Thank you to NetGalley and Ten16 Press for an eARC copy of Truth and Other Lies by Maggie Smith in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 for ratings

TW: abortion (ON PAGE), stalking and rape (referenced in moderate detail), blood, references to war zones and genocide, divorce, blackmail

Megan Barnes, a recently unemployed emerging journalist, gets the opportunity of a lifetime when she serendipitously meets THE journalist to know: Pulitzer Prize winning war reporter, Jocelyn Jones. Jones offers Megan a position on her PR team for her upcoming tell-all memoir. When an anonymous Tweet goes viral accusing Jones of plagiarism, Megan is quick to defend her new mentor and meal-ticket back into the world of journalism. Megan begins to investigate the Tweets along with new-boyfriend Nick, and she uncovers much more than she bargained for. Hanging in the balance are Jocelyn's decades-long prestigious reputation, Megan's desire to keep ethics and accountability at the forefront of investigative journalism, and some sticky family secrets that may jeopardize Megan's future career as well as that of her mother who is running for congress. This is a story of political intrigue, dark secrets, and weighing the relative merits of loyalty and justice.

This book took me a little bit by surprise! I honestly had a hard time getting invested in the first half of the novel because it felt relatively low-stakes, much like a women's fiction that leaves more of the subtleties of intrigue to the imagination. However, around the 65% mark, things take a turn for the Girl-With-The-Dragon-Tattoo and really picked up in terms of risk, reward, and general entertainment. I love a good investigative journalism work in a plot, and this definitely delivered in that aspect. The rest of the book, now looking back on it in its entirety, posed some very challenging morality questions that will leave me thinking about the cost of blind loyalty and the weight of shame. The ending was very satisfying to me; the perfect blend of "put a bow on it" but with one, solid open thread, leaving the reader to decide what Jocelyn's ultimate fate will be.

My one major critique of this book is the way that the character of Megan was written. For a trained investigative journalist, she came across as very naïve and blind to Jocelyn's dark undercurrents. My personal alarm bells were ringing about Jocelyn from the first page that she was introduced, and I have a hard time believing that someone in Megan's position would truly take someone like that at her word without evidence, especially given her chosen profession. Jocelyn had a lot to offer Megan in terms of her career, but Megan seems wholly devoted to her value of ethics and justice, and letting a job prospect outweigh the niggling feelings of untruth seemed disingenuous for her character.

TL;DR: This is a story of political intrigue, unethical investigative journalism, and secrets that have the potential to ruin lives. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to fans of legal thrillers and those who enjoy an unreliable narrator and morally grey characters.

Megan is a hopefully journalist whose had some bad breaks. She’s back in her hometown with her tail between her legs and takes a gutsy move at a speech for one of her journalistic heroes and ends up somehow becoming said heroes right hand Pr woman. Much like in Devil Wears Prada, Megan is assisting a high powered woman and is a fish out of water. But Megan is smart and savvy and when she discovered something nefarious is going on she follows her instincts. Meanwhile her mother is running for congress as a Republican, in opposition to her views. The book has various twists and turns while Maggie Smith tackles important topics of the day; abortion, women’s rights, ethics and more.
If you’re one to shy away from politics this may not be your bag but I found it riveting and I couldn’t put it down. A propulsive debut, and I’m certainly looking forward to more from Maggie Smith.

Fantastic novel for a debut author! Megan Barnes flees home after life in NYC does not work out. She loses her job and boyfriend essentially in one day. When she attends a rally and fends off an attacker, she meets her lifelong hero, Jocelyn Jones and starts working for her. As she is working for her, Megan starts to see her hero may not be who says she is and the reporter in her starts to uncover a web of lies.

Meanwhile, Megan is dealing with her overbearing Mother who is running for political office.

Smith did a wonderful job showing what lengths people will go to keep the truth covered!

3.25 stars

Truth And Other Lies started off very strong with a likeable main character, Megan, a young investigative reporter, who gets caught up in the life of Jocelyn, an influential journalist who has penned her memoirs. Megan agrees to work on the PR team for Jocelyn’s book which will have consequences for Megan and her family.

Like the title suggests, the story touches on secrets - almost everyone in the story is hiding something - as well as the role of social media in spreading rumors and lies, and alternative interpretations of events, all very topical issues. In addition, the novel also includes plotlines around women’s rights, and the role of journalists. For me, the novel lost some steam in the middle although it did pick up near the end. The characters could have been more developed, in my view - perhaps using different POVs to tell the story - and the pacing a bit more even. Having said that, overall, this was a pleasant read.

Thanks to Ten16 Press and Netgalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Smith writes an grossing story. It totally absorbed me as I drank in her words. The plot is very contemporary and did nothing to endear the media to me although Megan the main character is a reporter. There are many themes wrapped up together: broken hearts, estrangement, collusion, pandering, and revenge.
Although I wasn’t crazy about Megan’s politics, I liked her character. Social media played a tremendous role in the book and showcased how things become distorted and people are willing to believe any little rot.
The book also highlights the wariness of being careful when you screw someone over because the same might just happen to you.
I didn’t like the ending. It ended too quickly, right when Megan was on the verge of something. I felt let down.

