This was just manipulative and contrived. I wanted an absorbing brain-candy read, sure, but one always hopes that the story would have some meaning. I know The Girl on the Train and The Woman at the Window get a lot of flak for being dull or annoying (it's interesting how people seem to really hate alcoholic women narrators - what is up with that?) but those books have heart. They try to get to the root of women's pain and self-sabotage. This one started off well but then the first twist, then the untwist, then the retwist, and at its heart: a big old nothing.

The story initially had some potential and could have been worth it if focused on the characters. But at some point it became a game of "how much worse can a person get for absolutely no reason at all" with trigger scenes like rape thrown in and then forgotten/brushed over. I'm beginning to wonder what's behind the demand for MORE AND MORE TWISTS to the detriment of story, characterisation, themes. Books don't have to be a trapeze act, a fire-eating show and a slow waltz with lions in order to hold a reader's attention...

There is a sentence at the beginning that should have clued me in to how sexual trauma would be treated as an afterthought, or just another "bad thing" to fill out a plot; the author uses "raped" as a verb for something that is not rape: "Madeline will be in the office by now, the newspapers will have been read, raped of any good stories." Huge, glaring WTF.

Oh my goodness...this book was excellent. Got a little confused at one point but after re-reading a couple of pages, it was fine. Creepy good with lovely twists and turns.

Wow, oh wow, oh wow!!! What the heck just happened!?!?!?! I feel like I was placed into a washing machine, spun around and around and spit out dizzy and confused. Way to keep the reader riveted all through the book, Ms. Feeney!

It is a daunting task to review this book without giving anything away, but I shall try.

I was captured from the first page:
"My name is Amber Reynolds. There are three things you should know about me:
I'm in a coma.
My husband doesn't love me anymore.
Sometimes I lie."

The story is given to us bit by bit in three ways, Then (before the incident that put Amber in a coma), Now (Amber's inner reactions to being in a coma), and entries from childhood diaries.

The author shows excellent skill in developing the main characters and giving the reader breadcrumbs of information bit by bit. You think you are piecing things together correctly and then WHAM!!!! Smacked upside the head and turned inside out. And not just once, but multiple times!

A very enjoyable read!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for allowing me to read an e-copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

Ooohhh tricky tricky. I thought I was following the narrative and then boom, the twist hit me. I was confused for a moment, but once I realized what was happening I loved it. It's been a while since a "big twist"' didn't make me roll my eyes. Well done!

Sometimes I Lie had me questioning everything I read between the covers of this book. Right from the beginning we know that the main character sometimes lies. So I found myself constantly trying to figure what was a lie and what was the truth.

And I was pretty much left in the dark until the very end. I love when a book can do that for me, keep me hanging as long as possible and then making me doubt everything I believed about what I just read. I typically don't reread books but I'm thinking this is one that I will, just to see if I can pick up those clues to the truth now that I know the lies.

I am one of the many that didn't get the many twists in the story. I had a hard time keeping up with all the secrets and turns. Not my kind of book, but, please, give it a try and judge for yourself. I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thanks to NetGalley and Flatiron Books!

Sometimes I Lie tells the story of Amber. Amber is in a coma.
The story is told from her point of view at different times, when she’s in the coma and hearing everything around her and the week before the car accident that put her in a coma. We also have journal entries of when she was a kid.

I started this really liking it and ended up not hating it.
It was mostly fine but I had trouble getting through with it. It kinda made me slump.
I really wanted to love it but I couldn’t like any of the characters even though they were interesting and layered. I guess it was kind of the point of the book though. Also, the plot twists were very well built and I didn’t see them coming.
I just had so much trouble staying focused on the story mostly because I felt no empathy for the characters...

*Sometimes I Lie: A Novel* by Alice Feeney is a psychological thriller that will keep you up all night wanting more. I was up until one a.m. reading this book, I had to finish it. There are so many twists and turns in this book. Even at the end I'm still processing this book. I can't wait to read more by Alice Feeney.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a review copy in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion of it.

