My name is Amber Reynolds. There are three things you should know about me:

1. I’m in a coma.
2. My husband doesn’t love me anymore.
3. Sometimes I lie.

Christmas Day, 2016. Amber Reynolds lies in a hospital, the victim of an unknown incident. Unresponsive to treatment, but she is aware of everything around her. Except what happened to her.

Early December, 2016. Amber’s life seems to be falling apart. Her job is at risk, her husband may be cheating on her. As her memories start to return, events start to lead to the incident that put her in the hospital – an incident that is nothing that she could have expected.

And in the less recent past, a diary begins to tell of the dark events that made Amber who she is, that made Amber do what she has done and that will lead to tragedy – many, many times over…



I get a lot of general mailshots to review books and generally I ignore them – often, they’re not even mysteries. But occasionally, I get lured onto Netgalley and this was one of those times. I’m not entirely sure why – I’m hardly the target audience for “The Next “The Girl On The Train”” (The Girl On The Next Train?) as I wasn’t desperately impressed by that one. In fact the whole “unreliable narrator” genre (aka the “did the boyfriend/husband do it?” genre) isn’t my favourite – N J Fountain set a very high bar with Painkiller (which, if you haven’t read yet, why not?) - but I was pleasantly surprised by this one as it comes damn close to that book. Because it’s pretty damn good.

It’s going to be very hard to summarise this book without giving the game(s) away, but to be fair, there’s quite a few games going on here. The narrative twists and turns all over the place (not reliant at all on a single twist), and while I spotted something central quite quickly – there’s a fairly glaring clue to that something dancing right in front of you for a long time – I still felt pretty clever at spotting it. And by no means did that mean that I’d put everything together at all.

And on top of the clever plot, there are some truly chilling moments here – the final sections in particular hold some real heart-in-the-mouth moments. And even the twist in the epilogue (which doesn’t really work, seeming like a call-back to a rather crappy late-nineties horror movie) doesn’t undo all of the good work up to that point.

This is an absolutely cracking read, up there with the best thrillers that I’ve read for a long time, and an impressive debut from Alice Feeney. Highly Recommended.

Many thanks to HarperCollins UK for the review copy. Sometimes I Lie was released in the UK on 23rd March 2017.

Wow ! More twists than rapunzels hair ! What a fantastic debut novel from Alice Feeny . Amber lies in coma paralysed by all but her mind ..hard without giving anything away but suffice to say all is not what it seems . Look forward to more from this author . My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my arc copy which I chose to review

Probably the best book blurb I've read in a long time...

My name is Amber Reynolds. There are three things you should know about me.

1. I'm in a coma

2. My husband doesn't love me anymore

3. Sometimes I lie



The idea of being in a coma and able to hear the world around me but unable to respond to it, is something that absolutely terrifies me. I remember once coming round from general anaesthetic and I could hear the nurses talking about going on a date & one guy was asking if buying flowers was "too much?" I could hear perfectly and inside was screaming "Buy the flowers!" but I couldn't speak or move. The feeling scared me to death and is the only (tiny comparison!) I can imagine life in a coma to be like. Locked inside your own body; terrifying, frustrating & exhausting.



If only the conversations Amber hears drifting in and out of was as innocuous as dating and flower-buying...



This book is so clever, I absolutely loved it. I didn't know who to trust or what was actually going on for a large percentage of time but that's what made it truly brilliant! The "Now" part is told through Amber's coma-bound thoughts. We get hazy snapshots of snatched conversations between her husband & her sister and slowly start to build the present picture. Amber's childhood diary gives us additional insight into the history of this complicated, untrustworthy character and frames her relationship with the truth really cleverly. The third strand covers the events immediately leading up to her hospital stay. All three parts come together in such an exciting way to reveal the twisty secrets.



A mindblowing thriller to keep you guessing, unsure of who to trust and with an open jaw when everything finally falls into place. I loved it! A whopping five cwtches. Get your copy here.

This book starts with 3 simple statements
1 I'm in a coma
2 My Husband doesn't love me anymore
3. Sometimes I lie

...and so begins a trip down the rabbit hole. Alice Feeney lets Amber Reynolds tells her story; a story with more twists than a helter skelter. I read this through very quickly as I was hooked. I kept thinking I'd eventually work out what was going on. I didn't! But boy what a ride. It's difficult to say much more about it without giving something away. It is quite unusual for me to get totally involved in a story where I really dislike nearly every character but that was the case with this book. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for giving me the chance to read it. I think I will be thinking about it for quite a while longer!

Really good read with lots of unexpected twists, raced through to the end and loved the cliffhanger ending - highly recommended!

Well this book really messed with my head, but in a good way. It's one of those books that just as you get to grips with one aspect of the plot and characters, it all shifts, and you just don't know who or what to believe. It's told in flashbacks from Amber's hospital bed before the coma, in the coma and diary entries from when she was a child. It was very visual and I could imagine it working very well as a film or TV series.