I was provided an advance copy of this book from @netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
When Megan losses her job as a journalist and her boyfriend in the same day, she moves home to Chicago to try to figure things out. But her mother's sudden announcement to run for US Congress is an unwelcome surprise. Not only do they have very opposing opinions, but being the daughter of a candidate also means no newspapers will hire her until after the elections. When she has an unlikely encounter with a Pulitzer prize winning journalist who offers her a job, she thinks it will be the break she is looking for. However, she will quickly come to realize that everyone has secrets they don't want revealed!
Overall I enjoyed this story. It held my attention, and I wanted to find out what was truth and what people were hiding! I did struggle a bit with connecting to Megan, at times she was self centered and judgy. Although, if we're honest we probably all struggle with those things at times too, but it made it hard for me to root for her all the time. One other complaint is the back of the book description giving too much away. Some of the events mentioned don't happen til very late in the book.
But overall it did hold my attention and I enjoyed the journey.
If this sounds like a book you might like, keep an eye out for it. It's currently set to be published 8 Mar 22.
#NetGalley #TruthAndOtherLies

Set against a political backdrop, Truth and Other Lies infuses secrets, complicated mother-daughter relationships, and hot-button issues. An exciting debut not to be missed!

Wow. That's really all I can say. This books brings up some REALLY big issues. And I love it.

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

Truth and Other Lies grabs you right from the start; unfortunately, I felt like it got off track about halfway through and never really found its was back.

I really loved Truth and Other Lies by Maggie Smith - what an exciting debut. This is a fast paced novel that brings together three women under unexpected circumstances. Megan Barnes, an aspiring, young journalist who was recently fired from her job in NYC forcing her to move back home to Chicago. Jocelyn Jones, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and soon to be author who is known for her progressive reporting of worldly issues. And Helen, Megan's overprotective mom who couldn't be less aligned with her own beliefs, who is making a run for Congress.

This book was fast paced and dynamic - I enjoyed getting to know the characters and I think the author did a great job with tying up and unraveling loose ends all throughout. Highly highly recommend this to everyone!

Thank you to Netgalley and Ten16Press for the ARC. Truth and Other Lies is out 3/8/22.

Megan Barnes is a young woman who is down on her luck. She recently lost her job and her boyfriend in the same day, so she is back to living with Mom in Chicago. Megan’s luck is about to change though because she bumps into her hero, veteran journalist Jocelyn Jones who offers her an interesting job opportunity.

Truth and Other Lies is Maggie Smith’s debut novel. I have followed Ms. Smith for a while on Twitter so I feel guilty about writing this review, but my reviews have always been authentic, and I want to be true to Ms. Smith and my readers.

This book is a textbook example of women’s literature. It has strong female characters and a predominately female cast. However, the main character, Megan Barnes was extremely naïve, and I would have encouraged her to read Lois Frankel’s Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office. The use of foreshadowing was too heavy handed to the point that it ruined the surprises. The “twists” could be seen a mile away.

The first half of the book was very slow and awkward. Megan and her friend just happen to be on their old campus to pick up job postings (What college doesn’t have their job postings online?) and discover a sexual assault protest. The author completely glosses over the stories of the sexual assault survivors. It felt like the author was trying to cram this event into the plotline, and it just wasn’t smooth.

The novel took a while to get going, but things did pick up in the second half of the book. The ending was lackluster and should been stronger. I speculate that the author wanted to leave the ending a bit open, but it isn’t very memorable.

Overall, Lies and Other Truth is a solid women’s literature debut novel with some additional finetuning needed especially in the areas of foreshadowing.

A story of a young woman, Megan, who had left home to be on her own and runs back home when she encounters difficulty. She is befriended by a mentor who is not who she seems. Megan’s mother is running for political office representing a party that is different from hers and Megan falls in love while sleuthing her mentor’s secrets and learns more about her mother’s secrets while finally landing another journalism job. Contemporary themes of feminism, politics, abortion, journalistic integrity made this book bearable for me, but it was not an extraordinary read. Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read and review an advance copy of this book.

This book caught my attention from the first chapter. As the story began to unfold the writing and characters captivated my attention. It felt like I was watching a well written series on Netflix. This book took modern women’s problems and gave a name to the women begin the stories. I can NOT wait to see what Maggie Smith writes next. I hope a lot of people grab this book and devour it like I did!

I really enjoyed this book. Any fan of women's contemporary fiction will appreciate the easy flow of the story, and the very natural dialogue and relationship dynamics. of Megan. The book has some deeper themes and a lot of drama, overall Megan is a tad idealistic, but is a young character who is easy to root for. This was a quick, fast-paced read with some real meat to it.

