(Also posted on my GR account!)

5 solid stars, whoa what a ride!

Good Girls Lie opened with a new school semester and ended with a suitable whimper. But the kind of whimper that left you satisfied with the built up.

Ash left her home in England to pursue a diploma in Goode School, a prestigious boarding school with the likes of equally prestigious daughters of senators, ambassadors, etc. She had to navigate her new life and tried as she might to avoid trouble, lest her secrets came out.

I can't say much about the book other than it took me A WHILE to finish it, not because I don't like it or it wasn't engaging but more because of my real life. Good Girls Lie feels suffocating and liberating at once. Try and read it yourself.

3.5 stars
The opening of this book is definitely interesting—a teenage girls is found hanging from the boarding school’s tall iron gates in an apparent suicide.

Then, the story backs up from there to show how that came about, beginning with Ash Carlisle’s trip to The Goode School from England to Virginia, USA.

I thought the very beginning was very slow, but then after finishing the book, I went back and reread the beginning and it made more sense to me.

After the somewhat slow start, this story picked up and I enjoyed the boarding school tale of secret societies, honor codes and even murder. It felt a little too long and wordy in places, though. It felt like there was a lot of build-up just to get to the twist that we all know is coming.

And the twist...really? It fell flat for me. Major eye roll and unbelievable for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin-Mira for a digital arc in exchange for an honest review.

A good thriller, gripping and entertaining.
I liked the atmospheric setting, the well thought cast of characters and the mystery that kept me on the edge till the last page.
It's the first book I read by this author and won't surely be the last.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

‘I thought lies had power until I saw what silence could do’

Ash Carr is a woman with a secret, moved to the US to escape her past in an elite all-girls boarding school. Navigating the new school is hard enough, with its hierarchies, pecking orders and secret societies but when a girl is found dead, the stakes may be higher than first anticipated…

Good Girls Lie is an interesting thriller where you are left guessing at every turn. It seems like everyone has something to hide – whether that’s the seemingly straight-laced dean, the handyman, Ash’s classmates or even Ash herself. Without giving any spoilers I thought the slight unreliable narrator aspect of the book worked nicely and the small hints given towards the end of chapters kept you on the back foot and questioning everything you had been told. I liked the setting of the school; the old-style building and the sense of tradition really help build a well-rounded and interesting backdrop to the story. It was unsurprising to see in the authors notes that it had been based from a real place as it did feel very grounded in reality.

There were however a couple of things that didn’t quite make sense but seemed to have been added for the convenience of the plot. There’s no way, for example, to record a Skype conversation without both parties being heavily informed that that is what is happening – you can’t just accidently leave a setting on and have it record everything. Some bits also felt a little unrealistic in terms of character motivations or actions which led to you needing to suspend your disbelief a bit to enjoy it. The epilogue was great but I felt the twist was a bit of a let down and way too predictable.

Overall Good Girls Lie is a twisty thriller with a great setting – it just felt a little unrealistic in places. Thank you to NetGalley & Harlequin Mira for a chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

FULL REVIEW: https://wordsunfilteredbys.com/2019/12/24/good-girls-lie/

when i first read what this book was about, i just knew i had to read it.

an all-girls boarding school? a murder? a mystery? secrets and lies? count me the f*** in.

from the very first chapter, i was completely hooked

Linda's Book Obsession Reviews "Good Girls Lie by J.T. Ellison, Mira, December 31, 2019

J.T.Ellison, author of "Good Girls Lie" has written an intense, intriguing, captivating, suspenseful and chilling novel. The Genres for this novel are Psychological Thriller, Thriller, Mystery and Suspense, and Fiction. The timeline for this story is in the present and goes to the past when it pertains to the characters or events. The author describes her characters as complex, complicated, dysfunctional, and pathological. There are betrayals, lies, deep, dark secrets, bullying,  and murder. The story takes place mostly in an elite private boarding school.

Goode Private Boarding School is an elite and prestigious boarding school for girls. The grounds and buildings have provided stories of heinous crimes in the past. There are tunnels and many floors in the school where the rooms are mostly modernized. The seniors have the most power, and there are secret clubs or sororities. Some of these clubs have horrible rituals. There is troublesome bullying that goes on.

