2022 is the year of cult books and I’m here for it!! Right away, I was absorbed into this book especially with Rainy’s past and present POVs. Her past really showed how impressionable children are and I found her strength to rebel- incredible. At around 60%, I found myself less interested. Some of the scenes that should have been addicting we’re just a bit too long for my liking. This one had great potential but ultimately, fell flat for me.

Thank you @graydonhouse books for my copy!

Rating: 3/5

This is the first book of read by Tarryn Fisher and it was good, not exceptional, but an interesting book about the lasting effects of a child being brought into a cult with her mother.

This would be a solid three stars from our average readers, four for the right readers. A bit slow on pacing.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin for the ARC.

I would read anything by Tarryn Fisher, but luckily I don’t have to, since she continues to put out incredible thrillers. Unlike her past books, Tarryn focused on women helping, saving and supporting other women and I am here for it! The book is as twisty as other books she has written, but the female friendship she has given her characters really makes them shine. They are not perfect, but they see past each other’s flaws.

Of course there is more to the book. A cult, past secrets to unearth and expose, and more. But the female friendship really shines!

I was SUCH a big fan of The Wives that I had such high hopes for this one...and it was such a let down. It took like 200+ pages to get to the plot line that was discussed on the back of the book. I understand the importance of setting the scene but... that's a bit ridiculous. Especially because then the last quarter of the book raced by. There were some twists that kept me interested, but honestly, I wish I had just let this one pass me by.

I couldn't get through this one. It just fell flat and over done. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC>

Tarryn Fisher is one of my favourite authors so when I received a copy of her latest book An Honest Lie to review, I was thrilled.

We are introduced right away to main character Rainy. She lives in Washington State in the mountains with her boyfriend. She's an artist and moved from New York to be with him. After she moved, she was included into his circle of friends and has now been invited on the annual girls trip. This year they are heading to Vegas. Vegas, however, is the last place Rainy wants to go. She has a past and she doesn't want to relive it.

The story goes back and forth from when Rainy was a teenager to present day. The storyline is not fast paced but I found it captivating. I enjoyed the background story and how it lead up to real time. When in Vegas, one of the girls on the trip Braithe goes missing. Rainy receives a text message from the captor.

The last quarter of the book picks up in pace and its a race against the clock to save Braithe and figure out what the captor wants.

It is dark, a bit sad and there are some trigger warnings of child abuse but a good solid read. Four stars.

Tarryn is a master at her craft. Weaving and winding you down paths not knowing where they’ll lead. No surprise here, she’s done it again!

Told in alternating voices of Rainy and Summer, with chapters of now and then. The past and present collide during a girls weekend to Vegas.
Somewhat of an over the top plot line, I enjoyed it, because I am a sucker for books about cults.

Unfortunately I didn’t like this book. I love a cult, but this didn’t feel cohesive. I felt like the cult was thrown in because it’s buzzy, not because it made sense structurally. Not one for me but I’ll try the author again.

Complex characters,with flaws and strengths are the hallmarks of a Tarryn Fisher book.

Rainy, struggling to fit in with the women of Tiger Mountain and against her better judgement, is convinced to take a trip to Vegas, the home of some of her deepest trauma. And so begins a psychological thriller that blends together the brutal realities of growing up in a cult and the enduring trauma faced by it’s survivors as well as ugliness that women can inflict on each other.

The story flashes between then and now. Its a quick read, one you wont be able to put down until you know how everything ends up. This is a book you will be creeped out, uncomfortable, and somewhat scared. Ultimately, its a story of overcoming your past and finding strength within yourself.

Many thanks to NetGallery, Tarryn Fisher and Harlequin Trade Publishing (Graydon House) for this on the edge of your seat/always remember your strength book.

I had so much trouble getting into this one and it just didn't grab me like I was hoping it would. It just started so wordy about stuff I found it hard to actually care about: the personal relationship of the main character that I just couldn't relate to, nor was I interested in trying to relate to. The big twist fell a little flat for my likings and it just missed the mark for me.

I received an ARC, but my opinions are all mine.

An Honest Lie by Tarryn Fisher is a mind-tripping experience. This story is unexpected and exciting so that you are sitting on the edge of your seat. Rainy Ives lives in the tree-top-covered part of Washington when a girl's trip to Vegas turns into a nightmare bringing the past and the present head-on collision course. Tarryn Fisher does it again; what a perplexed, dumbfounded, discombobulated story that will addle your brain!

