I was actually pleasantly surprised by how much I ended up enjoying The Lying Game despite a few things I wasn't happy about. What became clear very early on is that I was going to love the writing style. I was hooked right from the first chapter and even though the story itself isn't as fast-paced as I would have liked, it was the writing style that still made me thoroughly enjoy The Lying Game. I liked the mystery around what happened all those years ago and what the friends are hiding. I had my suspicions on the lies and secrets of the group, but I wasn't able to guess the full truth until the very end. What did bother me considerably were the characters. I wasn't able to connect to any of them and this made this more character driven story a lot more difficult to love. One of the characters stood out painfully for me: Isa. I actually despise her for how she treats both her baby daughter and husband and was starting to feel more and more frustrated as things went further. And it's clear that these feelings have influenced my experience negatively. I wasn't sure what to think of the ending either... I still quite enjoyed the ride though, mostly because the writing style had me seriously hooked.

My review as posted.

In A Dark Dark Wood is the last book I've read by Ruth Ware. An ok read for me. The Lying Game is infinitely better I thought.

Isa, Kate, Thea and Fatima are boarding school friends that are reunited have a seventeen year break. Kate is the one that has summoned them back to The Reach in Salten, her home by the coast which is not far from the school the girls attended. The Lying Game is just that, a game concocted by Thea and Kate. The better the lies, the higher the score. All seemingly innocuous and just harmless fun, but is it?

Mostly told from Isa's point of view this is a creepy pervading tale that exudes tension. I loved the setting and the whole friendship angle. It reminded me of childhood books about boarding schools that I read over and over with a wistful sigh and an imagining of what a lacrosse stick looked like. Admittedly those adventures were slightly more on the tame side!

The Lying Game is a tense, atmospheric, psychological thriller that was engrossing in a subtle way. You could almost picture the hazy, dappled settings with teenage limbs wrapping around each other keeping each other's secrets. An air of carefree abandon that is lost only too soon to then bring about suspicion and wariness as they start to size each other up. Do they really know each other?

The mystery itself is a slow reveal and a few times I switched back and forth with my suspects. At times certain aspects did niggle a little. Especially how Isa was able to move from place to place with seeming ease; pushchair, 6 month old in tow. If memory serves me right, if I went anywhere with child/children in tow, half the house jumped on my back with me. I certainly couldn't pack everything into one bag!! No, I never could pack light .... still can't!!

Anyhow, just a minor niggle there but overall it's a book I much enjoyed. More than I expected to if I'm honest ..... and that's always a good thing.

Good boarding school melodrama; Enid Blyton with eating disorders. Fantastically nutty ending, worthy of a Bronte at their most hysterical.

I loved The Lying Game it kept me guessing until the end and I was still wrong!!
It focuses on the friendship of four woman who met at boarding school and the sudden disappearance of one of their dads who was also a teacher at the school.
These four woman have been sharing a secret, a lie which is about to be unraveled.
A great book that I loved.

When four girls become friends in a boarding school Isa, Fatima, kate and Thea, the girls play a game called “The Lying Game”

There are five rules to this game:
1) Tell a lie
2) Stick to your story
3) Don't get caught
4) Never lie to each other
5) Know when to stop lying

Seventeen years later a dark secret is about to emerge and “The Lying Game” is not the school girl fun it was meant to be.

Although I did enjoy this book, I was expecting the amazing 5* wow factor that I felt reading In a Dark Dark Wood. Still a good 4* and I am happy to recommend it.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK, Vintage Publishing for providing a copy of this book, and this is my honest review.

Downloaded in error, please see Reviewer opinions above.

A thriller that makes you question how well you know your friends and how far you'd go to help them.. When loyalty begins to fragment, trust proves to be elusive. A surprising ending, that I unsuccessfully tried to second guess it

My Review for The Lying Game.

“A lie can outlast any truth.

The Text message is just three words: I NEED YOU!

Isa drops everything and takes her daughter and heads to Salten a place where she spent an important part of her life at boarding school on the marshes there, days which still cast their shadow over her now..

There she meet's and fast become best friends with three other Girls Kate,Fatima & Thea and they soon start a game called the Lying game a game that started out as a bit of fun but also a Game that will haunt there lives forever!

Isa isn't the only one that got the text as Thea and Fatima got the same message, as they all head off to Salten wanting to know what is going on and what Kate means with the I NEED YOU message once they are all together they spend there first night catching up on the good times enjoying themselves but the night of fun soon goes fast and morning is here and now the reason for kate calling them back to Salten comes out " A Bone has Been Found" now with The consequences of there actions and of there lying about to come out they all need to get their stories straight

"BUT ONE OF THEM IS LYING"

Isa is the narrator of this book and gives you the back story of all of the Girls pasts and how they met and come to be in the situation they are all in now! im huge fan of Ruth Ware and it is always hard trying to make the new book better then the last but with Ruth ware all her books are amazing the story's are believable the characters are likable and with "THE LYING GAME" i was on edge i was so into the story i had to keep reading as i wanted to know what happened next there is a lot of twists and turns its a book that i didn't want to end as i was loving it that much!