Maggie Smith is not afraid to delve into some of the big topics that don’t often get talked about sexual harassment and abortion being g just two. This is a great debut which k thoroughly enjoyed reading.

Review in a sentence: Fast-paced and entertaining story about a women trying to carve her way into the world

My thoughts:

This was a fun read, it was fast-paced, and I really enjoyed it. It's a story about how lives come to the forefront, and the plot is strong. There was a slight mystery, aspiring journalism and hot topics like social media and fake news.

There are several layers and subplots happening simultaneously in the story and I think that's what kept the pacing up. But did find myself only really interested in the main storyline and the other stories kind of fell to the wayside. I liked how the story was focused on three female characters and how they deal with power and influence. This book read a bit like a Netflix series (in a good way) and I can see it being turned into a tv show that I'd watch.

It's a great debut and I can see myself reading Maggie Smiths writing in the future.

Megan Barnes loses her job as an investigative reporter in New York and breaks up with her boyfriend Luke on the same day. She returns home to Chicago, moves in with her divorced mother Helen Watkins and she doesn’t plan on staying with her for long. Megan’s shocked to discover her mum’s running for the open house seat in the ninth district and they have very different political views.

Helen the former helicopter parent, is now an active supporter of pro-life movement, she’s anti-abortion and she’s not a fan of the ME Too movement. Her mother’s political ambitions won’t help Megan find a job, luckily they have different last names and she refuses to be involved in her mum’s campaign. Megan becomes involved in a disturbance at her former university’s campus, her best friend Becca is stunned by how quickly the violence erupts and afterwards Megan meets Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Jocelyn Jones

Jocelyn offers Megan a job working on her public relations team, she’s about to release a memoir, it’s about her time working as a war correspondent and news anchor. Megan looks up to Jocelyn, she’s a successful woman, famous and lives a lavish lifestyle. When three anonymous tweets are sent, people start questioning Jocelyn’s reputation and integrity.

Megan has to locate the online troll, with the help from Nick Russo and his friend Harry. Megan uncovers a story that would restart her career as a journalist, it gets nasty when someone threatens to reveal a secret about Megan’s mother’s past and uses blackmail to keep everyone silent.

Truth and Other Lies by Maggie Smith is a story set in today’s world, where social media and computer hackers can quickly spread information about a person, expose their secrets, lies and leave their reputation in tatters. Morals and ethics are questioned in the narrative, such as cheating, divorce, abortion, mental illness, gas lighting, abuse of power, plagiarism and the influence and impact of social media.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and Ten16 Press in exchange for an honest review, Megan defiantly has preconceived opinions about others, I found it interesting how her relationships changes with these characters during the novel, especially with her mother, Jocelyn, Nick and Dragan and five stars from me.

After being fired from her reporter job and being cheated on by her boyfriend, Megan moves back home to Chicago and back into a home with her mom. Soon after, she learns her mom, who lands very differently on the political spectrum than her, is running for US Congress. After an altercation on a college campus, Megan gets the chance to join revered journalist Jocelyn Jones as a strategist on her PR team for her upcoming memoir. But soon, an anonymous tweet reveals that Jocelyn may be hiding something and Megan must use her journalistic skills to find out the truth.

This was a really great story that was so much about integrity, and as the title implies, the truth - sometimes in its many forms. I love that this book focused around a mentor and a mentee and how that relationship can sometimes let you down. And I also really loved the subplot of the mother's bid for election and what it feels like when someone you love thinks very differently than you. This book, about how social media can sometimes lead to truth that you weren't expecting, feels very timely and is a really great debut. I'm excited to see what this author writes next.

This book will be featured on Episode 25 of the Reading Through Life podcast, available on 2/9/22.

A 25-year-old investigative reporter, her former stay-at-home mother who is now running for Congress, and a Pulitzer prize winning journalist. What do they have in common and how do their lives intertwine? Enjoy this read, and find out!

A very good debut novel with an interesting storyline that touches on self-worth and honesty, as well as deceit and ambition, and at the same time tackles several contemporary issues (e.g., abortion and journalistic ethics). The deep-faceted plot is an interesting one, the characters are realistic, and the writing is crisp and clean. All in all, this was a very good read, and I look forward to more from this author!

An engaging and thought provoking debut novel that examines truth, lies and secrets in the age of the internet and social media. Megan is a young investigative journalist who moves back to her mother's home in Chicago after losing her job and breaking up with her boyfriend in New York City. Megan learns that her mother is running for a congressional seat as a pro-life candidate and she vows not to have anything to do with the campaign. A chance encounter at a campus rally leads to Megan taking a PR job relating to the publication of a memoir by a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Jocelyn Jones, who she idolizes as a role model. When anonymous tweets imply that Jocelyn has plagiarized her award-winning work, Megan embarks on a search for the truth that uncovers secrets that will impact her mother's campaign as well. The story could lead to some interesting book club discussions!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a digital ARC.