This book is told in two different point of views. The first is of Beth. Beth has longed for a baby but has been unable to have one. When her daughter Hannah comes along Beth wants to believe that everything is normal. Beth has always known there was something strange about Hannah. The lack of emotion, the disturbing behavior, the apparent delight in hurting others...Sometimes Beth is scared of her and what she could be capable of.

The second POV is told by Clara. Her well to do boyfriend, Luke, has disappeared. No one has been able to find any clues about what happened to him. As Clara digs into Luke and his past to try to find him she starts to learn things that she might wish she didn’t know. What would you do to protect a secret?

Even though the two stories don’t seem to have anything to do with one another a surprising twist brings the two together. A great psychological thriller.

The storyline switches back and forth between the past with Beth, Doug and their strange daughter; and the present with Clara and her missing boyfriend, Luke. Part of the mystery is trying to string the seemingly two very different families together and figure out how the two stories are connected. 

As the title suggests, the deeper Clara digs trying finding her boyfriend, the more lies and secrets she uncovers. The characters are mostly believable, but the book doesn’t dive that deep into characterization which is a bit of a waste. There’s a storyline that offers ample opportunity for characters to stand out or make big changes, but they’re really just ‘meh’. 

The plot has a few twists: most of them are a bit predictable or too much of a trope to find very interesting. 

Overall, The Lies We Told was an alright read. It would be a good book to read on slow, rainy days.

The Lies We Told starts off with Clara waiting in her flat for her boyfriend Luke to come home... but he never shows up. She calls on her boyfriend's friend Mac for help finding him, eventually going to Luke's parents to tell them he is missing. His parents are devastated because Luke's sister, Emily, also disappeared when Luke was 10. As Clara and Mac investigate his disappearance on their own several secret start to come up and Clara is beginning to think she never really knew how Luke was.

We are also taken back into the past to another point of view with a lot of family drama. It really reminded me of the recently released book Baby Teeth and I waited and waited for the past and present to catch up to each other.

I thoroughly enjoyed the lies spread throughout this book because it really keeps you guessing all the way until the end. The author does a great job of slowly revealing each lie and the hidden truth behind everyone's past. A wonderfully crafted psychological thriller!

This was a quickly paced book that grabbed my attention from the start. I always enjoy a good past and present, alternating timeline, too. A solid book.

First of all, fantastic read! I devoured this ARC that I was fortunate enough to be able to read ahead of publication. This psychological suspense novel had me hooked from the first chapter! The creepiness of Hannah's character was one that I could NOT stop reading about, even way past my bedtime. Absolutely loved how the secrets and lies just kept on piling up on me while reading. The author did a wonderful job of putting this book together.

Wow!
Prepare yourself to be twisted into a psychological pretzel🥨! This book has so many misdirections and dead-ends that you’ll be guessing from beginning to end! And I do mean guessing. Good luck to all of my fellow armchair detectives out there! This one will test your skills...big time!

Clara recently moved in with her boyfriend Luke and feels like finally, everything is falling into place for her. She’s happier than she’s ever been. She feels loved and life is good!

That is until she wakes one morning to find Luke’s cell phone sitting in the apartment...but no Luke! Brushing away the foggy sleep, Clara realizes he never came home last night after work.
Logically of course, her first three questions are, is he cheating on me? Was he in an accident? And why hasn’t he contacted her?

There’s a second, seemingly un-related story running simultaneously from the past regarding Beth, a wife and new mother. She struggles bringing up her daughter Hannah who is best and delicately described as... well let’s just say, not “an angel” and with NO heart of gold. (I think you get the picture.) I have to say, this part was so well done! So real. So believably chilling!

OK my Sherlock Holmes wannabes’… it’s up to you to stitch the pieces of these two stories together!
I can’t tell you how many times I thought I had it, only to be proven wrong!
Maybe I’m losing my touch? No chance – it’s just that good. Very curious to see how well you all do!!

Camilla Way does a brilliant job weaving the story-lines together. Leaving you shocked and desperate for more. If you’ve been looking for that thriller that will rock your literary world, look no further! This is it!

I highly recommend!

A twisty buddy read with Susanne!!🌸

Thank you to NetGalley, Berkeley Publishing Group and Camilla Way for an ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

In this captivating psychological thriller, two families lives are explored and what happens when dark secrets come to light. Because they always do... 1980s: Beth has longed for a child since the early days of her marriage, so when she finally gets her beautiful baby girl, Hannah, she is overjoyed...at first. But Hannah's not an ordinary little girl and Beth can no longer ignore the signs.... Cut to the present day... Clara and Luke are happily co-habitating and enjoying their new relationship when Luke fails to come home one night. At first Clara isn't too worried, but as the days pass with no contact from Luke, she is forced to try and find out the truth, but now it seems that a grown-up Hannah may be the only one with answers.

I received this book "The Lies We Told" from NetGalley and all opinions expressed are my own.
I enjoyed reading this book and I'm sorry to say that because of the ending I have to drop a star. This could have been 5 but I need to make it only a 4. Anyway, this book is one you don't want to put down. The suspense is there throughout this very fast paced book. Secrets secrets everywhere! And don't forget all the lying!

