This is a debut novel and I think the writer is promising. It was a good debut. My enjoyment shifted from 3-3.5 stars throughout. This premise definitely caught my eye.

"Trials aren't about the truth. They're about what you can and can't prove."

Essentially what this one is all about. I don't want to give too much away as I enjoyed just reading it and finding out things along the way. It definitely went in a different direction than I thought it would. This is a book that some may like and others won't. It will rub some people the wrong way. I thought it was a clever and unique take that played with your mind.

Lila Dalton is in a courtroom. She cannot remember anything about her past or this trial she is apparently involved in. All she can figure out is that he's a mass murderer. She doesn't even remember that she's a lawyer but she seems to know and understand the court proceedings.

The writing kept me engaged but it is a complicated plot with lots of legal jargon. It does challenge you to think about the justice system. If you can suspend your disbelief in parts I think you will enjoy the story (and ending!) Also just love the cover!

This is a legal thriller but also a very different kind of thriller at the same time. This book wasn’t for me and that’s okay. There was some political and other hard topics discussed. Just because it wasn’t for me doesn’t mean this was a bad book!

A very different courtroom drama. So much going on, it was difficult to know what was real and what was imagined. I felt like maybe I wasn’t smart enough for this novel, it just seemed like too much work to read. I am sure it will resonate with some readers who enjoy complicated plots and dystopian settings, just not my cup of tea.

I'm not one for conspiracy theories. However, this book kept me engaged and I really needed to find out what was going on.

I received an advance review copy for free (thank you NetGalley), and I am leaving this review voluntarily. All opinions are my own.

Unfortunately, The Trials of Lila Dalton was not the book for me. While the writing was engaging and immersive, the subject matter was odd and the legal jargon was overbearing at times. Honestly, I was just waiting for this book to end. I still can't decide if I like Lila Dalton as a character or not. She had crazy circumstances happen to her, but her behavior was also very strange. Overall, I felt like this book tried to do too much - there was too much neo-Nazi content as well as religious, political, and psychological issues going on. Everything was way too far fetched for me... and if I didn't care about the character, what is my motivation to be engaged with this book? I'd consider reading the author again but perhaps with a different sort of plot. I think for the right reader this book will be a hit but that is not me. I was expecting more of a realistic thriller and this was not that.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

I loved this book!

This story skillfully weaves together themes of love, loss, and self-discovery, creating a tapestry of emotions that resonated with me personally. Lila's journey is both heart-wrenching and uplifting, as she confronts her past and navigates the turbulent waters of her present.

ℝ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | 𝔽𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕒𝕥: 𝐸-𝐵𝑜𝑜𝓀

ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨: 𝐈 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲: 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐈 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝?! 𝐌𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐈’𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐈’𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐈 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑻𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑳𝒊𝒍𝒂 𝑫𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒐𝒏 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞. 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐬𝐲𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐬, 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐢𝐭. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 (𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟) 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫. 𝐈 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐠𝐨 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬!

𝐻𝓊𝑔𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓀 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝑜 𝐿.𝒥. 𝒮𝒽𝑒𝓅𝒽𝑒𝓇𝒹, 𝒫𝑜𝒾𝓈𝑜𝓃𝑒𝒹 𝒫𝑒𝓃 𝒫𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓈, & 𝒩𝑒𝓉𝒢𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑒𝓎 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒜𝑅𝒞! 𝒜𝓁𝓁 𝑜𝓅𝒾𝓃𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓂𝓎 𝑜𝓌𝓃.

Quantum physics and alternative universes really seem to be carving a big section into the literary world. The Trials of Lila Dalton is a piece of work that would fall into this category.

Imagine yourself transported to a time and place with no sense of who you are or why you are there. Unnerving, right? That’s exactly the situation Lila Dalton finds herself in. She is in a courtroom on a small island, representing a client accused of a horrific act, supposedly with the qualifications to be there. All while asking, who am I? To make her confusion greater, she is receiving threats that leave her on edge. Determined to figure out who she is and who she can trust, Lila takes the reader on a journey that will keep you guessing.
While I found the story entertaining, I felt the cult-like group representation woven throughout the story wasn’t necessary and a little too much, almost making the book a bit of a fantasy. For me, the political discontent factor would have been enough to deliver a hair-raising mystery.

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley in exchange for my honest feedback. It was a captivating read that makes me thankful for my boring, everyday routines!

This book’s description sounded so intriguing, twisted, and appealing! I didn’t, however, venture very far into the novel before concluding that I was not the right reader for this story. Yes, it had a tantalizing premise and suspenseful moments, but I just couldn’t get very invested in The Trials of Lila Dalton.

I loved the premise of this book and the complexities and intricacies of the legal world. There has been a clear and successful research to make this element seem so real and detailed. Alas even with this element this one was not for me, the Neo- Nazis and religious and political viewpoints felt a little too forced on the reader for my tastes and the ending was just too much disbelief to suspend.
I enjoyed the writing and will be looking for something different from this author in the future. Thank you for my copy to read and review.