"THE LYING GAME" is a truly addictive unputdownable book that will have you up till late at night filled with lots of twists and will have you guessing till the very End! thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for my copy

I found this book disappointing and didn't finish it. It isn't up to Ruth Wares previous standard. Sorry.

As expected, Ruth Ware doesn't disappoint with another good thriller

This book was such a bore for me! It was so hard to keep me interested! Almost didn't finish but thought 'oh well I've got this far!'.

Painful story about 4 women who started a 'lying game' when they were teens and seem to still keep a lot of secrets to this day. Insufferable most of the women were and quite a drag to read.

Better luck for my next book I hope!

Thanks to the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book. I was a huge fan of The Woman In Cabin 10 and was very much looking forward to this latest title.
The Lying Game focuses on a group of four school friends who created a game which revolved in telling ever more outrageous lies. With the game there came an intense relationship and the promise that they would be there to support each other forever.
Years later our protagonist, Isa, receives at text from one of the group which reads "I Need You". Isa knows that she must answer the call and the group of friends are reunited. Unfortunately for the four friends the past is catching up with them.
I very much enjoyed this novel. I loved the concept and it was very well executed.

Isa, Kate, Thea and Fatima share an unusual bond. A friendship forged through the common denominator of being shoved off to boarding school. During their time at school the four of them keep themselves amused with what they call the Lying Game. Nothing is too outrageous or cruel, which is probably why decades later their fellow school chums still believe a lot of lies or are still hurt by them.

When one of them calls for help the others come running straight away, like anyone in a really close friendship would…right? Hello, this is the real world. Dropping anything at the drop of a hat only happens in the movies or when there is a completely different reason. They share the kind of secret that destroys lives. That is the real reason.

The story wanders from past to present, giving the reader a glimpse of the girls as teens and in the present as women. They have families, careers and responsibilities. There is not much left of the foolish and carefree youngsters, who bathed in the warmth of the sun and skinny-dipped in the cool water near Kate’s house.

The truth is buried beneath the subconscious desires, the careless youth and lack of boundaries they all shared.

Ware always manages to capture the intimate emotional depths of each character without making them appear what they are, which is a figment of her imagination. It is what draws the reader in and keeps them wanting more. This is especially evident with Isa and Freya. The moments between the two of them are spot on, as are the descriptions of Isa and her bond with Freya, and her constant doubts.

Running simultaneously alongside the mystery is a breakdown and analysis of Isa’s romantic relationship and the way it has changed since Freya appeared on the scene. Although the sub-plot was only a catalyst or platform for certain other scenes in connection with the main plot I felt the last chapter, indeed the last sentences, spoke the loudest and most poignant words about relationships in general.
*Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my copy of The Lying Game.*

I wasn't too sure of this one to begin with as I didn't particularly like the main character Isa and that was before we got started with all the lies. It does seem entirely plausible that an event could create a strong bond between the 4 women but also make them not want to see each other for years. This is definitely as much about relationships as it is about the mystery of who did what. A good read but I personally would have preferred less of the baby feeding.

I've read all books published by Ruth Ware, to date, and found The Lying Game to be the best. It was plausible and completely believable that four school girl besties, keen on telling outrageous lies as teens, would find themselves in dire straights maintaining those lies well into adulthood.

The relationship between Isa, Fatima, Kate and Thea held the closeness of siblings and the intimacy of soulmates. Even after spending 15+ years apart, they were able to come together to face a new treat as a cohesive unit. There was a tangible affection in their relationship that felt earnest and meaningful. I couldn't get enough on it. But, the best bit, for me, was the descriptive nature of Salten, the Reach and the marshes. I could taste the salt on the sea air and feel the gritty sand between my toes. It possessed an enthralling power over me that felt reminiscent of a dream yet very real. I could easily live at the Mill, in that location, with the girls and Ambrose. Their younger years held a magical quality that won me over hands down.

Thrillers these days often have an over-the-top evil force to be reckoned with and that is the meat of the story. The Lying Game, instead, is a slow delicious burn that reveals itself with time. There isn't an omnipresent mastermind but rather a number of involved plot points that culminate together into a touching, dark story.

This world is begging to be enjoyed on the beach, in the sun, to get the full effect. It manufactures a rich environment full of shadows and secrets. Brilliant stuff by the talented Ruth Ware.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book, first time I have read anything by this author.
Particularly liked the character development and liked the fact that the book focussed on a handful of individuals.
The author evoked a good sense of place and the book was well paced and kept my interest right until the very end.
I would definitely recommend this book to friends/family and will be reading more from this author very soon.

