Started off so strong, and immediately had me intrigued. It did lag a little bit in the middle though, but I was pleasantly surprised by the ending.

Murder, mystery, secret societies, multiple pov and timelines? Obsessed. Both sisters are interconnected due to the same secret society, death, and college. It was a somewhat fast paced book that had me reading faster to get to the answers of who killed Layla and Naomi

Society of Lies is a mash-up of every trope I love! Secret society mixed with scandal and academia! Yes, please!

Maya is excited to both attend her own college reunion and her sister’s graduation but then she gets the horrible news that Naomi is dead.

I loved how past and present were done with two different POV, Maya’s along with her sister, Naomi’s. While this is a slow burn to start and a bit detail oriented to begin with, I personally enjoy some of the more detailed accounts in this type of setting.

Highly recommend this one to fans of the genre!

My thanks to Ballantine for this gifted DRC!

Lauren Ling Brown's dazzling debut, SOCIETY OF LIES, is set at Princeton University and follows biracial sisters Maya and Naomi as they uncover a corrupt secret society within one of the social clubs while asking the question: How far would you go to belong?

About...

Maya returns to Princeton for her college reunion. She is quite excited because she will also be attending the graduation of her younger sister, Naomi. What she uncovers turns into a nightmare when she learns Naomi is dead. They say it's an accident, but Maya's instincts tell her there's something more sinister at play.

What was her sister hiding?

Despite her warnings, Naomi had joined the most exclusive social club on campus, Sterling Club. Unfortunately, it was the same club she had belonged to.

Was Naomi chosen to join the secret society within? Did Naomi follow in her footsteps? Her time at Princeton was not as grand as she had let on. Her sister was not the first to turn up dead, which led her back to the past and her dark secrets.

My thoughts...

SOCIETY OF LIES is a captivating debut!

From the stunning front cover, the SOCIETY OF LIES draws you in from the first page to the spine-tingling climax—a powerful debut exploring the dark side of elite academia, both dark and haunting!

It is told in four parts and two twisty alternating POVs: Maya (2023/2011/2010) and Naomi (2022) before her death, adding a layer of intrigue in learning the thoughts and actions of each.

Maya: Naomi's older sister. Married to Nate
Naomi: Maya's younger sister

Cecily: Maya's college friend
Nate: Maya's husband
Liam: Naomi's ex-boyfriend
Ben: Naomi's friend/crush
Matthew: Maya’s former Sterling mentor/Princeton Professor

The author keeps you engrossed with the alternating POV, providing glimpses of the past and exploring the underbelly of a secret prestigious society at an Ivy League University. The exciting cast of characters in this atmospheric setting adds a layer of complexity to the story.

Pulled in by initiation into Sterling Club, Princeton's most prestigious eating club, and allured by the fun and its golden escalator to a future. Once inside, you are bound by their secrets, creating a deep blond—dangerous, cultlike, and reckless environment.

SOCIETY OF LIES is an entertaining tale filled with secrets, collegiate scandals, and murder. Dark and unsettling, well-plotted, showcasing the darkness and menace of the Sterling Club and Greystone Society (fictional). With emotionally charged topics of race, family, friendship, class, sisterhood, multiracial identity, power, and privilege. An author to watch!

An ideal choice for book clubs: The author's website offers an extensive book club kit and a fun Character Profile.

Recs...

SOCIETY OF FANS is for readers who enjoy dark academic thrillers and murder mysteries. For those who enjoy the works of Ruth Ware, Carol Goodman, Lauren Nossett, Fiona McPhillips, R.J. Jacobs, and David Bell.

Thanks...

Thanks to Random House Publishing and NetGalley for an advanced digital reading copy for an honest opinion.

blog review posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 5 Stars
Pub Date: Oct 1, 2024
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Secret societies, mysterious deaths, relationship issues…there’s a lot of suspense and unknown piled into this novel. I liked the depth in which race and privilege was examined and how it tied into the main story.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of Society of Lies by Lauren Ling Brown.

Unfortunately this is a DNF. I made it about 40% until I realized that I had lost the plot and had no interest in getting it back.

The beginning was strong, I love a shady secret society at a University. I love a good murder mystery. I think where it lost me was keeping the two sister's stories straight, and the slogging pace eventually exhausted me, and I just didn't care anymore.

Society of Lies is a dark academia novel about the goings on of an exclusive eating and social club at Princeton University and the secret society buried within. The novel tells the story of two sisters, Maya, a former graduate of Princeton and her little sister Naomi, soon to graduate.

