Well, I almost hate to review this book. I like Emily Giffin, particularly her early work, and I fully expected to love this book too.

Love it I did, especially in the beginning! I was thinking YAY! I have this wonderful book to read! And then, it took a turn. I was still okay with it. About 2/3rds of the way in, though, it just went off course, off the cliff and I just kept reading (as it was a galley to review; if not I think I would have stopped, honestly) to be finished.

I was not satisfied at the end, it did not redeem itself.

I wish the book could be rewritten after the first third. It was so good at the start!

I've always been a big fan of Emily Giffin's books, my favorite being The One and Only. Her newest release (out June 2nd), The Lies That Bind, takes readers back to the never-forgotten, tumultuous time of September 11th. The story was not what I was expecting based upon her previous novels, but I enjoyed it very much, nonetheless.

At the start of the story, 28 year old Cecily Gardner has just broken up with her longtime boyfriend Matthew. While Cecily wanted to move forward with their relationship, Matthew was kicking his feet, so she decided it was best to move on. Rather than spend another night at home alone, she goes to a local dive bar for a drink. Here's where her story takes the first wild turn. As she sits at the bar, waffling back and forth on whether to call Matthew or not, a handsome stranger encourages her to put the phone down and not do something she'll regret. Cecily feels an immediate connection to said stranger, a Wall Street day trader named Grant, who is soon planning to quit working and travel overseas with his twin brother, who has ALS. After sharing shots of tequila and talking to one another as if they've known each other for years, Grant spends the night with Cecily, promising to keep in touch and that they will see each other again. Over the next many months through emails, phone calls, and postcards, Cecily finds herself quickly falling in love with Grant, even with the distance separating them. She and her best friend Scottie even travel to London to see Grant while he is there for a trial treatment for his brother Byron.

When Grant returns to New York on September 10, 2001, they spend a final night together, and the next day, the world as they know it, is altered forever. Fearing the worst and trying to hold out hope, Cecily tries to contact Grant over and over to no avail. Her best friend and fellow investigative reporter encourages her to get closer to ground zero and work on the story, and if nothing else, it will keep her busy and help take her mind off of the excruciating reality of losing Grant. While talking to witnesses and other family members searching for missing people, Cecily spots a Missing poster with Grant's face on it, and a phone number to call for information. Thinking that connecting with whomever else is searching for Grant will help her to grieve and heal properly, she puts on her reporter hat and calls the number, with the purpose of writing a story about Grant. Cecily is wholly unprepared for what and who she finds on the other end of the line. I call this plot twist one. You'll have to read it to find out!

Then after reading for a while and getting comfortable again with things as they are, we come to a major plot twist two. Whew! I gotta hand it to Giffin, she really threw me for a loop while reading this!

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel about love, family, loss, forgiveness, and healing. The writing is solid and seamless, and readers will empathize with Giffin's beautifully drawn, but flawed characters. I highly recommend this book for fans of contemporary fiction.

This was my first Emily Griffin book, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I thought the plot line was unique and character development was good. I would have liked to have seen the point of view of Grant and Matthew as well, but realize that would have changed the arc of the story. All in all, a quick read. I started and finished it all on one day, which is something that rarely happens.

The first half of this book was fantastic and somewhat believable. The second half, not so much. I’m not sure why 9/11 had to play such a big role in this novel as there are plenty of other circumstances that would have worked just as easily without having the triggering effects of 9/11. I don’t know. I read this is a few hours and didn’t want to put it down but I hated the characters. So I guess I will give it three stars.

I received this ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Chicklit is one of my guilty pleasures, but I am fussy about it. Giffin's earlier books SOMETHING BORROWED and SOMETHING BLUE won me over. By the time we got to ALL WE EVER WANTED, I was ready to cross her off my list. Then Netgalley offered me a free copy, since I'm sheltering in place and reading a ton, and gave it a shot. It tells the story of Cecily fresh off a breakup with her boyfriend when she meets Grant in a bar. Then we get to mussy chicklit part - oh so in love, hearts, flowers, etc. The book takes an unexpected turn that kept me riveted until the last page. I am glad that I gave Giffin another chance. I am likely to read her next book.

