If You Tell a Lie by Lucinda Berry

Lucinda Berry’s book are quick reads for me. If You Tell a Lie is no different. It’s a psychological thriller told in dual timelines and multiple POVs. There’s a lot of manipulation and lying; sometimes you aren’t sure which character to believe (which I like!).

If You Tell a Lie is basically a reckless journey with peer pressure and social contagion and how dangerous or deadly the outcome(s) can be.

If you want an easy psychological thriller this is the book for you. Short chapters. Each chapter that ends makes you want to start another. There’s a few crazy twists but it’s supposed to be entertaining right?? I guessed one twist but wasn’t prepared for others. I would have liked to know what eventually happened to 3 of the characters or maybe it was left open for a sequel?

There are some subjects of sexual abuse, rape (mentioned not described), eating disorders and gruesome depictions. No sexually explicit scenes.

4 stars ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

#NetGalley #ifyoutellalie #lucindaberry

If You Tell A Lie is full of crazy drama and unstable characters, and I couldn't put it down. Lucinda Berry has crafted a twisty tale involving 4 best friends who promise to support each other forever. The storyline switches between "then" when the four main characters were senior campers at Camp Pendleton and "now" 26 years later. All four girls have had difficult childhoods and are thankful to have each other. They have spent 9 consecutive years at summer camp together and are determined to make their last summer the best one yet. However, things don't go to plan, and the girls end up leaving camp with many secrets they will not speak of again ... until 26 years later when something brings them together once more. Wow! The storyline goes a bit off the rails, but it was exciting and kept me turning the pages. I always enjoy Berry's writing style as it makes for an easy, comfortable, yet captivating read. If You Tell A Lie would make a great tv movie or mini series. Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the digital ARC.

Blakely, Grace, Meg, and Thera became best friends on day one at Camp Pendleton, a haven for gifted children. Then, their final summer, Mr. Crosby,, the handsome new tennis coach, winds up murdered after a reckless lie. The four girls swore themselves to secrecy., and never spoke to each other again....until now. Twenty years later a sinister note claiming to know what they did brings them back together. And once again Blakely is the one pulling the strings.

I really wanted to like this book. I normally like this author's books, but this one just fell flat for me. The characters all seemed to lack depth, and I didn't find anyone that I really found especially likeable, or like someone I could root for. The story is told in alternating chapters between past and present, so you can see what happened at camp all those years ago, along with what is happening now. Overall, this is a solid 3 out 5.

Four friends from camp were involved in a murder. They swore themselves to secrecy and that they would never communicate again. Now, twenty-six years later, someone is sending them threatening notes. They reconvene to try to figure out what is going on.

I liked the premise here, but I think there was too much going on structurally. We had multiple POVS, multiple timelines (with the multiple POVS throughout), and no real method to switching back and forth between the two. For instance, we would get a snippet of present timeline and then three chapters of the past. It made it harder for the suspense to build for me I think.

Thank you to NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer, and Lucinda Berry for the copy of If You Tell a Lie.

I have come to enjoy everything of Lucinda Berry’s that I have read, and this one is no different! Such a creative and wonderfully written story. Not how I expected this to go, but sooo good!

Thank you, Thomas & Mercer for this advance copy in exchange for my review.

I thought this was going to take the crown for my favourite Lucinda book up until the ending, but more on that later.

Here’s what I loved. The representation in the girls/ women was fantastic. Graces battle with both her body and mind about her weight and then her eventual acceptance and learning to love her body made my heart happy.
Thera’s backstory about her mom broke my heart into a million pieces.

The dual timeline was probably the best I’ve ever read.
At the end of the present day sections I needed more immediately and it was the same with the 1997 timeline.
Because this was done so well I found it near impossible to put down.

I will say this definitely got me out of my months long reading slump and was a fantastic quick paced read.

So here’s what made this go from a 5⭐️ read for me to a 4⭐️ - that ending.
The ending felt so abrupt and I really thought I was maybe missing an epilogue.
Where’s the closure for Grace and Thera?
What ended up happening with Meg?
These questions will probably haunt me forever.

