We Lie Here is a gripping, can't-put-down thriller that takes place in the Antelope Valley. As someone from Southern California, I thoroughly enjoyed the descriptions of the small town, the surrounding desert, and the Angeles National Forest. Yara is a likeable character and her observations and judgements of her family, friends, and current predicament is very relatable. The book follows Yara, as she travels back to Palmdale to throw her parents' 20th anniversary celebration. Once back in Palmdale, she has to deal with family drama, health issues, and a mystery surrounding her estranged cousin Felicia, a secret lake cabin, and more than one murder. I will definitely be recommending We Lie Here to anyone looking for an exciting thriller/mystery!

Interesting and well written I just personally couldn’t get into the story. Definitely creepy. Just a little slow and unbelievable at some points. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Yara returns home to host her parents anniversary party. Then she receives a very odd text. Someone claims to have info that will change her life. From there on it's a bit of a wild fun ride! Unputdownable edge of your seat thrill! I enjoyed this book so much with a satisfying ending!

Thank you Author, Publisher and Netgalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was an okay read for me. The family dynamics and relationships were well depicted but none of the characters were likeable. I wasn't a fan of the protagonist as well. The plot and mystery were good but it had potential. Some parts were quite repetitive and I skimmed through the middle part. I had not seen the twists coming at the end and hence the 3 stars.

I was pleasantly surprised by this thriller. The setting, the juicy family drama, the fact that the main character can't trust anyone in her family. The reveal was good, if not the most mind-blowing. Some things were a little rushed, but I can't deny that I was having a pretty good time with this book.

A thriller that started strong and ended with a compelling finale. However, the middle of the book was slow and seemed to drift off losing a little of the intent the book began with. The main character Yara manages to put herself in all kinds of peril whilst investigating dark, buried family secrets as well as battling her health issues which adds to the jeopardy of the situation. The author weaved a number of twists and turns into the book, some I had deduced as I did with the final unveiling of the culprit of the crime. Overall, it was a solid book, just lacked that little bit extra to make it a great one. 3/5.

This book hooked me right away. The writing was strong and the plot was really compelling. Unfortunately, it lost its steam the longer the story went on. It wasn’t my favorite but I’ve heard great things about the author’s other books and look forward to reading them!

Huge thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for approving my ARC request.

Thank you for the advanced copy of this book! I will be posting my review on social media, to include Instagram, Amazon, Goodreads, and Instagram!

Overall : 3,75/5 Stars
Characters : 3/5
Setting : 4/5
Writing : 3/5
Plot and Themes : 5/5

The story follows Yara, a TV writer, who returns to her hometown to celebrate and host her parents' twentieth anniversary party. Everything is going to plan until she receives disturbing texts from Felicia Campbell, who claims to be a childhood friend of Yara’s mother. Days later she is found dead, but not without letting Yara a key to a remote lakeside cabin. In the basement are files related to a mysterious tragedy, unsolved since 1998...

Being a big fan of murder mysteries, I usually tend to know where the story is going, so I like to dive into this kind of books without reading the synopsis or knowing the bare minimum (which I think maximises the reading experience) ; but with "We Lie Here" I didn't and it was so refreshing.
There was never a dull moment. It is really fast paced and really well crafted to give you the informations and answers you need at the right moment. However I have to admit that there was also repetitive moments.
The characters are twisted and unlikeable, so I didn't really get attached to them, but it works out perfectly here.

If you like murder mysteries, compelling plot with a dark theme, some nice plot twists and family drama, this book is for you.

Yara travels home to plan a celebration for her parents when she receives a strange text from a family friend, Felicia. Soon after Felicia is found in a lake and Yara is now searching for clues for what happened to her and a murder years ago.
This book started off strong but lost me a quarter way through. I think part of the reasoning was the editing and the style of writing. The Author’s other book And Now She’s Gone is highly rated so I’m going to add that to my TBR. This book was good not great and maybe after it’s edited down more it could be great!
Thank you to netgalley for this advanced copy in return for my honest opinion.

A brilliant twisty family drama. You will love this book if you like dark psychological thrillers with twists and turns. Brilliant

Liked her first book the last 2 have not lived up to her first novel. Very disappointed.

