I think this book was summed up well by one of the characters husband’s who asked whether you were supposed to like your friends! Three friends meet again after a dark secret binds them together at boarding school. We follow the ups and downs of their current relationships and see their personal pain/control issues come to the fore.

Whilst I really enjoyed reading this - it rattled along at a fair pace despite not much happening until the reveal of the big incident at school. Multi layered and yet felt a little superficial at times as we didn’t really get to connect with the characters. It was what my English teacher would call a “tell” story rather than a “show”. I’d have liked more depth to the characters but particularly liked Georgia who had an interesting set up as the scholarship girl!

A good read - just squeaks a 4* review!

Perfect Liars is a 3.5 stars for me due to the sometimes unbelievable storyline.
Geaorgia, Nancy and Lila are friends from boarding school, Nancy and Lila are the rich girls and Georgia was the scholarship girl. They meet at Georgia’s house with their other halves and it is clear to see that the girls hate each other, georgia and Nancy constantly bitch about things and Lila just concentrates on getting as drunk as she can. It is clear from the beginning that there must be something that holds these women together and it becomes clear that it’s something that happened in their school years that must be that bad they have to pretend to like each other.
This set off really well and I enjoyed the first third to half of the book but then some things just got too unbelievable to have happened, some things had no real alibi it was all a little false which spoilt it for me, but having said that it’s still worth a read.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Random House UK, Transworld Digital for the ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

Perfect Liars is a well written, character driven novel about friends Nancy, Georgia and Lila the storyline switches between a present day dinner party where the friends and their partners get together and events that occurred 16 years previously when the girls were all pupils at an exclusive boarding school together.

From the outset it was hard to see why this trio of women were friends with each other as they obviously didn’t like each other. They had mastered the art of picking up on each others weaknesses and making the most of them. Their school days reveal an equally shocking picture of three girls with a false sense of entitlement who together manipulated people, lied and would pretty much do anything to protect themselves.

Its the events that happened 16 years previously that tie them together and as the dinner party facade begins to crumble it also puts at risk a secret they’ve been hiding for all that time.

This novel with its totally unlikeable characters had me completely engrossed with a kind of morbid fascination, just one more chapter turned into another 5 and still I kept reading. Disturbing but utterly compelling - I loved it! 5 stars from me

Well, this was an interesting and compelling debut from journalist Rebecca Reid. Based around the lives and secrets shared by boarding school friends Nancy, Georgia and Lila. Each character is incredibly unlikeable, and they do fit the cookie cutter mould of pretentious, entitled, spoiled young women, exactly what you expect in a book surrounding boarding school goings on, so in a lot of ways the characters are stereotypical and superficial. That said, it didn't make the story any less enjoyable to me. Using a dual timeline the story is told in the present day where the three meet for crisis talks about the secret that threatens to pull them all under, and the past perspective looks at what the terrible secret that each of them is trying to contain actually is.

There are plenty of snarky and nasty remarks coming from each character, and Nancy is a real piece of work! The author manages to make a done-to-death reveal seem fresh and exciting. One thing I would say is that if you need at least one likeable character in a book, this is probably not for you - each character here is morally corrupt and as we discover, would rather commit a crime than accept what they did was wrong and face justice. As with many books in the crime genre, the whole story revolves around a horrific historical crime and the characters attempts to keep it from coming to light and ruining their lives as a result. This was a suspenseful read and a page-turning success!

Many thanks to Transworld Digital for an ARC. I was not required to post a review, and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Perfect Liars is not a novel for the faint of heart. It's not for readers who dislike stories with unlikable characters. Almost every character is unlikable, even irredeemable. They are manipulative, secretive, emotionally destructive, alcoholic, dependent, and sometimes greedy, sly, and immoral. Reid has done a remarkable job of writing these characters as fully-fleshed human beings. They may be unlikable, but they are also very compelling.

Every scene, particularly those that take place at the school, were full of a vivid cast of characters. Each were easy to imagine, completely different from each other. Reid's writing truly brings Perfect Liars to life.

The dark overtones and focus on women and teenage girls elevate Reid's novel to the same class as Megan Abbott's similarly focused stories. Perhaps even to the same class as Gillian Flynn.

It's an exciting time to be a reader in the female crime genre, and Reid has made it even more enjoyable. Perfect Liars is a sly look into volatile female friendships. This debut is fantastic; a dark, twisted, and foreboding novel that introduces Rebecca Reid to the scene with a bang. Or a particularly benevolent, slow-burning flame. Reid will certainly be an author to watch.

