Cover Image: The  Liar of Red Valley

The Liar of Red Valley

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Member Reviews

This book knew what it wanted to do and it did it well. So well. Literally I think it just took me out of a reading slump it's so good. The story was riveting, I have never read anything like it and I loved it so much. It's so fast paced, it grabs your hand and just starts running full speed into plot and character-development. I would kill to read more from this world because I'm obsessed with it.

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*Copy provided by netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

The Liar of Red Valley is one of the most refreshing dark fantasy tales I have read in a long time. Mixing dark tales and monsters with magic and the secrets and fights of a small town, completed with well done plot twists and a main character that deserves praise for not being a cliché, Walter Goodwater built an incredible twisted tale of the lies that break us… and the ones that put us together.

A fast paced novel filled with thrills and emotions, and some of the darkest creatures I ever had the pleasure to meet, with a great heroine and the amazing people that you can find in all the small towns you know; a story of loss and gain, adventure and pain, friends and enemies, and the spaces in between.

Highly recommend and cannot wait to pick up more stories from this author.

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WOW - what a creative read! I went into this story blind, apparently having determined that "Do not trust the liar. Do not go in the river. Do not cross the King" was enough of a synopsis to request this book. And it was - I tore through this book in 24 hours. So many good twists and turns.

How do you disprove a lie, once they've taken on a life of their own? Who has the power? Red Valley is a sad town, filled with creepy shadows in the dark. Sadie's mom is the Liar of Red Valley, but she dies without every explainign to Sadie how it works, which is a problem, because now Sadie is the liar. Sadie needs to find the ledgers, figure out how the Liar's power works, and worry about evil on all sides and the destruction of the only town she's ever known.

That's all I'm going to say, because I don't want to give anything away.

"Don’t trust the Liar.

Don’t go in the River.

Do not cross the King.

In Red Valley, California, you follow the rules if you want to stay alive. But even that isn’t enough to protect Sadie now that she’s unexpectedly become the Liar: the keeper and maker of Red Valley’s many secrets.

In a town like this, friendships are hard-won and bad blood lasts generations, and when not everyone in town is exactly human, it isn’t a safe place to make enemies.

And though the Liar has power—power to remake the world, with just a little blood—what Sadie really needs is answers: Why is the town’s sheriff after her? What does the King want from her? And what is the real purpose of the Liar of Red Valley?"

Thanks to NetGalley for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

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First off...DISCLAIMER: I requested this title on NetGalley. Thanks to Solaris/Rebellion Publishing for providing an ecopy. This didn't influence my review in any way.

HER-STORY IN THE MAKING

The first thing I look for in my books is, go figure, an "offbeat" element - so I supposed that, with a story where the heroine can "remake the world, with just a little blood", I couldn't go wrong. But TLORV turned out to be even more peculiar - and decidedly more surprising - than I anticipated. I was ready for a healthy dose of reality warping, with outrageous but entertaining results...wow, I had no idea.
After her mother's sudden death, Sadie takes over her role as the Liar...too bad she doesn't have a clue how her power is supposed to work. Now, you might wonder why, if Sadie was destined to succeed her mother, she's been kept in the dark about the tricks of her trade - except there's an excellent reason, which also makes for the last and most stunning twist in a book that's got plenty of them. Tension escalates while Sadie uncovers to what extent her mother has been manipulating reality (there's actually a brilliant crescendo about her lies and the way they impact Sadie's present situation) and learns to use her power, plus tries to stay one step ahead of the monsters and humans who are after something her mother left her. That's where most of this book's strength lies for me - in the way the pace increases and the stakes get higher and higher, but even more in the way the twists/reveals gradually redesign our (and Sadie's) perception of what's real, until they pull the rug from under our feet.

