I found this book a bit difficult to read. It was hard to follow and it was hard to relate to the characters.

What starts as a small white lie to reassure her friend that she likes her husband soon grows into another lie...and another. The story mounts as we learn about each lie. Jane, the liar & psychopath, narrates, making for a creepy & chilling story. The story did drag at times and leave the reader impatient, however overall I recommend this read from Elizabeth Kay!

I never got the chance to read this one before it was archived, but the idea behind it is so promising! I'm truly grateful for the publisher giving me a chance to read it, and will be looking for a physical copy in my local bookstore.

A good story. I enjoyed the change in the way a thriller is done. I’ve never experienced one told as if in story to someone else. Really great premise.
I didn’t care for Jane. I felt like she was overly attached to her friend Marnie, and I got the Wiggins from it. Jane is our narrator, but we don’t know who she’s talking to. I likely would have liked the story more if I connected better with Jane. In her defence though, I didn’t like Marnie either lol.
Good story, great flow, just didn’t jump out at me. The very ending was super creepy though, so definitely lifted the story.

DNF

It has been a while since I got this book and unfortunately I don’t really have any interest in reading the book anymore. I am also now a lot more picky with the books I request and choose to read.

Seven Lies by Elizabeth Kay was a deliciously twisted, unpredictable thriller, with an unreliable narrator that I loved to hate. One of the main plot twists is revealed right at the beginning, then we’re taken on a journey with the main protagonist that tells us how she got to that point, revealing her ‘seven lies’ as we go.

As we explore Jane’s past, the story delves into the dynamics of her relationships with her best friend Marnie, as well as her mother and younger sister. Jane isn’t a sympathetic character by any means, but her life is undeniably tragic, and this was a book I had trouble putting down.

This was a wonderful debut novel, and I will undoubtedly watch for future books from this author!

Thank you to Netgalley, Penguin Random House Canada and Elizabeth Kay for an egalley in exchange for an honest review.

3 "pissed, really pissed off at the editor(s)" stars !!

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and Penguin Random House Canada for an e-copy in exchange for my honest review. This book was released in June 2020.

This should have and could have and might have been THE DOMESTIC THRILLER LITERARY EVENT of the year.
Truly, madly, deeply !

Instead it was left as an adequate but very sloppy chick-lit psychological thriller.


Let's start off with the great and I mean great :

1. the psychological congruence and believability of Jane Black was absolutely fucking brilliant. Most anybody can write about terrible people but what most of these psychological thriller authors write is not steeped in any type of complexity never mind believability.

Ms. Kay not only paints a brilliant portrait of an insecure female narcissist (with a lower case -n) but couches her in a backstory where her thoughts and actions and behaviors make absolute fucking sense.

Ms. Kay does even more though she creates a misguided villainess that you have empathy for. Underneath most every narcissist is a lost insecure child that due to circumstances has not been able to emotionally mature and be able to see other's foibles and vulnerabilities and be able to not share the affection and love.

In addition, the other characters, are like looking into fun house mirror as we see them not as they truly are but how Jane Black sees and experiences them. Most of the psychological thrillers today get this wrong too but not Ms. Kay. She is bang on with this ! Bang bang bang on !

2. The plot had a complexity and a believability that propels you forward. You are not taking any guesses as you read. You have no idea where Jane Black's twisted but understandable desires will take her.


The editor now needed to do his/her job and have seen the potential for a literary masterwork the way that Leila Slimani's The Perfect Nanny is or The Gloaming by Melanie Finn.

Instead we are left with long-winded and gimmicky prose that was very much a slog to get through.
The writing veered from dull, to overly explanatory (lots of telling and not enough showing) to a fair bit on uninteresting minutiae (believe you me...I love interesting minutiae)

The book should have been pushed pushed pushed into the psychological literary masterwork that this character study deserved.

