Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of An Honest Lie by Tarryn FIsher.

Rainy lives a quiet life on a rainy (ha, get it) mountain in Washington, quite the change from her busy artsy life in NYC. Quiet except the group of women that Rainy has been gently nudged to befriend by her boyfriend Grant. But it's all fun and games until said friend group invites you on a girl's trip to Vegas. Introverted Rainy can't imagine anything worse, but Grant has already bought the plane tickets, and so she is going. Rainy has a lot of reasons to not want to go to Vegas, and her past might be the biggest one.

What starts as a silly and fun girl's trip soon turns sour, and then scary when one of the ladies she is with starts acting strange. Rainy knows that one day her past would come to claim her, but she never imagined how it would...

Ok, this was...fine. I loved the backdrop, a foggy mountain, mysterious women, a protagonist with a past. But it was all a little too foggy? The story just didn't quite all piece together like it could have. And the ending was a bit of a train wreck, which was unfortunate because the beginning had me sold.

I'm also really tired of reading stories that have thirty something year old women with all the depth and interest as a piece of tissue paper. Can we not with the vapid women? I get that some of them are, and I am always SOLD on a bachelorette party gone murder, but ugh. I know that women talk about way more than who wants who's husband, and how good my spray tan looks.

Rainy was living her best life. She loved her boyfriend Grant, she had become a well known artist and had a new circle of friends. What more could she want? But an all girls weekend trip to Vegas!! Rainy didn't want to go to Vegas ever again. Grant had encouraged her to go, so she reluctantly agreed to go. This brought up her past. AKA Rainy, also known as Summer must face her demons from growing up in a cult. She must face her past and her worst enemy when one of her friends is kidnapped during the all girls weekend trip to Vegas. This book is dark and twisty. Thank you Netgalley for an advanced copy of An Honest Lie by Tarryn Fisher.

This is one of those books where the premise on the back cover does not give away the entire story that you'll find within the pages of the book.

I love Tarryn Fisher, but her books are either all or nothing for me. When I read the premise of this book, it sounded fine, but I anticipated that it would be "meh" to me.

But thankfully, I was wrong.

And there's one reason why: CULTS.

Why does I keep finding books that involve cults? I think it's my new obsession.

This novel jumps back and forth between Rainy's past and present, and it's the past that really intrigued me. Because Rainy's mom ends up getting them sucked into a cult, and although at first Rainy thinks it's a great place (and at a young age doesn't really understand that it's a cult) she eventually comes to realize how dangerous it is.

And that danger has found her in the present day, despite the fact that she has worked hard to distance herself from all of it.

So when her friend goes missing on a Vegas vacation, Rainy knows she's about to get drawn right back in.

I really enjoyed this book and was very pleasantly surprised. Totally a great summer read!

Tarryn Fisher's books keep me on the edge of my seat, racing for answers. These books never disappoint!

I was intrigued by this one because I love books about cults. I really enjoyed the dual timelines of now and in the past and the narrator was unreliable, which I love in thrillers. Unfortunately, this book fell flat for me. I thought it was way too slow with not much happening and I didn’t find it suspenseful at all. This one was a miss for me.

Thank you to HTP and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This is my first psychological cult thriller and I am feeling indifferent about it. It had an interesting premise about a religious cult situated in an old prison. However, it took me a while to finish and I felt like the dual timelines (then/now) did not connect together right away. I enjoyed the Summer storyline better and I thought it was more interesting than the present. It did picked up towards the middle but the ending was mediocre.

Thank you to NetGallery and to Harlequin Trade Publishing for my copy for my honest review

As someone who studied religion in college and looked into polygamous relationships, this book sucked me in. Although it is not the same, it was a cult that the character was brought into and taken advantage of. I was so interested in the idea of the cult and the process by which the character got out. The book switches back and forth from “now” and “then” until they finally merge at the end. Another great book by Fisher!