THE WHOLE PACKAGE

I have to admit that, when starting TLORV, I was a little wary about its blending a contemporary (if rural) setting with classic fantasy elements (like the King). It turns out I needn't have been. The transition back and forth is seamless - or better, the two aspects of Red Valley are so intrinsically woven together that I had no problems with buying into the combo. If anything, for a while I wondered why people would want to keep living there, for a number of reasons, until I realised that it's hard to walk away from magic, especially the kind that can remake your life (if at a price), and in some cases it simply can't be done. Not to mention, the same thing happens to us with places that don't hold any magic, yet we can't seem to leave behind even if they're smothering us...Anyhow, this book pulls off the whole contemporary-meets-fantasy-meets-supernatural-meets-magical-realism shebang, and even manages to offer some social commentary by tackling racism/police brutality, while including queer relationships that aren't a means to an end.

CHARACTER FLAW

If there's an aspect where I found TLORV to be less successful, it's in fleshing out its characters. I did like the brave, resourceful main lead and enjoyed her story arc, but she lacked the extra edge that makes me fall in love with my book people. The rest of the characters and the relationships between them/them and Sadie, while nice and/or potentially intriguing, could have used more depth (same goes for the villains, though at least one of them will give me nightmares for the rest of my life, which is a badge of honour as far as I'm concerned 😂 - but that's more because of his appearance than anything else). One thing that I did appreciate, though, is the found-family vibe and the lack of mandatory romance. Bottom line, if you like magical realism steeped in fantasy, fast-paced stories and lots of twists and turns (of the unpredictable variety, too), and you can overlook a certain lack of complexity when it comes to characters and their relationships, this book is not to be missed.

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This was a brilliant fantasy read! Would say the genre is maybe fantasy/paranormal/YA, well written so it was easy to get into the story. Really liked the main character Sadie who is a fighter in a hard life. I liked the main twist of the story as I never saw it coming. Highly recommend.

Many thanks to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

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This is an engaging fantasy story with a likeable main character and a very original premise. A good real but I felt it had a little too much of a 'young adult' vibe for me to truly love it. Would still recommend though.

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OH MY GODS
NO WORDS
I AM SPEECHLESS
One of the best thrillers I've ever read
The horror theme in it is just *chef's kiss*
The pace
IT WAS PERFECT
It was really fast just as I liked it🥺 A M A Z I N G
I did want more world building to it because it felt incomplete and I didn't understand many things. I was confused.
There WERE some things that I didn't like but the other parts made up for it<3

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4.5 stars.
The small, rural town of Red Valley is special. It’s under the protection from the King, who keeps all manner of terrible beings and monsters out of the town. The nearby River is dangerous, and everyone knows to not even get one’s toes wet in it. The King’s men, menacing, quiet types, keep the peace, and protect the safety of the townspeople.
And there’s the Liar. The Liar records all the small and big lies of the townspeople for a price. She lives alone, and is both hated and needed.
Her daughter Sadie loses her mother one day to cancer, and almost immediately, everyone, from the under Sheriff, to the King, to the scary laughing boys (people who have willingly accepted a demon in their heads), want something from Sadie, as she is the new Liar of Red Valley.

Omigoodness, I liked this story so much!
I felt like Lovecraft had been an influence on the crafting of this tale, but this world was its own thing. The atmosphere and setting are so well drawn, from the dusty streets and blistering heat blanketing the California town, to the tree growing right in the middle of the diner Sadie works at, to the menacing river, to the terrifying King’s men, and to the ancient evils outside of the Red Valley, in this alternate version of California.
Then there’s the concept of a Liar, a role essential to the town, allowing people to lie about their dead pets, balding heads, marital difficulties, and recording it all in her ledgers. She’s essential to the town, isolated, and answers to the King, and though not as flashy as a laughing boy, has immense power, as Sadie begins to discover.
The plot moved well with no dull moments. I liked Sadie, and how she stumbled around initially, trying to figure out how to be the new Liar of Red Valley, making mistakes and endangering herself and others. I was entertained, and absolutely loved the two BIG lies Sadie’s mum had tucked away — a left turn in the events and our understanding of everything we’d learned up till then about the Red Valley, and its residents. A clever turn, and an enjoyable book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Solaris for this ARC in exchange for a review.