Seven Lies is a well-written debut novel about the friendship of Marnie and Jane, who grew up together and remain friends into adulthood. Jane is brooding and intense and will do anything to protect Marnie from the men in her life. She is a very loyal, albeit obsessed friend. Marnie is the trusting, friendly and naive one. Jane tells Marnie seven lies, beginning with her opinion of Marnie's husband. Jane is a master at manipulation and the story is told with her a the narrator and is divided into sections for each lie. She unveils the story to you as if you are sitting with her and having a conversation with her. You get the feeling she might be a little off centre and continue to read on to find out. This was a great debut psychological thriller. Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

RATING: 1.5 STARS
2020; Viking/Penguin Random House Canada

Darn, I should have written this review right after I finished it as I cannot even remember anything about this novel. I remember my mind wandering and just wanting to DNF this book, but attempting to finish it. Many of my book friends liked this one, so please take a look at better reviews on this one.

***I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.***

This was an interesting story. The mc was pretty terrible and I didn't really connect with any of the characters. it had some creepy tones to it which I enjoyed but overall I was hoping for more. The ending was what I expected.

This was a compelling well written story. I wish I had more sympathy for the narrator, but perhaps that was the point. It was well done and cleverly conceived. It was also quite creepy.

The main story is kind of interesting. I feel like there is a twist coming at the end that might garner this one more star, but the narrator rambles a lot. She reminisces about her late husband a lot. She reminisces about how close she used to be with Marnie a lot. She hates on Charles a lot. There's a lot of extra. And it's all just a bit mundane. Even her killing of Charles didn't feel like a particularly exciting part of the story.
I DNF'd a little over halfway through.

I really enjoyed this book. The main character was terrible but she was meant to be. You may never read another book with a group of such broken characters. It makes you like them though. There was one point toward the end of the book where I thought maybe I wasn’t going to finish as I realized Jane’s intentions towards an infant. I found the ending anti-climactic with a lot of unanswered questions but over all I enjoyed the book.

Thanks to NetGalley & the publisher for the chance to read this book.

I kept having to put the book down and go WHAT... Jane's view on her relationships and the world threw me off the story. To be fair its a good story just not my favourite genre, which is also why I had a hard time loving this book.

An interesting departure from other works I've read by the author. While the ending wasn't shocking to me, the build up to it was excellently done and it was very difficult to put this down between reading sessions.

An absolutely riveting tale of friendship with a big dose of lies.

This is the story of two forever best friends- and well you ALWAYS tell the truth to your bestie...that's the rule-or is it?

Marnie and Jane have been together for ever. Marnie wants Jane's important opinion of her wonderful husband. And so like any good friend, Jane tells a lie. Actually that's lie number one...

"Seven Lies" takes us down the rabbit hole of betrayal. Let's be best friends forever! (Says no one ever.)

Thank you to NetGalley, Viking and the author, Ms. Elizabeth Kay, for the opportunity to read this Advanced Readers Copy of "Seven Lies". The opinions expressed in this review are mine alone.

LOVED this book!!! Fantastic twists right to the end!

I like the authors creative writing style and I found it well-developed.

Seven Lies by Elizabeth Kay is a chilling story of friendship that I will not soon forget. Jane, as the narrator, talks directly to the reader, sometimes accurately, sometimes not so accurately, hence the title of the book. This leaves the reader feeling, at times, like a helpless observer. Jane and Marnie had been friends since childhood. When adulthood came, their close circle began to include love interests for both of the women. When Marnie fell in love and married, it was important to her that Jane like her new husband. Jane reassured her that she was happy for her and that she liked her spouse. That was lie number one. Six to go and you will need to read this novel to find out about the other lies. With each lie revealed, the tension intensifies and the reader cannot imagine what will come next. Highly recommended. Seven Lies was quite a ride and I look forward to reading more from Elizabeth Kay. Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada and NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received this book free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I’m not sure what I was expecting from this book but I was expecting more. This was an easy read but I didn’t find it very entertaining. Nothing really made me want to keep going besides that I usually finish a book even if I don’t like it. It just wasn’t thriller enough for me.

3.5 stars

I liked the writing style - I was intrigued throughout and found similarities to my own writing style. That was neat. Jane had a very interesting stream of consciousness - I liked her attention to detail, but I also found myself feeling confused at times because of it. The writing jumped around quite a bit between past and present/possibly future(?). The ending came quite quickly too that it seemed rather anticlimactic. I was left with many questions.

Either way, it was an entertaining read and Elizabeth Kay did a great job creating these characters with their rounded, complicated relationships. I'll be looking for more of her work!

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy. Sorry I didn't finish it until AFTER it was released. 😅