Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of The Lying Club. The was my first book by Annie Ward but I look forward to reading more. Three ladies are brought together after 2 bodies are carried out of their kids' elite private school. What ensues involves murder, scandal, and lies. I also wasn't able to predict what was coming. That is always a plus for me. Predictability is boring! Ward keeps you on your toes!

This is one of those books that hooked me from the very beginning and I just wanted to keep reading. The synopsis compares it to “Little Fires Everywhere” and “Big Little Lies”, I know sometimes descriptions seem to just throw out popular name books to lure readers in but this one is a very fair comparison to the other two named. I’m hoping this one also gets made into a tv series, it would be perfect for one!

At an elite private school in a small town in Colorado, The Lying Club follows three women who get mixed up in lies and deceit. Natalie, the office assistant at the private school, silently dreams of living the lifestyle of the parents around her. Especially Brooke, a rich, gorgeous woman with a large inheritance. However, Brooke is a chronic cheater. The last person we follow is Asha, a real estate agent, and mom, who is worried that her husband is currently having an affair. All three ladies are tied to the athletic director/trainer Nicholas. As their lies and twists start getting tangled up, two bodies are carried out on stretchers.

I was invested in this story as soon as I started reading, despite it being a slow-burn mystery. I was kept guessing up until the end. I personally didn't love any of the characters, but I don't think that took away much from the plotline. If you are interested in dark, academia vibes, I think you would enjoy this! This was my first novel by Annie Ward, but I will definitely be reaching for more.

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing/ Park Row for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

ARC from NetGalley - A quick read that, for the most part, kept my interest. This is the first book I've read from this author, and I will give her other work a read. I enjoyed the twists and turns, and I agree with other reviewers who have that the novel reminds them of Big Little Lies. There's a definite "wealthy parents/lying spouses/spoiled, boundary-pushing teenager" vibe here.

From the publisher:

"If you loved Big Little Lies and Little Fires Everywhere, allow me to introduce you to your next obsession. —Kim Liggett, New York Times bestselling author of The Grace Year

A tangled web of lies draws together three women in this explosive thriller of revenge, murder and shocking secrets

At an elite private school nestled in the Colorado mountains, Natalie, an office assistant, dreams of having a life like the school moms she deals with every day. Women like Brooke—a gorgeous heiress, ferociously loving mother and serial cheater—and Asha, an overprotective mom who suspects her husband of having an affair. Their fates are bound by the handsome assistant athletic director Nicholas, whom Natalie loves, Brooke wants and Asha needs.

But when two bodies are carried out of the school one morning, it seems the tension between mothers and daughters, rival lovers, and the haves and have-nots has shattered the surface of this isolated, affluent town—where people stop at nothing to get what they want.

Wow.

From the pitch to the first page, this had all the ingredients I look for in a fast-paced suspense and Ward didn't let me down. With a steady stream of unlikeable characters that play on some of our biggest insecurities--attraction, appearance, wealth, celebrity--I couldn't wait to see how the events would unfold. A constant page-turner, I think many readers will be engrossed by the flashback structure, picking favorites (or perhaps their least despicable POV) and can easily see this being translated to screen.

Thank you to Park Row and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for honest review consideration.

Thank you to NetGalley, Annie Ward and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the free e-book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this novel! It was quick paced and although it was easy to keep guessing whodunit, I was never right and I love that. I found it suspenseful and interesting the entire way through. This novel had way more action than I had anticipated and I loved every minute of it. I loved the revenge aspect too and didn't expect that.

This was my first book by this author and definitely won't be my last! I couldn’t put this one down. Without wanting to spoil anything here, this book is full of secrets, lies, and drama. The plot of this book was delicious, told alternating povs and timelines. You won’t know who to believe or what is going on until the end! Would definitely recommend for thriller lovers!

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange of my honest opinion.

The Lying Club begins as “rich people problems” but slowly turns more insidious.

This slow-burn thriller follows three women in a wealthy Colorado community. There’s Natalie: a young woman working as an office assistant at a private school. Brooke: a mom with more wealth than she could ever spend in her lifetime. Asha: another mom trying to keep up with her daughter’s wishes.

The book opens with Natalie groggily waking up in her car in the school parking lot and trying to remember her actions leading up to this.

Secrets, lies, gaslighting, manipulation, and entitlement make up the majority of this thriller.

While not much happens until around the 70% mark, and nearly all of the characters are unlikeable, I still thought the story was compelling. It was interesting seeing how everything tied together. Although, I think a few pages could be trimmed to even out the pacing.

I saw another review compare this to the tv show Euphoria, which is definitely apt. They share a few similarities.

I enjoyed the author’s writing style and will definitely read more of their books!

CW: drug addiction/abuse.

Thank you to Park Row for providing an arc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

https://booksandwheels.com

I've enjoyed other books by Ward, but I struggled with this one. It starts out with a bang and two dead bodies, but things quickly come to a crash as the pace slows down way too much with revealing who the bodies are and how they're connected. There are some interesting twists, but it wasn't enough to keep me as engaged as I'd hoped. The pace finally picked up--near the end of the book, which was way too late. And sadly, I didn't care for the characters (parents or children). I found myself skimming parts, as this one missed the mark for me.

This is a thriller that is very much a slow burn. The book begins with two bodies being found. However, it isn't revealed who these two bodies are. The rest of the novel is then slowly revealing who these bodies are and how others might be connected. The twisty connections are explored through three women and one man who are connected via an elite private school. There's Natalie who is an administrative assistant at the school, Brooke and Asha who have daughters on the soccer team and are each navigating their own issues, and Nick who is the assistant athletic director. As you can imagine, there are secrets and lies and all the things that make this thriller great. Again, this one is really about the build, so the last 10% moves quick as the truth comes at you as the reader fast. For me personally, I wish the big action would have come sooner, AND I did dig the way the ending was written with a solid twisty reveal. Thanks to NetGalley for the early look at this March 2022 release.

