Lucy and Savvy were golden girls in a small Texas town. That is, until the night Lucy is found wandering the streets covered in Savvy’s blood. The problem is, Lucy has no memory of the night. As the entire town assumes she’s a murderer, she takes off to LA where she can be anonymous in a big city. Until a popular true crime podcast picks up the story, with its host Ben Owens, determined to solve the mystery. With nothing to lose anymore, Lucy returns to Plumpton to help Ben investigate her best friend’s murder, even if it means uncovering her own guilt.

Two true crime podcast stories in a row?? A risk, but luckily this one was sooo much better than the last.

First, I loved Lucy’s sarcastic sense of humor and the way she leaned into the villain persona people painted her with just a little. Her grandmother, who orchestrated her participation in the podcast, was a delight. The podcast snippets worked really well in revealing small town biases and the rumor mill, as well as slowly demonstrating the way Ben, as an outsider, was able to see the bigger picture and paint doubt in residents minds.

The defining factor for whether I will love a thriller not is often predominantly based on whether it kept me guessing til the end. And this story did just that.

Thank you to Netgalley and Celadon books for my copy in exchange for an honest review!

4.5⭐️

This book was SO good! I usually don’t like an unreliable narrator, but apparently I do when the narrator actually knows she’s unreliable. There were layers of mystery and it kept me questioning things until the very end. The side characters felt really fleshed out and I was transported to this town. I would love to hear this on audio to hear the podcast element narrated. I bet it’s excellent! Overall, a great read that I’m sure I’ll revisit on audio at some point.

Thank you Celadon Books & Netgalley for an advanced copy of Listen for the Lie! This one started out very strong for me. I loved the snippets of the podcast. I loved how readers are drawn in right away. Unfortunately I found myself slowly losing interest about a 1/3 of the way through the book. I just found myself not super excited to pick it up. I also wasn't super impressed by the ending. But all in all not a bad mystery/thriller book. I'm sure many others will find it very bingeable!

Words cannot express how much I love this book!!!! It had me hooked from the first chapter! It is by far my favorite read of 2024 so far!!

I absolutely loved this thriller by Amy Tintera.

From Good Reads - "After Lucy is found wandering the streets, covered in her best friend Savvy’s blood, everyone thinks she is a murderer. Lucy and Savvy were the golden girls of their small Texas town: pretty, smart, and enviable. Lucy married a dream guy with a big ring and an even bigger new home. Savvy was the social butterfly loved by all, and if you believe the rumors, especially popular with the men in town. It’s been years since that horrible night, a night Lucy can’t remember anything about, and she has since moved to LA and started a new life.
But now the phenomenally huge hit true crime podcast "Listen for the Lie," and its too-good looking host Ben Owens, have decided to investigate Savvy’s murder for the show’s second season. Lucy is forced to return to the place she vowed never to set foot in again to solve her friend’s murder, even if she is the one that did it."

Lately I have enjoyed the podcasts angle and this one lived up to my expectations. One of my favorite things about this one was Lucy's sense of humor and her little quips throughout the book. It really brought her character for life and made me root for her to get answers. As always, I am a fan of short chapters to keep my attention.

This is one that I will recommend to others who enjoy thrillers. Thank you to NetGallet for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. This one was a 4 star read for me.

It’s not often anymore that a book will grab my attention and hold it straight through to the last page. I get distracted by the next book on the horizon and find myself putting a book down and then struggling to pick it back up. There just aren’t many books that make it worth my while to keep on reading. But with this book there just wasn’t that struggle at all.

I found myself thinking about the characters in the book and when I did have to stop to eat or do human things I was wishing I was reading, which I love! So this one was a hit with me. It kept my attention, I was invested in the people and the storyline and I wound up really liking it.

I recommend this book to lovers of suspense, great character driven books and a storyline that will keep you guessing

Thanks to Netgalley for an advanced readers copy. All opinions are my own

Dark, twisty, surprisingly funny, fast-paced thriller. I loved this book! Lucy was sarcastic, witty, and definitely lovable. I absolutely adored her grandmother, too!

This book got me out of a reading slump right off that bat! Lately thrillers have been so repetitive and predictable, its hard to bring something new nowadays but this book definitely did it. I was hooked from the first chapter, it was hard to put this down, I could not stop, I needed to find out the truth. I had to also check out the audiobook so I can keep up with it when I didn’t have time to physically read it and the audiobook was even better if that can even be possible! I really appreciated the extra effort to make the podcast section actually feel like youre listening to a real podcast and different narrators! This author will definitely be an auto buy for me with any future books 🙌🏼

Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera is a mystery about Lucy, who everyone thinks murdered her best friend Savvy. But Lucy doesn't have any memory of what happened. When a true crime podcast starts investigating what happened the night of the murder, Lucy does everything she can to help Ben, the host of the podcast, find the actual killer. I really enjoyed this book. It kept me hooked from the very beginning. I have a slight issue with how the murderer was revealed and how everything wrapped up, but the first 90% was great! Thanks to NetGalley for the free digital review copy. All opinions are my own.

“What if you thought you murdered your best friend? And if everyone else thought so too? And what if the truth doesn’t matter?“

Gah! This book was so good.

I don’t generally like being scared (I’m already in a daily state of generalized anxiety) but I’d heard such good things.

IT WAS ALL TRUE.

