Behind Every Lie by Christina McDonald is a subtle family drama, set on two continents with multiple storylines. It all starts with Eva Hanson waking up in the hospital after being hit by lightning. But the real blow comes when she discovers her mother Kat died that night. Kat was murdered, and Eva was at the crime scene and is now the main suspect. Eva has no recollection of ever being in Kat’s house that night. Her relationship with her mother was a bit shaky. But does that mean she is a killer? Instead of doubting herself, Eva takes the reins and heads off to England to uncover the truth about her British mother’s life. The parts set in London where pleasure to read, I loved to watch the many recognizable spots pass by, but Christina McDonald keeps stressing how lost Eva feels. Literally. Now London is a straightforward city to navigate, but Eva has trouble finding her way around the metro/tube. That’s hard to do, but I’d take as more of a reflection on Eva’s state of mind. Lost, without roots and uncovering the truth of her mother’s life. Behind Every Lie is an original, well written, intricate mystery. Some parts are expected, others well concealed. For a thriller starting with a lightning strike it lacked a bit of a spark. Although I felt for the women in this book, they are entirely joyless and gloomy. But that was the only con for me.

If you enjoyed The Night Olivia Fell, you will definitely like this book. Christina McDonald’s writing style of alternating between the two characters perspectives draws the reader into the story.

My goodness, Christina McDonald. Your novels are addictive! I remember binge reading The Night Olivia Fell last year and I did the exact same thing with Behind Every Lie! My finger was tap, tap, tapping on my kindle screen like you wouldn’t believe. I just couldn’t flip those digital pages fast enough!
Can you imagine waking up in the hospital, not remembering anything from the night before and then finding out you were struck by lightning? Oh wait, there’s more! Your mother has been murdered and you’re a suspect! Not the best news to wake up to, that’s for sure! Unfortunately, this is the case for Eva, the main character and you won’t believe how things unfold. Be prepared to whiz right through this page-turner and stay up long past your bedtime.

Thank you Netgalley, Christina McDonald, and Gallery books for this free advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve been super excited to read this one after loving The Night Olivia Fell and McDonald didn’t disappoint.

Eva wakes in the hospital with no memory and finds out she was struck by lightning, her mother is dead, and she’s a suspect. Because of her memory loss she’s an unreliable narrator. We follow her as she tries to piece together what happened to her mother.

I really enjoyed the alternating perspectives of Eva and her mother Kat. I had suspicions of what was going on, but I didn’t put together all of the pieces. It was a great, fast paced read.

Behind Every Lie by Christina McDonald is an exciting thriller about Eva, a young, newly engaged woman. The same night she gets struck by lightning, her mother gets mysteriously murdered. Eva keeps getting flashbacks to the scene of her mother's death. The question surfaces... Who killed her? With Eva's memory loss, she becomes the prime suspect in her mother's murder. But did she really do it? Hints about Eva's mysteriously dark past made me question her innocence, but her relatable character made me want to root for her at the same time. The story is told in alternating perspectives from present day Eva to Kat, her mother, twenty five years earlier. In reading Kat's story, I couldn't help but feel sorry for her. She didn't marry Eva's father, Seb, for love and often endures his brutal abuse. It makes sense why she is so tough in the present day chapters. Both story lines have plenty of mystery and suspense, which makes it a bit infuriating to keep jumping back and forth. I just wanted to know what happens! I found myself reading way more than I intended in one sitting. 😂 The end of the book is well worth the read with shocking twists and turns I didn't see coming. I highly recommend this one.

⚡️ 𝗕𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗟𝗶𝗲⚡️
-
Thanks to @netgalley and @gallerybooks for an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review. Book releases: Feb. 4, 2020⠀
-⠀
“𝐼 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑖𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑒𝑙𝑠𝑒 𝑘𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑦 𝑚𝑜𝑚, 𝑜𝑟 𝑖𝑓 𝐼 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑖𝑡.”
-⠀
Synopsis 📖⠀
Eva Hansen Wales in the hospital after being struck by lightning and discovers her mother, Kat, has been murdered. Eva was found unconscious down the street. She can’t remember what happened but the policy are highly suspicious of her. As Eva tries to remember what happened, Eva realizes that someone very close to her doesn’t want her to know the truth.
-⠀
Review✨⠀
This book was perhaps one of the best thrillers I’ve read in a while. The plot was so deep, twisted, and shocking that I never would’ve guessed the ending. Eventually I would have, but what happened in the end was NOT what I was expecting. This book had a mother/daughter dynamic that was very deep. I loved the past and present point of views that were a part of the story, as it helped develop the characters and my emotional attachment to them.
-
This book was just one twist after another and the storyline was perfectly paced. I didn’t get bored and actually stayed up way past my bedtime reading. ⚠️Trigger warning: domestic abuse.