Personally, I am not a fan of the different POVs when it comes to most books, but for this one it is necessary. A body is found at the local private school, no one knows whose it is or who did it. All we know is that there were 1 main suspect at the scene, Natalie. It goes through 3 different womens lifes, Brooke (the upper-class, recently separated, drunk parent), Asha (the upper-class, friendly, husband might be cheating on me while I am pregnant parent), and Natalie (the lower-class, young front-desk secretary at school, happens to know everything about everyone, and dating the schools soccer coach). While going a few months back in time to go through the lives of these women, we find out their secrets and what's going on that leads up to the murder. Annie Ward did a great job going back and forth describing all of the womens lives and keeping me on my feet on who was the murderer and who was murdered. In the end, I did guess who it was that was murdered but I had no absolute clue on who did it or the events that led up to the murder. It was a medium-paced book and a great thriller. I can't wait to check out some more of Annie Wards collection!

A body is found at an ultra-posh prep school. What the heck happened??

I loved Annie Ward's previous title BEAUTIFUL BAD and was so excited to dive into her new novel. This author is incredibly smart and the mystery had me guessing until the end. Indeed, this one is perfect for fans of BIG LITTLE LIES and/or LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE. I do want to note a content warning: assault of minors.

Falcon Academy is the home to rich elite children. Their parents are awful! Thinking that the world revolves around them and their children. This book tells the story of 3 women, Natalie an office assistant and Brooke and Asha are parents of children at the school. All 3 have their sights on Nicholas the PE teacher. You know from the beginning this isn't going to end well! Lots of secrets and honestly I didn't like any of the characters. I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.

The rich and elite being overprotective and over ambitious. Soccer daughters vying for the best there are lies and more lies. These people will stop at nothing even murder.

This book was sent to me as an ARC by the publisher for a review.

Overall, I found the book to be a quick read, but an underwhelming one. I never connected with any of the characters while reading, and felt that the way they acted and interacted with one another was just strange. I could see the goal behind it, but it was not executed in a way that made me excited by the story. Many of the interactions between characters felt forced. Some plot points felt out of place while reading even though they did end up making more sense when getting to the end of the book- though it just felt like things were getting in the way of the story while actually reading it.
In the end, I wouldn’t recommend this one.

I should know better than to read other reviews before I read the actual book. Some of the other readers of this book left rather lukewarm reviews and I found The Lying Club from Annie Ward to be a rather exciting and different story than the usual run of the mill thriller.

A rich school in Colorado. Brook is a recently separated mother who wants her daughter Sloane to be the best. She knows that she will get into UCLA on a soccer scholarship and will do anything for it, including paying additional for private coaching...and it doesn't hurt that the coach is the handsome Coach Nick.

Asha knows her daughter Mia is good and soccer and has enjoyed watching her play with her best friend Sloane. She's been friendly with Brooke for years but after a strange incident with Brooke and Asha's husband Phil one night, she's tried to keep her distance.

Natalie is the school receptionist. She's got a bit of a shady history, and sometimes she can't help her sticky fingers. She's always got her eyes set on the handsome soccer coach.

This book opens with a BANG - as two bodies are found in the gym. Who are those two bodies...and how did they get there? Keep reading because this book is such more than just a few lies, bad moms and high school soccer.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review.

When two bodies are found at an elite Colorado private school, three women are drawn into the case. Brooke is a wealthy heiress, but a serial cheater. Asha helicopters her children as she suspects her husband of an affair. Natalie watches the rich school mothers with envy from her front desk position.

The premise of this one isn’t really anything new, but that’s okay because it is just so darn entertaining. You begin thinking you will hate most of the characters, but you end up rooting for them. The ending is shocking. I really was not expecting how it turned out. Right when I was thinking that, another twist came and hit me. This was a great read!

“She was no longer as desirable as normalcy. Boring was better. Young and dumb was better. Poor and needy, low-maintenance and thankful. That was what was attractive. The world had turned upside down.”

The Lying Club comes out 3/22

DNF.
I don't like to leave critical reviews because I understand the challenges of writing a novel and having a book published. For those reasons I will not publish my NetGalley review on my review website, Instagram, Goodreads, or Amazon. I'll leave my thoughts here.

The Lying Club has a good premise, but the author's constant and consistent use of passive voice and the word "was" to describe details or actions became a huge distraction. Examples: "Brooke was filming her daughter's performance."; "He was clapping his hands and shouting"; "Down the mountain was the town center"; "...a quick pat down of her coat confirmed that it was wet." There are other examples, too numerous to include here.

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin for providing an ARC to read and review. *NetGalley Top Reviewer.*

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me. I had high hopes for this one but the characters were hard to like for me and the choppiness of the chapters was confusing to me. That could be because it was an ARC but the story just didn’t grab me like the synopsis did.

This is a story about three women, two bodies and a lie with many layers. It takes place at a fancy school with rich kids with rich parents who will do anything to make sure their kids succeed. The story is slow to build but worth the wait. The Lying Club is built bit by bit... piece by piece with everything connecting in the end. The story is told from multiple perspectives and I found these characters to be bold, unique, fierce and well written. It also jumps from past to present until the story catches up.

There have been some comparisons of this one being like Big Little Lies and I would agree that the style is very similar. If you liked that story then you will really enjoy this one.