Thank you @netgalley @amazonpublishing #partner for the gifted eARC.

I am a sucker for books with settings at camps and after reading The Perfect Child, I was pumped to jump into this one. Set at Camp Pendleton, a camp for gifted kids, we follow a group of teens going through the tough years of growing up. The focus being what they eat, who they are friends with, who the ring leader of the group is, popularity, and of course who likes who. When one of the girls, Blakely decides she likes one of the camp counselors all bets are off as she concocts what I’ll call “a teenaged plan”. What starts as something somewhat innocent turns into a terrible disaster. The girls then are left with dealing with the guilt and grief as the years tick on. And boy oh boy what a mess they’ve created! 👀

Thoughts: Be fair warned there are a lot of very intense feelings and tough topics explored in this book. The more intense topics were eating disorders and grooming and of course murder. I am dead inside so these things don’t bother me but thought I should mention. 🙃

I really love the setting of this one. When I read books like this it makes me nostalgic for when I was younger and just puts me in a good headspace. There are a lot of characters in this story so make sure you closely pay attention to them or jot a quick note down in the beginning…I wish I would have. I do think Lucinda does a great job creating the mindset of a typical teenager. We all know they are easily influenced and can make terrible decisions. This story was definitely no exception! I felt sad for some of the characters being sucked into situations they didn’t really seem to know how to get themselves out of. 😬 This book was loaded with lots of twists and shocking actions! I did enjoy this book and do plan to continue to read more of Lucinda’s backlist!

When four childhood friends are tied together through a deadly secret, drama and trauma are sure to follow.

At their last year of summer camp, Blakely, Meg, Grace, and Thera find their beloved tennis coach murdered due to a dangerous lie. Traumatized and sworn to secrecy, the group goes their separate ways and doesn’t speak for twenty years.

A mysterious letter reunites the four friends and they find out their secrets were not as confidential as they thought. As the friends untangle the mess from their last summer together, they open a can of worms that will change them forever. This is a twisty thriller told in dual timelines that will leave readers shocked and disturbed.

Lucinda does it again! Great read. Perfect thriller for the summer! I struggled with the multiple (5) POVs plus the dual timeline. I had to constantly check whose chapter was who. Other than that, it was a good read that kept me intrigued to know what was going to happen next.

I’ve always enjoyed Lucinda Berry’s writing, so I was really excited for If You Tell a Lie. It’s everything you expect from her; its dark, we have complicated characters, its full of triggers, all of which I like. Because this one is set in dual timelines, with current day and a flashback to when the women were only 17-year-old girls, it did feel a bit YA at times, but it was to be expected and didn’t leave me cringing, so that’s a win in my book. I liked the twist, though I did feel it coming, and at the beginning I was confused a few times on trying to keep our four characters straight, but I quickly got the hang of it and couldn’t peel myself away. I can’t wait to see what we get next from Lucinda Berry. If You Tell a Lie will be published 7/23. Thanks to Thomas and Mercer for my eARC.

Full of twists and turns, this one had me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end.

This was my very first from this author, but the writing is so fun and I will definitely be reading more!

A group of best friends made at summer camp will always know some of your deepest darkest secrets. Sometimes, those secrets are deadly.

Following a back and forth timeline, we get this really intricate plot, full of murdery intrigue, consequences and reparations. I LOVED this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc. Four friends meet in camp every summer, and swear to never tell the secret of that final summer between them and the handsome tennis coach. Twenty years later a sinister note brings them back together. I absolutely loved the different timelines and getting to know each character. A thrilling novel with a giant twist!

📚: If You Tell A Lie by Lucinda Berry
⭐️: 3/5

The gist: Camp Pendleton, 26 years ago — a horrific crime scene, a dead tennis coach, and four senior campers, swearing each other to secrecy.