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"The Liar of Red Valley" has me stumped. I liked the story, the setting, the writing, and the main character, but somehow it didn't quite all gel for me. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either. This is definitely a case of "it's me, not you", as I'm sure most people will fall in love with this book. I might try reading again in a few months and see if I feel differently.

My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.

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I really enjoyed the world-building in this novel, I believed in it 100% and could see how such a place could exist in parallel with the real world. However I felt the ending was a bit rushed and anti-climatic after such a strong and detailed build-up during the first 3/4s of the book. In my opinion there was much more to be developed, both in characters and in plot.

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Life in Red Valley is simple if you follow the rules:
Do not trust the Liar
Do Not go in the River
Do not cross The King
In the Liar of Red Valley, Walter Goodwater mixes equal doses of urban fantasy with other worldly horror and a blisteringly paced plot to write a thoroughly entertaining book.
The book starts off with the death of The Liar, and her daughter, Sadie’s coming to terms with the death of her mother. However, The Liar keeps all the town’s secrets and makes the lies that they tell come to be reality. This may be a little lie, like I am not going bald, to even bigger lies, and Sadie needs to know how to be the Liar, quick!
With the death of her mother, Sadie inherits the power of the Liar, and all that that means. She discovers that the position of The Liar was given to her family by The King, an all powerful being who walked the cosmos eons before the coming of the human race, generations ago in order to keep the lies of The King and the people safe.
In the course of the book, she discovers the power of Lies and what it can do. However, everyone wants that power, and she discovers that people will do anything to get the power of the lies for themselves as she is chased, threatened, arrested and reviled for her powers. It seems that everyone wants to know what lies Sadie’s family have been keeping and they will stop at nothing to discover the truth.
Sadie finds herself chased by the Laughing Boys, a gang of addicts who let demons reside in their head instead of using drugs. Harassed by the local Undersheriff who says that he wants to depose the King’s reign and let Red Valley govern itself. However, one thing that they all have in common is that they will use whatever means necessary to obtain the power that is stored in her family’s ledgers.
I have to say that I enjoyed this book immensely. It is filled with monsters, a time travelling house, Cthuluesque leviathans and all sorts of madness in between. Sadie is a good character, who develops as the book moves on. Initially beginning the book as a dormouse and transforming into a snarky lion that is able to navigate her own destiny. On the whole the plot moves at a frenetic pace as Sadie. is forced to come to terms with the death of her mother, and then know how to use her powers whilst at the same time traversing the strange and murky waters that is Red Valley. You watch her grow and she is aided by a supporting cast that at times, are a little one dimensional, but they adequately buoy the story along to get Sadie to where she needs to be.
Added to that a plot that introduces twists and turns that is both unpredictable and blisteringly fast paced. I also found the setting of Red Valley and its plethora of strange residents that add a rich vein of strangeness, immersive and vividly written as the book runs towards its climactic ending.
Whilst this is a standalone novel, I would love to see some more of this world that Walter Goodwater has crafted and hope for more stories set in Red Valley in the future as I think that this could be cracking ongoing series.

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This book is smartly written. A magical town is truly brought to life in a way that allows the reader to feel like a visitor and not just an observer. The premise took a little while to pull me in. The author threw in some twists and turns that really worked.

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This was a really cool read. The world-building was excellent (I HATE it when things get over-explained; I prefer the rather laconic approach Mr Goodwater employs); I especially liked the Laughing Boys, with their mixture of self-inflicted tragedy and adolescent self-absorbed dumbness, and the King himself, because he wasn't at all what I expected. (Full disclosure: I was a tad worried that the book might go all religious on me, but phew! Nothing of the kind.) Things get a bit Lovecraft at times, but not in a histrionic kind of way -- no hyperventilating about Voids or Things on Thresholds. It's just nice and believably scary, with some twists thrown in that even I could like (and reading all those third-rate Brit women's mysteries has given me pretty severe twist allergies, so that's no small thing). Even the LGBTQ representation felt organic and real to me, not like some gimmicky flavor-of-the-month addition to help shift more units.
I couldn't tell whether this was intended as YA or just skewed that way because of the main protagonist's age, but to me most YA reads a bit "dumbed-down" and shallow, which wasn't the case with "Liar" at all. (Also, that bane of YA, the Unfolding Teen Romance, was nowhere to be found either -- a big YAY!!! from me.) I guess this is that rare All Ages horror novel that, for once, really everybody can enjoy.
I'm not sure if there are plans for a sequel, but if there are, I'd definitely be on board.

