Cover Image: Good Little Liars

Good Little Liars

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Member Reviews

This ARC was courtesy of netgalley - all thoughts and opinions are mine and unbiased
II also post to Amazon, Goodread, Kobo & B&N

I've not read any of this author's work before but this was a fantastic start for me and I will certainly be looking out for more

This is well written with great character development. I loved the use of language and found the story engrossing - the subject we can all understand and empathise with

A great read, highly recommended

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Good Little Liars is an interesting story that reminded me of Liane Moriarty and Lisa Jewell. The story was a little slow for me at first, but really picked up steam about a third of the way through and I was very curious to see how it would end!

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Sarah Clutton is an Australian author and so this book is set in Tasmania and I enjoyed that, knowing little about the area the concise descriptions were a good ‘picture painter’
The story is based around a School Reunion and some of those going to the reunion and a shared secret that has long been buried BUT is suddenly back in the open when Emma sends a reply to the reunion email to a friend ( mentioning the secret ) but presses ‘reply to all’ by mistake, I felt her anxiety and despair once she knew she had done this and a shiver of ‘thank goodness that wasn’t me’
The actual book then doesn’t really feature the reunion until the last few pages but focuses on some of the main players who are going and also the secret that binds them together, a book of many sides that on one hand has a hilariously described chapter when Emma finds her hubby cheating on her, its poignantly funny right through to a fairly graphically described rape, all very different angles to the story and very different descriptive writing styles into one book
The book and story are constantly intriguing and the characters likeable in their own way although got to say there is much adrenaline
spikes, flushing and descriptions of heart thumping!
A thriller that holds up well
8/10
4 Stars

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I was really looking forward to reading Good Little Liars by Sarah Clutton. I really thought that I would enjoy it more than I did. I found it to be a bit slow and with a lot of characters to keep track of. Added to that was that none of them were very likeable and I struggled with reading it. It started off really well with one character accidentally replying all on an email but after that I couldn't stay interested.

Thanks for o Bookouture and NetGalley for my advanced copy of this book to read. All opinions are my own and are in no way biased

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I just had a hard time getting into the book. It fell flat for me. I didn’t want to DNF the book, so I pushed through. I wish I could give it a higher review.

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This book looked very promising from the description but was a no go for me. I have been a thriller mood lately and this book did not give me the thriller feel. I struggled with connecting with the story and I felt it took a very long time for the mystery to even develop which I was looking for something that started right away.

Huge Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for this opportunity!

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A well woven tale of young girls, parents, teachers and hidden truths at an elite school in a close knit village. The story is character driven with beautifully flawed, believable characters. I was was drawn in from the first page. Well paced and thought provoking. How far would you go to protect your family.... or yourself?

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3.75 stars.

This is a hard book for me to review since it almost felt like 2 different genres and 2 different stories. The first half had a taste of what the mystery/suspense was going to be by a blip in an email, but then it went on to build 3 different characters...Emma, Harriet, and Marlee (with a side of Clementine, although nothing is told in her POV). We got three POVs about these characters lives and how they may have loosely tied together. But it was just that. Loose. The second half was more "I can't turn the pages fast enough" exciting. It was finally taking the very loose ends of a simple "family drama" and built it into a murder mystery where these three characters had a role in that suspense that happened 25 years ago (perfect timing for their High School reunion).

The build up to get to the “meat” of the story took a wee too long, in my opinion, but it was still well written. You really got to know the three main characters and how Clementine fit in to each of their lives too. Really, I thought Clementine shined. She stole the show. She was different and full of life and full on. She told things how they were and didn't sweat the small stuff. I enjoyed her outlook on life. The three main characters that we hear from are women that have lived very different lives from when they were teens. We get to know them quite a bit in the first half and then it tapers off in the second half so we understand the threads all binding them together.

Although it wasn't all seamlessly sewn together, the story still held it's own and made you want to invest in the time to figure out the characters and what did happen 25 years ago. But at the same time, I wanted to hear about these characters now and what they were up to. That's why it almost could've been two books in two different genres. That's not a huge negative since the story was still well put together, but it was more of a hindrance for me.

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It's been a long time since I've read a story. Sounds strange given how many books I read. But, I read a lot of psychological thrillers, mysteries, historical fiction. Stuff that keeps you up, stuff that keeps you guessing, page turners. This book was none of those things. It was just a nice story about friends and lives intertwined with a bit of a mystery thrown in. It was a nice change of pace. I have heard that Sarah Clutton has another book out in 2020. I'm definitely curious....

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

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Good Little Liars is about three women (Emma, Marlree and Harriet) who have their twenty-five years high school reunion coming up. Emma had made a mistake and reply-all to the whole class. The email was regarding the death of one their classmate Tessa, which open a pandora box.
All the three of the women were going through difficult situation in their life. I like the main characters. Normally don’t mind when stories of the characters alternate between the past and present, but this time I found a little difficult to understand all of the relationships. Overall it was a good read. I wouldn’t really call this book mystery or thriller book but more Drama.
Thank Bookouture and NetGalley for given the opportunity to read this book and give an honest opinion.

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I absolutely loved Good Little Liars!

