A very pulpy thriller/murder-mystery that dives into tradwife influencer culture. Even with some slightly predictable plot beats, it's a gripping read!

Jo Piazza’s Everyone Is Lying to You is punchy, relevant, and deeply engaging. With a sharp sense of cultural commentary and razor‑keen wit, Piazza explores themes of truth, deception, and the frailty of modern relationships. Her characters are vibrant and flawed, navigating personal ambition, social pressure, and moral complexity with authenticity. The narrative races forward, packed with surprising revelations and emotional stakes that feel all too real. Piazza’s voice is both entertaining and incisive, making Everyone Is Lying to You an addictive dive into the modern psyche—a takeaway you won’t soon forget.

I LOVED this book! It was my first read by this author and it won't be my last. It was a perfect "who dun it" and I enjoyed ever minute of it. I will also be checking out the author's podcast!

A wilddddd ride with toxic social media influencers. It started off with a bang but dragged somewhere in the middle. However, it’s one of those books that you just can’t seem to stop reading. It’s comparable to trash tv. You know you shouldn’t but it’s hard to not indulge. The characters were extremely unlikable but that’s what drama is right??

Lizzie Matthews is a busy professional journalist, raising two young kids with her loving husband Peter. The slowly collapsing magazine industry has not been kind to them, however. Peter has lost his job as an editor and Lizzie is desperate to keep hers, even as the couple takes as many economizing steps as they can. So when a former friend approaches her with the opportunity of a lifetime, Lizzie knows that she needs to take it.

Trouble is, her former friend Rebecca Sommers was once her best friend Bex. They met in college and were truly inseparable, until one weekend and several cruel words changed everything. Lizzie has never really gotten over it, and has watched over the years as Bex transformed from fun party girl to demure tradwife influencer on social media. Lizzie knows it’s not really healthy to stalk her once-bestie on Instagram, but she doesn’t really know what else to do with the remains of their friendship and the strong feelings that the loss of it still elicits:

QUOTE
Hate is the wrong word when it comes to Bex. I’m wounded in ways I can’t properly explain. I miss her and that ache turns into frustration which turns into disdain. Her feed riles me up with misplaced envy because there is no way in hell I would ever want to live on a farm with six children. I want to say that scrolling her Instagram is not some regular thing for me. But that would be a lie. I swear that I have my own fully functional (mostly) adult life and priorities that do not include her. I just sometimes get sucked down the rabbit hole and then I feel all of the feelings.
END QUOTE

Now Rebecca is sliding into Lizzie’s DMs, acting almost as if nothing had ever happened to tear them apart. She says she wants Lizzie to break the big news about the next stage of her burgeoning business empire, claiming that Lizzie is the only journalist she trusts to do this. Lizzie is so tempted to turn Rebecca down but knows that the scoop would solidify her standing at the magazine where she works. Even though she’s reluctant to trust Rebecca again, she agrees to fly out west to meet at MomBomb, the number one conference of female influencers in the world, held at a glamorous resort only a manageable drive away from Rebecca’s ranch.

The former best friends’ reunion is emotional, despite neither being able to quite talk about what happened to cause such a rift between them all those years ago. Rebecca promises to explain everything the next day, and encourages Lizzie to explore the conference and all that it has to offer. Which is pretty much what Lizzie is doing when the cops appear and shut everything down in search of Rebecca. Her husband Gray Sommers has been brutally murdered and Rebecca herself has disappeared.

After enduring a police interrogation, all Lizzie wants to do is get on the first flight home. Her boss, however, insists that she stay and report on everything that’s going on. Lizzie feels like she’s too close to the story, even though she’s quietly reinvigorated by the chance to use her once-dormant investigative skills. Will what she discovers, however, be too much for even her to handle?