Read all my reviews at: https://brainfartsandbooks.wordpress.com

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Now I haven’t had a book spin my head this good since I don’t even know. What a complete  head trip. It all seems pretty straight forward. Amber is in a coma in the hospital. She can hear everyone talking around her but can’t respond. Her sister and husband come to see her daily but what are they hiding?

Because of the way this book is written from different perspectives, there is a slight disconnect between some of the characters. I thought the story travelled at a steady pace until everything got COMPLETELY. FLIPPED. AROUND. Wait who? No. What? She was her and she was her? See what I mean? Crazy. Mind. Blown. Knowing what I know now, I really need to reread this book. Because it was that good.

Thank you to Netgalley, Alice Feeney and Flatiron Books for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A fun read full of twists and turns. I look forward to more from this author.

This book has a brilliant premise and the style of writing is very clear and effective. It is a psychological thriller that keeps the reader wondering and guessing up to the end. The majority of the story takes place in the mind of the protagonist, and the warning is true: sometimes she lies. Little by little, details seep out about the characters and each image changes as more information is supplied. I admit to being more than a little confused as it became difficult to sort out the characters. Suffice it to say, no one is normal in the regular sense of the word. The only likeable character turns out to be imaginary. Extremely well-written, but leaves the reader with a question: what did I just read?

Wow, what a great psychological thriller! Masterfully written with a clever plot. So many twists and turns. This is one book you will never be able to figure out the ending. The story grips you right from the beginning and keeps you entertained throughout. A page-turned indeed.

I highly recommend this book and I look forward to reading more from this author.

Thank you to to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for a copy of Alice Feeney's "Sometimes I Lie" in exchange for an hones review.

You know what they say about readers that assume anything!

Sometimes I Lie is the story of a woman named Amber Reynolds, who wakes up (sort of, she is in a coma but can hear and understand everything that's going on around her) in a hospital with no recollection of how she got there. Through a combination of flashbacks and present observations she starts to piece it all together but there'll be many twists before she finds her answers. Add this to the list of reads that will keep you glued to your seat until you reach the end; you'll also be dying to discuss it with fellow readers!

Amber Reynolds lies in a hospital bed, unresponsive and seemingly in a coma. But Amber can hear everything that is said around her.  She remembers an accident but has trouble unraveling the exact circumstances that put her in the hospital. As she listens to conversations and slowly begins to remember events, Amber becomes suspicious of her husband and others around her.

Sometimes I Lie (Flatiron Books, digital galley) moves between the present and past as Amber tries to piece together her story. But Amber's narrative is often unreliable and, as the title suggests, everything she shares may not be the absolute truth.

Sometimes I Lie is author Alice Feeney's debut and she and has many twists in store for readers of this thriller. Books with multiple twists can often be exhausting and frustrating, but Feeney handles the material adeptly and keeps the story moving to its unexpected conclusion.

*Thanks to NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

A satisfying ending...until the last chapter.

Sometimes I Lie by Alice Feeney is a terrific ride! Whoa, it was incredible how many twists and turns there are in this book! It all makes perfect sense at the end but this book is unputdownable! You need to know what is going to happen next.

This is Feeney's debut novel. It is fantastic and I am looking forward to more in the future!

SOMETIMES I LIE is an understatement of a title for this psychological thriller.

Characters are what make or break a book for me. Believable ones that I can relate to on some level. Having said that, I'll confess to disliking every character in this book, however, this was an excellent and fascinating read!

With the majority of this novel comprised of thoughts of a woman in a coma and flashbacks in her life, there's not much dialogue. One might think that would be slow, boring reading but the opposite is true. And paying attention to every bit of new information is key here. Although is it the truth or a lie?

What you need to know about the main character:

1. She's in a coma.
2. Her sister was in a deadly accident.
3. Sometimes she lies.

Highly recommended!