Unfortunately during the graduation weekend Maya received word that Naomi is dead. As Maya chases the truth and beings to uncover the events leading up to Naomi's death events from her time at Princeton also threaten to come to light.

I enjoyed parts of this book. The premise of secret societies within societies was intriguing and I found the description compelling. Unfortunately I struggled to get through it and DNF around the 70% mark. I found this book well written and with unique concepts, but the build was just too slow for my personal taste.

I recommend this book to anyone who has understood the dangerous allure of wanting to belong.

Thanks to Netgalley, Lauren Ling Brown, and Random House Publishing for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

If you love dark academia, secret societies, and family mysteries, Society of Lies will have you hooked from the first page.

Maya returns to Princeton full of nostalgia, but everything takes a chilling turn when her sister, Naomi, dies under suspicious circumstances. What was supposed to be a weekend of celebration becomes a spiral into dark secrets, toxic traditions, and buried guilt. As Maya digs into Naomi’s life and their shared past, she realizes the Sterling Club—and the hidden society within—might be more dangerous than she ever imagined.

This book is thrilling and twisted in all the right ways. It’s a slow-burn mystery where every page peels back another layer of deceit. The narrative explores sisterhood, privilege, and the dangerous allure of elite institutions, all while keeping you guessing until the very end.

If you love stories where the past refuses to stay buried, characters with hidden motives, and endings that make you question everything, this one’s for you!

I'm a fan of all things dark academia, so Society of Lies instantly grabbed my attention. Unfortunately, it fell a bit flat for me and took far longer for me to get through than anticipated. Overall, I didn't find it to be a terrible story— I liked the plot alright— the pacing just dragged and I found the two narrators' stories & voices to be a bit too similar to one another. If it were slightly shorter, I likely would have enjoyed it a lot more. I'd still recommend this one to anyone looking for an easy, uncomplicated thriller to escape in!

All of my thanks to NetGalley & Random House Publishing - Ballantine for the ARC!

Maya, a graduate of Princeton, returned after ten years to celebrate family weekend and for her sister Naomi’s graduation. They planned to meet on campus but she receives tragic news instead. Naomi’s body was found in a pond and the police are treating it as an accidental death. Maya had been a member of the Sterling Club, one of the most prestigious eating clubs on campus, as well as the secret society within its’ membership. She had warned Naomi against involvement with Sterling, but her sister followed the same path. Now Maya is afraid that events from the past may have led to her sister’s death. The story alternates between Maya’s and Naomi’s experiences on campus. A death that occurred during Maya’s time may be the key to discovering Naomi’s killer. She had been looking into the death, but if the truth comes out it could ruin Maya and destroy her family. The truth had been covered up but it is now time for Maya to face her past. Having lived in the Princeton area, I was looking forward to Lauren Ling Brown’s story and I was not disappointed. Murder, wealth, privilege and a love triangle gives you a mystery with unexpected twists . Princeton is a beautiful setting but it hides some dark secrets. I would like to thank Random House - Ballantine for providing this book.

Dark academia, secret societies, murder, secrets and scandal will capture your attention in this debut.
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Brie Carter and Chandler Gregory did an excellent job bringing these characters to life.
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Sisters Maya and Naomi attend Princeton about ten years apart. Just before Naomi’s graduation, she turns up dead. The police believe it was an accident, but Maya isn’t buying it.
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Maya starts investigating and realizes there was so much she didn’t know about Naomi. Naomi joined Sterling Club, an exclusive social club at Princeton to which Maya had also belonged. Maya suspects she was also in a secret society.
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Maya uncovers secrets and won’t stop until she uncovers the truth. Even if it reveals a secret she’s been keeping for more than a decade.
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Loved the dual timelines of the two sisters’ time at Princeton and how it delved into their social status, or lack thereof, and how they interacted with others.
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Solid debut and I look forward to more from this author.