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It’s very rare to see a standalone fantasy book rather than a sprawling, epic, multi-part series. The amount of pages that you need to introduce world-building, backstory and societal conventions as well as make everything come to life can make sandwiching in a complete plot very difficult.

The Liar of Red Valley makes this a little easier by having a world very similar to our own with a few added fantasy elements. There’s a part of California called ‘Red Valley’ which is ruled by a creature called the King. Magic blooms in the town and Liars can make people believe anything – for a price, the dead can be raised and time can be ignored. When Sadie’s mum – The Liar of Red Valley dies, it is up to her to take on the legacy and fix some mistakes made along the way.

Sadie is a good main character, she’s feisty and determined and has flaws so we as a reader can empathise with her. I was initially a little frustrated about how much of her mum’s work she didn’t know, when the reader who has been introduced to the concept for only a few chapters seems to have more of an idea than she does. However, there is a brilliant twist which comes towards the end which I did not expect and also allowed some of the previous plot holes a way out!

I really liked some of the monsters in the book – the Laughing Boys for example were particularly creepy. I also liked the idea of the faces that lived behind fire and could manipulate it to burn in unnatural ways. The stakes always felt very high, although sometimes the chain of decision making didn’t make much sense. I enjoyed how it was a self-contained story though even if the ending felt a little too neat – I would have liked a bit of a cliff-hanger or small twist right at the end.

Overall, The Liar of Red Valley is a fun, self-contained fantasy which allows for some much-needed escapism. Thank you to NetGalley & Rebellion – Solaris for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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What a fun, creative read! I wasn't sure what to expect going in, but what I found was a world of dark fantasy that was easy to immerse myself in. The main character is likeable and easy to root for, and the world-building is done really well considering it's not that long of a book. I actually wouldn't mind reading other books set in this world.

Tonally, it reminded me almost of Nathan Ballingrud's Wounds collection, but for young adults. I'm not sure if young adults are the intended audience for this book, but this is definitely something I would have loved as a teenager. (I don't mean that as a knock at all!) There's a couple of plot twists in here that actually caught me off guard, as well, which is always pretty neat.

Overall, a fun, easy read that's easy to get caught up in. Perfect for a rainy fall afternoon!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

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Things you need to know: This is a STELLAR urban fantasy. This might now be my favourite standalone in the genre. Thank you so much Netgalley and Rebellion, Solaris for the ARC in exchange for an honest review; I can't wait to get my hands on a physical copy come 30th September!

Sadie's mother is The Liar of Red Valley until one day she isn't and the mantle is passed to Sadie herself. She alone is entrusted with the town's secrets and lies; she will will be the one to create them and bring them to life.

I read this in under 24 hours. I could. not. put. it. down. This is an urban fantasy, kind of mixed with a horror - I say kind of a horror because I don't read horror books but this hit the right spot for me. There's also elements of a thriller here and there's just so much to explore. It's hard to believe this book comes in at under 400 pages.

What I liked:
- Sadie is such a well rounded MC. Her life, her friendships and interactions with the towns people
- There's a King. In a small American town, there's a King. It's so implausible and yet it works?! It works so well! The lore around the King and how he came to be in the town is superb.
- The Kings Men kind of gave me Agent vibes from the Matrix franchise and made my skin CRAWL - yes! And don't even get me started on The Laughing Boys.
- At one point I was reading and someone asked me if I was okay because I made a rather rude exclamation at a certain twist/reveal, and I can only applaud a book that makes me do that.

What I didn't like:
- Nothing. I loved this. This book SLAPPED.
- The only thing I'm sad about is that this is intended as a standalone and I think this has the potential to span a series.