The characters were fleshed out and believable. The pacing and setting were perfect, and the structure (MFC narration, interspersed by bits of the podcast) was novel and wonderful.

I’m new to this author, and she’s got a quite a back-catalogue (with FANTASTY!) so I’m looking forward to searching out more.

Thanks to NetGalley and Celadon Books for this fantastic ARC.

This book was great! I finished it in 4 days (which is really fast for me). 5 years ago Lucy was accused of killing her best friend Savvy, but has no memory of the events from that night. She wasn’t convicted since there was no evidence and moves away from her small Texas town to LA since everyone (including her parents) think she actually did it. Now a true crime podcaster is reopening the investigation himself into Savvy’s death. Lucy’s grandmother gets her to come back home and she has to confront everything all over. Did she really kill her best friend or was there someone else. This had me guessing till the end and for some parts I even thought maybe Lucy was the killer. Truly a great mystery thriller.

Thank you NetGalley, Celadon Books, and Amy Tintera for sharing an e-book copy with me!

3.5, but raising it to 4 Stars! Although a little slow to start in my opinion, this book hooked me about 25% of the way through! Once you got into the story, it turned fast paced and kept me turning the pages. The MC is sarcastic, which is a favorite of mine, witty, and likable. I love that they had the podcast episodes mixed throughout the chapters, but definitely wish they were a bit longer. Overall, if you need a fast paced thriller, pick this one up! I may even go back and listen to the audio book because I’ve heard great things about that too! (:

4.5/5

There’s been an uptick of books with a true crime podcast element and while some fall flat you can put Listen for the Lie squarely in the phenomenal column. The podcast element had me running to buy this book on audiobook because it really did read like a podcast meets a thriller book. The podcast elements only enhanced the read and were well placed within the plot.

Speaking of plot, it seems a more common trope than it should be: girl can’t remember the night her friend died all these years ago AND also happens to be the prime suspect. But Lucy is not your average female lead. Despite being our unreliable narrator Lucy is so darn likable that I had a hard time actually caring whether she did it or not. She’s sarcastic, realistic, and has a dark sense of humor that makes you want to root for her, potential murderess and all. Her love for Savvy and fear of herself really come across every page.

Did I figure it out: Honestly no. I definitely did not see it coming but it also didn’t feel unrealistic or like a blindside which is my pet peeve with many thrillers now a days. They try so hard for you not to guess the ending that they make the ending impossible to guess because it makes no sense. No, Listen for the Lie has an excellent plot that had me guessing the whole time and left me gasping every couple of pages.

It had laugh out loud moments but also had me ripping through the whole book just to learn what really happened the night Savvy died and just what Lucy did.

Absolutely LOVED Listen for the Lie and you can bet I’ll be listening for Tintera’s next read!

I just love it when a thriller not only has me totally hooked from the beginning but it also keeps me guessing.
Lucy is such a interesting character she's much more than an unreliable narrator at times she had me biting my nails and scratching my head during the story. Imagine not knowing who murdered your best friend 5 years ago & loosing your memories about that night. Then that time in your life becomes to topic of a popular podcast which has became so popular it gets a second season. Imagine from being a victim so traumatized you have no memory to feeling like and being a suspect in the murder.
I don't know how Amy Tinera expects anyone to be able to step away from this book I couldn't sleep till i finished this one.
I appreciate my netgalley copy so much I'm downloading the audiobook version for my upcoming road trip with some friends who I know are gonna love it just as much as me.

More like a 4.5.
This was so good and entertaining! I loved the suspense and the humor! I read it in one day!

Wow- what a read! I loved the unique format with the podcast snippets scattered throughout. The audiobook version was fantastic too. This was a quick and engaging read that took a fun twist on a murder mystery.

I enjoyed this book! I love a mystery that isn't too serious, and this one was fun. Our main character, Lucy, is dragged back to her hometown by her grandmother and is immediately sucked back into the mystery of her best friend Savvy's murder. She left town when the court of public opinion decided she was guilty, and upon her return she finds that not much has changed. To complicate matters, a podcaster has decided his next season of his popular podcast will be all about Savvy's murder, which puts even more eyes (and ears) on the case.
I loved the characters - Lucy was a fun protagonist, and her witty grandma was great. I enjoyed getting to uncover more and more of the past relationship between Lucy and Savvy, and getting to know Savvy before her untimely death. There were some good reveals that I did not see coming and I thought the pace of the story was perfect. 5 stars!
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a digital ARC for review!

Listen for the Lie was my favorite type of thriller - witty and funny, twisty, one where nearly everyone is a suspect. I loved the podcast aspect and the back-and-forth between past and present in the chapters. The pacing kept me engaged and I thought Lucy, who is suspected but was never convicted of murdering her best friend, was such an interesting and complex main character. I recommend this one to fans of twisty thrillers that keep you guessing until the end.
Note: I received an advanced reading copy, receipt of which did not impact my review.

Really creative writing and I wasn't expecting to laugh out loud reading a thriller type book. I know I'm in the minority here, but I did not care for the spicy bits. I found it a bit cheesy. A huge thank you to Celadon Books and to NetGalley for this ARC.

This book was so much fun! I alternated between physical and audio and audio was definitely a fun listen. This one kept me guessing and I loved the podcast element. Definitely recommend for a thriller you won’t want to put down!