I enjoyed this novel but the switching back and forth between Beth and Liza got confusing - especially if I hadnt read in a couple days and had to remember whose point of view/story I was reading. Other than that, I thought It was a good read!!

I always enjoy a good thriller, partly because I'm not a guesser. I don't try to figure out the end, I just let the pages carry me along. I enjoy the story, and the thrills that go with it.

This was a confusing read, but intentionally so and in all the best ways. I found myself going back and forth in the different plot lines, and loving every thrilling moment. Absolutely an author I'll read again!

Intense! Is the first word that comes to mind while and after reading Lies She Told by Cate Holahan. The novel kept me on edge from start to finish.

Lies She Told is about Liza, a suspense writer, whose first novel becomes a bestseller, but her subsequent books barely make anything worth mentioning in her career. Now, she asks her editor for one-month extension to write a book, without an outline.

Added to that, Liza's husband's best friend and law partner, Nick, has disappeared, straining Liza's relationship with her husband at a time she is looking to conceive. Things go from bad to worse when Nick's body is discovered bludgeoned to death and Liza's husband is arrested for his murder.

There are two parallel worlds in Lies She Told, the first is Liza's, while the second is that of the main character in her work-in-progress, Beth, who recently had her daughter Victoria and suspects her husband is cheating on her.

Liza says that she bases her stories on real people, while changing their names and making a few additions. As the book progresses, the reader can't help but notice how true that is. Some events are repeated, even some quotes taken out of Liza's friends' mouths.

"I don't invent my characters. I steal them from my surroundings. To be a writer is to be a life thief. Every day, I rob myself blind."

I enjoyed the parallelism between the two worlds. Liza makes up for what she doesn't have through Beth. When the novel begins, we learn that Liza is taking experimental drugs to conceive; in the story, Beth has done the same but was able to have Victoria. Similarly, Liza's mother passed away, but Beth's is alive and well.

I liked the development of Beth's character, which, in a way, is reminiscent of * in Henrik Ibsen's The Doll House.

Bit by bit, Beth begins invading Liza's world, making comments in her, or rather Liza thinks what Beth would say in certain situations. Sometimes, Liza attempts to shut her character out of her head, and other times, Beth reprimands her author for her decisions. I liked this a lot, as well as the arguments between Liza and her character.

"I've created a character that would be far more adept in this situation than I am. I need to think like her."

I couldn't tell if the pace in Lies She Told was fast or slow because of the constant suspense. I also liked the use of quotes at the beginning of the book, and at other parts in the book.

There are many memorable and beautiful quotes, images, and phrases throughout the book. The dialogue is nicely included in both narratives. I liked Liza's notes on writing, which can act as writing tips to readers and writers in general.

"My emotions don't vacillate between happy and sad like a pianist alternating between major and minor scales. They're stuck in a discordant chord."

One of the things I disliked, however, was that I felt that Jake, Beth's unfaithful husband, did not get what he deserved at the end of the book. I also wanted to know if Beth's story would be Liza's newest bestseller.

Every time I put Lies She Told down, I kept trying to remind myself that both Liza and Beth were just characters, that this was all fiction. They were just too real.

Half-way through the book I knew this was a five-star read. Finishing it, I confirmed my expectations. Lies She Told gave me palpitations while and after reading. No book has ever done that to me!

Overall, Cate Holahan's Lies She Told is a must-read psychological thriller, but it's not for the faint of heart, with its constant suspense, and will give you a hard time separating fiction from reality.

"Blurring fact and fantasy is my trade. I am a con artist. A prevaricator. I make up stories. So why does he think this one is real?"

This is one of the best thrillers I have read this year. The lines are so blurred, and you have no idea what's coming next or how you got there in this! Highly recommend.

I received an advanced copy of this book through Netgalley. This book had me from the very beginning. I love that it kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. I would highly recommend this book to my fellow readers. Thank you for the chance to review this book!!!!

