Once I started reading, Good Girls Don’t Lie, I couldn’t put it down. I was curious to find out the ending. This book didn’t disappoint!!!

"Goode" girls are honest and follow the honor code of their school...or do they? The setting of this story was fantastic and this was a hard one to put down. Full of twists and lies, I did not know exactly what was going on in some points and who was narrating. I did enjoy the story and I twists keep me guessing. I'm a big fan if Ellison so I appreciate netgalley for giving me an opportunity to read this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Ash Carlisle and do not call her Ashlyn, is a young girl from England who has come to America to attend an exclusive, prestigious prep school in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. It is called The Goode School and is considered to be a “Silent Ivy” meaning the graduates a are guaranteed entrance to an Ivy League college upon graduation. The school is exclusive and accepts only 200 new students a year, making it one of the most challenging to get into in the U.S.
We quickly learn that Ash is running from a dark secret, one she believes she’s left behind. And in her first few weeks at Goode, as she settles in, makes several new friends, and emerges as a popular, sought-after student, it seems her plan has worked. Then, Ash is tapped for a secret society known only as Ivy Bound, and she truly feels like she has been accepted especially when the head of the society, Becca, a gorgeous, accomplished upperclassman takes her on as her protege. At this point the lies and deceit begins to emerge and her past is not left behind, rather, it is stalking her.
I found this book well written and complicated. Pay close attention to every detail so you don’t get lost in the devious secrets of the characters.
I did feel the book was too long and dragged on in the beginning. But when the action heats up it was very exciting.

This book was a conundrum. On one hand, the setting was full of promise: a Gothic prep school filled with overachieving rich girls. On the other hand, we have lots of internal dialogue and chapters that switch POV’s rapidly, causing confusion. There was also a slow start to the book, and it seemed to drag on towards the middle. This was almost a DNF for me, but I kept going.
The last 20% of the book is filled with rapid-fire twists and turns, and all the questions (and there are plenty!) are answered. There are some (more) deaths but I felt the conclusion was satisfactorily drawn. Ellison’s characters are typical boarding-school-with-money types, and there are a lot of familiar tropes (secret societies, girl drama, rich girls behaving badly) that will warm the heart of the reader that loves this type of thing.
I am unsure how to classify this book – is it YA or not? I feel it fits either category; the writing style is easy to read, if a little drawn out. I think each chapter would have benefitted from naming the narrator right at the beginning so the reader would immediately know who is speaking. However, this may have been done deliberately by the author to cause confusion and increase the intrigue.
My favorite character was Becca – she was an apt Head Girl, hiding her loneliness under a harsh and demanding exterior. I also felt sorry for the Dean, who was constantly under the thumb of the previous Dean (who just happened to be her manipulative mother).
All in all – an uneven but mildly pleasant read. Stick with it through the slow portions and you will be happy you did.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin - Mira for an advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review and feedback.

This was my first JT Ellison book and I really enjoyed it. A great compelling read with twists that just keep on coming. More detailed review to come closer to publishing date.

This was a long tedious read. I sat down multiple times to read this and finish it.
The premise is intriguing. Dead bodies, new girl on campus, cliques and secret societies.
The execution is long winded, over written and errors a good editor should pick up.
Often when a book is adapted for tv, a lot of unnecessary things get taken out and adapting this would be brilliant. You’d have an intriguing mystery without the world salad. But I digress.
The dialogue of the teenagers seems older, but wealthy kids tend to speak older than they are. It was weird that a contemporary book set around teenagers had no social media, but it also meant characteristics were for more substantial reasons that likes and posts.
The characters could have used some more work, they came across more one dimensional than well rounded.
It’s worth trying to get through it because the underpinning mystery is a sound one.
3.5 stars
#GoodGirlsLie #NetGalley

The Goode School is a prestigious boarding school for the daughters of the elite.
Ancient traditions, honour codes and secret societies are part of every day life for 200 privileged and intelligent young girls who will go on the Ivy League schools and powerful positions in business and society.

A new term starts and a new student arrives from England. But what secrets is Ash Carlisle hiding and when one of the student commits supposedly commits suicide the lies and secrets start to unravel.

This is a really interesting, highly readable thriller. Interesting, sometimes vile characters and complex relationships. There's something both romantic and horrific about the boarding school life that makes it fascinating. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Thank you Netgalley for the advanced copy in return for an honest review.

I’m loving this book! I can’t put it down. I just got to about 66% off the book and I’m floored! What a twist! Wow! I won’t be sleeping tonight. 😳 Just finished the book. There are so many twists in this story. It’s awesome! I highly recommend it.

The Goode School — a private boarding school for the elite, rich and beautiful. A perfect place for girls to become Goode women, capable, confident and successful. Until an alluring, timid Brit joins the sophomore class. A twisty-turny story of loss, acceptance, revenge and deception with a slightly expected ending that turns sharply unexpected.

Thanks to Net Galley for the advanced reader copy! A perfect book to read on the plane, a beach or just your couch!

