Thanks to #NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read #GoodGirlsLie

This is the first book by J.T. Ellison and I enjoyed. I've read a few of the other reviews and I know a lot didn't like the book nor felt like it was realistic.
But I enjoyed the book. It gave me a story that I got into and couldn't put down. I can understand why some had problems with it. But for the story I think the characters fix in.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book they provided. Receiving a free copy did not influence my review in any way.

I made it to around 30% and could not read on. Others may really like this book but I could not connect with it. It was written as though it was set in present day but it really felt quite retro. I work with teens every day and the teens in this book did not act like or speak like teens of today. They felt much older or of a different era. Also, the Dean, who I believe would be in her 30s sounded like a much older woman. To me it was distracting and kept me from identifying with the characters. This novel would have worked better for me had it been written as a historical novel.

Trigger warnings: Suicide

"Really? At an all girls boarding school? How deliciously gothic."

Gothic doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of this book. Let's call it as it is, a lesbian gothic thriller set to the tone of rich millennial teens are out of their minds. They are ruthless.

Meet Ash, an orphan from Oxford, England recently settled in the dust of America. She comes to Goode Boarding School alone and on edge. This is a good school, a great school, but when you are surrounded by the most elite of elite daughters all around the world, a great school can still be horrible. It's downright nasty in fact.
This book opens with death and as the story progresses we are introduced to more and more. Everyone around Ash is dying and it's grown more than a little suspicious.

This is a good book which kept me on the edge the entire time. The writing is beautiful, the characters intense caricatures of wealthy teen girls with money. I was so almost on my way to loving this title but the end is confusing and I still don't feel as though we get a real sense of closure. The climax while heart stopping is much of the same. It could be the different switches of perspective constantly but it was disappointing. Especially when the beginning was so strong.

Also note: these girls will annoy you and make you roll your eyes. As there are quite of bit of suicides in this novel there definitely needs to be a trigger warning involved as they are very graphic.

Sometimes the characters and plot are beyond unbelievable. Expecting 100s of girls to be cut off from Wifi and separated from their phones??? Lmaooo, not happening.

I loved the world building and some of the characters not all. I like the queer representation in the book and felt as though it was written well. There are some bumps along the way but it is a really enjoyable fast thriller read. We need more of these solely featuring girls honestly.

Thanks much to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

This review will be posted on my blog: http://aelilyreads.home.blog from 08/22/2019 to indefinitely.
Blog post: https://aelilyreads.home.blog/2019/08/22/arc-review-good-girls-lie-by-j-t-ellison/

I am a huge fan of Ellison, so as soon as I knew she had a new book out I had to get my hands on it.

The fact that this book takes place at a boarding school and jumps from different points of view as well as the past in the present was total icing on the cake.

From an outsider's perspective, The Good School is perfection. It's a very well to do prep school and turns teenage girls into the best and brightest, sending them onto good colleges and perfect lives.

Except that there are so many dark things going on within the school. And when Ash arrives it all hits the fan.

I couldn't put this book down. The twists and turns are as scary as the tunnels under The Goode School and I just had to find out exactly what was going on. Although the end got a little out of control, I loved this dark thrilled and found it even darker than Ellison's usual novels. Definitely a great book to read on a dark, stormy night.

I just couldn’t get into this book. The plot just plodded on and on with no end in sight. Thanks to the publisher for my advance ebook. This is my unbiased review.

It has been said that, “the truth shall set you free;” however, for Ash telling the truth can be down right deadly. Just how far will she go to keep her secrets and her past buried?

“There are truths, and there are lies, and then there is everything that really happened, which is where you and I will meet.”

Let’s face it, everyone lies. Even good girls, but especially Goode girls. Goode’s honor code be damned when it comes to Ash and her future. Such a wicked web of lies that is spun by Ellison throughout this read.

