
Member Reviews

This book grabs you from the first page and leaves you breathless at the end! A must read for those fans of Thrillers. I would read anything this Author wrote. Do yourself a favor and read this unputdownable story!

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. Its elite status, long-held traditions and honor code are ideal for preparing exceptional young women for brilliant futures at Ivy League universities and beyond. 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 when a popular student is found dead, the truth cannot be ignored. Rumors suggest she was struggling with a secret that drove her to suicide.
Thank you to net galley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book it was a great experience first time reading anything from this author

This book is a must read. The questions start on the first page and this continues until the last. The workings of private boarding school life in America is fascinating and the description of the traditions is breathtaking.
The characters are multi layered and fascinating and the relationships between them are complicated and not fully revealed until the turn of the last page.
This book could be a dark, difficult read but the author handles the subject matter with brilliance and control. Again, this is a must read

A very interesting read . Twists and turns to keep you engrossed. Wondering which way the author is going to take it. Nice and easy to read. Flows well. Enjoyable to read

The story begins on an ominous note and keeps the tension throughout, culminating in multiple twists that keep the reader guessing. It mainly focuses on Ash Carr, a British woman who has come to the prestigious Goode school in Marchburg, Virginia to help her get into a good university. It is immediately apparent that she's hiding something about her past. She clashes with other students and remains under the watchful eye of the school's dean, who is also hiding her own secrets. As the story progresses the truth begins to come out, putting multiple characters in grave danger. JT Ellison is always a good read and I look forward to more of her books.

Oh I really loved this!! It was a juicy mix of gossip girl, the talented Mr Ripley and Shirley Conran’s Lace! Set in the beautiful Goode school it is told through many persons eyes - but mainly orphaned Ash who is trying to get away from her past! There was all the usual secret society, bullying behaviours and shocking revelations that made it so enjoyable! A few little twists before the end sets the reader up for the blinding last 2! I struggled to put this down if I am honest. It was sheer escapism! I love J T Ellison anyway and she really didn’t disappoint this time! Outstanding read!

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. I have always been a fan of J.T Ellison's work so I was excited to read this, unfortunately I wasn't able to get into it as much as I thought I was going to. While I did enjoy it, I had to read it and put it down, I wasn't able to speed right through it like past novels.

This is a great book, once I started it sucked me in!!!
I was one of those girls who would of happily gone off to an all girls boarding school. That lifestyle fascinated me, the privilege, the possibilities, it would open up the world to me,
This book takes place in elite girls boarding school and does not disappoint! At first I wondered at it being from a teenagers perspective but you see the story from multiple view points, it doesn't feel like a YA book at all. The suspense and twists were great. I highly recommend it!

I had been wanting to read this for a while and it was definitely worth the wait! An amazing story depicting how far you would go to protect secrets. Very cleverly thought out and put together. A high energy read. It was most certainly enjoyable and look forward to the next one.

Strongly
Great book will be reading other books by this author.
Will also recommend this book to others.
Great read! 5*****

I stayed up all night reading this. I was totally engrossed.
Now, as a disclaimer, I just LOVE books set in a boarding school. That certainly was points in favor of this book. However it offered a good deal more.
Great writing that draws you in.
A dark, almost gothic mood
Stories within the main story
Twist after twist.
I received an advance copy from net galley, but that didn't affect my review. If you don't believe me, ask my husband. I kept telling him "shhh stop talking I need to finish this" .

Wow, what a novel. A tour de force from first page to last. There were so many twists and turns, each one better than the last. Who’s the good girl? Who’s the bad? I throughly enjoyed every word of this novel and I can’t recommend it enough as a roller coaster suspense.
Coming from England with a huge secret Ash is excited to start her life over and enter Goode’s boarding school for women as a sophomore. Loving learning and computers, Ash is unused to being around many girls, and it’s a challenge for her to navigate the social norms. The novel starts with a death at the front gate which sets the tone of the book. Prepare to set aside time because once you start reading you won’t do anything else.