While I love this author and all of her books- this one left me wishing for a better ending. I felt the storyline was all over the place and hard to believe how it ended. It’s an enjoyable summer read, so thank you for the ARC, NetGalley.

I think I'm done with Emily Giffin. Her books have really deteriorated and I don't think mysteries are the genre for her. The idea wasn't bad but the execution was cringeworthy. I also think centering things around 9/11 is tricky and I don't think she was up to the task.. It was a silly mess.

4 Stars

It's been a while since I have read a Emily Giffin novel and The Lies That Bind reminded me of why I became a fan in the first place.

I ripped through this book in 2-3 sittings as I was so completely engrossed in Cecily, Matthew and Grant's story. In typical Giffin fashion, this story makes you laugh, it makes you cry and it makes you believe in true love all over again. This book is very reminiscent of her older work, Something Borrowed, which is probably why I enjoyed it so much.

There are a few unbelievable plot points and Cecily had a tendency to get on my nerves a little bit, but all in all, this was a fast paced, well told chick-lit / women's fiction story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for advanced reading copy of this book.

It is 2am at a dive bar in New York. As Cecily reaches for the phone to call her ex, Matthew, she hears a guy on the barstool next to her say, “Don’t do it—you’ll regret it.” Something tells her to listen, and over the next several hours the two forge an unlikely connection. That should be it, they both decide the next morning, as Cecily reminds herself of the perils of a rebound relationship. Moreover, their timing couldn’t be worse—Grant is preparing to quit his job and move overseas. Yet despite all their obstacles, they can’t seem to say goodbye, and for the first time in her carefully constructed life, Cecily follows her heart instead of her head.

They keep in touch with each other, Cecily even visits Grant while he is overseas. She has never felt this way about anyone before. She is overjoyed when Grant comes home. Then 9/11 happens. Cecily sees Grants face on a missing poster and realizes that she doesn’t really know Grant at all. As she digs into Grants life she finds secrets that shock her. Who was he?

I enjoy Emily Giffin as an author and this book was no exception!!

I honestly don't know how to rate or review this book. Part of me loved it, and part of me hated it, so I'm just going to go right down the middle with a 3-star rating.

First, the good: I liked Cecily, despite her naive and immature personality. And I liked Grant (until I didn't) despite how sketchy he seemed. I was even okay with the rebound storyline - plausible and realistic. It was clear from the beginning that something more was going on, and that part actually was intriguing to me, and made me want to know and read more. At this point, four stars.

But then we get to the bad: For whatever reason, using a 9/11 storyline here just felt off to me, and exploitive. Cecily's relationship with Amy was wrong on so many levels (as was Amy's entire character). Then re-enter the ex-boyfriend, and everything tanked to two stars. Regardless of the circumstances with Grant, Cecily re-rebounded WAY too fast for comfort, and all my sympathy for her character went right out the window. At that point, I was still feeling like a good ending could save the book for me, but it wasn't meant to be. The storyline twisted so far into itself that I couldn't in good conscious find any sympathy or connection with any of the main characters, and the ending did nothing for me.

So I'll stick with a 3-star rating, since it had high highs, but low lows, at different times of the book.

I really enjoy most Emily Giffin books, but the premise of this story was just too far fetched for my liking.

This book has three elements: a love story, a survivor story and a mystery. Take away one the elements and you still have a good story, a better book. As is, the book has well imagined characters who meet and fall in love immediately. Then 9/11 happens and with the just right amount of sentiment, the horror is retold. This results in New relationships forming and then comes the mystery. Brushed over as predictable and excusable. The characters try hard to be likable. The scenes flow with realistic dialogue but little depth. The level between a good and a better book.

Copy Provided by publisher and NetGalley

This was definitely not my favorite book of this author. I felt it was very superficial and didn't enjoy it much at all. Main character was just not quite right.

Emily Giffin does it again! This book totally captured my attention from the start. I couldn't read it fast enough! I loved the characters and was so intrigued and surprised by the plot and all of the unanswered and unexpected questions!