This was really well done and definitely a must read if you enjoy psychological thrillers with so many twists and turns and a chilling ending.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and HQ HarperCollins UK for my free digital Advanced Readers Copy.

This phrasing is used all too often nowadays, but this was truly a book that I 'could not put down'. At a time of year when it seems psychological thrillers are more than ten a penny, this really stood out: from the tagline to a plot that - thankfully! - delivered on its initial promise.

We follow Amber as the secrets of her life and others around her unfold whilst she exists in a comatose state - aware but unable to communicate. We know from the onset that Amber is an unreliable narrator, which contrasts quite strongly with the vulnerability that you would expect to result from the situation of being in a coma. Even though you know that not everything she says may be true, this forces you to fight against your preconceptions and keeps you guessing as to how it's all going to play out. The claustrophobic nature of Amber's situation is also well executed, making this a gripping and immersive read.

I like the lead-in to the book. It’s catchy, it makes you wonder and more importantly it makes you want to read beyond the memorable intro. However the book should have probably simply been called Malevolence. Why? Because it packs a heavy punch of malice.

There is just so much to talk about when it comes to reviewing this book. I want to give it the attention it deserves without giving away all the twists and turns. I will try to just focus on the parts that left the strongest impression on me.

One of those has got to be the living dead aspect of being in a coma. Just imagine being able to hear and feel everything around and yet being completely unable to open your eyes, move, speak or react at all. Leaving you vulnerable, panicked and scared.

What a horror scenario, a complete lack of control, whilst being aware of everything the entire time. On top of that Amber can’t remember how she ended up in hospital. She remembers pieces and fragments, enough to confuse her and make her frightened. At this point in time she doesn’t know who to trust, because this wasn’t just an accident or was it?

The author takes us in and out of the past and present. It’s a constant spiral of childhood flashbacks, recent memories and interactions in the present. When I say interactions, what I mean is Amber hears and everyone else interacts around her, over her and with her physical body.

Amber suffers from OCD, anxiety and a general mistrust of the people around her. She finds it hard to fit in and make friends. She does however have a really strong sense of survival, sometimes to the detriment of others. She believes her sister is a wee bit too flirty with her husband and in turn her husband seems very comfortable with Claire, then again it could just be her over-active imagination.

I could go on and on about the superb twists in the plot and about who the real culprit is, but the truth is there is no black or white answer. Where one thread of guilt, anger and fear ends another one connects immediately, which is why the reader is left in a constant state of uncertainty.

Feeney writes a wicked tale and I hope this is the first of many to come. It is enthralling, rancorous and controversial. Why is it controversial? Read it and find out.
*Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my copy of Sometimes I Lie.*

Sometimes I Lie

My name is Amber Reynolds. There are three things you should know about me: 1. I'm in a coma. 2. My husband doesn't love me anymore. 3. Sometimes I Lie.

Oh. My. Goodness.
What an amazing debut! If a psychological thriller doesn't mess with your head, there's something seriously wrong. Sometime I Lie mashed up my head and then some! I felt like I was on a roller coaster with not only continual twists and turns but upside down and back to front!

This book is truly stunning. It's tense, gripping and I really couldn't call it! It had me gripped until the very last page and I would really highly recommend reading this. I think Sometimes I Lie is is going to be one of my top reads this year, and a most talked about book in 2017!

5 big fat shiny stars from me!

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher.

My name is Amber Reynolds. There are three things you should know about me:

I’m in a coma.
My husband doesn’t love me anymore.
Sometimes I lie.


A few months ago I read Rubbernecker by Belinda Bauer where one of the supporting characters was in coma and the implication was that she had been put there by her husband. I wanted to know about this woman and her back story and thought at the time that a book set around this concept would make a good thriller so when Sometimes I Lie came along I snapped it up immediately.

Amber Reynolds is in a coma unable to remember what put her there, she can hear what is being said around her but can’t communicate at all. Through a series of flashbacks and diary entries we discover Amber’s history and the events that led up to her ending up in a coma. The information is drip fed to us and as we only really see events from Amber’s point of view we don’t ever really know whether what she is telling us is true, after all, she does tell us within the first paragraph that she lies. The book is full of deception and misdirection with thoroughly unlikable characters which disorientates the reader.

I’ve given Sometimes I Lie 3 Stars as my issues have little to do with the book itself, it was well written and has enough mystery to keep a reader’s interest but, for me it fell a little flat.

So many thoughts about this book! For some reason I didn't fall head over heels in love with it when I first read it — but in the month since I put it down I have NOT been able to stop thinking about it and am now planning to re-read it already! It's certainly got a killer twist to rival even Clare Mackintosh's books; it pulls off that perfect balance where you'll never see it coming, but the second it's revealed it makes SO MUCH SENSE. Fab plot, wonderfully creepy setting with the main character in a coma, but the ending left me a bit baffled, and it's possibly lacking that extra spark that would make it a five star read for me. I'm still recommending it to all my thriller-loving friends though!