When Maya returns to Princeton for younger sister Naomi's graduation she experiences a flood of emotions. Princeton originally represented everything Maya wanted: acceptance by an elite institution and by an elite crowd, a brilliant education, and networking opportunities with doors opening to wealth and success. It also represents a dark time in her life, when her famous eating club's most secret society, The Sterling Club, lost one of their members and Maya's friend in an accident. Maya realized that the Sterling Club had more power than she thought possible and knew the danger it represented-everything she warned Naomi about. Shortly after Maya's return to Princeton she receives tragic news that Naomi has been found dead-accidental drowning and overdose. Unable to accept that as truth, Maya digs into Naomi's recent past and discovers that her sister had a life she barely knew about and may have made some of the same mistakes Maya did=trusting the wrong people in Sterling-and paying the ultimate sacrifice. Told in alternating timelines and perspectives, Lauren Ling Brown's debut Society of Lies, is a psychological thriller that has twists a long the way after a slow burn in the beginning (some readers may see coming-but still enough they will not). I look forward to reading her future releases.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

Maya is in town to celebrate her younger sister, Naomi, graduating from her alma mater, Princeton. But instead of walking across the stage, Naomi is found dead. Though the police ruled it as an accident, given her experience at Princeton 10 years prior, Maya isn't convinced, and she will do whatever it takes to find out what happened to Naomi. This novel switches perspectives between Maya and Naomi throughout. I'm usually not a fan of that, but it didn't bother me here. It was important to understand the history that drove Maya to her suspicions, as well as what Naomi was doing in her final days and weeks.

Though I read this one fast, it just wasn't one of my top picks. The twist was unexpected, though.

Thank you to Random House for the free copy of the novel in exchange for my honest review.

Dark academia… secret societies… prestige..,, murder…. That’s what this book has to offer. Two sisters, 10 years apart at Princeton. Honestly, this trope is hit or miss, the story fell flat for me but I can see some of my colleagues really enjoying it.

A compelling insider's tale about secret societies and eating clubs at Princeton. Very well-written tale about two sisters of color who "made it" to Princeton despite the odds stacked against them, and found themselves as fish out of water in an elite, white male, privileged institution full of secrets, clubs, societies, and cover ups. I was riveted to this story all the way through because of its great writing, interesting characters, and cool yet scary insider information about the secret societies that really exist at Princeton (even if, one hopes, they are not actually murdering eachother). I'll be very interested to read more from this talented author!

3.5 ⭐️
This book was the epitome of dark academia.
Naomi is found dead right before she is to graduate from Princeton. Her sister Maya also went to Princeton 10 years before and was part of the same exclusive and semi secret society Naomi was right before her death.
Can Maya figure out if her past mistakes have something to do with her sisters suspicious death?
This book was twisty. There was a lot going on. Lots of characters and lots of time line movements. I enjoyed it, but also wish it had moved a little quicker. All in all good read. Would recommend.
Thanks netgalley for the ARC.

Maya’s sister is dead and she doesn’t believe it was an accident. Thinking back over her experience at Princeton with the exclusive eating club, Sterling, and the even more exclusive secret society, Greystone, Maya begins to question everything. She knows her sister was also involved with both groups and there were some things going on that were not on the up and up. Were Maya’s past mistakes the reason for her sister’s death?

Told across timelines and from both sister’s perspectives, this is an enthralling look at the underground secrets kept on Ivy League campuses. Not everyone gets in on merit alone and not everyone succeeds because they are smart and hard working. How far are people willing to go to make it to the top?

At this point, the terminology “dark academia” is used too freely.
Is this story set in secretive clubs of one of the most prestigious universities in the world? Yes.
Is there any spark of romance, any magic or any twisted scandal involved at all? No.

Society of Lies is the story of four girls who pretend to like each other and are part of a powerful and not-risky-at-all eating club at Princeton in the early 2010s.
Someone outside their circle - but still part of the club - dies after having tried to expose the most powerful member, when everyone had already ostracized her and kinda forgot about her.

Listen, I don't know if it's the back-and-forth narration or one too many unnecessary details, but it just doesn't work.
The whole thing is divided into four parts: in the first one, you get the idea; in the second one, you get a better idea; by the third one, it's pretty clear who the bad apple is and we could wrap it up; when you reach the four and last part, even the plot twist doesn't feel like a twist because who cares.

I hope people in secretive clubs all around the globe are having more fun than this.

Thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Bantam and NetGalley, who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion.

I love a campus mystery so i was really excited for this one! unfortunately this one dragged for me - we were going between two timelines and the two protagonists were so similar in voice that i kept having to check which one we were following which made it confusing

I had i feeling I wasnt going to like this book after the girst couple chapters. I found the story really lacking in the thrilling/mystery aspect and thought that the plot could have been built up more. Maybe ill give it another go in the future but i just didnt find this book all that captivating.