I really loved the concept of this one but it was much too slow paced for me. The secret societies sounded so interesting but they really weren't what I was expecting or wanting. I was really invested for the first half but as I kept going it just felt like it was going on longer then it should have. I think it could have wrapped up way faster and I may have enjoyed it more. There were also so many unnecessary subplots that really contributed nothing to the story. This was a like, not a love, but it's also a debut author so I'm excited to see the growth and hopefully really love her next book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bantam Books for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Great read. We’re met with an eerie story of two sisters with two points in time until someone ends up dead. Secrets. Money. Power. It was an interesting read and I was left guessing who the true killer or killers were despite setting it up as someone else. While completely fictitious story, bits and pieces are likely to happen in the depths of higher education and bureaucracy. Thank you NetGalley for providing me this ARC and Goodreads for allowing me to provide an honest review of “Society of Lies.”

I love a good dark academia thriller! Explore the Ivy League's secret society in this riveting novel by Lauren Ling Brown.

DNF at 84%

On the one hand, I feel like I might as well push through to the end. But on the other, I don’t think there’s an ending that will make sense to me.

What I liked: college campus, secret societies, and a whodunnit spanning 10+ years. My Alma mater has 3 secret societies on its campus with some of the most beloved traditions.

What I didn’t like: this book didn’t hit the way I had hoped regarding the secret societies. And the dual (triple?) POVs were so confusing with lots of named characters. The downside to the college campus with our main character’s current timeline and past timeline mixed with her sister’s recent-past timeline was SO hard to keep track of.

This academic mystery is about two sisters who attend Princeton University several years apart. They belong to the same eating club and have the same economic professor and a tragedy occurs during each of their Princeton experiences. All of these facts are integral to the story.

This was a fun and well written book that kept me hooked and intrigued until the end. I was surprised at the end, the twist was good and not confusingly thrown together. I would definitely recommend this to others and will be picking up more books by this author!

I finished this book DAYS ago, and I feel like I still need time to process it.

Society of Lies has a SUPER interesting premise. I'm always interested in the "secret societies" of colleges or whatever. Unfortunately, there was so much in this book that absolutely did not need to be there. Infidelity that led to multiple marriages with increasingly younger wives, murder, bribery. I mean, she managed to fit the college admissions scandal in here, but it didn't really serve a purpose!

I personally think the book would have been stronger had it just followed Naomi with flashbacks to what happened with Maya, instead of the other way around.

I gave this book 2.5 stars on Storygraph, and rounded it to 3 on Goodreads.

If you like an academic setting for a thriller, this is for you! Past and present collide in a university setting as Maya comes to terms with the sudden death of her sister, along with the tragedies from her own past. There were multiple timelines and POVs, which made the story engaging and had me quickly turning the pages for more. Overall, I liked the concept, but parts of the book were slow and it became more and more unrealistic as it went on. It was a fun read and left me very concerned about the safety of college campuses!

I received an ARC of this book from Random House via NetGalley in exchange for my honest feedback. I really enjoyed this one, my first by this author.

I did not have trouble figuring out who was speaking in each chapter as I read from some other reviewers. Yes, the characters repeat, but I always knew at what point in time we were.

I loved the descriptions of Princeton and NYC (being somewhat familiar with both places), and I would definitely like to do a deep dive into the history of and rumors about Princeton eating clubs.

Towards the end, I feel like everyone was suspicious, and I didn't predict the actual ending.

One star off for: I think some of Maya and her friends' behavior as students was a little unrealistic. Towards the end, the brief portion of suspicion being placed on one particular character also seemed unnecessary/unbelievable.

I will definitely seek out more books by this author.

The twists and turns made this book a great read. Not for one second could I have predicted the ending. The characters were very well developed and the story had many layers. While I know it’s not a true story I could believe that prestigious clubs like Sterling Club have drama.The timeline was a little hard to follow due to the dual perspectives between Maya and Naomi. Thank you to Random House Publishing for the ARC!

Special thanks to @penguinrandomhouse @laurenlingbrown & @netgalley for the #gifted eARC.

👉🏼 swipe for synopsis ➡️
MY REVIEW:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️➕️

I 👏🏼CAN 👏🏼NOT 👏🏼believe this is a debut!!!!!!!
🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯
I'm stunned.
Floored.

I need Miss Ling Brown to write me another dark academia RIGHT NOW!!!!! 🤣

Things that made me love this book:
✨️ multiple timelines
✨️ dual POVS
✨️ dark academia
✨️ whodunit

I was hooked from the beginning. I needed to know who killed Naomi. This book was absolutely unputdownable. I recommend this to any thriller lover who especially loves dark academia. There were so many a-ha and jaw dropping moments, I was like - how did I not guess that. And the twists at the end! OMG!!!!