See my website for full review.

https://reviewbee.errorfree.me/review/review-perfect-liars-by-rebecca-reid/

"You do realize," he had said to her once, years ago, "that you are actually supposed to like your friends?"
This is a story of three school friends, Nancy, Georgia and Lila. It's set both in the past during their school days and in the present, when they all get together at Georgia's house with their significant others for a dinner party. Yet they clearly don't like each other. Georgia and Nancy spend the whole evening sniping and trying to outdo each other, while Lila does what Lila does best, gets plastered. It soon becomes apparent that something from their past is holding the bond together, but what is it? What are they so afraid of that they don't want it to get out? Something really awful has obviously happened during their school days, and it's so terrifying to them that they will stay together through thick and thin to protect themselves, and the privileged lives they have built, from the consequences.
So we follow the story through the dinner party, and with flashbacks to their school days, where the terrible tale slowly unfolds. Unfortunately for me the back story lacked suspense and proved to be in parts predictable and in others had me rolling my eyes in disbelief. The redeeming feature of this book was the dinner party, and the interactions of the characters. It has far more substance as a social commentary than it does as a thriller. Too much alcohol, nasty women and their partners who have no idea about the hidden past all trying to score points against each other was far more entertaining than the poor attempt at psychological suspense. It was an easy, quick read, but didn't quite pull off what is was trying to do.
My thanks to NetGally and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK for this arc in exchange for an honest review.
After reading the synopsis, and having been to a boarding school myself, I was keen to start reading. Fortunately I couldn't identify with any of the events in the book!
Almost all the characters were totally obnoxious in their own ways, and the lives they led were as superficial as they were.
The scenes were set in the past and present for the three friends. The story was easy to follow, and contained enough intrigue to keep reading. The ending was along the lines I was expecting.
I suppose I did enjoy this book, but I had a feeling of despondency most of the way through it, and quite honestly a bit downhearted afterwards!

Perfect Liars was like a horrific train wreck that you just can't look away from. Such nasty characters, especially Nancy that are just so unlikeable and their toxic friendship.. but you just have to keep reading. I read this in 2 sessions, I was dying to know what they were lying about and how they got away with it.

16 years ago at an elite English boarding school 3 teenage girls did something unspeakable that sealed their bond. Nancy, Lila and Georgina have kept their secret all this time, but now one of them wants to speak. A dinner party with a lot of alcohol, drugs and arguments turns nasty and will they all survive? The story jumps between the present day and the days at school, where the girls were inseparable. Will they keep their awful secret a secret?

Thanks to Random House UK and NetGalley for my advanced copy of this book to read. All opinions are my opinions and are in no way biased

I've just finished this book and what a read it was! Utterly gripping, page turning and full of suspense. Simply brilliant.
Perfect Liars was hugely compelling. I wasn't able to put it down for very long and each time I did, I was constantly thinking about the characters and what was in store for them next. It's well written, believable and kept me guessing . Would definitely read more from this author.

Thank you!

With thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the book in exchange for an honest review.
Perfect Liars is the story of three women who meet at boarding school and remain friends bound by a guilty secret. The three main characters are not particularly likeable women and even their partners/ husbands are not especially likeable characters.
It is however an easy to read book.

Thank you for providing me with a copy of this book. All three friends had something to hide. It was a very good book to read and I couldn't put it down. Great read and highly recommended

Perfect Liars is a perfect tale of toxic friendship, made more so by the fact that they all have something to hide…

I really enjoyed this- I love a past/present narrative especially when the past includes school days. None of the three friends are particularly likeable which makes it even better and the tale is gorgeously twisty and full of edgy and intriguing interpersonal relationships.

Its an interesting vibe as you cannot imagine these women being friends if they didn’t have the past event holding them together even as it tears them apart. Even back at school their interactions with each other and those around them is a divisive one.

Perfect Liars is a thought provoking look at female friendship and the lengths we’ll go to in order to hold on to those things we believe are important, as such it is utterly addictive.

A great read. Recommended.

Three friends are forever bonded by something terrible that happened fifteen years earlier at boarding school - something which is destined to come back to haunt them in the present day. So far, so standard psychological thriller territory.

Except Georgia, Nancy and Lila aren’t bonded at all, or at least not in any kind of remotely positive way - in fact, they seem to thoroughly hate each other. Their “friendship” is about as dysfunctional as it’s possible to get, characterised by passive-aggressive oneupmanship, barbed remarks and carefully crafted put-downs.

(“Were all friendships like this?” Georgia ponders at one point. “Were all failings and confessions seen as weaknesses to be exploited? Or were there actually people who could tell their friends something embarrassing or sad without knowing it was bringing them joy?”)

These three appalling women gather for dinner at Georgia’s house, accompanied by their equally horrible husbands. Only Brett, Nancy’s new man, seems to bear any relation to an acceptable human being (and is clearly far too good for Nancy).

Despite - or perhaps because of - the irredeemable awfulness and apparent moral emptiness of nearly all the characters, I loved this book and found it a brilliant read. Yes, the “gradually revealed awful thing in past” plot is a standard, but here it feels fresh and very well executed.