Tarryn Fisher has written a gripping psychological thriller that makes me want to try more of her books!
"An Honest Lie" follows the current and past life of Rainy. In her current life, Rainy is a New York woman trying to fit into her boyfriend's life in the mountains. In her past, Summer is a young girl trying to survive a cult. The story jumps back and forth between the past and the present, allowing the two to meet near the end of the book.
I found the story of Summer to be very riveting and intriguing, always leaving me wanting to know more when each chapter ended. The character of Summer is very relatable and draws you in with the loss of her father and lack of other family members outside of her mother. It makes the appeal of the cult more believable.
The story of Rainy, follows her on a girls trip to Vegas, where her past and present intertwine.
The only downfall of the novel was that Rainy's story progresses at a much slower pace than Summer's.
I would highly recommend to anyone interested in cults or psychological thrillers.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

2.5 stars

I have read and reviewed a number of Tarryn Fisher's books in the past this one didn't really sit in my brain the way some of her others have, I feel like there was so much of this book that could have been left out you don't really get into any of the major plot points until like the last quarter of the book. overall I just didn't find it to be that enjoyable. I didn't like any of the characters, and the story I found kind of boring. I also didn't like the flip-flop between timelines.


thank you to Netgalley and Graydon House for an eARC in exchange for an honest review

A sure fire hit for the thriller reading crowd and a perfect choice for a staycation or vacation read, “An Honest Lie” by Tarryn Fisher is a dark and electrifying novel.

I thoroughly devoured this novel, finding myself sneaking time amongst even the busiest of work days to sit down and read a few pages as I couldn’t bear to tear myself away from the. The first two thirds of this novel has a wickedly fast pace and succeeds in pulling the reader into Rainy’s world - both past and present. I found myself instantly crafting theories about the novel’s many mysteries and was pleasantly surprised at the reveals. Although the conclusion was satisfying, I did feel it more drawn out than necessary with a noticeable downshift in speed. That’s not to say is a slow ending as this book is propulsive from start to finish. Rather, I found myself lacking interest in the final chapters and instead wishing to revisit more of Rainy’s past.

My one other critique is I find the cover art a bit deceiving in terms of the plot and partial setting of the story. I’d like to elaborate but fear my opinion on this might spoil some of the story. So please, if and when you read this book, please let me know if you agree.

Sincere thanks to Harper Collins Canada for an advanced readers copy via NetGalley.

This is a slow burn suspense where we get a current day story and also a look back in the past to a girl living within a cult. The past chapters were absolutely fascinating to me but I thought the current day chapters were so unrealistic. I struggle with grown women being mean and petty.
Overall though, I was sucked into this story and was holding my breath by the end.

After surviving life in a cult as a youngster, Rainy feels very lucky in her relationship with Grant. He is a wonderful man and when he invites her to come live with him, she jumps at the chance. As an artist, she can work anywhere as long as there is enough light.
There is one problem, Grant has some really close friends and he likes to get together as couples. Rainy feels like she is on the outside looking in. Most of them are kind to her but one of them, Tara, acts like she can’t stand Rainy and Rainy has no clue what the problem is. At one of these dinners, the girls all announce they are going to Las Vegas for some fun. Rainy gets roped into joining although she has many reservations about these women and about returning to a place within an hour of the cult.
Her unease grows once in Vegas. Braithe and Tara are acting odd. Rainy is jittery being so close to the cult. After being coerced into a sitting with a physic, Rainy takes off before the others to return to their hotel. A few days later, the others go home and only Rainy and Braithe are left in Vegas. Without a word to Rainy, Braithe disappears. Rainy gets a phone call and what the stranger tells her chills her to the bone.
A co-worker recommended this author to me. I really enjoyed this book. The story was so chilling and foreign to me that I found myself turning the pages faster and faster to find out what happens. The ending was superb and I didn’t see how it would play out. Good job to Tarryn Fisher! I look forward to her next book. Readers of Janelle Brown and B.A. Paris will devour this book.

Robyn Heil, Buyer for Brodart Co.

I've read the last three books by Tarryn Fisher and I think this one was the wildest ride yet! Rainy Ives has escaped a past she'd love to forget. She has found love, moved on, and even has a new group of friends who she reluctantly agrees to accompany on a girls trip to Vegas. Vegas is the last place Rainy wants to go since it is a stone's throw from the scene of her horrendous childhood-a place where an enigmatic man appears to offer relief to a Rainy and her desperate mother, but instead traps them in their worst nightmare. While in Vegas, Rainy's worst fear is realized as her friend Braithe goes missing and she is sucked back into a past she'd do anything to forget. So, this book has a bit of everything-cults, murder, childhood trauma, toxic female friendships. and more. Our main character does make some head-scratchingly bad decisions and the women in this book embody your classic smile in your face while knifing you in the back clique you see in pretty much every high school dramedy ever. It started a little slow for me but I was completely sucked into this book by the half way point and sped right through it to the end. If you liked The Wives or The Wrong Family you're probably going to like this one too.