This one is by far on my top 5 for 2024!

If you like thrillers, and you don't preorder this one - are you even a reader? LOL

PUB DATE:
Aug 13, 2024


QOTD ❓️⁉️❓️ Where you in any sorority/fraternity clubs/houses/societies in college? What we're they like? Would you recommend?
-if not, What's your favorite subgenre?

AOTD - no I went to community college and worked. And I LOVE dark academia and locked room

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#mysteryandthrills #thrillerlover #thrilleraddict #societyoflies #laurenling #netgalley #darkacademia #bookbuzz #top5of2024 #fivestarread #upcomingthriller
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A twisty, turny, unputdownable thriller! You didn't know who to believe, who to trust, or who was next. What a twisted web of lies the members of Sterling and Greystone were weaving all throughout the book. I'd highly recommend this to thriller fans.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Randomhouse Publishing for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was good! The 2 main characters were done very well — weaving their narrative to form suspense and reveal the mystery. The transitions between past and present were pretty flawless in that it wasn’t confusing and it built the story in a suspenseful way. I like this type of book and it’s many layers. Definitely a 4.5 star read for me. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free copy! I really enjoyed it and recommend it.

Maya is returning to Princeton to celebrate her younger sister’s graduation, but ends up investigating her sister’s murder instead and a secret society, that Maya also had ties to, within the Ivy League might hold all the clues.

I was so intrigued by the plot of this book and it definitely didn’t disappoint. I loved the way we switched back and forth between past and present and how it really just painted the perfect murder mystery on the pages.

The characters were well written and the suspense was perfect. I found myself irritated and saddened by the miscommunication between the sisters, which I think was exactly the point and made me appreciate the writing even more.

I loved the themes represented within the writing as well- race, identity, privilege, power, money- it was just so skillfully written.

More than once I found myself guessing the ending and then throwing out everything I thought I knew and guessing again. In the end, I did not see the ending coming which I ALWAYS appreciate when reading any book.

Thank you to Random House Publishing and NetGalley for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Society of Lies is an atmospheric thriller which highlighted privilege and race issues. Set on the Ivy League campus of Princeton University in New Jersey, it was easy to visualize the setting. The author did a good job creating suspense and a dark atmosphere from the very start. The story definitely kept me guessing throughout as it weaves between POV, past, and present. For me, the miscommunication between the sisters in this story was hard to read. It took away from my overall enjoyment of the thriller. I also needed to continually check whose POV I was reading, as the chapters would recover the same information from a different sisters point of view. This repetition made it hard to keep track of things at times. I did find the ending satisfying and the author does a wonderful job handling some challenging topics in a thriller setting.

Thank you NetGalley and Bantam Books for the advanced reader copy.

Omg this book was so good, I read it in one day I stayed up late reading it because I was so enthralled in it. It’s crazy to think that things like this could actually happen.

I really enjoyed this book. I like the idea of prestigious universities and their secret societies. I also liked how the story was told through both Maya and Naomi's perspectives, both in the past and present. It created a very well rounded story, which left me guessing at every turn. The characters themselves were well written and I was rooting for a majority of them, except for certain admin characters that were abusing their power in these secret societies.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I am looking forward to picking up other stories from this author!

Plenty twists and suspense will keep the reader engaged in Society of Lies. Set primarily in Princeton, two sisters separated by ten years are both members of an exclusive eating club and even more exclusive secret society that offers them access to equal parts privilege and misconduct. Told via dual narration through three timelines: the months leading up to the younger sister's murder, the older sister trying to uncover the identity of the killer, and flashbacks of the older sister's time on the Princeton campus 10 years prior, the reader uncovers a cast of characters who all seem to have motives and opportunity. A great surprise ending and plenty of twists will surely make this a must read for fans of the genre.

Maya and her sister navigate the world of the elite secret societies at Princeton 8 years apart. Both girls are drawn by the opportunities and connections they can build by joining the society. Little do they know these associations can also be deadly.

The Society of Lies was a thrilling book that kept the member guessing with many unexpected plot twists along the way.

Society of Lies by Lauren Ling Brown is a true rollercoaster of horror! This completely fictional story takes place at Princeton University. It involves two fictional college societies…Greystone and Sterling club…and what a who done it it is! The death of Naomi is the source of the question of “what’s going on”, and is prevalent throughout the novel… the ending…well, you’ll have to read it to find out!