Good Girls Lie, is made with all the ingredients necessary for a tempting, tangy yet tasty, tantalizing thriller. It’s made with love using a dash of mayhem, a cup of Ellison’s version of “Mean Girls”, and of course it wouldn’t be complete without several slices and dices of murder only to be topped off with a British bad girl as the cherry on top. 5 stars❤️

First, I debated whether to give this book three or four stars. It means a lot to go about three, and I feel like that twist in the ended warranted the fourth star.

My hesitations lie in the facts that 1. Some parts seemed unnecessary to the overall storyline and just added to more details to remember and 2. The beginning took a while to get into. The second half of this book is WAY more fast paced and definitely gripped my attention.

The Goode School is a prestigious American boarding school for all girls, one that can make your future bright.

But we quickly learn things are not all “good” at The Goode School as a student is found dead on campus.

A new girl is a student at Goode, and she has a past that she desperately wants to keep a secret. However, secrets can only be kept and hidden for so long.

Fast paced and enjoyable ending that made this one worth reading!

This story just went on, and needlessly on. I was just waiting for it to end. While the writing was OK it just went on forever-89 chapters forever. I had trouble getting into this one, and emerged with mixed feelings. The list of ridiculous inaccuracies and the level of soap to which the book ascends were an issue for me.

This was a great fast paced thriller that reminded me of One of Us is Lying. I would definitely recommend this book.

After reading "Tear Me Apart", I was excited to receive an advance review for J.T. Ellison's upcoming thriller, "Good Girls Lie"! The setting is an idyllic Virginia boarding school - and the setting was well-described and accurate to the true Virginia countryside and the several boarding schools that serve the capitol's elite.

There were several story lines involved in the book, and I'm not entirely sure that all of them were necessary - many off-shoots that didn't develop the main plot. Without spoiling anything, I'll say the mystery was not at all a surprise after a certain character was introduced. The twist has definitely been done before, and it was honestly a bit disappointing. Additionally, I didn't like or empathize with a single one of the characters.

I gave a 4, because I did definitely want to finish the book and find out how everything turned out - and I finished it quickly, because I couldn't put it down! I certainly think it's worth a read, but maybe not as good as my expectations lead me to believe.

The author's note says that many of the traditions and setting were taken from her college alma mater (Randolph-Macon Woman's College) the location of the Goode School appears to be Chatham Hall. Not that it matters, except that there are some things that make more sense for a college than an all-girls prep school. I'm not talking about the secret society parts, or the tunnels (I worked at one school with the former and attended a school with the latter) but the college acceptance part. There are schools with high acceptance into the Ivies. But The Goode School's rate? No. Plus the school appears to look down on the SLACs and the Southern Ivies, many of which are just as competitive and prestigious. And the idea that a non-athelete could get accepted into college pretty much on the Head of School's say-so? Maybe before World War II (I've seen the letters at MPOW and know that held true for other New England schools) but not now. Not for several decades.

It was also puzzling as to when this was set. Javascript is apparently a huge new thing, which suggests mid-90s but then there's a reference to Billie Ellish which suggests this year. You can't have both! There's a big plot twist that is strongly hinted at throughout the book that wasn't surprising, and all I'll say is that I've recently read other books with a similar twist that were done better.

eARC provided by publisher.

I love all things boarding schools so I really enjoyed the descriptions of the buildings, campus life, etc. I appreciated what the author was trying to do with the POVs and the twist but I found it a little difficult to follow. I had to go back and read the ending twice. A good story but I just struggled with some parts.

I am a big fan of JT Ellison books and was so excited for this story. Unfortunately for me it fell short. I had trouble connecting with characters as sometimes it was hard to understand who was talking or what was going on. The storyline intrigued me but I had trouble following once I started reading as it was not clear what was going on and too confusing. I look forward to more from her and cannot wait to see what she comes out with next. Just because this was not for me does not mean it is not for someone else. Hopefully everyone gives it a chance and forms their own opinion.

Whoa! This book threw me for a loop! My heart raced, I questioned everything that I thought I knew about the book. The twists and turns kept me turning the pages. The characters were multi-dimensional and made kept me throughly engrossed. A 5 star read from the first page until the stunning conclusion!