An Honest Lie by Tarryn Fisher is a captivating thriller that will keep you at the edge of your seat. Told in past and present, we learn about the horrors faced and current choices. Rainy is now living with her boyfriend and wants to make him happy. She is not a fan of all his friends but is willing to make him happy. That is how she finds herself on a girl’s trip to the last place she wants to be, Las Vegas. Now her friend is missing and her past catches up to her present. The journey that follows will keep you reading as Rainy fights for her future. A truly gripping story from start to finish.

Happy reading!

Well, that was... great. I really enjoyed reading it.
But... the blurb is completely ... wrong/misleading.
The kidnapped friend doesn't happen until waay more than half the book is through!
Someone needs to make a better blurb for this story!
Because now I feel that I can't say anything about what happened because nothing about what happens is mentioned in the blurb - only that Braithe disappears. And I'm not even at that point in the book. I'm writing this now that I'm at around the 66% mark!
But still - I really like the story and Rainy.
We so want that happy end for her. But she still has a lot of healing to do - about whatever happened to her as a teenager.
This book is very sad and heartbreaking, but also hopeful and sweet and a bit funny. And we have some very awful people and mysterious and suspensy moments.

We also do this back in time thing that I hate in books. One chapter NOW and the next chapter THEN. I don't know why I don't like that - in the end I always love the books and I love the back in time chapters, but I always groan innerly or out loud when I start a book and it says THEN on the first page. 🤔
There were also some tiny plotholes and some wrong ages/times/timelines that bothered me a little.
And some of the writing is a bit weird - as if Tarryn grew up somewhere where they use very different expressions. But that could just be me being a weird reader. 🤣
And then I wanted a tiny bit more epilogue - or even a tiny bit more Grant. Or more relationship. I know this is not a romance - it's more a Women's Fiction Hear Me Roar thingy - but still - a tiny bit more Grant to make him a bit more likable for the reader.

But anyway...
Great cover. Great book. I wouldn't mind seeing this on Netflix one day!

AN HONEST LIE was a heartbreaking and suspensy YA + Adult Women's Fiction Therapy Session kind of book. I loved reading it! Run to your nearest amazon for your own Rainy - she'll be sold out in no time!

WHAT?! No, really - WHAT??

Upon finishing this read, I am equal parts shocked and confused - I mean, in a good way - but definitely not the rollercoaster I was expecting!

4.5 stars for this insane, gripping, heartbreaking psych thriller!

A hesitant girls trip, a foreboding history, some bad juju vibes... Combine all of that, give it a shake and you have a recipe for "An Honest Lie". This psych thriller blew me away - I wasn't at all expecting the dark bad history vibes and tormenting storyline hidden beneath the surface. There is a lot of sadness, trauma, and heartbreak baggage that is tagging along for the ride.

This book isn't at all like a thriller about a girls trip with a little drama - it is a heck of a lot more. Be warned!

I couldn’t get into this one and didn’t finish it. I have liked other novels by this author, but this one just wasn’t for me. I wasn’t able to connect with the story or the main character, and some of the plot elements seemed too far fetched for me to get past. I felt that the present-day story was a bit flat, and I don’t enjoy the flashbacks either.

An intriguing concept that was not delivered well. The alternating timelines of past and present were okay, but the past timeline story was clearly more interesting as opposed to the present storyline that for the majority of the book was pure set-up for the end. The transitions between timelines felt disjointed at times and left something to be desired. I was not expecting this to be a cult book, but the cult aspect was actually well done. Unfortunately, it just made the present timeline's mean girl cliquey women fell even more trite.

I love a good thriller that twists your mind and Tarryn Fisher can always deliver!

An Honest Lie starts off with Rainy and her friends and her being roped into a girls trip to Vegas. What comes after that changed this story completely. The biggest shocker was the ending. It's a story that after finishing I feel like I want to reread it right away to see if I can catch any of the little details I missed along the way.

It was an amazing story and I highly recommend snuggling up with this one!

3.5 stars
I really enjoyed author Tarryn Fisher's last two releases, The Wives and The Wrong Family, but An Honest Lie didn't have quite the same shocking twists and turns, so it didn't wow me as much. Although the ending fell a bit flat for me, I am still a fan of the author and look forward to her next release. I borrowed the audiobook via Hoopla, and I really enjoyed Lauren Fortgang's narration.