I have struggled lately to find thrillers that seem believable, hold my attention and keep me guessing, this book did all three. It's difficult to say too much without giving anything away, but I felt totally engrossed in Liza and Beth, the main character in Liza's story. I love when a story can really tow the line between fact and fiction and this novel did just that. I am beyond happy that I found another great thriller to recommend!

Wow!!! I thought she was an absolutely fabulous read. I loved how Cate was able to have a story within a story. There were so many twists and I did not want to put the book down. "Lies She Told" was one of the best mystery/thrillers I have read in a long time. I highly recommend it if you enjoy being on the edge of your seat!!!!

Because I like domestic thrillers, I eagerly snapped up this book from Netgalley.  Unfortunately, this book was more of a domestic drama than a thriller.  The first half of the book moved very slowly, and because the two main characters' lives paralleled each other so closely, it was almost like reading the same story twice in a row.  Liza has spousal problems, and so does Beth.  Both Liza and Beth struggle with infertility.  Liza has the hots for her gorgeous editor; Beth likes her sexy therapist.  Although the book shows how writers use their everyday experiences when writing a book, this doubling made much of the plot redundant.

Maybe it's a drawback of reading too many thrillers, but I had the twist figured out from the beginning.  In fact, it seemed so obvious that I was annoyed with the main characters for not figuring it out as well.  That detracted from the enjoyment of the book.  I also didn't care for either Liz or Beth or the way they dealt with their problems.  Although I'm a mother as well, I found it difficult to rationalize their behavior.

Lies She Told is not a terrible book.  The writing itself was solid, and once I got to the second half of the book, the action took off.  At that point, I did find it hard to put down.  This book would be good for pool-side reading.

I give this book a three out of five stars.  Thanks to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for the review copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

"Sometimes the truth is darker than fiction.

Liza Jones has thirty days to write the thriller that could put her back on the bestseller list. In the meantime, she’s struggling to start a family with her husband, who is distracted by the disappearance of his best friend, Nick. With stresses weighing down in both her professional and her personal life, Liza escapes into writing her latest heroine.

Beth is a new mother who suspects her husband is cheating on her while she’s home alone providing for their newborn. Angry and betrayed, Beth sets out to catch him in the act and make him pay for shattering the illusion of their perfect life. But before she realizes it, she’s tossing the body of her husband’s mistress into the river.

Then the lines between fiction and reality begin to blur. Nick’s body is dragged from the Hudson and Liza’s husband is arrested for his murder. Before her deadline is up, Liza will have to face up to the truths about the people around her, including herself. If she doesn’t, the end of her heroine’s story could be the end of her own. "

After seeing some of the reviews for Lies She Told, I think I've been reading a completely different book to everyone else. I'm clearly in the minority here, but I don't know how people didn't work out the plot almost immediately. This book is so predictable and I knew what was going to happen almost straight away - not ideal for a thriller.

Don't get me wrong, this book is incredibly fast-paced and makes for a very quick read, but it just didn't keep me on the edge of my seat. I did enjoy the format and I liked the idea of following Liza's novel alongside our story.

One of my main issues (which I guess could be classed as a spoiler) is that sexuality and mental health are still being used as plot twists. It is something that really winds me up. I just don't see the need for it and for me, is a really two-dimensional plot device.

I wanted to love this, especially after the glowing reviews, but it just left a sour taste in my mouth.

2/5stars.

A rather clever (and almost unique) style of writing make this a really enjoyable novel.
The characters blend in well and just enough to sometimes make you question who you are reading about for a while.
It's a really good Saturday afternoon, glass of wine, comfy sofa, while the family are watching the football, sort of book and I think other readers will enjoy it.

Writing about your own crazy life, especially in Liza Cole's case, is when truth becomes darker than fiction. There are many layers to the story line in this book. It's a wonderful read.