Ash, is a new student coming from England to the United States to attend Goode School.  Ash has lost both of her parents in tragic circumstances and wants to start fresh at school. Her goals include going on to Harvard. Not all that seems to meet the eye is a true picture of what is going on. Ash has many secrets, and she seems so have a way of irritating people. As a matter of fact, since Ash is at the school there seems to be some trouble.

There are strange things that are going on at the school, and different groups of girls seem to have a way of overlooking the honor and rules of the elite institution. Ash meets Becca, one of the seniors that are very powerful at the school. Ash tries to keep a low profile, but it is difficult when murder becomes involved.

I would recommend this chilling thrilling novel to those readers who enjoy a horrifying and thought-provoking read.

I am unsure exactly how I felt about this book. It took me way too long to read because it took over halfway through to get with the flow of the story. By that point, I had totally figured out what was going on and I was right. However, there's an excellent twist at some point in the story (not going to tell you where so I don't spoil it) that definitely elevated this book to the "decent thriller" level. I've read most of Ellison's previous psychological suspense novels, and this one is on par with most of them except for Lie to Me which I loved.
It's definitely worth reading, I liked the boarding school setting and the secrets everyone was hiding from each other.

When Sophomore Ash Carlisle arrives at the Goode School in Virginia, she has no idea of the deadly consequences her presence will cause…or does she? She is soon revealed by her fellow students to be Ashlyn Carr, the only child of a British Peer and his wife, both recently deceased. Her intelligence and quick wit catch the attention of Head Girl Becca Curtis, a self anointed leader of the Senior Class. After Becca befriends Ash, she enters the world of arcane societies, cruel hazing, mean girl cliques and ghostly happenings. Oh, and yes, there are several unexplained deaths.

There are noises at night, legends of murder and suicide and a mysterious chauffeur who wanders the grounds watching the girls. Ash is always in the middle, trying to understand, as the novel moves to its inevitable, shocking conclusion.

I thought I had solved the mystery behind Goode Girls Lie. I was wrong. J.T. Ellison has crafted an intense psychological thriller wrapped in a mystery. 5 stars from me. Don’t read it at night or you’ll be wondering what is behind the locked door across from Ash’s room!


Thanks to NetGalley, J.T. Ellison and Harlequin-Mira for this Advanced Reading Copy

JT Ellison writes books I do not want to miss.
The Goode School in VA only accepts good girls from elite families with plans to head to Ivy League schools. The school is shrouded in mystery already, but even more so when Ash Carlisle arrives from the UK to attend school. No one knows much about Ash. It seems like she's hiding something. Then, her roommate dies. Was it suicide or homicide? Ash doesn't feel safe, but no one feels safe. It seems there is more going on than just a mysterious new student from the UK. Could this have anything to do with a murder that occurred on campus years ago?
There are so many twists and turns that leave readers consistently on the edge of their seats!

I’ve read and/or listened to several of Ms. Ellison’s books and enjoyed her Taylor Jackson series and books written with Catherine Coulter.

This story was difficult to connect with especially when I read more of Ash’s thoughts versus dialogue. I don’t know if it was the format of the ARC e-copy but at times it was difficult to determine who was talking or thinking.

I enjoyed the description of the school and the surroundings with tunnels, warnings to stay out of certain areas, past murders, and the many decades of school history.

The girls were mostly mean and especially to the new student, Ash Carlisle. It was easy to sense that something other than the recent deaths of her parents in England and her move to the US for private school was going on. It was a little frightening that the secret societies and the hazing were so harsh and brutal. I got whiplash from some of the characters acting friendly to Ash, then so cruel and back again.

The story moved between the present and the past and I found this to be an interesting way to share Ash’s childhood and the present day.

I like a good thriller and this had merit but I felt like there were too many things going on and additional characters that didn’t seem to add up. The students seemed much older than most high school students and it’s difficult to believe that no one had a cell phone. The story seemed to be long and I kept checking the percentage. Still, there were times the story was intense with the twists and turns.

I love epilogues and this one was a great way to complete the story.

Thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this new work.

This book had all the promise of a good mystery/thriller, but it fell so flat for so long. Good Girls Lie is a slow burn with an unreliable narrator and unreliable plot. Unfortunately, it just didn't pull together like a "Gone Girl" or "The Girl on The Train". I insist upon comparing books to those books when marketed similarly.