Oh. My. God.

The twists in this book have literally turned my brain to mush. I'm sitting here dumbfounded by the final twist unable to find more words to do this book justice. This book is one of the best twisty-turny psychological thrillers Ive ever read. Pure genius and you won't see half of it coming until it slaps you across the face.

The plot sizzles. It's electrifying and intriguing. A woman in a coma. Secrets. A past that impacts the present. Loyalties. Dysfunctional, damaged and screwed up characters that I loved to love then loved to despise. I thought this book was good from the start but by the ending it propelled into the brilliance category.

This could very well be THE talked about psychological thriller of 2017 and you need to get this one to read any which way you can. This makes The Girl on the Train looks like child's play. This novel messed with my head. I may be recovering for quite some time. Everything just works.

Plot. Characters. Reveals. Twists. Prose. Everything is 5 star in this one and it's in my short list of Top 17 books of 2017, highly likely to get a top spot. If they don't make a movie about this book I'll be starting a personal petition to do so. Absolutely brilliant, entertaining and clever fiction!

This is one talented author. Oh yes indeed. If you love a good twist you will adore this book. I recommend it to everyone. Anyone that reads books. I was honestly stunned at the end of the book. You know those moments? What the..? Holy flak Batman!

I'm revealing nothing. I'll be annoyed at any review that drops in spoilers for this one. The less you know the better. I couldn't put it down and it left me wanting for more. More of the story. More from this author. Alice Feeney take a bow.

Don't miss this one. Let it take you on it's journey to mess with your head and emotions. Just when you think you've got it all worked out...I bet you don't. Sublime!

A great whodunit – but I still don’t know whodidit!

This was a great read and had me questioning my own sense of logical reasoning all the way through, right up to the last few words.

The plot is set out on the first page when the author tells us that the main character is Amber Reynolds, and she is a) in a coma, b) her husband doesn’t love her anymore and c) sometimes she lies! From here on in it is a rollercoaster of ‘is she, isn’t she?’

The action takes place over the Christmas period when Amber moves from her workplace on the team of a local radio show called ‘Coffee Morning’, to being in the hospital following a car accident. Alice Feeney cleverly builds up Amber’s relationships at work, at home and historically, at certain periods in Amber’s childhood. Although the time slips change frequently, there is not a problem in following the plot.

We are introduced to many characters like Amber’s sister Claire, her friend at work Jo, and her childhood friend Taylor, but all is not as it seems! Just when the reader has sorted things out in the progression of Amber’s story, Alice Feeney turns things on its head and we are left questioning our own judgements.

Suffice it to say that this is the kind of book that I feel I need to read again to prove to myself that I am able to follow a plot! And that does not happen with many books.

Thanks Alice Feeney – I think!

Sméagol

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

Is every lie a bad lie? It’s Christmas 2016 and 35-year-old Amber Reynolds is in hospital in a coma. She works on a radio programme called “Coffee Morning” alongside matriarchal presenter Madeline who has been on the show for 20 years. Reminds me of a tiresome show on BBC Radio Scotland, but moving swiftly on…. Amber is aware of everything going on around her but she cannot remember the immediate events prior to her accident, and exactly how she ended up in hospital. Chapter by chapter Amber tries to piece together the sequence of events that led to her coma.

The story is told in first person, alternating chapters from Amber lying in hospital, to the week before her accident, to chapters of extracts from childhood diaries dated 1991. Amber is definitely an unreliable narrator, she is a liar by her own admission, so from the word go you are questioning everything she says. Everyone is a suspect, and everyone is suspicious. Nothing is as it first seems, her husband Paul who is having an affair, her perfect sister Claire, or her monstrous diva of a colleague Madeline. The story becomes more complex and multi layered with every revelation till it completely turns on its head.

That is all I’m going to say about the plot because like all these types of books, the less you know before opening the first page, the more enjoyment you’ll get from the resulting ride. One moment you’re travelling along a fairly well-known road, with a bullish husband, a meek wife and a dodgy affair, the next everything is in question and you roll down the slope not knowing which way is up… or down.

I kept changing my mind over which characters I liked and which I disliked. Alice Feeney has written some very complex characters in this book and I found myself switching back and forth between who I believed in, who I trusted, and what my understanding was of what was happening. The plotting is sublime, the use of the information to flesh out the story while at the same time keeping that tension maintained through what is a fairly long book is no less than an art form.

Sometimes I Lie is a twisted and dark tale of family disharmony. Overall rating four fantastic stars. Thanks to Alice Feeney, Harlequin and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy.

