3.5/5⭐️
This was a tough read. I was in 8th grade when 9/11 happened and I haven’t read a book that had it be at the center of all the drama. I thought the story was good, but I didn’t like a single character. The toxicity of their friendship was well described. But I just couldn’t like any of them and i was okay with that for the story. I liked how the story dives into how everything unravels, but it was a bit slow in some parts. Over all I did enjoy it, the ending was what I expected but it didn’t disappoint. I did like the narrator though, she did an amazing job conveying all of their emotions. So I recommend the audiobook if you are having trouble with it.

Tell Them You Lied
By Laura Leffler
Narrated by Sarah Naughton

Published May 27, 2025

WOW, I really enjoyed this toxic friendship story. Willow an amazing person, Anna who had never met someone like Willow in her life. I loved the dual POV in this between Willow and Annas Time at art school and the year 2001 in NYC.

Thank you NetGalley and Brilliance Publishing for the ALC audiobook. All opinions are my own.

Tell Them You Lied delivers a deliciously sharp take on toxic female friendship, set against the backdrop of the art world and anchored by one of the boldest uses of 9/11 as a plot device in recent memory. Messy, moody, and full of razor-edged observations.

Tell Them You Lied- was a fascinating read. I loved the thrilling nature of the writing and kept turning pages. I'd read more from the author

3.5⭐️

I’m not sure exactly what I was expecting going into this but I did enjoy this audiobook. Let me start by saying that the audio/narrator was FANTASTIC. This book takes place in 2001 during/after the 9/12 terrorist attacks and the years before that help us build the history of Anna & Willow’s past. This turned into a tale of a dark, toxic friendship and all of the secrets that unraveled up until the present day. I loved the writing in this story. I also loved the backstory and learning how twisted Willow ready was. What I wasn’t a fan of was that this story was labeled as a thriller. It read more like contemporary fiction. If I had no expectations diving into this, I think it could have potentially been a 4,5-5⭐️ read for me. Overall, I did really enjoy it!

Where to even begin with this one? Tell Them You Lied is absolutely securing a top spot in my 2025 reads! This is one of those books that I kept thinking about for days after I finished it. I was immediately hooked from the beginning by the dark academia vibes and the rivalry/competition between best friends. Leffler uses evocative language to tell Anna and Willow's tale across the span of their college friendship into post-graduate life while infusing drama, depths, and emotion. I was obsessed with this plot, listening at every moment I could. I think she nailed the complications of female friendship and how dynamic bonds can be shattered in an instant. The historical jumping from college life to post-grade really wove the plot together and left me waiting for the next chapter. I can't recommend this book enough to anyone who is into modern drama and dark academia novels.

Anna has always been a little isolated. She was ostracized by her parents at a young age and didn't really click socially in high school. When she gets to art college, she meets Willow: a carefree, wild spirit who entices Anna by her whimsy. Anna and Willow become inseparable, bouncing creative ideas off of each other while secretly in constant competition for praise and respect of their prestigious professor and the art community as a whole.

After a tumultuous 5 years for friendship and jealousy, Anna has had enough of the manipulation. She plans to bring Willow back to reality by staging a mugging, but this seemingly random day is September 11th, 2001. Anna's plot is foiled by the catastrophic event, which leads to Willow's untimely disappearance. As her plot spirals out of control, Anna begins to question how truly vindictive Willow can be, even in the space of her absence.

Thank you to @NetGalley and @LauraLeffler for the advanced copy of this audiobook. I will certainly be talking about this one for a while and plan to read everything Leffler writes in the future!

What an intense and psychologically gripping debut from Leffler.

At its core lies a toxic friendship and a chilling story of obsession, wrapped in an angsty tone that heightens the suspense throughout. I found it thought-provoking in the best way — probing into themes of envy, deceit, ambition, power, trust, the objectification of women as muses, and the shadowy underbelly of the art world.

Told in dual timelines that alternate between past and present, the narrative unfolds against the haunting backdrop of 9/11, adding a layer of emotional weight and atmospheric tension. It’s a novel that pulls you in deeply — with a cast of deeply flawed, often unlikeable characters whose complexity only adds to the intrigue.

LAURA LEFFLER’s debut is so square in my wheelhouse of complicated female friendships + all the darkness and toxicity that can accompany the envy, ambition, competition and lure of being in the orbit of the most dazzling girl in the room.

Told from Anna’s POV, the book opens brilliantly as she waits for the phone call from her roommate Willow who already left for work.

Anna pictures her crossing Tenth Avenue, oblivious to the danger of yet another man looking at her, cat-calling, eyeing her. Unaware of the danger. A man who wasn’t just watching, but waiting. Knife in hand. But Anna knew because she paid him to be there.

Alternating between their art school days at Balwin University and the unsettling days in NYC following 9/11, the book is compulsive, uncomfortable, unsettling, mysterious and beautifully written. Surrounded by a tight-knit group of friends the story delves into the complexity of their relationships, the wealth gap and the overarching desire to belong.

I am forever intrigued by stories about the outsider looking for her way in and the lengths the characters will go to get what they want. There is a relatability to Anna and I felt a real nostalgia for the pure intensity of those friendships that happen in the first days of college and carry you through.

This book is in great company alongside Jessica Knoll, Laurie Elizabeth Flynn + Jessie Q. Sutanto. Thank you so much to Brilliance Audio for the Audio ARC.

You’ll definitely want to add this to your summer reading list.

This was such a unique story and unlike anything I have read, even though it reminded me of a few other books. This really captured those manipulative female friendships you have in college (or maybe it was just me?) Willow and Anna were an excellent duo, equally petty, frustrating and flawed. But since I like reading about trainwrecks it worked. The surprises in this one were so well done and elevated the plot.

