This was a quick read, which I found to be quite entertaining. I think that Giffin know how to write that perfect chick lit book, which has such greatly developed characters, you can’t help but need to read more and more! It was a nice break from my usual genre, but offered some great emotional rollercoasters, fun, and just great reading! Look forward to more by Emily Giffin! Highly, highly recommend!
Will make sure to buzz it up on all the different platforms! Will also use low amazon reviewer number on release date!

I have been looking forward to reading this book since it was announced. I read through so many of the reviews and my excitement quickly started to dwindle. There were so many negative comments I almost changed my mind. However, when I was able to read the book a little early I decided to see for myself. To my surprise I loved the book very much! I kept waiting for the bad ending or something to happen to convince me otherwise. If you like Emily Giffin’s earlier books I think you’ll love this one as well.

A quick, easy read. Pure chick-lit. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I am usually a big fan of Emily Giffin, but this one was not my favorite. The book starts with Cecily drowning her sorrows at a bar over a recent break up with her long time boy friend, Matthew. While there she meets Grant, and quickly enters a relationship with him, even though he stats that the timing is not right since he is about to leave the country to take care of his sick brother. Meanwhile her ex messages her, and tries to restart their relationship.
Cecily seems entirely dependent on being in a relationship and makes poor decisions to "keep the guy", often going against the advice of her friends. I do not think it is a spoiler to say that 9/11 plays a major role in the plot of this book (the book takes place in NYC 2001), and I did not feel the fear or grief in the characters that I would normally expect in a similar situation- even as they search for a main character- which was a disappointment as I am usually more invested in books by Emily Giffin.

There was a nice cameo from Rachel and co from Something Borrowed & Something Blue.

I always enjoy Giffin's books for the way they normalize unconventional characters and relationships. I felt the same about The Lies that Bind. I found that the characters were not extremely likable and the plot was pretty far-fetched, but overall, I enjoyed the book in spite of those problems. (The author herself may prove to be the biggest flaw in the months to come, as her social media has become very off-putting and hateful in tone.)

Unfortunately I don't agree with Emily Giffin's online bullying. In addition this book takes place in 9/11 which i think it is a sensitive topic that. I try to avoid. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Excellent book! I was so excited to see another Emily Giffin book release! This book follows Cecily and her finding happiness choices. Will she stay with Matt or try something new with Grant, even long distance? Will she follow what makes her happy? Does she truly know someone?? Once again, I really enjoyed reading this author's work. (TW: Sept, 1, 2001/ the chaos of 9/11. should be made clear to readers too. I know some can't read about that.)

Emily Giffin doesn't have a new book every year so I was excited to get an ARC of this one. I didn't read her last one; I thought the premise was a bit much for me. Each of her novels is incredibly thought-provoking but there's something about the latest few that leave me feeling a tad bit unsettled. She's moved away from the lightness of Something Borrowed and Something Blue which is where her readers fell in love with her and her writing style. This one started out super strong with an intriguing premise. The book blurb outlines it as a love story, sadly interrupted by the events of 9/11. Cecily uses her investigative journalist skills to dig. But she doesn't really. It was all very surface level stuff. The book takes a big turn and then the ending. Let's just say a lot of the other reviewers are more passionate about the ending than I am but even I'm like well now. That's not what I would have done. All in all, a decent book and a good way to pass another COVID Sunday.

As several others have said in their reviews and from tweets, I will not be reading The Lies That Bind due to Giffin's remarks, insults, and bullying of Meghan Markle. Giffin's behavior is completely wrong and unacceptable. I will not be reading her books in the future.

DNF. In light of Emily Giffin's awful comments about Meghan Markle and the reveal that she's been making such hateful, hurtful statements for ages, I stopped reading this. I have loved all of Ms. Giffin's books, but in after her non "apology" I can't bring myself to finish The Lies That Bind.

Will not being reviewing this book, I am unable to read this book without bias due to this authors recent behavior and bullying of Meghan Markle on social media.

The Lies that Bind told 2 beautiful love stories. But how do you know which one is the forever love? Cecily has so many great conversations with both Grant and Matthew. Even Scottie and Amy provided food for thought. The chapters about 9/11 and it’s aftermath were a bit hard to read. Seems like it happened yesterday. But Emily Giffin did the event justice. This book was emotional on many levels and I enjoyed them all.