3.5 ☆ first of all! thank you to netgalley and poisoned pen press for giving me an e-arc to review!! honoured everyday that i literally get to do this like wow. now onto the book. firstly, unique premise and that was what truly initially drew me in. a woman comes to and she realises shes defending an alleged domestic terrorist. the cover is also very appealing so straight of the bat, a great first impression.

i started reading the book and was initially quite skeptical of the first person pov used, and still, i think third person may have been a better choice for a more polished novel (personal preference rather than anything), but it didnt annoy me as much as i thought it would which was a plus. now the book gets literally crazy and shit starts hitting the fan. despite that, i guessed the plot twist very early on and the second plot twist not soon after, so the predictability was a bit disappointing. also it was so unbelievably confused towards the end and i felt like maybe the story was a bit overly ambitious

overall though, it was a gripping read. i think the main character was quite compelling, and i truly felt for her when she was struggling with literally losing her memory. once again, the plot was interesting and i think it was well-paced, so overall? a win!!

so basically, if a good fast paced mystery is your thing, give this a go!

Definitely an interesting premise with a lot of potential , in the end I felt left wanting more and there were some plot holes! An author to look out for in the future

I’m going to keep this brief because I honestly have no idea what I just read. I ended up giving it 3 stars because I genuinely have no idea what happened in the last few chapters and I got to the point that I wasn’t even sure I wanted to understand.
The Trials of Lila Dalton had so much potential!!!! But it really went off the deep end for me. Lila comes to in the courtroom about to defend a mass murder. We know nothing about Lila, where she is or who the defendant is going in to the story. The story delves pretty deeply into nazism, white supremacy, race wars. Really heavy, ugly topics that filled me with rage basically the entire time. It was so random to me because the book does not address that at all in the description but it ended up being a massive plot in the book.
Before I knew which way the story was going to go, it gave creepy Truman Show vibes, where someone had the feeling of being watched by everyone, everywhere and nowhere was safe.
Honestly, I don’t even think I can describe this book, specifically the ending, if someone asked.
Read with caution but maybe it’ll be your thing! It’s heavy in court procedure so that’s something.
Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the opportunity to read this unique book before its intended publication date.

The Trials of Lila Dalton has a fascinating premise, Lila Dalton is a barrister in a courtroom with no memory of how she got there and truly no memories at all. She soon comes to realize that she is defending someone accused of a mass bombing, and she may be seeing people who aren't really there. Not only that, Lila Dalton is on an isolated island that she is completely unfamiliar with. Confused and worried, things get worse when Lila begins receiving threats.

I went into this book nearly blind, in part because the synopsis is cryptic and doesn't not give much away- a refreshing change of pace. This wasn't my typical style of mystery novel, but I enjoyed it enough to finish it somewhat quickly. I found the ending a bit confusing, and I often wondered if I would have understood more if I was British or had more background knowledge about their politics and subcultures.

Overall, this is a twisty, mysterious story with legal elements and commentary on extremist groups. Slightly nontraditional in its approach, I think it might be a good fit for fans of Sci-fi and political suspense.

The Trials of Lila Dalton is an incredibly hard book to write a review for without spoiling everything, so I'll just say this: If you like cerebral thrillers that leave breadcrumbs interwoven throughout the story and make you question your sanity, this is for you. Lila Dalton awakes in court with no recollection of who she is and why she is supposedly defending a murderer. Nothing and no one is what they seem in this book and it will leave you shocked through the very last sentence.

It is one of these books where you are thinking "damn, the idea is good", when you read the plot and somehow, it goes somewhere you had not planned to go.

When Lila gets back to her senses, she quickly understands that she is the barrister in the middle of a trial and that her career is at stake, maybe even more than that. Problem is, she has no recollection of the case or even of who she is. As she is desperately trying to find her way out of it, she discovers that they are all trapped on an island.

I was here for the mystery, the strange isolated setting and her uncovering whatever happened to her and in the case. But the general vibe is way different, moving in the direction of conspiracy theories. The suspension of disbelief needed here is high and to some extent, not even doable, as there are parts of the book, that do not make sense with the provided explanation at the end of it.

All in all, it was still a surprising read, that went out of the usual standard story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for providing me with an early copy of the book.

This book hooked me right from the start and I was so excited to see how things were going to go and then well, what happened? Things were so chaotic and all over the place, it was very frustrating. It felt as the book continued it lost focus and just never got to its destination. At times in the middle I wasn’t really sure what was happening. Overall, I expected more from this one.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the e-arc. All thoughts are my own.

This book will not be for everyone. The summary on the back drew me in immediately to read this book, but it got very weird and ended slow. I really wanted to love this book, but it did not live up to my expectations. I would still read, but would warn it can be bizarre.

What did I just read… a book that started out very strong.. Thought this is going to be good… but it seems the writer got stuck… the book stopped moving forward and jumped from one track to another without giving any depth to the story… it seemed the writer was all over the place… and then the end of the book the author threw every twist in … disappointing but it was interesting enough that I finished it…

The Trials of Lila Dalton starts in media res of a high profile court case where the narrator and criminal defense barrister, Lila Dalton, is unable to recollect any memories. The case twists and spirals from there, for both Lila's professional career and personal life. I would recommend this to fans of mysteries with mostly difficult to guess endings. Most of the loose ends spread throughout the book get wrapped up well. - albeit the twists do get frustrating at times1 I do recommend doing a quick brush up on basic British legal terms (such as lord, barrister, etc.) as it was not the US system (which I should have expected!). 3 stars as at times it was a little bit of a frustrating story, but an overall entertaining and quick read.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!