Eva Hansen awakens in the hospital after being struck by lightning. Confused and disoriented, Eva learns that her mother Kat has been murdered, and Eva was found unconscious down the street. Eva has no recollection of what happened, and the police are suspicious of her “temporary amnesia.” Throughout the course of the book, Eva tries to remember what happened and clear her name.

Told from alternating perspectives of Eva and Kat, Behind Every Lie is about finding out what happened to Kat and Eva. Christina McDonald also seamlessly uses multiple timeframes and settings to fully develop both Kat and Eva’s characters and explain their complicated mother-daughter relationship. I thought I had most of the plot figured out, but once again Christina McDonald delivered a shocking (but believable) twist. She possesses a great style of writing that keeps your attention and does not disappoint. This is a must-read!
.

"Behind every lie is a person and a reason". Fantastic book and plot. I loved the characters and the storyline. I quickly drawn into the mystery of the story. I like that the story is told in different dispensations of time and from different characters. It kept me guessing until the very end who done it, how and why! Liam was very twisted!

Behind Every Lie is a complex novel. I was immersed in the lives of Eva and Kat. I found myself constantly questioning each character’s motives. I normally don’t love reading the back and forth in time, but in this story, it really worked to unravel the details as Eva remembered them. There is a rich history fraught with danger. Behind Every Lie kept me guessing with one plot twist after the next. The character development was spot on. A thrilling read; I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend.

So Eva gets struck by lightning and loses her memory (except for flashes) and then is told her mother was murdered and she is suspected of committing the crime. Ok, good premise for a story, but it just devolves into weirdness, so much weirdness, and so very much implausibility.
I just couldn't get past how she just HAPPENED to be in possession of her passport (was she carrying it around when she decided to leave the hospital AMA and wandered around armchair sleuthing and lying to the police?) and could afford a last minute ticket to London, and was able to just hop on a flight no problem. None of that was even addressed and the logic of situations like that (that wasn't the only one, but it was one of the most glaring) just grated on me to the point where I could barely keep reading.
And the ultimate conclusion was just another major eye-roller that I absolutely couldn't believe. Unfortunately I think I will have to give this author a pass in the future because her books just don't do it for me.

Maybe 1/2 a star more? Maybe my review is not fair seeing I read this after reading and loving so many other exceptional thrillers?? But...yeah... not a fan. It wasn't the writing exactly. I didn't like Eva (one of the main characters) and like in horror movies, is it wrong i kind of thought she was TSTL? This novel suffered from too many "coincidences" in addition to being predictable (but I can almost forgive that). It also suffered from many dark themes. I will say I did like the story telling from Kat's POV. I also really enjoyed the first book by this author - so I dunno maybe I'll come back to this another time.

This stunning, jaw-opening book will keep you guessing all the way through. With Eva’s memory loss, and her remembering bits and pieces, leaves you wondering what really happened that night her mother was murdered. You will be so engrossed with the many lives intertwined, you will not want to put this book down. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating from me! Thank you to Gallery Books, Christina McDonald, and Netgalley for this fabulous book in exchange for an honest review!

This one is a solid 3.5 stars for me. I enjoyed the plot twists, but found it hard to navigate at times. Some portions in the beginning were a little bogged down and scattered at the same time making it hard to follow.
I love a solid POV novel, so I am used this style of narration, but something in it wasn't clicking for me in this one.
Good character development with strong stories. Thankful for the ARC!

Behind Every Lie – Christine McDonald

I received this book as an Advance Reader Copy from Netgalley, in exchange for an objective review.
Eva Hansen is a young woman living in Seattle, WA with her fiancé Liam, a property developer. While her mother lives nearby, they seem to have a formal, sometimes strained relationship for reasons that are initially unclear to the reader. The book opens with an apparent murder – Eve, presumably covered in blood, flees the scene and is struck by lightning, later waking in the hospital with no clear memory of the incident – only vague images and sensations that waft through her subconscious, leading her and you, the reader, believing she may be responsible for her mother, Kat’s, death. The police too, find Eva to be their main suspect. But what really happened?