I'm always excited when I get the opportunity to review a new Tarryn Fisher book. I first discovered her when reading The Wives and was immediately hooked.

It seems as though Tarryn has a knack for the dark side and I'm not complaining, I just unfortunately found this book to read a little slow. I wasn't able to get into it as fast and as deep as her prior books. Like many, if not almost all, of her prior books this is a psychological thriller. This book centers around a character named Rainy. Rainy is different (aren't they always?) and moves with her new husband to start their lives together. Another main character that we have is Summer. A girl who makes the unfortunate decision to join a cult. Put these two together and BAM!

Both Summer and Rainy's lives cross paths and Rainey must now be the one to save young Summer.

While it was an enjoyable read, I must say that I favor Tarryn's prior books a bit more.

Here's probably a not-so-popular review.

I was immediately drawn to this book because of the synopsis. I love a book involving a cult, and this one was definitely intriguing because it also talked about the aftermath of being in a cult and Rainy/Summer's overall trauma and how it changed her life. For the better? Eh..

I've never read a book involving a cult of this magnitude, and it was really interesting to read the ins and outs and how overall fucked up it really was. I hated Taured with a firey passion, but I think that's something that Tarryn Fisher does really well, writing unlikeable characters. Because I didn't particularly enjoy any of them in this book. I RESPECTED Rainy/Summer, but I didn't like her. I thought she made stupid decisions, but I also had to keep in mind her past trauma and how that comes into play with the way she is. I just couldn't relate, obviously, so I think that made it harder to root for her bone-headed decisions.

Another thing I really enjoyed about this one was the dual timeline, and how quick of a read it was. I love a good fast paced thriller, and this one definitely fit that bill. The dual timeline broke things up very nicely and was seamlessly written. However. There were multiple times where it felt like I was reading two entirely separate books. The storyline with the girls in Vegas and then getting revenge on Taured, it just seemed like there was such a disconnect there. It didn't.... fit. Overall, the entire story line just felt super unbelievable and I had a really hard time connecting with it.

Thank you so much for my gifted ARC in exchange for my honest review, HTP Books!

I love a good mystery thriller, they keep me on my toes, the edge of my seat. However this one didn’t, it kept me slumped awaiting the good stuff which didn’t happen until 3/4s of the way through, then finally I was on the edge of my seat and really liking the mystery, this book just missed the mark for me a bit. I wouldn’t recommend it to my mystery lovers because there just was not enough and it was too late. If you would like to follow cult-y books then this is for you! 🥴

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for access to this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Overall, this is a pretty decent psychological thriller. I normally breeze through Tarryn Fisher's novels, however, this was one was very difficult to get into. I struggled to relate to many of the characters who seemed shallow, spiteful, and cliquish. Once I did get into the plot (more than half-way through), the story became an edgy cult-themed thriller. Would recommend for fans of Tarryn Fisher and those who enjoy a slower-paced psychological thriller.

Thanks to NetGalley, Tarryn Fisher, and Harlequin Trade Publishing, Graydon House for an advanced eBook in exchange for my honest review.

This certainly wasn't my favorite Fisher book but it held my attention and was still very well-written. However, there was not a huge plot twist like in some of her other books and the majority of the story was a bit too predictable. However, this had a unique topic that isn't covered much in books and the characters in the story were very intriguing. It was a quick and easy read with a decent story line. I would recommend this to anyone that likes a little mystery and enjoys fascinating characters.

✨Book Review✨
An Honest Lie by Tarryn Fisher
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This book was nothing like the vague description I read before requesting it, but not in a bad way. It was a cult thriller, and that happens to be pretty up my alley.
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I really liked the way the story alternated between the past and the present, and I liked how we got to learn more and more about Rainy's experience growing up in a religious cult. I also loved hearing about the progression of Rainy's relationship with her mother. This story was a little predictable, but I would recommend it to anyone wanting a quick thriller.

Bug Tarryn Fisher fan! She's done it again...another twisty story with great character development!