I really liked Lies She Told yet it was confusing for me in the first few chapters. The bouncing between Liza and Beth didn't flow well for me.. It took me a few chapters to put the two story lines together and then I flew through the book and have recommended it to many.

This book will mess with your mind!

It is told from two viewpoints in alternating chapters, one is the story of the life of an author, Liza, and Beth, a character in the thriller novel she is writing.

I have to admit it all blurred for me where their lives ran in parrell and then seemed to cross over from fiction to reality.

A very clever and inventive storyline, I think the blurring was intentional and I found increasingly had to concentrate and flick back to see which character I was reading about!

Lies She Told is a unique thriller with two stories in one, sort of. Liza is a woman struggling to have a family and struggling to write another best-selling novel. The chapters alternate between Liza's life, where her husband is dealing with the disappearance of his business partner, and the chapters of her current novel, where her character Beth discovers her husband's infidelity and takes matters into her own hands.
When Liza's life begins to unspool, the pages of her novel and the events of her life become so entwined that in many ways, readers are led to believe the stories are one in the same.
Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Lies She Told.

An intriguing psychological thriller in which Liza, a writer, plots out a mystery while living one herself. The captivating novel pulled me into Liza's world and left me interested to see what was happening with her book character. The ending did fall a bit short for me, but I still feel as though it was worth the read. We will be reading it in our book club next month.

Liza is dealing with a deadline to write a suspense novel, fertility treatments, and a husband who is too preoccupied with his missing business partner to pay attention to her. She dives into writing a book about a new mother, Beth, who is dealing with the fact her husband is having an affair and then murders the mistress. The farther Liza gets into this book, the more she starts relating to Beth as her alter-ego. Soon, the lines start to blur between fact and fiction.

If you like the novels with an unreliable narrator (Think Girl on a Train), THIS one is for you. The story bounces back and forth between real life and the novel Liza is writing. At first, that threw me off, but I got used to that fairly quickly. As the book goes on, the reader gets a sense of the mental instability of both female protagonists. I thought I had the ending figured out until I got to the ending. I don't want to spoil this one, so I won't give details.

The writing was excellent and the plot development was superb. Looking back, there were so many little details weaved into the story that became major parts of the story. Very well done and highly recommend. I will be looking for other books from this author. Four stars for me.

Thanks to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed the back and forth of this book and it's main character(s). Not knowing where this was leading was all part of the fun of this book. By fun, I mean the mystery kind of fun (of course!)

Lies She Told by Cate Holahan is an enjoyable domestic thriller that I would recommend to those looking for a lighter suspense. The book within a book format was unique, and I thought it worked well for this story. Though it was somewhat predictable at times, I found it to be a fast -paced, entertaining read.

Thank you NetGalley, Crooked Lane Books, and Cate Holahan for the opportunity to read Lies She Told. It was my pleasure to write an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.

I found this book interesting and uniquely written. The idea of jumping back and forth between the main story and the book being written within the story was truly unique. I found it a little difficult to keep up with at first but as I read more and more, I began to understand the meaning for it and what the author was trying to convey. It's worth the read, if you like domestic thrillers or mysteries.

LIES SHE TOLD by Cate Holahan is told in alternating chapters:, one is the story of the author and the other is of a character in the thriller novel she is writing. Not as difficult to follow as I thought it might be.

The writing did not flow for me, it felt choppy and I felt like I kept reading the same thing over and over again.

Liza, the author is married to David, a lawyer. Their marriage is anything but rosy. Infertility is rearing its ugly head and there are problems with David's business partner.

The character in Liza's novel, Beth has a newborn daughter, Beth’s husband Jake is also a lawyer, and Beth believes her husband is having an affair when she catches him having dinner with a police officer.

The character's lives begin to mirror each other, the boundaries blend as do the lines between fiction and reality. It becomes a blur.



An interesting blur and a highly readable blur. If you enjoy a good mystery/thriller this is the book for you.

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