I really thought I'd enjoy the concept of murder and intrigue in an elite all-girl's school, but there were so many aspects of the book that felt out of touch or didn't ring true. The main character Ash did intrigue me but I felt like I knew where the story was going to end way too early on. I thought that the Dean of the college acted way older than a 30-something would and I felt most of the characters lacked real character development. That being said, I really got into the twists and turns during the middle of the book..and then the ending just totally lost me. I gave it three stars because it was enjoyable, I just think parts of the story were not realistic for the time period it's set in and the twists were a little predictable.

First and foremost, I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity for this ARC.
Good Girls Lie thoroughly captivated me to the finish. J.T. Ellison did a phenomenal job of describing the school and its grounds. As a reader, you can visualize exactly what it would be like to be a student at this prep school.
I believe Good Girls Lie should have been written as a historical fiction novel instead of a contemporary. The prep school's rules seemed outdated and archaic and the high school students' speech resembled a more mature person's dialogue.
Although I figured out the twist early in the story it did not ruin the remainder of the book for me, also I found the ending anticlimactic.
Overall I gave Good girl's lie four stars for the reason that I enjoyed the premise and the setting.

Good Girls Lie jumps back and forth between several characters. Our main character Ash is written in first person, as is an unknown voice that crops up occasionally throughout. I found this to be a little confusing, especially towards the end- it's hard to explain without spoilers but essentially I couldn't tell who was speaking even when I was supposed to.

We also follow several other key characters in third person to enable the reader to make discoveries outside of Ash's knowledge.

The plot itself is EXTREMELY far fetched, but that's what made it fun! I could never have predicted it but whilst it didnt click together without the need for heavy explanation I still enjoyed the reveal.

The relationship between Ash and Becca was as confusing and unbearable for the reader as much as the characters. I could clearly remember the nervous uncertainty of high school relationships, the way it can encompass your entire world as a teenager. The back and forth between both girls was torturous and well written.

I also liked the Dean's character, she was particularly well fleshed out and made a good contrast between adulthood and student life in a school setting.

There was one point left unresolved, I'll just say it was a medical thing so as not to spoil it. In hindsight that particular subplot doesn't seem to have added anything to the story, just a tool for misdirection perhaps.

I thought Good Girls Lie took a while to really get moving. At times I found it slightly tedious but there were enough questions to hold my curiosity and when the plot picked up pace I was pleased to have stuck with it.

As usual J.T . Ellison has this amazing way of the perfect twist at the end of a mystery that I didn't see coming! I love the worlds she comes up with the complex characters, you know theres something more to them you just don't know what! i found the beginning a little slow and took a bit get into but once I did it was a race to figure out all things Ash!

Thank you to Netgalley and to Harlequin for my copy for honest review.

Perched atop a hill in the tiny town of Marchburg, Virginia, The Goode School is a prestigious prep school known as a Silent Ivy. The boarding school of choice for daughters of the rich and influential, it accepts only the best and the brightest. . . .But a stranger has come to Goode, and this ivy has turned poisonous.

In a world where appearances are everything, as long as students pretend to follow the rules, no one questions the cruelties of the secret societies or the dubious behavior of the privileged young women who expect to get away with murder. . . . But look closely…because there are truths and there are lies, and then there is everything that really happened.

I love a book set in an elite girls' school. There are LOTS of secrets at The Goode School, not just held by the students. Students start dying. The mysterious new girl gets attention from the head girl. Is everything connected? But to what? I enjoyed the short chapters - kept the pace of the plot moving. Several good twists throughout. I loved the ending - I'll just say karma is a bitch.


Thank you NetGalley for the free copy.

J. T. Ellison is a talented writer, and I've read several of her previous novels. However, this one falls short. It read as though it was an old, discarded manuscript from the '90s that Ellison had dusted off and sent to a trusted publisher. Everything about it, including the dialogue, reads as dated. The plotline is solid, but overall it's a big letdown for Ellison fans.