I have always been a huge fan of Emily Giffen and have loved her books, this one however was not my favorite. I found it well-written and I was able to connect with Cecily but I felt like Grant's character was a bit off-putting and I felt myself disengaged from him. I do like how they put a personal touch on 9/11 and how it affected this handful of characters instead of trying to generalize it all.

Emily Giffin's books are always ones I look forward to. I am a fan of her as a person, but quite frankly this one may be worse that The One and Only. It took close to half way through the book to even understand what the point of it was and just when I thought it was turning around, it fell flat. It's a bummer because her earlier books were just un-put-downable.

The characters are pathetic, gross people. I felt that the 9/11 story line was weak and didn't do any sort of justice to the most horrific event to happen to our country.

The repeated story line of friend lying and deceiving friend to only be found out and then beg for forgiveness is one that repeats in Giffin's books and after being told once...well once is enough.

The only enjoyable part of the book was the reference to Ethan, Darcy and Rachel for a couple of pages, although all that really did was make me miss Giffin's early books more than I already did.

Another great story from Emily Giffin. I went back and forth on feeling connected to Cecily. I could understand her idealism about NYC and finding true love. I couldn’t quite understand her relationship with Matthew and the way she just went along with things. The complications of Grant and that whole story line really blew me away. I am not sure if all of Grant’s story was completely necessary, but I I enjoyed the drama. Cecily finally figuring out what she wanted and doing things for herself. I loved the little cameos from Rachel, Darcy and Ethan. This book is a great look at love, lies and what really matters.

This was my second Emily Giffin book and I loved it! Giffin has a talent of writing in such a way that pulls you in with ease and you are so invested in the story that you just cannot put it down. For starters I’m a sucker for books set in NYC. I don't live there but I love the city. And I love the vibe you get from a book that is set there.

Cecily and Grant meet in a bar and quickly end up falling in love with each other. Their whirlwind relationship seems to good to be true and doesn’t come without its own set of hurdles; long distance, a sick brother, September 11th, an FBI investigation, oh, and a spouse.

I enjoyed every bit of this story including the 9/11 details. The story contained quite a bit of late 90’s to early 2000’s nostalgia which I enjoyed. This was a 5 star read for me!

Thank you Netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Loved this book. Haven't read something in awhile that I couldn't put down. Don't usually like love stories, but this was done well. Good character development. I looked forward to time to read every day!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read and review this book.

Upset after a break-up, Cecily heads to a bar and is stopped from texting her ex from a man that she meets. They have a great connection, and then 9/11 happens.

I'm going to rate this 3.5 stars. To be honest, I was hesitant at the start of the book because I am not a fan of using emails and letters as chapters. I feel like it is used as filler. However, that disappeared, and I started to recognize the great writing that I'm used to from Emily Giffin.

Overall, I enjoyed the story. I loved the 90's and early 2000's cultural references and Cecily's character growth.

I was a bit hesitant to read Emily Giffin's latest novel due to some of the negative reviews. I am glad I picked it up anyways. This isn't your typical EG book, but the story was still engaging and had a variety of twists and turns in the plot, that while somewhat predictable, I couldn't put the book down.

Thank you for the ARC copy. This was a complex and intriguing story of love,deceit, friendship and discovery. The backdrop of NYC during 9/11 lent an extra layer of emotion. Cecily and Grants relationship is one of ups and downs, twists and turns. At times drown out but one that I’m glad I continued reading to see how their story ended.

I am very torn with this novel. On the one hand I really enjoy this author and her writing style. I am a huge fan of her earlier work - absolutely adored Something Borrowed and Something Blue and recommended them to just about everyone I knew. The later books, I have to say have been very mixed - I did really enjoy Where We Belong and I will hope for a sequel at some point. This book, was extremely readable and kind of addictive- unputdownable in many ways. I loved the nostalgia about pre and post 9/11 times. I am from the NY area and happened to be in NYC for my anniversary during this horrific time. The panic, despair and helplessness was captured wonderfully and I think this is where the novel really shined. The characters on the other hand, were kind of cookie cutter cliches. I found all of them extremely irritating and kind of superficial. Cecily was annoying seemed to be a female who has no identity without a man by her side. Did not like that at all. I found much of the premise to be kind of far fetched. I am between a 3-4 and will round up because of the emotions that emerged when reading about my wonderful home city. I look forward to more from this author- I think she is very talented but I think that the character development needs to grow. I find that the characters that resonated so much about 20 years ago just don't anymore. I guess I am not the same reader that found Rachel and Darcy so endearing. thank you to NetGalley for this advanced reader copy.

I loved this book! Emily Giffin is one of my favorite authors and this one did not disappoint, The twist 2/3 of the way through was completely unexpected.

This book was so confounding for me, on one hand I enjoyed reading it and on the other I found it very surface level and unbelievable. The plot felt all over the place and the ending really threw me off. I didn't get the feeling that Cecily would end up with Grant after all of his lies. I did enjoy the 90 references, but using 9/11 as a plot point felt a little insensitive.