Thank you to Netgalley and to the publisher for the opportunity to read this book as an arc. I absolutely loved Ruth Ware's first book In a Dark Dark Wood and I enjoyed The Woman in Cabin 10, so I was delighted to receive an advance copy of this book. However, I was really quite disappointed, I feel it didn't live up to the author's first two books.
The story of 4 friends who spend a couple of terms together at boarding school at the age of 15, the women are reunited after 17 years when Kate sends the others a text stating I Need You. They all return to Kate's house, a mill on the coast near their old boarding school as they realise a long held secret has now come to light and that they are all in danger.
The book was well written, the location very atmospheric with a claustrophobic menacing feeling throughout. The story just didn't grip me in the same way her others did. The girls seemed to be the 'mean girls' of the school as teenagers which meant I didn't feel much sympathy for their plight. It also didn't ring true that they hadn't seen each other for so long, yet were willing to leave their families and careers as soon as Kate called for them. In Isa's case, she was willing to cart her small baby up and down the country and sabotage her relationship in the process as she felt such an affinity with the other girls.
On the whole, this was not a bad book, but I did feel I was struggling with it at times.

Set in Salten, Isa and her three childhood friends are reunited after a secret of theirs is about to come out. A side effect of The Lying Game they played growing up in boarding school.

Kate, Thea, Isa and Fatima all met on a train to Salten and now they're reunited on Salten's platform, The Lying Game back in play and remember you can lie to others but not each other from here on out as their rules go...

Then two men come into the twists of the tale to come, Isa's stepbrother Luc and Ambrose, the art teacher from their old boarding school and also Kate's dad. Throw in a reunion of their boarding school as well as reporters still looking into the case from years ago concerning the girls and the finding of a human bone, there's a lot to come out and truths to finally be told, no longer hidden away as the girls must get their stories straight...

This was a really engaging read that flowed well between the past and present. Isa's memories were woven into the book in the right amount of snippets of information to ensure we built a good rounded picture of them and their pasts. The story itself was an amazing idea of such a simple thing gone wrong and proving how trust can go awry as well as dealing with childhood abuse in care as a hard undertone to a characters past, not of which I've seen before in a crime or mystery book though you do expect it to probably crop in some overall.

Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

I think it is high time for me to admit that Ruth Ware will never be one of my favorite authors. This is the third book I’ve read from her. I found “In A Dark Dark Wood” and “The Woman In Cabin 10” okay-reads. But I liked “The Lying Game” even less.

The story sounds interesting, though. Four girls met at a boarding school and become friends. They are not very nice girls. They are mean and selfish and they have a game that they like to play. They tell people lies and see if they believe them. They just tell stupid stuff like f. e. that Isa is a distant relative of Oscar Wilde because she has the same surname. But this game is not really relevant for the main story. As adults they lie because they have to hide something they did. It just shows that lying is a huge part of their lives.

The book is really a slow burner. I never felt any tension nor was I hooked. Isa got a text message that Kate needs her. She storms immediately out of her house, packing a few things for her and her six months old daughter and makes the uncomfortable train ride to Salten. But on arrival Kate tells her she will tell her what’s going on when the other women are present. I felt like forever until they finally find their way to Kate’s house. But still they don’t talk properly why they left their jobs and families for Kate. This felt all so unnatural and strange. There is a similar situation later in the book. Isa gets a call from Kate that she has to talk to her immediately (and of course not on the phone) because the police will interview her. Isa rushes again with her baby daughter to Kate, leaving her husband behind which whom she just had a serious argument. But on arrival at Salten Kate just thinks it is too late in the evening to talk. So they go to bed. They talk briefly in the morning and argue but then they stop talking for days while Isa just stays at Kate’s home doing nothing except breastfeeding her daughter. And an interview with the police never happened. This felt all so strange and weird. Unfortunately there are a lot of those unlogic scenes.

The book did not work for me. I also did not like the characters. Isa has a serious problem with stopping breastfeeding her daughter. There are so many scenes where she is feeding her. It was really boring and not really important for the story. The book also reminded me of “In A Dark Dark Wood” but this time the story development is much worse and the end is not really a surprise. I am afraid I just don’t like the author’s style and her simple way of telling her stories. I think this was my last book from Ruth Ware.

Four girls met while they attended boarding school on the marshes of Salten. Years later a three word text message is sent, I NEED YOU. Something has been found on the beach. Something that will force the girls to confront their past. They used to play the lying game at school but they had promised to never lie to each other.

Isabel is the narrator of the story and tells us about the girls past and the event that brought the girls back together. The book is really slow but it's a decent enough read.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Random House UK, Vintage Publishing and the author Ruth Ware for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.