The good: Summer camp thrillers are becoming a solid, festive (if you will) summertime trope for me. This read has a quick pace, a gripping storyline, and a twist at 80% in that had my jaw hanging.

The eh: Unfortunately, aside from that jaw dropping moment, the rest felt pretty predictable, along with an abrupt ending that made me say, “wait that’s it?!” out loud. (If anything begged for an epilogue, it’s this book.)

Thanks to Thomas & Mercer via @netgalley for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. If You Tell A Lie is out next week on 7/23!

Lucinda Berry smashes it out of the ballpark with her latest thriller If You Tell a Lie. I do love everything and anything that Lucinda writes. This one is a wild ride and it does have a lot trigger warnings in it. Things were happening all over the place and I just could not put it down. The ending was not what I was expecting so I was glued to the very last page into the wee hours of the night. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this early release in exchange for my early review. To be published July 23, 2024.

A bingeable thriller perfect for summer reading and fans of Mean Girl. This one has an interesting dual timeline told from the perspectives of four girls who lived for their time at summer camp together every year. I liked the distinctive relationships that the girls had with each other and how they all altered their behaviour to be in Blakely's good graces. It reminded me of the teenage girl dynamics I remember from high school. I also liked the older perspectives of the women in their forties and how they evolved, yet the dynamics of their relationships stayed somewhat similar. I don't want to get into the plotting too much for fear of giving anything away but suffice it to say it's dark and twisted in typical Lucinda Berry fashion.

If You Tell a Lie by Lucinda Berry starts off strong. Dual timelines with a before and after. The before starts at a summer camp for gifted students where four girls become fast friends. What happens that summer sucked me right in. I started off enjoying the dual timeline with the after even. However, the after to me was not very believable, are these girls really going to run to one of them after not seeing each other for almost 30 years? Maybe because of their shared secrets and what happened that initial summer. The ending also is so abrupt there were so many unanswered questions that I had.

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for an ARC of If you Tell a Lie by Lucinda Berry for an honest review.

Lucinda has done it again as she takes us on a journey of Meg, Blakely, Grace and Thera during their time at summer camp 20 years ago and how peer pressure and our own individual lives can affect the choices we make but also how one small choice can affect the lives of others. Then she leaves us wanting to throw the book at the wall when the ending isn't at all what you would hope for because if you know Lucinda, you know how she likes to end books! The twists and turns as you alternate between the past and present keep you wondering and guessing. I did have moments of confusion with this aspect on whose perspective and what time period I would be reading. It also took me a bit to get into the book as the character development took place but overall was a page turner, gut wrencher, and an emotional book. In the end, I felt honored to read an ARC by one of my favorite authors. A big thank you.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read and review an early copy of this book. If You Tell A Lie by Lucinda Berry will be released on July 23rd, 2024.

I absolutely ADORE Lucinda Berry and her writing and can proudly say that I have read every single book that she has released to date. Unfortunately, If You Tell A Lie was not a sure-fire hit for me. The writing was great and the story was easy to follow, but the plot just wasn't it for me. I found it to be a bit...flat.

Sometimes even though you like the twists and the story and like/dislike the characters, you can end a story with a bad taste in your mouth. That was me with this book. It felt like the author took the chess board and upended it instead of playing out the game. That is really the only way I can describe it. I don't know what else to say without giving things away. Most people, I think, will really enjoy the story and may not have a problem with the ending like I did, so take my disappointment with a grain of salt!

4.5⭐️

Something happened when a group of girls were at summer camp, We know they are guilty of something, but not what. They never contact each other after that camp until twenty plus years later when they each get a card threatening them.

The group are Grace,Thera, Meg,Blakely (who was the group leader in the earlier time frame)

The book is told by each of the POV and flips between now and then.

This doesn’t start off as dark as some of her other thrillers that I love. The repeated inference of secrets adds to the suspense and waiting for the reveal. This one is more of a slow start that keeps building and building til it reaches boiling point, or volcanic eruption.

It definitely grew on me as it progressed even though non of the characters are likeable. By the end I loved it.