This faux thriller didn't intrigue me or mystify me, and I really disliked the characters. Perhaps it's my own bias against private prep schools, especially boarding schools, but I couldn't get into this book. It took me about 5 times as long to read this book as it takes me to read other books.

The detective and his niece were characters just thrown into the plot, with heavy-handed backstores shoved in at random.

Rumi was a ridiculous character. He's a chauffer, a barista, he's whatever the Dean needs! He gets around, but it seems like the author wants us to believe he's the lothario with the heart of gold.

The Dean was a complete idiot. She really couldn't figure it out?

Overall, this wasn't one of my favorites.

I enjoyed this one very much and devoured it in less than a day. Ellison delivers an above-average thriller with a tremendously interesting setting and characters with complicated motivations and interactions. I appreciate all of the insight we were given to even secondary characters. It’s nearly perfectly plotted and would make a good choice for readers of Ruth Ware or Louise Candlish.

Even though I figured out one of the main twists fairly early on, I still enjoyed the rest of this book immensely. I feel like the end was slightly rushed and didn't leave me completely satisfied, but I still liked it.

My fourth Ellison book and let me tell y'all. I just love her. Her wicked mind, the crazy stories she comes up with and the ease in which it is to read her writing. Take all those things and add it in with a boarding school/secret society-esque type story and I am here for it for every page.

I'm completely torn with this read. I was intrigued enough to continue page after page but it wasn't until around the 300 page mark that it really captured my interest. The pages leading up to this gave me no clue to what was actually going on. There are different POVs throughout the read and sometimes it's difficult to determine whose mind you're in with each chapter.... when I got toward the end, I understood why. However, it still was a bit eyebrow pinching.

Once a couple reveals came about, I unfortunately wasn't exactly wowed. It wasn't quite what I was expecting yet wasn't really a surprise either. There is one part in the epilogue that did make me smirk and I was pretty happy with it. I dunno you guys.

Was I entertained? Yes, I was. I think had it not taken 300 pages to fully capture my attention, I may have liked this one more. Ellison is a favorite author of mine. So far Lie to Me is my favorite of hers but each book I've read has made my thriller heart happy. This is still a fantastic thriller read and I appreciate where Ellison was taking us readers. I just wish I had bonded with this story earlier than I did.

I was happily surprised by how much I enjoyed Good Girls Lie.
After the devastating loss of her parents, Ash Carlisle leaves her home in England to attend a prestigious all girls’ boarding school in the United States. Goode comes with all the typical high school drama but there is more lurking behind the corners of this historic school. Ash tries to keep her head down but when her roommate dies horrifically, Ash knows there will be n escapade from her past.
I was highly engaged on this story. It’s not your typical boarding school story o even a boarding school thriller. Each chapter egged me on trying to guess what each character was hiding. I loved guessing even when I was wrong and loved, even more, the twist I never saw coming. I was disappointed that in the end, the story ended so quickly from its build up. Luckily, each character is given a conclusion keeping from pesky loose ends that annoy me so as a reader.
The writing isn’t overly complex but J.T. Ellison manages to give the overtures needed to keep the reader engaged. The only true issue is that the perspectives and narration changes between chapters in a jarring way. The goal is clearly to hide certain aspects of the characters and keep the reader from knowing everything at once, but there is one perspective in particular, that causes me to stop reading because it clashes and I have to realize it’s an entirely different narration even though it’s so close to another.
Good Girls Lie is more than just your typical girl’s boarding girl story. Packed with deceit and twists, Good Girls Lie is t3ense story about indemnity and the way we react to our environment.

I received an ARC from the publisher; all opinions are my own.

GOOD GIRLS LIE by J.T. Ellison is a standalone suspense/thriller that kept me turning the pages quickly until the very last page. I would think I knew what was going on and then, BAM, I was so wrong and another tiny reveal would send me off on another tangent.

The Goode School is a premier private boarding school for females only in the tiny town of Marchburg, Virginia. It is for the best, brightest, elite daughters of the rich and prestigious. All the girls are prepared for brilliant futures and all the girls must follow the school’s code of honor and never lie.

