Cover Image: Everyone Here Is Lying

Everyone Here Is Lying

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Member Reviews

If you can suspend your disbelief a little, this book was lots of fun. 

Far fetched? Absolutely. 
Likable characters? Not many. 
Will it keep you guessing? Definitely.

Brief summary: When a young girl goes missing, an entire neighborhood's secrets will be revealed. Lots of judgements, misconceptions, and deceptions. I wouldn't want to live there, but I enjoyed reading about it.

*Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group/Viking, Pamela Dorman Books for the review copy.
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Three and a half stars. I liked the premise of this book, but the thought processes of the little girl seemed a bit to far fetched for her age. I think she needed to be a bit older to have thought like she did. With that said, if you can suspend that belief, it is still a good story and very twisted. I still recommend it.
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This book had me guessing the entire time. Avery, although only 9, is the making of a future serial killer. Her utter lack of control and complete defiance to everyone including her parents makes her very unpredictable and scary to be around.  Her parents love her and she knows how to play each one to cause complete chaos. When Avery disappears one day after school, her parents fear the worst.  Who has her and what are they doing to her?  Is she still alive?  Avery's father, William and many other characters' secrets come to light during this investigation and it completely upends all their lives.  No one is expecting for Avery to be found where she is and her father, William isn't quite sure he believes it himself.
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I absolutely loved this book, in fact I chose it for my online 600+ member book club and we all loved it!!
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Yes, everyone is lying. This book has many interconnected relationships among characters, with deception at every turn. Avery's brother was the only really likable character for me, as other characters have flaws that make some aspects of their personality unlikable. This book keeps you guessing right up until the very end and makes you wonder if justice will ever be served. Great, enjoyable read!
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This was a pretty decent thriller that took off quickly and pulled me in from the beginning. The secrets that abound in suburbia are plentiful in this book, especially after 9-year old, Avery, goes missing. But nothing is what it seems, everyone has secrets, and Avery is...well...let's just say she's not a "normal" 9-year old! The story was so crazy, as were most of the characters, but in a good way. I whipped through this so fast because I needed to know what was coming next and how everything was going to end!
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I enjoyed this title. I have read almost everything Shari LaPena has put out there. There were a lot of characters and the writing was at times repetitive but this was still a good read. I look forward to her next book.
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I received a free eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 

Shari Lapena is one of those authors whose books I always reserve right when they come out, but I usually find them to be 3-star outings. Most of the time, it seems like they’d work better as TV series than in book form, and this is no exception. With the rotating perspective and all of the characters, it would make a killer star-studded miniseries. 

This is another of those domestic suspense “how well do you *really* know your neighbors?” stories that are basically catnip for me. Yes, they’re kind of all the same, but I still enjoy watching all of these terrible people be terrible. The central mystery here is the disappearance of Avery Wooler - a nine-year-old girl with a bit of a defiant streak. On the day she disappeared, she and her father argued and he smacked her hard enough to knock her down. Horrified at his behavior, he leaves the house for a few hours, and when he comes back, Avery is gone. William knows how this looks - he was the last person to see his daughter alive AND they had a fight - but it’s pretty clear that he didn’t murder her (this is the first part that could work better in TV form - in the book we know for a fact that William is innocent even though the police and general public crucify him pretty quickly). There are as many suspects as there are neighbors, though, and Lapena uses a rotating perspective to show us ALL of them…along with all of their secrets. 

There’s a rule for storytelling about the economy of characters - that ultimately the killer (or perp, or whoever) has to be someone we’ve seen. Otherwise it’s unsatisfying. It’s why the killer on Law & Order is generally the most famous guest star; it can’t be some random background extra (even though that’s probably more true to life, it doesn’t make a very entertaining story). But the more characters you have, the more you’re juggling, and I will say that Lapena is usually pretty skilled at said juggling act. It’s a fine line between having a decent number of suspects and having SO many suspects that it becomes meaningless (that was the issue with Not a Happy Family - everyone had such a clear motive I ended up not really caring who did it). And it does play out to a satisfying ending.
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Thrilling domestic drama will keep you guessing.

What happened to 9-year-old Avery Wooler on the day she disobeyed and came home alone from school? Her father, a respected local doctor arrives to find her there, and things don't go too well because Avery is a challenging, difficult child who doesn't realize what a horrible day he has had. When she's reported missing a few hours later, the Wooler family and the entire neighborhood are under suspicion. Who saw what? Secrets and lies create a very tense situation.

This was a fast and fun read and I really enjoyed it. The characters, none of whom I especially liked, were well-drawn and so very believable as the dramatic events unfolded. The family dynamics and relationships as well as the way that everyone was drawn into the investigation really makes for a cleverly written plot. The narrative flips between points of view so the reader can see how everyone is upended by what has happened. The twists were quite ingenious as the detectives focus on first one suspect and then another. 

