12 Tales Lie, 1 Tells True is quite a collection of horror stories! I haven't a clue as to which story is true but wouldn't want to live through any of them.

The stories had various settings and each story was truly unique. I have to say most of them were enjoyable to read but a few I didn't like at all. I'm still glad I read it.

* I was provided an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher. It was my own decision to read and review this book.

Maria Alexander has written several interesting tales into one book. This was a fascinating idea for a book and she delivers.

The intriguing title of this collection is what caught my attention, but I don’t think it delivered. I took it to mean “13 relatively believable creepy tales of which one is actually true…” Most of them did start out with a depressingly believable character, bitter and scarred by past trauma and/or abuse. However, rather than sticking with psychological horror, eerie supernatural phenomena, or something else vaguely believable most of them quickly veered into such an over-the top (and/or fairytale inspired) supernatural direction that it was fairly obvious which one was intended as the “true” tale. Maybe I misunderstood the title?

For me, the writing style was overwrought; not exactly gushing “purple prose,” but way too many adjectives. It was as if every noun had to have at least one adjective attached to it. Add to this some pretty explicit language (including a graphically described rape and a BDSM obsession), and this really did not work for me. Your mileage may vary, but I was disappointed (and a bit disgusted).