I am always here for honest portrayals of the complexity of modern women and our everyday relationships, and especially friendships. In her multiple viewpoint novel, Jo Piazza deftly explores the rollercoaster of not only fraught interpersonal affairs but also the ways in which we’re expected to carry ourselves in society, especially when our images are the cornerstones of our livelihoods. As Rebecca explains:

QUOTE
I’m supposed to appear a certain way to certain people. I’m supposed to speak the right words in the right tones. Sometimes I’m not supposed to speak at all. I’m almost always performing, and I have gotten very good at it.

The right way to be “authentic” online is to give away bits and pieces of yourself that seem real, to gently mock yourself, to reveal tiny imperfections, but never big ones. Talk about your stress as a mom, but never your depression (you’ll lose followers real fast). Show a dirty dish, but not an entire messy countertop. Look melancholy at times, but do not cry. Never let them see you cry.
END QUOTE

While I didn’t love how Lizzie (albeit understandably) doubts Rebecca’s innocence, I did very much enjoy the twists and turns of this murder mystery, as both women are caught up in forces far beyond their control. The manner in which they find their way back to each other is both thrilling and heartwarming, even if greater secrets lurk beneath the surface of the influencer industry than either is really ready for. Perhaps most of all, I enjoyed this juicy expose of those very same secrets: while this book is entirely fictional, it certainly rests on a fascinating bedrock of truth that says so much about the way that femininity is viewed, encouraged and exploited today.

Everyone Is Lying To You by Jo Piazza examines how the artificial lens of social media affects our real lives. Lizzie and Bex have been friends for quite some tim,e but they have fallen out of contact with each other. Suddenly, Bex reaches out to Lizzie and asks her to attend a glitzy conference, all expenses paid. While there, Lizzie learns just how fake the lives lived out on social media for millions of followers really are. This realization soon has her fighting for her life. Lots of drama and insider secrets keep the pages rapidly turning in this new release. Read and enjoy!

In a world where every way you turn there is some kind of "influencer" doing something "not like the other..." whatevers, this is following "mom-fluencers". Old friends reunite after many years, and many different life choices. Lizzie has pursued a career in journalism, and lives a simple life with her family. Bex on the other hand has turned into a leading "traditional" influencer, showcasing her perfect family and their ranch life.

Bex wants Lizzie to do an exclusive, and invites her to meet at MomBomb, a high-profile influencers conference. While there Lizzie hears the jarring and unexpected news that Bex's husband has been murdered, and Bex and the kids are missing. Lizzie is left to navigate a sea of jealous, lying, backstabbing "friends" of Bex. While also trying to understand what really happened.

This book was full of twists and kept me glued to the pages until the very end!

I wasn’t sure if this one would hold up—I loved Jo Piazza’s The Sicilian Inheritance, but part of what drew me to that book was the setting and family history. Everyone Is Lying to You doesn’t have that travel-rich backdrop, but it still absolutely delivered.

The story centers on two former best friends, Lizzie and Bex, who had a mysterious falling out years ago. Bex is now a high-profile Instagram momfluencer, while Lizzie is a struggling writer still watching from afar. When Bex invites her to a fancy influencer retreat (MomBomb), Lizzie accepts—but soon finds herself caught in a messy, media-fueled mystery after Bex’s husband is found dead and Bex disappears.

It’s juicy and smart with just enough commentary on social media culture to keep things interesting, and just enough suspense to keep me flipping pages. The ending was a little wild, which knocked off half a star for me—but maybe that chaos was exactly the point.

Book: Everyone Is Lying to You
Author: Jo Piazza
Format: Digital
Genre: Thriller, Crime/Mystery
Review Score: ★★★★½ (rounded down)

This murder mystery dives into the world of female influencer culture. Told in alternating chapters by Bex and Lizzie—former college friends estranged for 15 years—it begins when Bex invites Lizzie to cover a big announcement at a major influencer convention. But things quickly unravel when Bex disappears and her husband is found murdered.

The writing is fast-paced and sharp, with a few subtle twists I didn’t see coming. The dual perspectives keep the story moving, and Jo Piazza makes each character feel real and fully developed.

It’s a smart look at influencer life that feels timely without being heavy-handed. The ending is both surprising and satisfying.