Feeney is a writer and journalist who spent sixteen years working at the BBC. “Sometimes I Lie” might be her first thriller but you can tell from the quality of the writing that it’s not her first rodeo.

The book opens with a startling declaration:

<strong>“My name is Amber Reynolds. There are three things you should know about me.</strong>
<strong> 1. I’m in a coma</strong>
<strong> 2. My husband doesn’t love me any more</strong>
<strong> 3. Sometimes I lie”</strong>

Right from the beginning you are prepared to be misdirected and led astray but somehow the very fact that you are aware of the potential of lies and deception makes it even harder to accept the truth at the end of the book. This is a real psychological thriller in a similar vein to Behind Closed Doors or The Girl on The Train.

It is Christmas and Amber has woken up in the hospital. Except that she hasn’t really woken up. Her mind is conscious and confused but her body is in a coma. She is aware of everything going on around her and can hear everything but cannot react in any way. You have to pay attention when you are reading as the timelines swap about all over the place with some chapters in the form of diary entries from when she was about eleven, others are set in the weeks running up to Christmas explaining the events that have led here and the rest are set in the hospital room where Amber is unable to communicate with the people around her.

You soon realise that Amber is confused and that she has no real recollection of what happened to her. As the parts of the puzzle start to fit together and the truth begins to emerge you’ll find yourself checking the back door is locked three times and still looking nervously over your shoulder.

Supplied by Net Galley and HQ in exchange for an honest review.

Full of twists and turns - very hard to describe without spoiling things. Thoroughly entertaining and compelling stuff.
Think this will be one of the big books of the year - a definite recommend.

I struggled abit with this book.
I found it hard to get into to begin with and I finished it after a couple of attempts. But the outline of the story was very good. There was some very clever twists and turns and at times a real page turner.
Overall good but not my favourite .

This was an amazing book to read. Gripping and kept the reader on the edge all the way through trying to guess the outcome. Alice Feeney is certainly an author to watch out for as she has a fresh way of writing. The book starts in a strange way by saying that 'Sometimes I lie'. All the way through the reader is trying to evaluate what is true and what is fiction. The story starts with Amber lying in a coma trying hard to discover what has happened to her, this alternates with her regaling the story of her growing up and the issues that she had prior to being in a coma. The characters are all extremely well described as are the various locations. There are really only 7 main characters mentioned throughout - Amber; Claire, Taylor, Paul, Madeline, Jo and Edward but each one comes across as real to the reader. I pride myself on usually working out what is going to happen and although I picked up parts in advance I was miles out from it all in the end. What a beautiful twist in the last two pages which was even more totally unexpected and added extra creepiness to the whole story. I loved the book, will highly recommend it to all my friends and will look out for future books by this author.

What a psychological thriller! I couldn't put this down. It gripped me from beginning to end with its twists and turns but still I wasn't expecting the twist at the very end.

Sometimes I Lie by ALice Feeney

Amber Reynolds wakes in a hospital bed on Boxing Day but the world around her would never know it. Amber is locked in a coma – her eyes are closed and she can’t move even the smallest muscle but her mind is awake, inhabiting the present while also turning over in her mind memories, both recent and much older. Visitors come and go, especially her husband Paul and sister Claire. They hold her hand, read to her, try and call her back. But, although Amber is yet to remember the full details of the accident that put her in this state, she knows that her husband doesn’t love her any more. Amber also knows that sometimes she lies. But about what?

And so begins one of the most twisty and twisted psychological thrillers that I’ve read. It’s true that I find this a genre hard to warm to and each time I read one I demand a great deal from it in order to keep my attention. But Sometimes I Lie gave me just what I wanted and, as a result, I think it’s one of the most successful psychological thrillers that I’ve read. I don’t want to give you any more plot detail because nothing – nothing – is as you expect it to be.

Sometimes I Lie works for lots of reasons but chiefly because it is extraordinarily clever. There are a few little moments when I thought it might be being a little too clever for its own good but generally I was pleasantly surprised by how good this plotting is. I had more jaw dropping moments with this than in any other psychological thriller I can remember, and they don’t all come at the end either. There are shocks and surprises all the way through. And I didn’t guess them all. Fabulous!

Another big reason for this book’s success is Amber Reynolds herself. She is the epitome of the Unreliable Narrator. It’s no secret. She seems rather proud of it. But it does mean that the reader has to keep their wits about them. I did re-read bits as the novel went on, just to keep track of the games playing out around me, the poor, innocent reader! I didn’t particularly like Amber but I don’t think we’re supposed to. I was absolutely fascinated by her though. She had my attention from the opening page.

I love the style and structure of the novel. It mixes present, near-past and much longer ago, and includes journal extracts, memories, dreams and thoughts. It’s extremely catchy. Sometimes I Lie is next to impossible to put down. It demands that you hang on to Amber’s every word. You have to know! And what you learn shocks.