Fiction | Book Chatter

The Lying Game
By Ruth Ware
Gallery/Scout Press, 9781501156205, March 2018, 416pp.

The Short of It:

School girls, up to no good.

The Rest of It:

The story alternates between the past and present. Isa, Thea, Fatima and Kate attended Salten, a boarding school for girls where they participated in “The Lying Game”. For kicks, they told lies to their fellow classmates for points. It was a silly game but kept them occupied and sometimes the consequences of such lies got them in quite a bit of trouble with administration.

One night, their loyalty to each other is called into question when something goes wrong and they are forced to do something that they hope will never resurface again.

Fast forward to adulthood. The girls are now women, some married and with kids but when Kate sends them a text saying, “I need you.” All three come running.

The Lying Game had a lot of promise but it was a bit long, over 400 pages and the secret wasn’t all that juicy. Perhaps the length of the book watered down the big reveal or I didn’t completely buy how close these girls were to each other. It kept me entertained and I was eager to turn the pages but so much of it centered around Isa and her infant daughter who required constant feeding and a lot of the same statements were made over and over again which made me think a good editing job would have really improved the reading experience.

I’ve read Ware before and some of her books are great and others just so-so. This one was good but it could have been a lot juicier, in my opinion.

Source: Purchased
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

Then She Was Gone
By Lisa Jewell
Atria Books, 9781501154652, November 2018, 384pp.

The Short of It:

One minute Ellie is there, the next minute she is gone and the wake of her disappearance leaves a family changed forever.

The Rest of It:

The Mack family, fairly happy and close knit as far as families go is forced to learn how to live without their oldest daughter. Ellie, the golden girl. The perfect daughter whose light and personality resonates with just about everyone she meets, doesn’t come home from school one day and her parents and family are left to pick up the pieces.

Laurel, can’t quite put her finger on why she thinks Ellie is still alive but as the years go by and nothing new is discovered, the case goes cold. As a mother, can you really let go without any real closure?

The Mack family is affected by Ellie’s disappearance in many ways. A sister, who lives a very secret life and can’t find ways to be close to Laurel like Ellie was. An ex-husband who was a good man, but had to move on with his life. A son who distances himself from the family as soon as he’s able, and then Laurel, who tries desperately to hang on to hope, but quickly realizes that it’s okay for her to find happiness too.

Until a new development is discovered in the case.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a fast read but I felt for these characters. The author did a really good job of presenting all the conflicts and keeping the story fresh. I felt Laurel’s pain over her daughter’s disappearance but I also felt her need for happiness. The story came together in a good way too. Not too predictable or over the top.

I’ve read one other Jewell book and I know she has many others. I am happy to have found an author I can keep reading for awhile.

Source: Purchased
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

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