Cover Image: Half-Truths

Half-Truths

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Member Reviews

Interesting premise, but not the best execution. Overall not a fan of this book. Had problems with some of believability/plot.

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I absolutely loved this book.. It had a little bit of everything, which is just what I need. I really enjoyed that it was a bit more suspenseful than some of her other works. She can tell a killer story.

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Rating: 3.5

Not sure what I think about this yet. I love the premise but the suspense aspect needed a little more.

I did enjoy the twist in the end.

I also wanted a longer epilogue.

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It's always chilling to read a book and know that it could really happen. This one got me covered in goosebumps. An excellent read!

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I am not going to lie, I was on the struggle bus with this book. I had such high hopes and it came highly recommended , I just could not connect with Amelia. If you are on a mission to find out what caused your brothers car wreck that leaves him not wanting to talk and a mission to find a missing girl that COULD hold the answers. Why are you sitting and talking/thinking about your life of privilege and what you wear?
As for Logan, he seemed to be the unbelievable type of guy. Pretty much a whore among men, but suddenly he falls for Amelia? Just seemed a bit too convenient for me. The whole "walking around in cloaks" and leaving notes on or under her door, I just can't imagine where this would be normal. And, did Amelia ever go to a single class ?
The mystery was good and kept me going and wanting to know more drove me to finish this book.
I am at an age where I feel like I have to stop reading the college romance thing. It is not the authors fault that I am aging out of that trope.

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College story so it's a bit more of a "grown" story than teen which is nice, there's plenty of new adult angst and secret feelings that make you stubborn and green with jealousy .

Amelia transfers to this new college for her senior year after a breakup with her boyfriend, Not only is she getting away from the situation, but she is looking for answers and wants to investigate what happened to her older brother and a girl from high school who seems to have vanished from this very same college. There are rumors there are secret societies on campus, could they have something to do with the disappearance and accident?? Then there is logan! The guy on campus who every girl wants, except her.. she is not into throwing herself into anyone.

Book is a roller coaster, a good one.. hang on tight and enjoy the twist, turns and sassines.

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Claire Contreras has an amazing style. I loved the suspense and how it grabbed my attention for the prologue! This book is full of emotions and packed with heat!!

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Is this meant to be a teen book? I'm not sure, but it felt a bit juvenile. Fantastic cover, nice setting and plot, but I didn't love as much as I expected to.

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I absolutely adore Claire Contreras! This book shocked me and had me at the edge of my seat! Twists and turns, amazing writing and great plot! I don't want to give away the plot, but if you want something unique, then this is for you. I loved it!

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I am a huge fan of Claire Contreras and was so excited for this book. After reading the blurb I knew I needed to get my hands on it. This book had it all. I love a romance with a slow burn.

I loved the suspense and wasn’t sure how things were going to turn out. I can’t wait for more in this series.

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Get ready to read well into the night with this page Turner! Half Truths is fast-paced and eerie ... a perfect fall read! Full of secret societies, and with mysteries around every corner, this story had me on the edge of my seat and my heart pumping. I absolutely loved it.

And Contreras has a magical way with words. She is one of my favorite writers, even though Ijust found her work recently. There is something about her dialogue and timing that just flows in such a way that it draws me in; it's captivating.

You'll fall in love with Amelia, Logan, and the whole Half Truths crew. You've been summoned! :)

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Such a brilliant story, I was hooked from the beginning till the end!I was intrigued when I read the synopsis and I just couldn't wait to finally read it!I loved the storyline it was atmospheric and I find it brilliant!
The suspense and the mystery was great!The romance interesting with slow burn, do I need to say more?? This is refreshing and I'm sure everyone is going to love it!

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Unfortunately, I had a really hard time getting into this book and had to stop reading. If I am able to read later,I will update my review accordingly.

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I wish I hadn't read this book immediately after finishing Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo. There are too many similarities in plot (secret clubs/societies, rich kids, mystery/suspense, murder, fancy private school) except Claire Contreras doesn't have the mastery of prose the way that Bardugo does. If I hadn't just read Ninth House, I would've probably liked this one way better. With that said, Half Truths is about Amelia, a college student who starts at a new school to please her father but gets pulled into the machinations of secret societies, a recent missing girl, and the lies that are wrapped around everything she experiences. Parts of it were really awesome: the creepiness of the red and black clocks, the secrecy, never trusting anyone (not Lincoln, Logan, Hailey, her parents, ANYONE). But because of that, I wasn't at all surprised by the ending and the twist, although I didn't see it coming, wasn't life-altering because everyone was untrustworthy. I would have preferred a bait and switch. Lastly, I appreciated CC's inclusion of folks from other racial backgrounds but felt that it relied a bit too much on stereotyping (black ex-boyfriend plays college, Logan is apparently biracial but it doesn't impact his life at all, Mae is Mexican and her dad runs a shady business). All of it felt lazy unfortunately. I don't know if I will continue: if the next book is about Nora, Adam, Nolan or Will then the chances are high.

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I received Half Truths as an ARC in exchange for a review.

Mae, is a college senior, who returned home to attend her family’s alums mater. Mae is desperate to solve the mystery of a coed who disappeared without a trace, and to unravel secrets in her brother’s past.