J.T. Ellison captivates from the first sentence to the very last with her eloquent writing and dubious plot twists. The story line has this mesmerizing discord that is wrought with suspicion. Its gothic underpinning is upheld well with the old, private school setting, secret societies, and folk lore. While the main character is predominantly developed, Ellison offers diversity to her tertiary cast that embodies this whole narrative. Fantastic read. 5 stars.
Thank you to #NetGalley and #Harlequin for this ARC of #GoodGirlsLie

As a retired high school teacher, I'm such a sucker for novels set in school settings (especially at private schools for some reason), so this one had me at Hello! Ash is a tortured young woman who has witnessed the death of both parents and is now on scholarship at the elite Goode Academy where each girl is virtually assured a place at an Ivy League college, classes are small, and secret societies exist to allow girls to bond in sisterhood. But what lies beneath the surface is a nightmare of bullying as the hierarchy of students is clear at the outset. Dean Ford looks the other way as she believes she is keeping the traditions alive. Secrets, gothic elements including ghost stories of previous murders, tunnels, locked hallways, and The Red Staircase all exist to give the school a great, creepy vibe. Not for the faint of heart, this book is sure to please if you like your thrillers heart-stopping and fast-paced!

I loved this book! There's just something about mysteries involving exclusive boarding schools that automatically attracts me and this book drew me in from the very beginning. How could it not when the first few pages detail a student hanging from the school gates! Revolving around the students of well to do families that attend the all girls school, Goode School, in this tiny town of Virginia, there are plenty of clashing personalities, friendships, enemies and secret societies to create the dark allure of this story.
A student from Britain whose parents recently died, Ash is the main narrator of the book and she's unsure what to make of this place. She immediately makes an enemy of Becca, the all around alpha female and head girl. She gets along slightly better with her roommates but still doesn't feel like she fits in and would rather keep it that way. We also see from the Dean's point of view and she's quite the opposite of the dreary severe old school marm that you may have expected. She welcomes Ash and feels bad for her situation but also feels compelled to keep an eye on her, for reasons she herself doesn't fully understand.
There are so many well developed characters and such a great atmosphere that you can't help but immerse yourself in this dark tale. It is such an incredible page-turner and you will not want to put it down. This author had me hooked until the very end and I cannot recommend this book enough!

I want sure if I loved it or disliked it. It was filled with twists and turns and the author is someone I rally enjoy reading but I really had a difficult time getting into it. It just want for me.
Thank you to the author/publisher/Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for thy opportunity to give a fair and honest review

This is a difficult call to make. Not sure if I loved the book or hated it. Definitely creepy and disturbing. Well written but overall can't give it more than three stars. A bit too unbelievable to be believed.

Goode girls lie.
J.T. Ellison brings to life the world of an all-girls prep school, where the daughters of the privileged, the wealthy, the connected are sent to prepare them for admittance to the Ivy League.
But pampered daughters have their own agendas, and the secrets and lies fester under the veneer of breeding and sophistication. And one girl may have more secrets to protect than most.
When one girl is found dead — suicide? murder? — those secrets start to bubble to the surface. Because some secrets are nothing but lies.
Ellison has created a world that will. Draw the reader in and keep the lights burning far into the night.

An excellent book that is sure to draw the attention of both the mature and the YA audience. Really tells it like it is and draws you in slowly but surely.

The book opens with a girl hanging from the gates of the elite all girls school Goode School. We are soon introduced to Ash Carlisle who is a transfer student from Oxford, who's parents both have just died. As she tries to keep her head down and keep a low profile, she gets off on the wrong foot with the queen bee of the school, Becca Curtis. As the story progresses you are thrown into the world of secret societies and honor codes within the walls of the school. Unfortunately, I found this book to be a bit juvenile, definitely more of a young adult book. Ash was always complaining about trivial drama (dirty looks, rumors), which i guess is typical for highschool. For me I was not scheduled with any twist or turns like I would be with most thrillers and mysteries. I just wasn't into this one.
I want to thank netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.