I love higher education secret society vibes. This meets all of that and highlights the inequity in the social classes in these societies. Enough money and favors can make ALL your problems go away.

The end: it’s the goal. Readers have to go through page after page to figure out where the story is going. It finally becomes clear when we make it to the last chapter of a psychological thriller.

It’s not easy for an author to create a plot that can keep someone’s interest without giving away too many secrets. Lauren Ling Brown was able to keep a constant movement with two timelines providing readers with a believable story. It takes place at Princeton with a secret society which has an edge of stepping into a private, somewhat dangerous place with wealthy students.

The day before graduation from Princeton, Maya got distressing news. Her younger sister, Naomi, was discovered in Lake Carnegie: drowned. It was a shock to Maya and her friends. The book goes back seven months to explain what happened while Maya was investigating in the present time.

Naomi followed her sister’s footsteps as a part of the Greystone Society. Why did she want to do this? It wasn’t easy for the sisters being biracial. Plus, their parents had died leaving them without financial help. They felt like they needed to fit in and friends played an important part of their lives. Is it possible that Naomi couldn’t take the pressure and took too many drugs?

While the setting is at Princeton with high-profile players, this story could take place a number of other schools or even politics where competition and fear makes people do unexpected things. This is a good discussion book with lots of layers. It’s likely that this book may stay with you as it relates to investigations of bribes, gifts and unfair practices which too often is in the news.

My thanks to Bantam and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book with an expected release date of August 13, 2024.

Dark academia, secret societies, murder, secrets, and betrayal.
A fun but sometimes confusing read.
Loved the characters and their development; but the constant jumping around between narrators and timelines overly complicated things at times. The pacing for the second half of the book also seemed too slow, which caused my interest to wain a few times.
I also figured out the “twist” about 20% into the story. However, I still enjoyed this book and the relationship between the sisters!

Brown really pulled me in with this story! Love the character development and the multiple POVs. I’m a huge sucker for academic settings fully of mystery and intrigue and Society of Lies was right up my alley.

I cannot wait for you to read this!

I made it halfway before giving up. A book told in multiple perspectives and timelines, the voices are too similar and make it difficult to tell apart. The pacing is too slow and the mystery aspect suffered greatly for it. Not only can I not finish it, I kind of don’t care who turns out to be the killer.

I found this book good, overall! I think that the characters were well developed and the writing was easy to follow. Would recommend.

I had super high hopes from this book because of the plot. The characters were well developed and I found myself rooting for them. I felt like the book was stalling though and it was very confusing because of the repetition of characters and settings. I found myself having to go back and read and confirm things which I don't love doing.

I found this dark academia book about a secret society at Princeton and a murder that was committed to be very intriguing and attention grabbing.

The writer did a great job making me as a reader feel like I was actually on campus with the characters. The characters themselves were well developed and the story was thrilling and suspenseful.

Overall, Society of Lies was a great, entertaining book, and I really enjoyed reading it. I look forward to reading more of this author’s work.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Genre: Mystery Thriller

Society of Lies is a debut mystery thriller about two sisters, Maya and Naomi. After ten years, Maya is finally going to take part in her college reunion. One day, however, she gets a phone call informing her that her sister, who was about to graduate from college, has passed away. Although they have determined that it was an accident, Maya believes there is more to her sister's death than that.

After conducting her own investigation, Maya discovers that her sister joined the Sterling Club despite the fact that she had repeatedly cautioned her against doing so numerous times. Maya will then continue her search for additional secrets in order to discover what transpired with Naomi.

Using the first-person narration style, the story is told from the perspectives of the two sisters. There are three different timelines, one of which is the present day, told from Maya's point of view. As well as two in the past, from the points of view of both of the girls.

There is a lot of intrigue surrounding the concept of the book. It is always interesting to read about secret societies, and I believe the author did a good job of making this aspect of the mystery the primary focus of the whole thing. Both the writing and the organization of the book are excellent, especially considering that it is the author's first novel.

Society of Lies is a decent mystery thriller. Because I am not a fan of multiple points of view written in one's own voice, especially when both of the characters' own voices were not too distinct from one another, I am unable to say that I enjoyed everything the author did. Additionally, another thing that I do not like about this is that there are three different timelines that we are dealing with here. In this case, I suppose it is a "me" thing. Therefore, if you don't mind these things and like reading about secret societies, you should give it a try because you might like it.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book.

A mystery surrounding Princeton’s secret societies? Sounds great, and for the most part it was. My personal opinion is that it was slower paced (despite the short chapters) than what I would have liked, or hoped for. Was it good? Yes. Met expectations? Yes. Exceeded expectations? No.

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#societyoflies

Story about two sisters, Maya, Princeton graduate and Naomi who is set to graduate. Unfortunatley Naomi
is found dead near the Princeton campus. Naomi was looking into the death of a student that happened when
Maya was a student. Learning that Maya knew the student and was present when the student dies raises questions. As Maya looks into her sister's death, the question arises as to the involvement of the secret club both belonged to..
Murder mystery, two timelines and the secret clubs that are part of the world of academia.
#SocietyofLies #RandomHouse #Ballantine #NetGalley

Society of Lies is perfect for fans of the dark academia genre! It’s an atmospheric and unwavering depiction of race and privilege set among the secret societies at Princeton.

