Dual-timeline, dual-POV book about two sisters (Maya and Naomi) who get caught up in the same secret Princeton society ten years apart. When Naomi is found dead, Maya is forced to confront her dark past, and must put herself in danger in order to unveil the truth of her younger sister's death.

I finished this book several days ago, and I can't stop thinking about it. I love a secret society, and I love a good sister story. But what I loved most about this was how well the author handled that murky gray morality zone, when people do bad things for the right reasons. I felt a lot of empathy for Maya and Naomi, and found their stories to be realistic and wholly believable.

Highly recommend for readers who like an intelligent, dark suspense.

If you’re itching for a new dark academia read, THIS IS IT. I am absolutely blown away that this is Lauren’s debut novel. The story flows effortlessly of two sisters that became entangled in the same dark, underground society at Princeton ten years apart. Enter the dark, moody, secret world of Sterling Club - where no one is safe and everyone has a motive.

When Maya returns to Princeton, a decade after her own graduation, for her sister’s graduation weekend she gets a call that she never expected. Naiomi’s body has been found. Maya cannot shake the hunch that this was not an accident, and someone needs to be held responsible.

But as she uncovers more of the story she finds herself second guessing everything that she knew to be true and a memory from her time on campus threatens to reach the surface - because maybe Naiomi isn’t the only “accident” the college has tried to brush under the rug…

Secrets. Betrayal. Privilege. Revenge.
A Society of Lies - and a graveyard of buried truths.

What happened to Naiomi, and is Maya willing to risk her good standing as Sterling alumni to find out?

This is sure to be the beach read of the summer.
Highly recommend.

Multiple POVs and dual timelines were confusing. It's like there was to much going on and to many distractions going on that the book was longer than it needed to be. Chapter length wasn't to bad, but book still felt like it drug on.

Thank you to Netgalley, Random House Publishing Group - Bantam, and Lauren Ling Brown for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Publication date for Society of Lies is August 12, 2024

If you're a fan of dark academia (I mean, aren't you?), secret societies (OMG), and murder... this is the book for you. This is Brown's debut, and it is SO Fabulous as well as gorgeously written, I have no doubt it will leave a mark on the mystery/thriller part of publishing. When Maya returns to her Ivy League college for a class reunion, and to see her younger sister, who attends there, she's met with that sister's (Naomi) death--or is it murder? Told in dual POV/dual timeline, this book keeps you locked in and paying keen attention to not miss anything. I really enjoyed it and can't wait to see what Brown comes up with next!

I usually love having duel timelines and multiple POV, especially in a thriller. However, these timelines just bled together way too much for me. It was difficult to differentiate THEN and another THEN, and the NOW scenes. Everything was just too similar, as well as the inner character voices, that I couldn’t get invested. With things being so repetitive, it made the book feel longer than it actually was. This was actually the longest it’s taken me to finish a book in years, it took me a whole eight days to get through less than 400 pages. I was too bored and uninterested to read for very long stretches of time.

I think this could be a better read for others, but for me, this wasn’t it.

This book was so much fun to read and try to figure out the plot and the characters. The twists and turns made it difficult to put this book down. I read it over a weekend. I have enjoyed past. Oops by this author. This is one you will want to read. Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the early read.

Secret societies at Princeton University lead to the deaths of young coeds. Sisters, Maya and Naomi are inducted ten years apart,into a secret society with a a charismatic professor at the helm who promises members a lifetime of success, wealth and connections. What will this promise cost its members immediately and in the future. Racial discrimination and old money snobbery add an element of truth at the Ivy League world. This book had the added elements of intrigue and terror to keep the pages turning.

Society of LIes
by Lauren Ling Brown
Pub Date: August 13, 2024
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
How far would you go to belong?

Maya has returned to Princeton for her college reunion—it’s been a decade since she graduated, and she is looking forward to seeing old faces and reminiscing about her time there. This visit is special because Maya will also be attending the graduation of her little sister, Naomi.
But what should have been a dream weekend becomes Maya’s worst nightmare when she receives the news that Naomi is dead. The police are calling it an accident, but Maya suspects that there is more to the story than they are letting on.
Not bad for a debut author, but honestly not a book I can recommend. It was very slow. I think the reason I felt this way is because given the dual POV (which I love in books) it was very confusing, because of the repetition of characters and settings. I had to stop reading to go back to the beginning of the chapter just to confirm who perspective it was. The POV were just way too similar to each other. There was a lot of miscommunication in this story between the sisters. 😭 Which I did not like.
For me this b0ok was a big miss.

By far one of the best and well written books I have ever read. Lauren Ling Brown created the most believable characters and the most true to life scenario on every page.

I rate my books based on what I do when I am not reading them. If I think about the book and start researching places, characters, places in time then I know without a doubt that what I am reading is truly something special.

From page 1, I was immediately drawn to this unique relationship between the sisters and their mother. Lauren had me talking about this book with others, she had me researching what Princeton looked like, what the “eating clubs” looked like to the average person.

She had me HOOKED and I’m pleased to say my intuition about this book was spot on.

20/5 stars. An immediate auto buy for any dark academia fans, readers who enjoy suspense, a tumultuous family relationship, dual point of views and timelines.

Basically if you have a pulse, you will love this book. Without a doubt this book deserves to become a movie or series. Every aspect is there and would be a huge box office hit.

Absolutely fantastic plot! I could not put the book down once I began reading it. Cannot wait for it to be released. I will recommend it to everyone.

This book was a little slow for me because of this reading slump I have been in but I loved the story!!
It jumps timelines a lot so you can fully understand what happened before and I love a good dual perspective! and the ending... did not see that coming. It was right in front of my face the whole time and I still didn't catch on.
3.5 stars

Thank you to Random House and Lauren Ling Brown for this debut. It was about Maya, a girl head back to her alma mater to see her sister graduate. But when Naomi turns up dead, the weekend becomes something Maya could have never imagined. Maya knows there is more to the story, especially after she finds out Naomi was in a secret society that Maya warned her against joining. The more she uncovers, the more Maya realizes that Naomi was digging up the past and secrets that went along with it. After all, Naomi wasn’t the first girl found dead at Princeton.

Thoughts: This book had the perfect setting. I love an academic thriller, and the setting of Princeton and the eating clubs and secret societies was a great backdrop for this story. I liked the contrasting characters of Maya and Naomi with the rich and privileged students who attended Princeton with them. I thought there were some good points about race and culture and belonging.

I think that some of the chapters ended at really weird points that didn’t make much sense. The story was a bit far fetched and I found there to be some loose ends that were never tied up. This was wonderful for a debut, and I think the author will be one to watch. 4 stars for this interesting story!

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!