Told in dual timelines, this one alternates between the late ’90s and early 2000s. It focuses on secrets, betrayal, art, envy, and the dark lengths some girls will go to just to come out on top. It’s twisted in a good way, and the mystery kept me intrigued from start to finish. I wasn’t a fan of the characters. What really intrigued me was the mystery and the narration. Sarah Naughton did a great job bringing Anna, Willow, and the rest of the characters to life. She did a great job portraying the tones and inflections of the characters in the story.

A very special thanks to BookSparks + Brilliance Audio + Netgalley for the gifted copy.

The premise of the book was in my opinion good by itself and didn’t need the addition of the September 11th events added in, I would have actually much preferred the book without that aspect.

I did find it hard to connect with the characters but it may be because I was thrown off with the blend of September 11 events? Idk this was a weird one for me…

Overall this didn’t work for me but maybe at some point I will go back and give it another try !

Thank you for the gifted copy

#ad much love for my advance copy @booksparks #partner
& @brillianceaudio #partner for the ALC
🆃🅴🅻🅻 🆃🅷🅴🅼 🆈🅾🆄 🅻🅸🅴🅳
< @laura.leffler >
ʀᴇʟᴇᴀꜱᴇꜱ: ᴍᴀʏ 𝟤𝟩, 𝟤𝟢𝟤𝟧
ꜱʀᴄ 𝟤𝟢𝟤𝟧 || ᴛʀᴀᴄᴋ 𝟨

Willow and Anna met at school and became fast friends. Now it’s 4 years later and Anna has set something up to teach Willow a lesson. But it’s also September 11, 2001 and when they hear about the planes hitting the Pentagon and towers, and can’t reach Willow, Anna is starting to worry that something might have gone terribly wrong. Now Anna is missing and no one has heard from her.

Tell Them You Lied by Laura Leffler is a slow burn thriller with a compelling plot. The chapters alternate between the current date and four years ago (up to the present) when Willow and Anna first met.

The beginning of this one starts off with a bang and then slowly begins to build the two timelines. An examination of female friendship is at the forefront. While I mostly enjoyed this one, it didn’t really feel like a typical thriller to me.

I did however love the writing and will def be reading more from this author! I enjoyed the art class discussions and characters. The setting def took me back to 2001 - when I was a freshman in high school. Nostalgic for sure.

Memorable
AOL email
Maine
Triggers
MS
9/11
Drugs

I thought the premise of this story sounded super interesting and unique, especially with it set on and around September 11th. As I listened on, I realized that I couldn't connect to these characters and stopped caring about the mystery element of this story. With that, I decided to DNF this one.

I think this story definitely has potential, and I think some readers would really enjoy this. It just unfortunately was not me.

Thank you for the opportunity to listen to Tell Them You Lied!

"Tell Them You Lied" by Laura Leffler has a fantastic premise. A young woman, fresh out of a prestigious fictional art school, moves to NYC with her college roommate, with whom she shares a complicated love-hate relationship. She ends up scheming with her roommate’s boyfriend to scare her—literally hiring someone to threaten her as payback for years of manipulation. Is it messy? Yes. Intriguing? Absolutely.

However, while reading, I struggled.

The synopsis completely captured my interest, but once I delved into the story, it felt like it was trying to do too much at once. There were numerous ideas layered throughout, but instead of weaving together smoothly, they kept looping in circles. To make matters more complicated, the story featured dual timelines and shifts in point of view, bouncing between first and third person. This added to the chaotic feeling, which seemed unintentional.

Additionally, the portrayal of toxic college friendships among early 20s women felt familiar. I’ve seen it before multiple times. While the characters were undeniably fascinatingly flawed (and I'm definitely here for that), none of their situations felt particularly new. The dynamic of wanting to possess someone while also being completely consumed by them was very evident—great for character motivation, but still felt repetitive.

Another element that threw me off was the use of 9/11 as a backdrop. I expected it to tie into the plot meaningfully, but it merely served as a timestamp. It felt odd and unnecessary—perhaps because I vividly remember September 11th.

That said, Sarah Naughton’s narration of the audiobook was outstanding. She made Anna feel real and relatable, even when the story itself felt a bit slippery.

Would I recommend it? Honestly, it's a strong maybe. If you’re into literary fiction, don’t mind characters who are total disasters, and are open to a story that's more about vibes than plot, this might work for you.

Thank you to Laura Leffler, Brilliance Publishing, Hyperion Avenue and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

Engaging, entertaining, and well narrated. A recommended purchase where crime and thrillers are popular.

This book was crazy.
Two art students have, what I would describe as, a toxic friendship. Anna becomes obsessed with Willow. Willow is confident and knows how to get what she wants, at any cost. Anna can’t keep up, but does she even really want to?
Y’all. This was a wild ride. The ending wasn’t what I was expecting. There were parts I wasn’t as engaged with, but most of the time I was straight up hooked.
Great listen. Thank you netgalley!

I finished the book still not knowing how I felt about it. My initial thought is that I hated the book but I must not have if I stuck through til the end?

In reality the book is really good and it's the characters I hate. Everyone feels like they're lying or manipulating someone. No one is reliable and their personalities felt gross. Which makes perfect sense for the book.

I did want to get to the end. I wanted to know what happened, but I'm not sure if I enjoyed the journey. I think the 9/11 backdrop was unnecessary but I can see how it added a little bit of seasoning to the plot.

I'm giving it four stars, I may change my mind about this. I've sat on this for a few hours now and I'm still confused on how I feel about it. So she must have done something right.

I did receive an audio copy and the narrator fit the main character. Easy to understand at an increased speed.

Wow! Truly had no idea what was coming with this one. Very suspenseful and not at all predictable. The ending was a bit of a letdown, but otherwise really enjoyed this one!

(Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the audio ARC in exchange for my honest review.)