying game and points rewarded. It's all fun and games until the lies become life and death.

15 years late the girls are trying to move on with their lives but they are still lying. When Kate sends a text message saying 'I need you.' The girls grab trains and come running.

The Lying Game is a story that slowly unravels with details being revealed at a pace to keep readers intrigued. I felt like I was clenching my jaw at the suspense and tension of this novel. Ruth Ware is a talented suspenseful storyteller. She is also the author of The Woman in Cabin 10.

This book was suspenseful from beginning to end! Even as the truth was finally coming out the ending was still unpredictable. Great story!

The Lying Game is an account of 4 women who were good friends in high school who participated in what they called "the lying game". The story is told by one of the friends, Isa. All the women are grown now with lives of their own, but they can't escape the past. There was something that the girls did as a result of the lying game that came back to haunt them. Kate, who owns her dad's estate near a body of water in England, sends each friend a text telling them it is time to come back. The book's plot goes back and forth between what happened with the girls as teenagers and present day.

I liked the general theme of the book, that "your sins will find you out" and "whatever you sow, you'll reap." I really wanted to like this book, but I couldn't quite get into it. It seemed that there were many parts of it that were too drawn out. I have read Ruth Ware's Woman in Cabin 10 and really enjoyed it. I thought I would enjoy this one as much, but I didn't.

Ruth Ware has a way of grabbing your attention and never letting go. The twists and turns make your brain work in a way that is stimulating and keeps you going even after you have put the book down for a while. Where is this going? Did s/he do it or someone else? Hmmm.... makes you explore the possibilities and it's great that way.

The Lying Game is a game that starts with school girls, but carries on well into their adult lives with repercussions they never imagined. Now we have to decide what is a lie and what is not. Great book, great author. So glad I had the chance to read the advance from NetGalley!

I absolutely couldn't put this book down! I bought In A Dark, Dark Wood in La Guardia airport last winter win I got stuck in New York for a few extra days. I had the same problem not being able to put that book down, but in the end it was just an okay book to me. The Lying Game is a different story. It was interesting from beginning to end. I needed to know what was going to happen next and what exactly it was that actually happened in the past. I didn't think that the plot twist was ground breaking, but it was just good enough to throw me off the scent a little bit  and if a suspense novel manages to make me wrong in my guesses at all, it's a winner in my book. I like the thrill of the chase of figuring out the right answer.  If you enjoy suspense, The Lying Game will be your summer must read book!

An excellent read. Suspense, best friends, mystery -- this is Ms. Ware' s best one yet!

Once again, Ruth Ware presents us with a group of female friends bound by youthful secrets who reunite in a dark, desolate location. This time near a town of locals meant to give us an impending sense of doom: the postmistress; the taxi driver; the half-brother; the babysitter. Very Agatha Christie-ish and a great whodunit for those who like ominous British fare.

Readable, suspenseful and unpredictable. I was riveted by this suspense psychological thriller. Completely compelling as a mystery. Her best novel yet.

My third book by Ruth Ware and I think I previously said she's our generation's Agatha Christie, which I still believe with this story. It's very much a who-done-it.. In this story we have 4 friends who went to a private girl's school in the remote beachside town of Salten. There they became fast friends, start The Lying Game, and became the "mean girls". After a scandal caused by The Lying Game, they were all expelled, very quietly and moved on to start their own adult lives. After 20 years they all receive a text, "I need you", and as it's a signal, they head back to Salten. There in Salten the secrets they tried so hard to keep seem to be coming in on the tides of the marsh. Can the four trust each other to keep to their story?