This book had so many things that I love in a psychological thriller. First off, a true sociopath, one that is so incredibly anti-social and inherently evil that she can’t be ignored. Secondly a host of other characters, well described, that I felt I cared about and wanted to see how this would all play out.

The author had me in her hands from the first pages. The story is told in two POV’s. One in the past and one in the present. The stories flow seamlessly, seemingly in their own individual plots, until everything finally comes together with a BANG!

We are first introduced to Beth and Doug who have finally gotten their wish of a child after many, many years of waiting and trying. But within a few years Beth is aware that something is not right with their beautiful, charming Hannah. I felt genuine unrest and worry for the young family of Beth and Doug. Hannah starts exhibiting strange, dangerous, cruel and worrisome behavior since the age of 3 when she intentionally seriously injures her mother. They do take her to a psychiatrist but Hannah is able to even manipulate the doctor into believing that she is alright. The parents are assured that this is just a “phase”. She is mean to other children as she is growing up and the school has had to talk to the parents multiple times about her behavior.

They now have a young son, Toby, and Beth lives in fear that Hannah will do something terrible to her brother, she has already been caught pinching and teasing him. Hannah has also convinced her father that it is her mother who is too hard on her, that she isn’t doing the things that Beth has described. This family is in trouble, but what will happen to them?

The second story is told from the perspective of Clara, a young woman who has recently moved in with her boyfriend Luke, they seem to be truly in love and have been living together happily for a few months. Then there is a night when Luke doesn’t come home, he doesn’t call. Clara reaches out to his parents and friends but no one has seen him or heard from him. She finally calls Mac, her and Luke’s best friend, and together they start to investigate further and further into Luke’s life and uncovering things that they had no idea they would find. Luke’s family, his mother and father and older brother Tom have secrets they are hiding, but what are they? Clara knows that Luke had a sister, Emily, who supposedly left the family when she was 18 and hasn’t been heard from for twenty years, or at least that is the story that she has been told, but what really happened to Emily?

There are so many secrets and lies it will make your head spin. This book kept me guessing until almost the end, when I figured out one of the main “connections” and because of that the end felt a little flat to me. It also seemed to almost be setting the reader up for a follow up? Don’t know if this is the case or not. This would have been a 5 if not for the rushed ending which left so many threads hanging, but perhaps this was the intention.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a great, page turning psychological thriller.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

This story goes from Cambridgeshire 1986 to London 2017. In Cambridgeshire, Doug and Beth adopt baby Hannah and then have a son, Toby. Beth has an uneasy feeling that something is wrong with Hannah as her eyes have a vacant look. Also, Hannah killed Beth's bird, set a fire at the babysitter's house and tried to harm her baby brother. In London, Clara and her boyfriend Luke have recently moved in together. Luke disappears on his way home from work one evening. Luke's best friend, Mac, helps Clara try to figure out what happened to him. As you read along, you wonder what one of these has to do with the other but as the story unfolds everything fits into place very nicely. This book is full of twist, turns and surprises which makes for a "I don't want to put this book down" read. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a good psychological thriller.

4.5 stars!

I am such a sucker for dual timeline books and seeing how they come together. In this case, I absolutely did not figure out the exact connection until it was revealed, which always adds to the fun for me. The timelines are set twenty years apart and there are loose threads in each and it’s really fun to watch those threads unravel and the story to unfold. What starts out as a missing boyfriend, delves into family drama and beyond! Definitely pick this one up!

"You can't stop me. You know you can't. She was right, of course. She knew that the secret she held over us ensured that we would never try to force the issue.".......

This psychological suspense is enticing from the very beginning. We meet Clara first, wondering where her boyfriend, Luke, has disappeared to. A secret she uncovers scares her even more. Where is Luke?

Alternating chapters take us between Clara and her search in the present, to Doug and Beth and their past. This couple had a little girl named Hannah. Something evil has lurked in Hannah since she was a very young child.

The lies that Doug and Beth have told to cover for Hannah, and their inability to control her, lead to a connection to Luke and Clara. What has Hannah done and does this connect to Luke’s disappearance?

A thriller story line and not the connections you might think. Fast paced and exciting throughout. I enjoyed this book immensely. I couldn’t wait to find out what happened to Luke. Was he still alive? Who was stalking Luke before he disappeared? What does Hannah have to do with any of this, if she does?

Thank you Camilla Way, Netgalley, and Berkley Publishing Group.

There are so many lies. Could the events have been prevented if just one truth had been told?

One thread is the story of Beth and Hannah. Anyone who is a mom, has a mom, or who has watched a mom struggle with a rambunctious child in the grocery store will empathize with Beth as she struggles to bring some normality to her family while raising her son and deeply disturbed daughter Hannah. Spookily distributed daughter. This story is could be Hanna (no “h”) from Baby Teeth (Zoje Stage) all grown up!