Although this novel is a bit of a slow-burn, I was completely immersed in its compelling look at elitism and power. I loved how the two POVs unraveled the mystery not only of Naomi’s death, but also the death during Maya’s time at Princeton that set everything in motion. There was so much mystique surrounding the secret societies and the club members that I was never sure who to trust or believe. The whole story gives a vibe like you’re being gaslit. Each twist left me needing to know more. Overall, a very engaging read!

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This book is told via the dual point of view and dual timelines of sisters Maya and Naomi. This can get confusing at times so you'll really want to read this book when you can give it your full attention.

Maya returns to Princeton for her reunion and her younger sister Naomi's graduation. When Naomi doesn't show up to one of the scheduled events, Maya begins to worry. She's soon devastated to learn that police have discovered Naomi's body and are ruling her death an accident. After a conversation with the police, Maya is convinced that her sister was murdered. She starts to investigate on her own.

Maya discovers that she may not have known her sister as well as she thought. Despite Maya's warning, Naomi had joined Sterling Club, an exclusive social club. Even worse, she had be tapped to join the secret society that operates through Sterling Club. Maya knows all about it because she too was once a member.

Upon more digging around, Maya finds out that Naomi was digging into the secrets and past of the secret society. Maya is worried that the society was involved with Naomi's death, but how can she convince the police without revealing her own secret past?

I really wanted to like this book. The premise was intriguing. Who doesn't like to read about a secret society?

Unfortunately, the parts about the society felt lackluster. It wasn't very exciting at all. I kept hoping the drama would amp up and it just didn't. Parts of the book required a complete suspension of disbelief and the ending felt rushed. It wasn't my favorite book this year, but I'd be willing to give the author another chance in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine - Bantam for an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for me honest review.

Overall this was a good story. The plot was intriguing and I did like that there were multiple POV. But, it also got a bit confusing at times. Almost too many POV in different time lines. Took awhile to get used to things, and slowed down the reading. I Was glad I read it through though.
I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Once I got to ~30%, this was a fun and fast read! Like others, my main issue with this book was remembering which character's POV I was reading as their voices were too similar. The first 30% felt too coming of age / slice of life in college, but I'm glad I stuck with it as the twisty dark academia thriller came through afterward. For those that hear ivy league secret societies and murder and immediately adds to their TBR, you'll have fun with this one.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced reader copy!

There is a lot going on in Laura Ling Brown's Society of Lies. I enjoyed the dual timelines and POVs, as they gave me a good sense of both of the sisters (Maya and Naomi) and their perspectives about their time at Princeton. I thought this book had an excellent premise, and I love anything with a secret society! I did think this story dragged at parts, as there seemed to be lots of information that was irrelevant to the overall story, and a twist that no one saw coming, because there were absolutely no hints dropped, which always feels a little like I was betrayed as a reader. I think this is a fun, interesting mystery that most readers will enjoy, as long as they don't get too bogged down in the details.

SOCIETY OF LIES
Lauren Ling Brown

If you gave me ten dollars to reread this book I would give you ten reasons I would pass. I didn’t have a good reading experience with SOCIETY OF LIES and my intuition tells me you won’t either.

Let’s talk about it!

SOCIETY OF LIES stars sisters Maya and Naomi. Maya is set to attend her reunion at the same time her sister, Naomi, is set to graduate. When Naomi turns up dead Maya is the first to suspect there may be more to the story than detectives are telling her. She knows her sister better than anyone and she takes it upon herself to investigate Naomi’s mysterious death.

What she finds out is more than she ever expected.

SOCIETY OF LIES is about the dark sides of private institutions and the lengths people will go to fit in even if it means being anyone other than yourself.

If I gave you a summary with spoilers you would be able to spot a big hole in the plot. A few pages in, and I already had to suspend disbelief. That is not good. From that point on, every exclamation point turned weary and appeared to be a question mark. Instead of questioning the characters’ motives, I mentally fact-checked every section of dialogue, every passage of exposition, basically EVERYTHING.

SOCIETY OF LIES is the most confusing book I’ve read in a long time. There are past and present timelines where the same characters appear and interact with each other. If you’re not paying special attention to dates and pov, you can easily lose track of your timeline and the focus. There is a mystery in both, so good luck keeping the clues straight.

I took a lot of notes and was still confused which is no fun at all. And the most unsatisfying part is the novel you’re getting behind all the confusion, hardly seems worth it. This is my first time reading Lauren Ling Brown and I was overall frustrated with my reading experience and found no gold within those hills to keep me coming back.

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Bantam for the advanced copy!

SOCIETY OF LIES...⭐⭐

The book starts with Maya returning to Princeton for a reunion and her sister Naomi's graduation. This special trip turns into a nightmare when Maya finds out that her sister is dead and her death is considered an accident. Maya thinks there's more to it than that. The book delves into collegiate secret societies, power, scandal and how far people will go to guard their secrets. I enjoyed this book. It's refreshing to read a book about people of color in Ivy League colleges. It was really good story that kept me on my toes.

Pros:
Drama filled! Omg - I was there for every twist and turn. The people were horrid (mostly) and really just makes me think that’s how the Ivy Leagues are. The way we got to the twists was great. Writing was good.

Cons:
Unbelievable in some areas but it’s a fiction book. Some twists were a little predictable, but the lead up was fantastic.

A/B+ // 4.5 stars

This was a mixed rating read for me. I really like when a book can continuously hold your attention, and I felt that the author was able to give that to readers. And any secret society style book can seriously capture my instant interest. The one thing I struggled a bit with was the POV.