DNF 20%

I wanted so bad to be able to rate this book higher. I love Rachel Howell Hall and have thoroughly enjoyed her previous books.
This book has the potential to great and it DID start out pretty strong. We have Yara Gibson, a T.V. Writer who is returning home to Southern California to plan a celebration for her Parent's 20th anniversary. When she arrives in California, she gets a weird text that states.. "I have information that will change your life...". The text came from a woman, Felicia Campbell, who claims to be an old friend of Yara's Mother but they've been estranged. Yara doesn't take it seriously. She's never heard of Felicia and has no reason to trust what she's telling her.
Felicia is persistent though and her last message states that Yara should really call her "before it's too late.". The next day Felicia's body is found floating in a lake. But not before she left something for Tara...... a key that unlocks a remote lakeside cabin. When Yara goes to the cabin, she finds a bunch of holes in the basement. The files all pertain to some mysterious tragedy that took place in 1998....Yara knows nothing about this, but she can see from the files that it remains unsolved.
This is where the story kind of slams on the breaks. I've always preferred books with unlikable Characters but these characters aren't unlikable in the way that makes the book more interesting. It's because despite the book being 400+ pages, the characters were never really fleshed out and they are woefully underdeveloped. I believe this could have been another hit for this Author, but for some reason, it all starts falling flat before I was even halfway done. It's missing that special sense of anticipation that keeps me turning pages as quickly as I can. I had to resort to speed reading to finish. I really didn't want to leave it as a DNF.
Though this may not have been a home run, that's okay. I will still be the first in line for Rachel's next book. She has earned my loyalty as a fan through her other work which is amazing and nobody gets it right 100% of the time! Thank you so much to Netgalley and the Publisher for providing an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.
#WeLieHere #Netgalley

L.A. screenwriter Yara Gibson, the narrator of this thriller who reluctantly returns to her childhood home in suburban Palmdale, Calif., to help plan her parents’ 20th wedding anniversary. Yara, forgetful and anxiety ridden, is figuratively and literally allergic to Palmdale, with its desert dust storms and violent subculture.
Felicia Campbell, a second cousin and friend of Yaras mom she hardly knows, arrives with a cryptic message for Yara- “I have information that will change your life.” Felicia is found dead the next day floating in the local lake and it is Yara’s search for the message’s meaning that wrenches her toward revolution.
I have enjoyed Halls writing before but this one fell flat for me. The thriller aspect was not there and I didn’t find myself really wanting to pick it up and read. It was quite predictable for someone who reads a few thrillers per week. The characters lacked the development and I found myself skimming sections to see it through. When we finally got to the end or the more
meaty parts, it was rushed and the confrontation was too cute and quick.
Just not for me.
Thank you Netgalley for the E Arc.

I don’t believe I have read any of her other work. I have heard great things though this wasn’t my favorite I plan on reading her other books. The main character Yara is in her 20’s and is going home to host a party for her parents anniversary. The writing is pretty strong the story just fell flat somewhere for me. This is a domestic drama suspense with murder. From reading the reviews it sounds like this is one you either love or hate and not a lot of in between but honestly, those books are some of my favorites!

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Yara returns to her hometown to throw an anniversary party for her parents. She has always had a contentious relationship with her mother and learns some hidden truths about her past and the source of the tension between them.

I received an Advance Reader Copy of this book through Netgalley. This thriller had me intrigued from the start, the characterisation of our lead is complex and nuanced and the twists and turns were very well executed. This was the rare book that managed to obscure the culprit from me for half the book before I figured it out: much longer than most manage. Lovely writing and an exciting tale.

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the copy of We Lie Here by Rachel Howzell Hall. This was a great read and the story was so much more than the book’s description promised. What started out being a somewhat cozy whodunit mystery that morphed into a shocking what-heck-just happened thriller!
The relationships were vibrant and Yara and Dom were perfect sisters. They loved/resented each other and related to their parents in different ways. The contrast of their relationships with their significant others was fitting for their personalities. Other relationships were also well-defined and showed the importance of community and family. If you’re looking for a well-written smart thriller with amazing characters and relationships this book is for you! I will be looking for more books by this author.

I found the synopsis of this book to be quite appealing, and I have heard great things about the author.

I did find this particular piece a bit disjointed and the pace dragged and sped quite a bit. Overall, a good story premise but it felt much more like a draft than a "almost ready for publishing" type of novel.

Secrets. Family drama. Murder? A trip back to her hometown couldn’t have gone worse in the newest thriller by Rachel Howzell Hall.
This is my second book by this author. I quite enjoyed They All Fall Down, so I was very excited for her newest release. Though this one wasn’t a favorite, I still enjoyed it.
I was intrigued from the very beginning. I love unreliable narrators and this main character is very true to that trope! Not being able to trust the main character’s memory kept the book interesting for me. Another thing that added to the story was that it kept me guessing. I had lots of changing theories throughout reading and it was fun trying to figure out what’s going on. However, one of my complaints about the book was that it took way too long to get answers to any of the questions I had. We got mystery piled on top of mystery and didn’t get any answers until the end. I at least wanted some of my smaller questions answered before the 90% mark in the book.
My only other problem was that I thought the end was a little too easy. We only get a few pages of “confrontation” and then it’s over. I wanted a little struggle.
But overall, I enjoyed this book and will be reading more from Rachel Howzell Hall, since I’ve enjoyed two of her books now!

Thank you Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for this arc. All opinions are my own.

TW: mentions of racism, spiders