I am a big Emily Giffin fan & have loved all her books, until this one. Very predictable and just not that great. Maybe next time.

I would like to thank NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

I loved Emily's earlier books and devoured them as soon as they came out. Over time my reading life changed and I lost touch with the books she written. I recently came across The Lies that Bind on Netgalley and after reading the description decided it was time to return to author who's books I had so enjoyed in my 20s.
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Set in the summer before 9/11 and the months that followed, The Lies that Bind tells the story of twenty something Cecily, and the relationships that define her life during this time. The first half of this book flew by for me as I became wrapped up in Cecily's life and relationship. I did find the insta love a little odd after what had just taken place but I was so curious about the relationship that I quickly set that aside. I was definitely all in with this tale.
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And then the second half came and I became frustrated with Cecily's choices, and the not so unexpected duplicity of a character. Add to it troupe that I've never cared for in books and which became a large part of the story line and I found myself wanting the book to end. The second part of the book and I were just not a fit.
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The time period and setting were huge draws for me, and I did like Cecily. I just wish the story had veered in a different direction. I expect this will be a popular beach read this summer so if your curious definetly give it a whirl. The beauty of reading - we all have different reactions to them.
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Thank you Netgalley and Ballantine Books for a DRC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for this ARC.

I find it hard to believe Emily Giffin wrote the first half of the book - it was just so flat. Cecily is described as being like "The Atlantic," meaning a deep soul, but I don't think we ever see this. She's wishy-washy. Stuck between two men – both with major flaws. She falls for Grant even though they don't really talk to each other? They seem to spend most of their time in silence. We really don't know much about Matthew either. After 9/11 everything just falls off the rails. (Knowing that Emily Giffin was in NYC on 9/11, I expected this to be a really poignant part of the story but I felt this, too, was flat.)

As a longtime fan of Emily Giffin fan, I wanted to love this book, but all of the characters are terrible, save for Scottie. The reason I'm giving this book 2 stars is because of the appearance of Rachel, Darcy, and Ethan. I can't be the only one who thought Cecily and Ethan seemed to have some chemistry?

I have enjoyed every single one of Emily Giffin's books since I read Something Borrowed. She has a way of making the reader root for all the characters, even the ones you don't really like. The same is true for The Lies that Bind. This story is about Cecily, who is recently broken up from Matthew, when she has a chance encounter with a stranger (Grant) in a bar who quickly becomes all she can think about. They somewhat slowly get to know each other while he is nursing his twin brother who has ALS. Grant goes overseas with his brother for a medical trial and Cecily and her best friend fly out for a long weekend and a chance to see Grant. It is there that they profess their love for one another before she flies back home (NYC). When Grant gets back to the states, NYC in particular, he shows up at Cecliy's door in the middle of the night and she is more than happy to see him. He leaves early the next morning, September 11, 2001, and a few hours later the tragedy of 9/11 occurs. Cecily can't reach Grant. As the days go by and she is still searching, she sees a missing poster with his face on it, and she starts to learn all the secrets about who Grant really is.
The first chapter in this book was phenomenal and the book itself was written in a way that made me want to keep reading long long into the night. This book is a love triangle of multiple proportions with several key players and keeps you guessing just who is the good guy, and is there a bad guy really? At the end, I wasn't sure I would have gone the direction that Cecily did, but I also could not fault her for her decisions.
#theliesthatbind #netgalley

Thank you Netgalley for the approval.

I loved this book. It was was hard to read at some points - I knew a few people who were down in the Cuty during 9/11 and brought back their stories. The book made me angry at some points...so Giffin did her job :).

I really wanted to like this book. The main character seemed ridiculous . She made poor choices throughout the book. The ending was predictable.

Reeling from the end of a long term relationship, Cecily heads to a bar late one night, which is totally out of character for her. There she meets a handsome stranger with whom she has an instant connection. Knowing nothing about him, she forges a relationship with him that quickly becomes a whirlwind romance. But as the summer quickly turns to fall, Cecily’s romance, and life, begin to unravel as one lie becomes two, which becomes three, and suddenly she has lied to more people than she realizes. She becomes so entrenched in lies that she’s not sure who will suffer more from the truth, herself or the ones around her.

I usually love this author’s books. I struggled to get through this one though. I’ll definitely give her another chance though. I will say she did a fantastic job developing the characters in this one.