There is a new girl this year from Oxford in the sophomore class, Ash Carr. Recently orphaned, Ash is still being admitted by the dean, Dr. Ford Julianne Westhaven on scholarship as she waits for her settlement. Ash learns many of the girls know how to pretend to follow the rules and secret societies add to the potential of tripping Ash up and her personal secret being discovered.

When a student is found dead, rumors spread and it becomes increasingly difficult to tell who is telling the truth and who is telling a lie. How far will girls from the Goode School go to hide their secrets?

This is a tightly plotted and fast-paced thriller that kept me guessing. I do not normally read YA books, but this has so many threads of murder, sex, hazing and secrets that I was just pulled into the story and kept forgetting how truly young the characters were. The characters are fully fleshed out and memorable as the story progresses and you learn their secrets. I loved the epilogue which was another great twist to the story.

I highly recommend this thriller and will be looking for more books by this author!

4 out of 5 stars

I would like to thank Netgalley and Mira books for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I discovered J.T. Ellison in November of this year and have become a fan of hers. I was super thrilled to be able to read this new book which will be released on December 30,2019.

In the small town of Marchburg, Virginia there is an elite girl's school where only the best of the best attend. One October morning a girl is found dead, hanging from the gates. We flash back to August when Ash arrives from England. The Goode school is a whole other world from what Ash is used to. With judgmental and snobbish girls, secret societies and the honor code, as well as being in a new country she wonders how and if she will survive.

J.T. Ellison is really good at slowly revealing secrets and characters true personalities and this novel is no exception. She leaves you interested in where the story line is going. This is a fun, twisted novel that I would suggest you pick up!

Here I go again with another 3-star rating...


WAIT!

That's not bad, it means I did like the story, but I wasn't totally riveted in certain reading times or surprised by the twists. Goodreads doesn't appear to appreciate half stars and neither do some of my reviewer buddies. Just for the sake of argument, this read is one that had me feeling a bit indecisive.

What I did like:
1. Call me strange but I like the whole private school setting with secret societies and nasty mean girls. That is, in the fictional world sense.

2. I love characters with secrets. The more desperate and despicable, the better. This book doesn't disappoint.

2. The sit up and take notice beginning really caught my attention and terrified me. The ending matched it perfectly.

3. The cover, I chose this book based on the cover and never read the synopsis. I went in blind

What I didn't like.

1. Although the majority of the story is told from the enigmatic Ash who is the new student hailing from England and arriving in America, the author starts popping in other perspectives and it didn't work so much for me. The senator character (yucky!) The sheriff's niece (important to the investigation-yes, but she seemed filler-ish. )

2. There was a lot of building towards what would take place and my interest waned a bit in some chapters.

3. I had hypothesized a major vein of the plot and was disappointed when I was proven correct. Even more so when I factor in, I didn't read the synopsis prior to my reading.


Thanks to HARLEQUIN-Mira for an egalley in exchange for an honest review.







Goodreads review published 18/12/19
Publication Date 30/12/19

Good Girls Lie was a great quick and easy read. I felt like I read it before and knew what was going to happen, so I’m wondering if there is already a book out there with the exact same plot since the pub date on this is in the future? Either way, I did enjoy it despite it feeling so familiar. Unfortunately, I can picture these mean girl characterizations and actions happening in real life, though hopefully not to the degree it was in the book. It horrified me to see anyone manipulated and treated the way these poor characters were, but I also think it is important for people to realize that bullying and hazing, at any degree, is so real and trending and often leads to such emotional stress and many times suicide. The author did a great job capturing the roller coaster of emotions felt during the push and tug relationships and it was easy to feel my own personal emotion about it while reading. Though some parts seem a bit unrealistic or unlikely, they added some flavor to the story or helped spice the personality of some of the characters, it worked. I really liked this book.

If you know me, you know I love mysteries set in boarding schools. They are generally off the mark of what boarding schools are actually like, but they are the kind of thing I imagined them to be when I was a teen. Everyone is so rich and nasty to each other and then, boom, murder!

This was a fast-paced story that kept me guessing and actually did a good job of actually portraying private school life.

Thank you for my ARC, Net Galley and Harlequin! It’s YA fodder that is good for my soul! I will share this with my 16 year old, too (with her own copy).