A great, fast-paced summer read.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a murder mystery set in the arena of female influencers. Told between the alternating viewpoints of Bex & Lizzie, former college friends who haven't spoken in years. Bex, now Rebecca, is a trad-wife influencer and Lizzie is a writer for a dying magazine. Bex contacts Lizzie to ask her to come to a large conference and get a big scoop about Bex's new deals that are being announced. The first day of the conference, Bex disappears and her husband Gray is found brutally murdered, but like the real lives of a lot of influencers, the truth isn't readily apparent. I enjoyed the writing of the book and there were a couple of minor twists I didn't see coming. Over all a good mystery.

This a triller/ suspense novel that looks at what goes on behind of scenes of influencers. The dual POVs is done well and helps to move along the story and does not feel redundant like some books can. This is a great read for getting out of a reading slump because of its fast pacing. The twists keep you guessing until the end and has a very satisfying ending with no loose strings.

Man, this one was a bummer! I LOVED Jo Piazza's The Sicilian Inheritance so I was jazzed to get my hands on this, especially because I have such a weakness for books about influencers and influencer culture. Unfortunately this one didn't really offer a compelling take on it all...like if you want to read about how the #tradwife life is miserable under the façade I'd recommend any honest article on like, Ballerina Farms or whatever. This one got too caught up in the genre of it all to really take on what's interesting about this whole thing to me, and it lacked the compelling characters at the center of it that made The Sicilian Inheritance so gripping. Nuts. Next!

My thanks to PENGUIN GROUP Dutton and NetGalley for the ARC.

I was very excited when this book arrived at my door last Friday. Jo Piazza is one of my favourite authors and I was really looking forward to this one. This time she is writing a domestic thriller which really captivated me. We go behind the scenes into the world of very successful mommy tradwife influencers and learn some of their secrets and the manipulations they employ to sell us on their seemingly perfect lives. I enjoyed the college friends angle with Lizzie and Bex and the strong connection they had until it was severed after a falling out. They reconnect years later at an influencer convention just before Bex’s husband is murdered and she becomes a suspect. Lizzie is unsure what to believe going forward but she knows Bex needs her help. The writing is fast paced and the characters are compelling. I definitely enjoyed this book and the insights the author shares on motherhood, friendship, and the influencer scene. This is an interesting and entertaining domestic thriller you need to add to your TBR!

I thought this #tradwife fast paced mystery was a great summer read! The characters were cringey, but that was the point. Those "henfluencers" really showed those a-holes what boss babes they really were, that's for sure! I am a Jo Piazza fan + loved following her on Instagram this month while she was on book tour dressing in #tradwife dresses.

Trad wives seem to be having their moment in fiction and this was a scandalous and soapy read. There was some great insight into motherhood and online personalities. I enjoyed the setting and the characters. Everyone seems to be hiding something throughout so it was fun trying to figure out who had the most to lose. It’s definitely one with some great quotes!

Step aside, Stepford. There’s a new dark domestic queen in town and she’s armed with filters, hashtags, and a body count.

Everyone Is Lying to You is a razor-edged dive into influencer culture that had me flipping pages like I was scrolling Bex’s curated feed at 3AM. And trust me, this story is just as addictive, except instead of #OOTD and sourdough starters, you get betrayal, dead husbands, swingers, and secrets that could crack the grid.

Lizzie is that mom you root for: tired, smart, hungry for something real. Bex, aka Rebecca Sommers, is her long lost college BFF turned cult-like tradwife influencer with five kids, a multimillion-dollar brand, and a murder scene in her backyard. When Bex vanishes and her husband is found very dead, Lizzie dives into a world where everything is sponsored and nothing is safe.

Jo Piazza peels back the glossy filter to show you the rot underneath, and I was so here for it. The pacing is sharp, the twists are juicy, and the final chapters? I had to pick my jaw up off the floor. If you’ve ever scrolled past a picture-perfect family and thought, “There’s no way that’s real,” this one’s for you.