I have never read a book by J.T. Ellison before and I always love to find new authors to enjoy. Good Girls Lie was exciting from the get go. It reminded me of wild child in the beginning but then the story took so many twists and turns that it truly was its own unique story.

I liked the characters a lot, I thought Ash was really interesting and the way that the story was written allowed us to really get to know her quite well.
The Girls at Goode were not just your typical rich girls (well some of them were) but they had a lot of personality too.
I enjoyed reading from the POV of the headmistress, I think it gave the book a lot of depth and kept the story from being a bit long and boring.

I don't normally read mystery books because they can't alway keep my attention long enough for me to finish a whole book but I didn't have that problem with Good Girls Lie. There was enough going on in the school that we didn't spend a ton of time dragging out descriptions or unnecessary conversations. I liked that the relationship/ friendship between Becca and Ash wasn't always easy and pleasant because that's real. Teenage relationships are often portrayed as easy but we all know that isn't true.

I love that Ellison didn't drag the story out into a series because I don't think it needed it, I think the story was finished nicely (Well not nicely) with no loose ends which isn't always the case.

I really enjoyed this book. I gave Good Girls Lie a 4* on GoodReads

Thanks for Reading

Em x
emmacoxy88@gmail.com

Since I have read other J. T. Ellison books I was expecting this to be a five star one again. So I was happy when I received an ARC from #Netgalley.

Apparently Ellison changed her writing a bit...she explains in the end why she wrote this book. While it was interesting I just couldn't get into it....but surprisingly I did manage to finish it. The book centers on an all girls schools for exceptional girls named the Goode School, making way for them to go on to bigger things. But little does the head dean, Westhaven, know that her girls are not all good.

When girls start dying and it looks like murder...things are not what they seem. It is only then we find the girls have secrets and they do lie. A bit slow going it is a good story.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.This book started out a really good thriller, but I will say it did drag for me in some parts. Ash arrives at Goode Academy determined to get to college and a fresh start. She is hoping the students won't find out her parents are dead. The story begins to unravel as to who really is Ash. Overall enjoyable.

Malory Towers it ain’t ! Dark as dark can be , boarding school with so many personalities almost all of whom have secrets and desires. I really loved this book, I was quite sad when it endanger what an ending!

I am not prepared to give spoilers however please don’t think , as I did at the beginning, that this is simple story. It’s complex and the twists keep on coming.

Perfect summer reading

Really enjoyed this book. It as easy to read and characters were well developed. Enough of a story libe to keep the reader e engaged.. Terrific ending..

This book was pretty dark and twisted. It was kind of scary to see what could go through a young girl’s mind and what damage she could do. I was immediately drawn into the allure of the Goode school and loved the setting and characters. There were quite a few twists to figure out, which kept me guessing. I do feel like the second half of the book was a bit drawn out but otherwise, a great book. Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an ARC. All opinions are my own.

Oooh this was good if a little too long, it felt like it could work as a trilogy.

Ash Carlisle arrives at a prestigious boarding school in American, recently orphaned death seems to follow her around.

I was always a fan of boarding school stories as a child with secret societies, but this was the adult version. I had the school from the film Cruel Intentions in my head as I read the book.

This is the perfect beach read when you can get yourself on a sun lounger with a cocktail and just read.

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to review this book, this is my honest opinion

Not my favorite by this author but still good.

This story doesn’t get going for a bit too long. Once it does it was easy enough to sink into. Quite a few reviewers said that the dialogue and conversations were unnatural for teens and I think they were a bit maybe. Though sometimes the elite and highly educated do come off sounding older than their years... The lack of social media, however, in any story set in this day and age is a bit foolish. I understand why this choice was made for the story but it would have been better to set the story back in time, made more sense realistically. The teens of today are never unplugged (at least the ones I know). And the helicopter parents not being able to access their children 24/7? That would not fly in this day and age!!

Those nitpicks aside the characters are interesting and the writing is good. There are some nice surprises and twists. The ending was fun, wasn’t expecting that!! I do like this author and I did find this story entertaining, just wasn’t my favorite of hers. Look forward to her next one!

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and Harlequin Mira (US and Canada) for a copy in exchange for a review.

This book was intense. There were tons of angles, plot twists, and character developments. It read more like a TV series than a simple novel. There was a whole “season” jammed into this book!

One of my favorite books of this year.

A story of family, friendships and of course lies.

If you read a book this year make it this one. Its great and im not telling fibs.

I went into this as a YA book but realized I was mistaken. "Taken from behind", yeah that is more in the category of New Adult. Still once I realigned my brain it was a great book. Mystery, intrigue, young girls in a bordering school and SEX. Yep that was great. It took me a bit to get the different narrators of the story I think it would have been easier if I was reading a real book to go back to but I was reading an ebook and that's what I hate about an ebook, flipping back to the start is awkward. Still this is a book I would recommend, Yep I would also ask my library to get this book. A total f%*#fest right down to the very last page. My only negative comment is the cover. With that title and that cover it reminds me of the The Clique books.. do you really want to go there? Maybe you do. Also just go ahead and use the word "GOODE" don't be coy