The story then shifts into the days/years prefacing the event, telling the tale from both Eva’s & Kat’s perspective. You see what appears to be a loving relationship between Eva and fiancé Liam, and you learn of some strife in the past lives of both Kat and Eva’s aunt Lily in their younger years, including Kat’s escape from a dangerous ex-husband. As the story progresses and more is revealed, even as Eva questions her sanity, with vague memories resurfacing in her head. The story picks up speed in a hurry rushing to a wild conclusion, even as you struggle to figure out how all of the pieces are going to fall…

Told in past and present glimpses into the lives of three women, their story gradually comes to light and just when you think you understand the events of that long ago night….another curveball or three are tossed in that have you frantically turning the pages to get to the very last page. Impossible to put down until the last page is turned!!

A good suspenseful story. I was totally surprised by the ending although I found the way she ignored the advice of her brother and the police a little unbelievable. Still would recommend this to others to read.

Behind Every Lie by Christina McDonald is about Eva Hansen who wakes in the hospital after being hit by lightning. She finds her mother has been murdered and she is the suspect. Determined to find answers she unlocks some awful memories and can be the next victim. This book was told from two different perspectives, that of Eva in modern day and that of her mother in the past. I found that a bit distracting. Eva was living a lie and was shocked when she found the truth. Suspenseful, full of a few twists.

Behind Every Lie is the first book I have read by Christina McDonald. I was not sure about it until the last half of the book. By then, I was completely hooked. There was no way I would have predicted the ending. I am giving this book four stars.

From my blog: Always With a Book:

This is the first book I've read by Christina McDonald and it definitely grabbed me from the go. I read it as a buddy read with the #notyomamasbookclub and it is a great book to read for a book club.

I loved the way this story is told, alternating between the present and the past and eventually weaving the stories together. It is an emotionally charged story about the lengths a mother will go to protect to protect their child and I was on the edge of my seat trying to figure out just what was going on. I do have to say there were some parts that I felt were a little bit contrived, but all in all, it was a thrilling book that really gets your heart pumping.

I love when an author plays around with memory and that is definitely what happens here. Eva has been struck with lightning and wakes up to find that she has no memory of the incident and on top of that, her mother has been murdered that same night. But she also has a trauma from back in college when she was attacked and that emotional trauma has been following her ever since.

This book had so many moving parts. It explores the complicated nature of mother-daughter relationships quite well, as well as the danger of keeping secrets. I really found myself hooked and even though I had an inkling of where things were headed and who was involved, I still couldn't figure out the why and how. But it definitely had me frantically flipping those pages to get the answers, for sure.

I enjoyed this book and am looking forward to our final discussion on the last half of this book. I think there will be some interesting chats going. And I definitely will be picking up Christina McDonald's debut novel, The Night Olivia Fell, very soon...I really like her writing and will certainly be keeping an eye out for what she writes next!

‏I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review.

After reading Christina McDonald's The Night Olivia Fell, I was eager to read her latest, Behind Every Lie.

Behind Every Lie has an interesting premise - how can you prove you did not do something if you cannot remember it. Eva Hansen wakes up in a hospital after being struck by lightning. She discovers her mother was murdered and Eva was found just down the street from the murder. She cannot remember what happened but the police doubt her and her convenient memory loss. What follows is a two continent race to solve the mystery before the police arrest her. Did Eva kill her mother? If not, who did?

Both of Christina McDonald's books grabbed me right at the beginning and kept me there throughout the whole story. I was worried because I rarely believe a book is 5 stars. It has to blow me away. I gave The Night Olivia Fell 5 stars. I was hoping Christina McDonald was not a "one and done" author. Behind Every Lie proves she is not. While I did not give Behind Every Lie 5 stars, it did earn a well-deserved 4 and ensured Christina McDonald is an author I will continue to read.

This 200-word review was published on Philomathinphila.com on 2/27/20.

A little predictable, but overall a decent thriller. I figured out who the killer was pretty easily, and that Liam wasn't who he said he was. I enjoyed the quick pace, and the dual timelines between Eva and Kat to see what happened. That writing style always gives me a suspenseful feel and keeps me turning the pages to see what happened and to put the pieces together. I would rate it a 3.5, rounded to 4.

I don't have my review up in Instagram or goodreads just yet, but I will soon, @thewineingreader and www.goodreads.com/thewineingreader