Thank you NetGalley and Ballantine Books for a digital ARC of The Lies That Bind by Emily Giffin in exchange for my honest opinion.

Cecily Gardner takes a late night stroll to avoid her desire to call her ex-boyfriend. She enters a random bar, has a few drinks and as she is about to cave and call him, a random stranger encourages her not to. What begins as a chance encounter turns in a twisty relationship full of secrets we slowly uncover. Giffin's characters enjoy a summer together before the halt of 9/11. Cecily slowly rebuilds relationships while uncovering new ones.

Giffin's description of the aftermath of 9/11 was as though she was describing her own experience.

Look for this book on 6.2.2020.

So normally I'm a pretty decent fan of Emily Giffin books. For some reason this one didn't vibe right with me. I do have to say as someone who was 18 when 9/11 happened, I have to say that was handled very well.

So we meet Cecily right after she breaks up with her boyfriend. Out at a bar and about to call him up, a tall, dark and handsome man tells her.not to do it. There was inst-love and just a lot of wishy-washy moments that I didn't care for.

I'd give it a 3/5 stars

I've loved Emily Giffin books since I saw the movie "Something Borrowed" and decided to read the book version. I love the characters she creates and the realistic situations presented in her books.
I wanted to love this one but just didn't. When I read the blurb, I was really interested to how the plot would center around the 9/11 attacks. I think the biggest issue I had was that the characters fell flat for me. I found that I didn't care about any of them and I don't think they were fleshed out enough.
I liked the storyline, just not the characters.

loved this easy going book about love and friendship. It had me guessing some major plots and was thrilled to receive an arc of this book, love this author

What a ride! In her latest novel, Emily Griffin takes us on a rollercoaster of life, love, tragedy and more. While some of the story was a bit unbelievable, The Lies That Bind was another interesting and well written book by one of my favorite authors.

In The Lies That Bind, we meet Cecily, a Wisconsin transplant to NYC, who’s pursuing her dream of living in the city and working as a journalist. There’s also Matthew (lawyer and ex boyfriend), Grant (finance person and mystery man) and Scotty (her gay best friend from home and one of my favorite characters). Some of the characters were better developed than others. For example, there was a lot more I would have liked to know about Matthew that would explain why Cecily loved him. And would Cecily, as a journalist and internet savvy twenty something really not research Grant’s background/history on line?

Kudos to Griffin for effectively tackling two difficult/sensitive issues: 9/11 and a terminal illness. There’s pros and cons to using 9/11 as a key part of a story and not many authors are willing to do so. I thought the author did an excellent job of picturing NYC on 9/11, from the weather that day (I’ll never forget that clear blue sky) to the nature and emotional tone of the city for days after the attacks. For me, the sections centering on 9/11 and its aftermath were some of the strongest writing of the book. Griffin so poignantly captures the emotional highs and lows of that time.

In terms of a second difficult theme, terminal illness (and not wanting to reveal any spoilers), I’ll just say that she put an important spotlight on a disease that could use the attention.

The Lies That Bind comes out on 6/2/20 and should be a part of your summer reading list! Thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishing - Ballantine Books for the opportunity to read The Lies That Bind in exchange for an honest reviews!

I wish to thank Net Galley and Random House - Ballantine Group for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book. I have voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is quite a story. It begins strong , hooks you in and never disappoints. This is not a typical romantic novel and has lots of ups and downs as the main character deals with her deep emotions and trust issues. Just when you think you know where it is going it changes directions dramatically. I loved all the characters in the book and could not wait to turn the page to find out what happens next. I strongly recommend it as a book with which you can escape your everyday woes or as a beach read.

I look forward to reading more of Emily Griffin’s books. She is a great author.

Fantastic book by Emily Giffin. I usually read thrillers/mysteries but this one was like a mystery finding out Grants story. Definitely recommend. Lots of twists and turns throughout.

I really enjoyed this book. I liked the romance portion. I did feel like the summary shouldn't have given away the Sept 11 angle, as it doesn't happen immediately. I liked the ending and there middle mystery of where Grant is and who was he really?

Like many other readers, I really enjoyed the author's first books, "Something Borrowed," and "Something Blue." However, as I get older, and having read most, if not all of the author's other books, I realize that I never really care for the characters in her books. There are always lies and secrets. This book is no different except that many of the characters were living with secrets and lying to other.

Cecily meets this guy late one night in a bar, just as she is about to call the ex that she broke up with a month before. There's connection, a deep connection and few magical dates. But then he has to go away to London for the summer, and then 9/11 happens. Where did the magical guy disappear to? Up until this point, the book was flowing and pulled me in. But then it stopped. The rest of the book was filled with way too many coincidences and occurrences that made me say "what???" out loud. I guess this could have happened, but it all just seemed a little too contrived and unrealistic.

I had higher hopes, but this was a quick read and I will move on to the next book in my TBR pile.