Couldn’t finished. Maybe it’s me, not sure. She’s such a popular author, so I’m sure I’m in the minority on this one. Just didn’t do it for me. I’ll try it again in a couple months, maybe it’s a mood thing. I’ll update my review after I try it again.

Let me start by saying that I love Emily Giffin and her last book, All We Ever Wanted was and is still one of my favorite books. Her writing style is so easy and sucks you in from the beginning. The Lies That Bind has that same easy writing style that grabbed my attention. I couldn't keep reading and finished the book in a day. The bad news is that the story didn't really seem to go anywhere for me. It was quite predictable and a bit far fetched.

Cecily and her boyfriend Matthew have just broken up. While in a NYC bar, Cecily meets Grant. A man that seems too good to be true. The chemistry between the two of them was instant and a romance begins. While Grant quickly declares his love for Cecily, things seem just a little off.

The tragedy of 9/11 ends everything and Cecily and Matthew find their way back to each other. New lies are told. Old lies are uncovered.

I would definitely give this book 5 stars for the writing, but sadly only 2 stars for the story and plot. Overall, a really good read that kept me turning pages, but disappointing when it was all said and done.

3 1/2 stars.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for an advanced copy for my honest review.

The reviews have been so mixed on this and I can see why but I still really enjoyed this read.

Cecily, is a journalist in NYC. I Iiked her, but she always second guessed herself having to call her best friend to have him tell her what to do in every situation which got annoying. She finally got her act together near the end and started being more confident in herself and standing up for what she wanted. She just got out of a serious relationship because she felt that he wasn't ready for long term commitment. So she's at this dive bar having a drink feeling sorry for herself, when what appears to be the most perfect man, Grant, starts talking to her. They start a relationship that she quickly feels like she is in love with him. Grant's twin brother has ALS, doesn't have long to live he's all over the place trying to get him into clinical trials and help him. Cecily is so understanding of his situation. Fast forward and 9/11 occurs and Grant goes missing. From here things become quite ridiculous & somewhat far fetched in my opinion but I still couldn't stop reading.

Cecily is in a bar, mourning her recent breakup with her boyfriend, Matthew, and trying not to give in and call him. When she decides to call, a complete stranger stops her and tells her she'll regret it. From that starts a seemingly perfect relationship and Cecily finds herself falling in love. But then tragedy strikes, and when Cecily reaches out to his family, she finds out he wasn't the man she thought he was. Was it really love or just infatuation?
While I really wanted to like this book, I was frustrated by how clueless Cecily was. Even Scottie, her gay best friend, sees the signs and warns her off. She's in love with love, but doesn't seem to know what love is. She was in love with Matthew, then immediately after their breakup finds Grant and falls in love, then a month later back with her ex claiming she loved him all along! So frustratingly shallow!
I received a complimentary copy of this book through Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

As a long-time fan of Ms. Giffin's books, I was not disappointed in this one. What a roller coaster of a book! The twists and turns had me almost dizzy and definitely had me glued to the page.

It's 2001 and Cecily is fresh out of a relationship when she wanders into a NYC bar in search of a distraction for her wounded heart and runs smack into Grant. Floored by the seemingly instant attraction she feels for him yet confused by the air of mystery surrounding him, she finds herself putting that last relationship behind her in anticipation of a bright future with Grant. Then 9/11 happens and Grant is working in one of the World Trade Center towers when it goes down. In the course of following up on a flyer she found with Grant's photo on it, Cecily becomes friends with Grant's wife (yes, he's married!), and then finds herself right back with the same guy she had broken up with prior to meeting Grant. It's a sticky mess, and it gets even stickier.

One thing I really like about Lies (and most of Emily Giffin's other books) is that the main characters are so relatable. Who hasn't had a bad breakup and found themselves trying to numb the pain? Who hasn't told a lie that seemed minor at the time, but over time becomes a huge obstacle to overcome? All through this novel, characters are telling lies for what seems at the time to be fairly good reasons, but of course the truth always comes out in the end.

Wohoooo! This one was awesome... I’ve only read a couple of Emily Giffin’s novels nut after this one I am definitely going to read more!