Read if you like:
- Urban fantasies - if you liked Lore or liked watching shows like Supernatural and Buffy the Vampire Slayer then I think this is for you!
- Strong badass, morally ambiguous female MCs.
- Complex villains.
- Books that make you gasp and cuss because you can't believe THAT really happened.

Will I reread? Didn't you hear? This is 5 stars; I'd pay to reread this.

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The Liar of Red Valley really caught me by surprise, since I didn't necessarily expect anything going into it. I surely didn't expect it to go into the direction that it did, but I ended up really liking it.
The two negative points about this book, in my opinion, are: 1. the pacing feels a bit slow, to the point that it felt like there wasn't as much going on in the story as there was; and 2. I wanted a bit more lore of Red Valley and about the creatures in the end etc.
However, I enjoyed my time reading this book immensely, mainly because of all of the characters and the great representation for different ethnicities, sexualities etc. Sadie was an amazing main character and I really enjoyed following her on her journey and all of the characters that she interacted with.
Overall, The Liar of Red Valley was a good story with some exquisite twists that I didn't see coming.

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This book sits firmly in my 'meh' rating. This has an interesting premise and, if done right, it could have made for a unique story. Unfortunately, I felt that the story was too rushed and had a lot of holes in it thus leading to an underwhelming reading experience.


Writing:

I don't have any complaints about the writing, but I did have some issues with the format of the book. I didn't think that the inclusion of an extra perspective added anything to the story and thought that the pacing was a bit off at points. Some parts moved too slow while others moved too quickly, especially when it got towards the end.


Plot:

This story suffers from a lack of specificity. Fully fleshing out your story is crucial for a standalone as you have only one shot to establish a well-written world. This had the framework to be an interesting story but, unfortunately, the pieces of the puzzle didn't come together clearly. Things that were happening in this didn't feel connected and felt more like a series of random acts rather than a well-developed and intentional flow of events.

A lot of the bits and pieces also didn't make much logical sense and left me with more questions than answers. Certain plotlines were mentioned so long ago that I completely forgot about them by the time they came back around. This also could have used a lot more substance in order to make up for any plot holes and the short length of the book.

Getting back to the pacing I mentioned in the writing section, I found it to be a bit ridiculous the time frame in which the events of the books occurred. Everything was happening too quickly and too suddenly for it to seem real. Everything also seemed rather convenient as well which made me believe the actuality of all this happening even less.


World-Building:

In all honesty, the world-building in this confused me. We don't get enough background information about not only the town itself but also the world outside of it. We know that this town has a kingly figure, but not enough is told about him and his history in the town to establish why things are the way that they are. There is also the inclusion of other magical figures whose role in the world is also not explained very well. The inclusion of a Brujo and the demonic-possessed laughing boys were thrown in there without any real explanation as to why they existed in this world.

There is simply just a lack of scope, and again a lack of specificity that ends up bogging down the world-building. I find myself asking if everything about the town that is magical is isolated to just the town.


Characters:

At first, I was okay with Sadie as our main character, but I should have known that things were too good to be true. I can commend her for being brave, but I draw the line at acting out in order to show that you are actually terrified. She simply talked too much and was not able to read the room and stay quiet. Besides Sadie, the King, and maybe the town Sheriff, I felt like by the end I was not successfully convinced as to why every other character was crucial to the story. They all just seemed to be there, but they didn't add much individual flair.


Concluding Thoughts:

Was this a complete waste of my time, no, because I would still give this a middling rating? Could this have used a lot more specificity and better development, absolutely?

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Such an amazing gothic book. Walter Goodwater is an amazing writer.
So original, with so many twists and turns that you never know what is coming next. Highly recommend

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This book was probably one of the best books I've read this year. With it's fast paced, steady going plot and likeable characters, 'The Liar of Red Valley' brings a hint of fantasy to the horror world. In all honesty, I'd rate this masterpiece a 4.5 out of 5. The ending was kind of disappointing compared to the beginning but overall it was a great book. Red Valley is an interesting town and I still have questions about the plot holes / lies told in this book. The twist at the end was definitely worth waiting for and I'd read any other book by this author again. Props!

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