Come for the matching outfits and artisanal eggs, stay for the deception, backstabbing, and one truly brilliant unraveling of truth. Piazza proves yet again that when it comes to secrets? Women know exactly where to bury the bodies.

This book had me hooked from the very first chapter! Full of secrets, twists, and surprises, it is a juicy, suspense-filled story that dives deep into the curated chaos of influencer culture. It’s fast-paced, incredibly bingeable, and impossible to put down.

I loved how Jo Piazza pulled back the curtain on the influencer lifestyle - showing just how much of it is performance and business, and how little of it is real. The behind-the-scenes look at that world felt so believable, with all its polished facades, scandals, and power plays. You really start to wonder how much of what we consume online is honest - or how much is manipulation for likes and brand deals.

The dynamic between Lizzie and Bex was one of my favorite parts. Their friendship, the sense of betrayal and longing, and the way their lives have diverged made for a fascinating emotional layer beneath the murder mystery. Lizzie is such a relatable character - juggling work, kids, and the messiness of adulthood while being drawn into something so much darker than she expected.

And the mystery itself was wild! Just when I thought I had it figured out, another secret would be revealed, each more shocking than the last. The epilogue especially left my jaw on the floor, it was the perfect final twist to end on.

This is the kind of book you finish in one or two sittings, preferably on a beach or curled up under a blanket. Highly recommend for anyone who loves domestic thrillers, stories about complicated female friendships, or just a really well-told mystery with a modern twist.

My copy of this book was provided by NetGalley and Dutton for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I think the suspense fans at our library are going to devour Everyone Is Lying to You - I know I certainly did! As a former journalist, this book hits home, outlining the very real struggles that some of my friends who remained in that career are currently facing. Packed with behind the scenes details, this novel also deeply delves into the "perfect" world of Influencers - especially the "trad" lifestyle Influencers and the religious leaders who are often behind it. I was surprised... and also not surprised.

This suspense keeps you guessing at every corner. While all smiles and hugs on the surface, there's a definite undercurrent of malice and envy between the Influencers - and a lot to gain financially by one of their higher members being taken off the board. With so many people with motive, who can Lizzie trust in the land of Influencers? You might want to take notes on some of the side characters - they may come in handy as the story unfolds I stayed up all night to finish this book, and I absolutely did not see the final reveal coming - loved it!!

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Everyone Is Lying to You - Jo Piazza

Everyone Is Lying to You by is one of the best books I’ve read this month—fast-paced, wildly entertaining, and razor-sharp in its commentary on influencer culture and the “trad wife” trend.⁣
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Yes, there have been a lot of books lately about social media moms and curated perfection, but this one stands out from the pack. Lizzie, a struggling journalist and mom, reconnects with her estranged college best friend Bex—now a mega-popular influencer with a perfectly polished ranch life, five photogenic kids, and a devoted (and suspiciously handsome) husband.⁣
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But when Bex goes missing and her husband turns up dead, Lizzie gets pulled into a world of secrets, scandals, and absolutely no-filter chaos. Think murder, backstabbing, messy entanglements, and the pressure to keep up appearances—on and off camera.⁣
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Smart, twisty, and way too bingeable. Highly recommend if you love a mystery with a modern, relevant edge.

“Show a dirty dish, but not an entire messy countertop. Look melancholy at times, but do not cry. Never let them see you cry.”

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (3.5/5)

Lizzie and Bex were best friends in college. These days, however, Lizzie is a struggling magazine writer, and Bex is an Instagram-famous tradwife with six kids. After 15 estranged years, Lizzie receives a call from Bex out of the blue, offering an invitation to a high-profile influencing conference. Over the course of the event, Bex goes missing, and her husband is found brutally murdered on their ranch, leaving Lizzie to solve the mystery of her friend’s disappearance for herself.

This book was easy to read, and fast paced. This was my second “trad wife” book in the last few weeks, so the parallels to the other book were eerily similar. Overall this was a fun read, but I didn’t rate it as high because it felt like the other book. For others, this may be rated higher!!