This is not a thriller in the vein of The Silent Patient, My Lovely Wife etc. but instead is a strongly developed mystery along the lines of Ruth Ware's The Lying Game and Donna Tartt's The Secret History. I adore school mysteries and this one delivers with strong character development, twisty inter-generational connections between characters and a satisfying conclusion to a 25 year old mystery.

I loved that the chapters were told from the POVs of multiple characters, teasing out pieces of the mystery and their relationships throughout the book.

I can't wait to read more from Sarah Clutton!

Thank you to #netGalley and Bookouture for this advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest review.

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Receives a copy of this book through NetGalley to give an honest opinion about the book.
A real page Turner,loved all the character's and how they were all interconnected with each other.
The book was divided up by each of the main characters and got the story from their point of view,each had a secret to keep and they did,a real page Turner.

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The past and the present are about to collide....

The book is centered around four girls in the lead up to their 25th high school reunion of the prestigious Denham House High Schools for girls.

The chapters switch between the present and the past, the past being just before the completion of their final year where a tragic accident leads to the death of one of their peer group (Tessa).

A tale of family drama friendship, betrayal, secrets and regrets.

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Good Little Liars by Sarah Clutton is a solid read about female loyalties and friendships, and the manner in which they evolve over time. The book's promise of providing a thriller element, however, fails to deliver.

This is the story of three female school friends who are reunited for a twenty-fifth reunion. Yet while it should be a joyous time to catch up and reminisce, a startling discovery leads each of the women to dredge up secrets from their shared past, secrets that have remained buried as the years have gone by. The mystery of what happened to mutual acquaintance Tessa so long ago while the girls were attending the Denham House Girls School seems to be almost glossed over and minimalized in what is built up as the crux of the entire story. The author instead seems to focus on the present circumstances of Emma, Marlee, and Clementine, and it is here where the real heart of the story lies.

Told from the alternating perspectives of each of the three women, and shifting the timeline between past and present, the novel will keep you engaged, certainly, but may well disappoint with an anticlimactic conclusion.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC.

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I requested this book because it looked like it was going to be a fast-paced, thrilling read about a long ago murder. However, that's not what this is. This book is more of a contemporary drama with a slight mystery element but it is definitely not a thriller. I don't think it's a bad book but it's just not what I was expecting or wanting.

This book follows three different POV's. We have Emma who is struggling with life after finding herself living in an old staff cottage at her old school after the implosion of her marriage. Marlee, Emma's best friend who is unaware what to do about her feelings for her new boss and Harriet who finds herself lost when her husband tells her he wants a divorce and her daughter gets fired from her new position.

This book is set in the lead up to a twenty-five year reunion for Emma and Marlee's school graduation. This means that it's also been twenty-five years since the death of one of their friends, Tessa, who died in what was declared an accident but Emma believes there may have been foul play included. She becomes even more sure of this when she discovers a naked photo of Tessa hidden away in her new cottage.

This one took me a lot of time to get into as I struggled with who was who and how these people all connected to one another. It was also just a slow read and it took a long time for the mystery element to even come up which didn't work for me considering that's what I was reading for.

For those interested in reading a family drama I think this book could be a great one - it is a well-written novel with developed characters which is great considering this is a debut. However, I think those who pick this up wanting the 'twisty novel' that the blurb promises may find themselves rather disappointed.

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This book is based on characters that are forced to keep a secret and the lies we tell to protect ourselves and each other. But keeping those secrets and holding onto the lies will destroy you.

I found that this book kept my attention most of the way through. It had me wanting to keep reading to find out what was happening and who the murderer was. It was an easy read that was well written and had great characters. I like the fact that the story goes deep into the lives, past and present, of everyone who was involved with the murder. The only character I didn’t like was Phillip, Emma’s husband. What an idiot!

If you like Pretty Little Liars and Big Little Lies you will like Good Little Liars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture, and Sarah Clutton for this digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

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Where to begin? The Denham School for girls class of ‘93 reunion is fast approaching and while the girls prepare for the event a few of them can’t forget the fateful day when one of their classmates died in a terrible accident on school grounds. For one woman, Emma, she’s always felt guilty that she didn’t speak up about what she thinks she saw that day. The reunion is a reminder to her that perhaps she should have gone to the police. But now a grown up and back working at the school she’s not sure if she should because what she saw that day was the deceased, Tessa and favourite teacher, now headmaster arguing. She knows someone else was there but can’t say with any certainty who it was. All the cast and major players seem to be connected in some way, and this overlap of their version of the truth at times, confused the flow of the plot. Necessary to the story yes, but felt disjointed at times.
Still this was overall, an enjoyable read with all the right ingredients for a satisfying mystery.

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Thank you to NetGalley, Sarah Clutton and Bookouture for this ARC.

I enjoyed this book, and how the story is told from different point of views. Emma's character was a bit annoying, but I really like Harriet and Marlee. I definitely did not see the twist at the end, which was a good surprise.

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Too many characters for me to keep track of. I got confused and gave up. The blurb sounded good but sadly this one's not for me

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Good Little Liars is a remarkable story about four woman getting together at their 25th high school reunion. Like all reunion's your memories take you back to the past. In this case the past is better left in the past. A mind blowing roller coaster ride. This is my first book by Sarah Clutton and I will definitely read more.

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