The story alternates between “now” (the dinner party from hell) and “then”, with the girls still being evil, but hating each other slightly less, at their pricey boarding school, where Lila and Nancy kindly overlook scholarship girl Georgia’s terrible handicap of not being rich. Rebecca Reid excels in portraying the rarefied world of these girls, who never step outside their own privileged bubble and seem to see anyone not like them as literally another species. (“Working-class women always got big after they had children, apparently”, observes present-day Lila.) Their present-day husbands are no better, their unreconstructed, unquestioned and unquestioning attitudes forensically laid out for our perusal... it’s all quite alarming, but also sadly believable.

As the toxic trio tangle with a new teacher and a vulnerable classmate, it’s clear that it will somehow end in tragedy, but how, why and when?

I really can’t find much negative to say about this book. Well, maybe the cover. I’m so sick of back views of women in brightly coloured trenchcoats. It seems like the only thing women on book covers ever wear. But that’s it.

Hugely compelling, darkly enjoyable and an all round great read.

Three ‘so called’ friends from school and university, Georgia, Lila and Nancy, meet up at Georgia’s for a dinner party with their partners. Nancy has flown over from the USA with her new fiancé, Brett, as the request of Georgia as she is worried about Lila.

These are not pleasant women and the story is told from the present day and their sixth form school days at a boarding school. It soon become apparent that Lila may be about to give away some sort of secret from those school days.

Looking back, they have always been self-centred sociopaths but the plot is intriguing and well thought through so not feeling any warmth towards the characters does not take away from the story.

Thanks to NetGalley, Random House UK and Rebecca Reid for my ARC in return for my honest review.

Excellent read. Highly recommended.

A book set in the past and present a technique I usually enjoy.The story unfolded slowly going back to when the 3 main characters were at school together and also in the present time at a dinner party at one of their houses.I always think it is a brave thing to make main characters unlikable ,I am not sure I would be confident enough to do this if I could write a book.Unfortunately it just didn't work for me not liking any of the main characters really put me off.it had the effect of making me not care and losing faith in the book.I know other readers may not be as put off by characters that are not going to be some one that you would want to have dinner or drinks with or in my case anything to do with,but I do find it a problem.this was not a great read for me and it was a book I was glad to get through rather than enjoy.I hope my next book has more engaging characters ,I would really struggle to read another book like this as my next choice,but would like to thank the publishers and netgalley for the ARC.

Great novel. Really enjoyed the way that the two timelines were threaded throughout the book and also that each characters viewpoint was established within the narrative

WOW! What a read, I couldn't put this book down. It really hooked me in, It's the story of three female friends who were at school together and are meeting up for a dinner party. But these friends hate each other and are tied together by a secret, desperate for it not to come out and ruin their perfect lives.
I love the way the author writes, it flowed really well. Will definitely read more by her.

Firstly thank you to #NetGalley for the advanced e-copy of this book. I have read lots of what Rebecca has written as a journalist, I also love a psychological thriller and so was excited and intrigued to get my hands on a copy of her book.

I devoured this book in 2 days. Staying up until 2.30am on Monday morning to finish it because I just had to know. That is a sign of a good book in my opinion.

There is not a likable character in this story though. The three main characters, Georgia, Lila and Nancy are all vile, self centred, self absorbed sociopaths who display a close friendship to the world but which is revealed to us to be deeply flawed. I won't go into details of the plot as that will give it away but the story is told from the now, which is basically a dinner party hosted by Georgia and the past, which is their time at school, specifically in the upper 6th and how what happened then continues to lock these three vile women together.

My only niggle which jarred me was the bit when Nancy's mum rings her at school on the school phones and yet all the girls have mobile phones. It is a minor thing I know but it is a plot detail that bothered me probably way more than it should have done.

I think it is a testament to Rebecca's writing that despite the fact that not one single character is likeable I couldn't put this novel down. It was a bit like reading a train crash where you are slowly watching a horror unravel and despite being repulsed by it (or in this case them) you can't look away.

I must thank netgalley for the advanced copy of this book. I started this not quite knowing what to expect and not sure if I would enjoy it.
I found it to be fantastic! Based around 3 girlfriends, who have known each other from boarding school and the story is written by flitting from the past then the present, every chapter being either past or present. They seem to love to hate each other and are all as pretentious as each other in their own ways. There is a secret holding them together as we find out as the story unfolds and the twists and turns throughout keep you reading " one more page". I would recommend this book for anyone who loves crime, or mysteries. I have connectes with Rebecca Reid the auhor and discovered it is also her first book! Excellent work! keep it up and keep writing, that is all I can say!

So a story about three friends who have known each other since childhood it’s their individual stories, the story of their relationships, successes and failures, who envies who, whose partners are faithful who has achieved their ambitions and who has failed - yes a story about the best of friends who really hate each other!