I like psychological thrillers because they usually have less on-page violence and no plucky heroines fighting their way out of nearly impossible scenarios. I'm tired of grisly gore, serial killers, and other tropes of that nature so this was a really refreshing read that I needed. My only complaint about this book was the ending and of course I wanted more details on what happened afterwards. No spoilers.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this e-book ARC to read, review, and recommend. This is one author that I definitely will be following.
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WOW, this book is amazing. I cannot recommend it highly enough. It keeps you on your toes and just when you think you know what is going on, things change. The characters are well drawn out, and the dialogue is intense. I have told probably 20 people about this book already and I just finished reading it.
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This book will be very popular, but it wasn't for me. A little too simplistic and unrealistic. Didn't like the characters, especially the little girl. ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.
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There is a new twist on almost every page. I read this in on sitting and I didn't  figured it out until the last page.  William is a family man, but he is having an affair with his neighbor. When is daughter goes missing he can't say where he has been.  Witnesses come forth.  Who took his daughter and will they get her back without damaging so many lives?  A must read.
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I look forward to Shari Lapena books!  This one was quite good!  Nice neighborhood, missing little girl, secrets and lies.  This one kept me turning the pages to find out what would happen.
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The protagonist of this book is a nine-year-old girl who, rather than waiting for her elder brother to pick her up from school, decides to walk home alone. The local investigators start their quest for information by interrogating the locals. Shari Lapena's dependability as a writer is astounding. I know I'm in for a special, exciting, and suspenseful treat whenever I read one of her works. She is a master of home suspense, and her books always put me on edge. This most recent publication hooked me from the first chapter and held my attention throughout. What a great choice of title! There are a lot of interesting people living here, and they all contribute to the air of mystery and intrigue that permeates the area. Every few pages, my suspicion would shift to a new character, each one a plausible suspect in its own right. It was utterly difficult to tell who to trust in this neighborhood. I would recommend this book to anyone who like domestic suspense and drama because it is beautifully written, has a fast pace, and is easy to get lost in. The digital review copy was provided to me free of charge by #netgalley and the publisher.
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I was hooked on this one from very early on in the book!

The premise seemed very typical and not that exciting to me, but I read it so quickly, turning the pages as fast as I could to find out what happened next. I knew it had to be more than what met the eye, but the end was still so twisty.

I thought it ended a bit abruptly and would have loved to see more fallout from the final interview, but I also appreciate the author leaving it a bit ambiguous.
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Shari Lapena once again didn’t disappoint. This book is just another reason why she is one of my favorite authors! The twists in her books are unimaginable and Everyone Here is Lying is no different!
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𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞— 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫. 
 
Ooooh this one gave me chills. The title “Everyone Here is Lying” is taken very literal because that’s exactly what everyone in this story does, lie. This is about a missing nine year old girl, Avery. She’s is a disruptive and problematic child, and one day gets kicked out of after school choir practice. Instead of waiting for her older brother to finish with basketball practice, so they can walk home together, she goes off on her own. At home she has an argument with her father, who is also not supposed to be home at that time. But William Wooler has been having an affair that ended horribly that same afternoon. He’s already in a bad mood, and it only gets worse when he finds his daughter at home and she immediately starts giving him attitude. He’s so mad at her for not obeying the rules he ends up hitting her (which we later learn is not the first time he’s hit her). William rushes out of the house leaving Avery alone, only to get a call a few hours later from his wife saying Avery is missing. Did she run away or was she taken? They declare Avery missing right away and William is the prime suspect. But he’s isn’t the only one on his street who’s hiding a lie. As witnesses come forward with information that may or may not be true, Avery's neighbors become increasingly unhinged. Neighbors and family members turn on one another as they race to find Avery.  
 
From page one I was hooked. I loved that it was written in 3rd person and with multiple POVs. The characters are so flawed, yet so real. The first 100 pages are intense and fast paced. I couldn’t put this down. With shocking twist and turns you’ll never see coming. It was an addictive and clever story. You have to read this one immediately! 
 
Read if you like: 
- Thriller  
- Mystery  
- Multiple POVs 
- Small town full of secrets  
- Lots of twists!
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Shari Lapena is an auto-buy author for me. I love her small-town, slow-burn thrillers, where there is always a large cast of characters, and each person is a potential suspect. On that front, she has once again delivered an entertaining and suspenseful read. I finished it in a little over a day.

There will be a lot of suspension of disbelief required. A little girl goes missing, and there aren't any ring or surveillance cameras around. Even the safest towns in the US have businesses and homes with some type of camera. Also, the way the mystery unraveled was very, very similar to that of a well-known, bestselling thriller. I am going to refrain from naming the book because it would ruin the twist, but I'm curious to see if anyone else noticed the similarities.
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Avery Wooler, age 9, disappeared from her home, and as the search for her intensifies, more and more secrets are revealed to show that (haha) yes, EVERYONE is lying about something.

I read this as part of a group/buddy read with some Instagram friends, and we read it on a schedule, all stopping at the same set point in the book each day and discussing what we'd read so far. It was simultaneously so much fun and completely maddening! I had to force myself to stop reading every day because there were so many surprises scattered throughout, and it kept me excited to read to see what on earth was going to happen next. I really enjoyed Lapena's writing style - she was very much straight to the point, with no flowery descriptions or filler, which kept things moving along.

I don't know that I'd have liked it as much if I'd read it straight through without the discussion and theorizing component, but my issues with it are difficult to discuss without spoilers, so I'll leave it here with this: engaging, fast-paced, loads of red herrings and wtf moments, and a BANANAAAAAAAS ending.
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Thank you Netgalley and Penguin Viking for an arc of this thrilling mystery. Shari Lapena books are usually hit or miss for me. I either really love her novels, or I put them down after 100 pages. From the first page, this novel sucked me in. We meet William, a Dr who has just found out his mistress is breaking up with him. Upset by this news, he goes home for privacy and finds his challenging daughter home after she was sent home by a teacher. After he flees the house, his daughter goes missing and we see how quickly neighbors turn on each other. This book made me gasp out loud numerous times, and I was shocked by the twist in the middle. I will definitely pick her next book after devouring this thriller.
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