The parallel thread is the story of Beth and Luke. Luke has not returned from work, which is odd because he’s been prepping for an important interview the next day. Beth begins to discover mysterious emails and wonders if he is possibly being stalked by an ex-girlfriend. Or maybe that weird upstairs neighbor. Beth confides in Luke’s friend Mac, who is the only one she feels she can trust. She turns to Luke’s family to try to help her make connections from his past, but Luke’s parents are acting strange, and his brother Tom is beginning to frighten her, showing up out of the blue at odd times.

The intersection of these two stories is where the plot really takes off. Just when you think all the lies have been revealed, watch out. In true suspense form, the twists just keep coming.

A simple missing person story that is so much more. There are many twists and turns that seem like they could never come together to bring the story together. The story is told from the past and present and I loved that there wasn’t a clear connection through most of the book but once it the connection was made it was perfect. The characters are complex and it is fun to see how their stories develop. I would highly recommend to any mystery thriller lover.

Fast paced thriller that I couldn't put down until I finished it. It starts with four year, Hannah leaving a bird head on her mother, Beth's pillow. Beth and her husband, Doug take Hannah to a psychologist when she deliberately hit her mother in the eye with a spoon. Then there's Clara who has Luke, a missing boyfriend who just didn't come home one day. The story is told from different perspective 's and the timeline goes from when Hannah is small until she is an adult. Does Hannah get better or is she a psychopath as an adult? So many secrets and to come out. Nothing is exactly as it seems. It's a thriller you won't soon forget. I received this book from Net Galley and Berkley Publishing Group for a honest review and no compensation otherwise.

The Lies We Told by Camilla Way is a fast-paced thriller told from two perspectives, Beth from the past and Clara in the present. I liked Beth's story about her disturbed daughter, Hannah; she was creepy. This was a great thriller, and I enjoyed the two perspectives and how they collided toward the end of the book. I thought I had figured out one of the twists, but I was wrong and then there was another twist I wasn't even anticipating.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced e-copy of the book.

The Lies We Told is a dark, disturbing and entertaining read full of twists & turns. Secret upon secret piled on top of lies and deceit. Alternating between the past and present, this thriller will leave you guessing and second guessing right til the end.

I love books with creepy children! And this one delivered. Hannah is the daughter of a couple who seem haunted by some tragic event in their past. One that has caused them to move away and start anew. As Hannah grows up, they realize that she isn't like other children; she is mean, destructive, and without emotion. The reader is left wondering what the past event was for more than 1/2 the book, which added mystery and kept me trying to guess what it was. When it is revealed, I'm not sure it had enough WOW for me, but there were plenty of other twists in the plot to keep me interested. Overall, I stayed up late way too many nights while reading this book, which makes it a winner for me!

If I've ever read a better depiction of a psychopathic personality in a novel than Hannah, the daughter in Camilla Way's The Lies We Told, I can't recall it. Fortunately, Hannah wasn't the only well-drawn character in the book. She was offset by the handful of well-meaning, conforming parents who did very wrong things for understandable reasons, and by Clara, whose point-of-view alternates with that of Beth, one of the mothers.

These people are keeping each other's hellish secrets, to their own detriment, and it seems that good-hearted, clear-minded Clara and the reader are the only ones innocent of the knowledge. As well as two points of view, there are two timelines, but the author kept them clearly delineated. Ir was easy to follow, but torturous to try to puzzle out.

If you tackle this book (which I recommend), you'll get layers of mystery and degrees of dread. Who can Clara trust? It's a question we keep asking to the end, and still may not have an answer.

I received an ARC through NetGalley.

4.5 stars

Secrets and Lies.....Lies and Secrets.....

The Lies we Told are told in two timelines. In the past time line, we are shown a Mother, Beth who slowly begins to pick up on the fact that her daughter, Hannah isn't quite like other children. As Beth struggles with Hannah and her increasing behaviors, it begins to strain her marriage and leaves her in constant fear for her new baby.

In the present timeline we have Clara who is worried when her boyfriend Luke, fails to come home from work one night. She discovers that Luke may have had a stalker and finds a bunch of threatening emails to him, that coupled with a recent break-in, causes her to fear the worst.

As the story-lines go back and forth between the past and the present. The reader is shown both women's POV and I couldn't help but feel for both women. Beth is struggling with the increasing anti-social behavior of her daughter. A child who appears to not care about anything or anyone. A child who acts out physically and who the Mother loves yet fears. Clara is struggling with learning that her missing boyfriend was not the perfect man she thought he was. She learns some truths about him and his past relationships.

It is obvious that these story-lines will collide but how? Why? Where is the connection?

This is a book which captivated me from the start. Both story-lines were captivating, but I was riveted to the past story-line with Hannah being so ark and disturbing that she made for a great character. The timelines/story-lines had a nice progression to them and they transitioned smoothly between both women's stories. This book is the prefect escape. It is fast paced, riveting and entertaining. Is all of it plausible? Not really, but it sure was fun to read!

The book does come together nicely and there is never a dull moment. I really did not want to put this one down and must give it 4.5 stars for being entertaining and interesting. For me it was a page turner which did not disappoint. The ending felt a little rushed, but overall a very enjoyable read.

Thank you to Berkeley Publishing Group and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.