This book gripped me from the prologue and the suspense held me until the last page of the epilogue. I tore through this book in a day because I couldn’t put it down. Book 1 left me wanting more from these characters and this world that Claire Contreras created. I can’t wait to see what is waiting in Book 2.

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This was my first book by Claire Contreras, I gave it 3 stars, the secret societies thing looks like isn't my thing , this book reminded me of a show on Netflix "the order" Which I also didn’t like, The thing between Mae and Logan has zero chemistry , I had to roll my eyes every time they talk to each other, the writing style was very good , I would like to read more books by this author, but Would I read the next book in this series ? No.

الكتاب اكد ليا بالفعل كرهي لكل القصص المتعلقة بالمجتمعات السرية والاخوية والاجواء هدي، حتي في المسلسلات معاش تجذبني التيمة هدي ، الكتابة كويسة جدا وممكن نقرا كتب تانية للكاتبة .. نرشح الكتاب لمحبي التشويق وقصص المجتمعات السرية.

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I am all kinds of obsessed with this book. It has such an element of mystery that keeps you turning the pages until you get to the bottom of everything. I did suspect some of the things that would happen but 100% not in the way that they did happen so I was very pleasantly surprised. I love when a story can keep me on my toes.

I loved Amelia and Logan. I loved their romance. I loved watching Amelia unfold the mystery surrounding the secret societies and the missing people and I loved watching Logan stand by her.

I do feel like the missing people element is still a bit unsolved so I’m definitely looking forward to what Claire writes next in this world!

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When I was reading this, I felt like I was missing a vital piece of information. The secret societies were interesting but confusing. It took a while to get into it, but when everything started happening in the second half of the book, I didn't want to stop reading. This would be a great holiday read.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Reading the summary sounded so good but this was just not it.

I was expecting a good suspense romance because when you read the summary of the book, you'd think it would be dark. That the main character/heroine is some badass or headstrong girl who's out there to seek justice. That this could also be a thrilling story despite that it's romance. That there would be surprising twists and turns, and even shocking revelations. Well, not really.

These happened:

• I hardly felt the suspense.
• The suspect/culprit was so easy to identify (and too early to be mentioned).
• The heroine, Amelia, was too slow. And made the poor choices and picked the wrong people to be with.
• And I had to roll my eyes every time someone brings up how beautiful she is like lol okay we get it. It's nice to know she's pretty but does it have to be (almost) every character who meets her say that...
• Also the romance between her and Logan, the hero, has zero chemistry.
• They kept arguing who dislikes who (which was pretty annoying by the way) to her bringing up his groupies every chance she could get to their unfounded jealousy (like since when did you two started dating anyway?) to them declaring their love for each other like HUH??
• Wish there were more Logan POV chapters though because he seems to be the hero here but there's still so much layer to his character that wasn't tackled.
• The secret societies were interesting at first but then they just sounded ridiculous in the end.
I could actually go on but let me not.

But one thing that really frustrated me was how the Amelia just ignored the UNKNOWN text messages she's received. I AM SO TIRED OF THIS TROPE. Like yeah, she told someone about it but that wasn't enough? And they just brushed it off later on?? You're trying to look for clues/answers to this missing person's case. You're INVOLVED and you've been vocal about your curiosity to the people (sometimes even frankly which I gotta say was kinda dumb because you never know if they're trustworthy or not). PEOPLE WOULD KNOW YOU. Or at least be familiar of you and your interest in this case. You just don't brush off messages from unknown numbers especially if they link to the case in hand and are weird and cryptic. THIS TROPE NEEDS TO END. I've watched a lot of true-crime and missing persons documentaries and when I say "a lot", I don't mean that lightly. So this solving thing Amelia was doing was just... crap.

There's also still so many questions I wanna ask. Questions I need answers to because the focus on this book was really big on these secret societies, one in particular. The initiation tests felt like it dragged on and were completely unnecessary. Like I just want to know more about this missing person case. I want some leads. Some clues. Some clear backstory of the person and the events. I mean yes, there were but it really got overshadowed by this society thing and the no-chemistry romance.

The thing they got right though was when the characters filed for a missing person, the officer in-charge was like "maybe she blahblahblah" which is a realistic but frustrating thing. It's really sad when the authorities create some alternative scenarios so they could avoid this and make you wait before you could file for a report. Messed up system, I swear.

Lastly, this will be a bit spoilery but as a Fine Arts student, can someone tell me how they easily stole a painting that costs millions so easily by hiding it under their shirt? This painting is estimated 106x78 inches in size. I get that in the scene, there was no frame but canvas cloth isn't light? It's not even thin even if you roll it up. Heck, the size alone is big. I carry a 12x18-inched sketchpad and it's already a hassle for me every Friday class. The artist in me probably just jumped out at this scene because.. it's just impossible and ridiculous.

Anyway. I'm ending this review with me feeling disappointed but still giving two stars because there were parts my interest was piqued. Sadly, it wasn't enough. This book had its potential. The execution was just lacking.

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Although the novel kept my attention, it turned out to be a run of the mill romance with a little mystery sprinkled on the side. There were many cheesy and predictable moments, as well as a horribly misrepresentation of feminist politics. I mean, it was extremely problematic that you had a hockey player explain to a class of women's studies students that female athletes should not be paid equally if they do not bring in the same money as male players. At which point, the narrative seemed to be okay with that answer.

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