I just couldn't find anything to like about this book, sorry.

It starts off well, the shocking deaths and the immediate aftermath are readable, although somewhat unbelievable.

But then the book really takes a side step and I just could not wait for it to end. Not one I would buy, but will definitely appeal to some I'm sure

This book started off well but then became a struggle to continue. Not for me. Sorry

I'd forgotten the blurb, which has a major spoiler in it, for me at any rate.  I was admiring phrases such as 'mascara running making me look like a moody panda', and feeling the tension build as our heroine's lifestyle of excess came closer and closer to disaster.

For the first fifty percent we were dropping between Sophia's distress over many things, not least her father's coma, and the mysterious book accepted for publication, according to a letter Sophia finds.  At one stage I felt that reading this manuscript (as Sophia does) was not really what I wanted to do: it's naively written (in keeping with the fictional author) and somewhat predictable.  But before I returned to my reading, I realised it was a brilliant way to get out of flashback and to introduce all the prospective villains of what I already felt sure was the most foul play.

Everything is Lies is a pacy thriller, which I'd rather class as suspense.  I had guessed too many of the lies at that halfway break, but the suspense is in finding out just how bad it can get before you discover whether you were right.

Helen Callaghan's writing is bright, tight and pulls you on into the depths of the plot.  Little signs that make you think, but you brush aside as mere fancy.  I read it in three sittings, desperate for my battery not to run out before I reached the end (despite the dire warnings from my Kindle).

It may not be as supremely gripping as her first book, Dear Amy (top book - read it!) but it's a great follow-up.  I'll be watching for more from Ms Callaghan!

Everything is Lies is Helen Callaghan's second outing, her first Dear Amy reallly captured my attention, and I definitely think it's worth reading but there were things about it that just didn't sit right with me. Everything is Lies is completely different. I felt the characters, plot, cult aspects were incredibly well researched and believable. I really enjoyed reading this book.

We get to know Sophia who perhaps has a propensity to follow the crowd as she makes her way through London living working for an architectural firm. One night she receives a phonecall from her mother asking her to come home, but she decides to follow the crowd instead, only to find out the next day that she has committed suicide. Racked with guilt Sophia is determined to uncover what really happened to her mother.

I guessed a lot of the big "twists" before they happened, but it didn't stop me enjoying the book. I became fully immersed with Moringstar, and probably even a little star struck with the engimatic Aaron Kessler, it's easy to see how her mother felt the same.

I think I wasn't necessarily expecting this story to go where it went, there were constant (enjoyable) twists and turns. What I like about this book is that it's honest about people making mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes, I think it just matters how you deal with those mistakes. To face them head on and honestly, or to shy away from them and cover them up.

If you can’t trust Mum & Dad what hope is there?
We've all had those 'sliding door' moments, "if only I'd gone left instead of right", "taken the train instead of driving", "gone straight home instead of staying for one last drink", you know what I mean right? If Sophia had gone to her mother’s the night she called her instead of the next day maybe she would have been spared the horrific sight that awaited her, who knows? I really enjoyed this book and it definitely brings home those ‘what if’ moments. It also makes you realise that you never really know what’s going on behind closed doors, even when it’s your own parents…..

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House UK for an arc in exchange for an honest review.
I have to say, I probably wouldn't have picked this book had I known quite what I was in for. That aside, what a brilliant book!! The writing style was inviting and I was able to get straight into the book from the beginning. I felt the author really brought this story to life to the point I could visualize the characters and the events. Although the content was quite dark in places, and I read things I'd rather not know about, there was never a moment where I questioned finishing the book. The intrigue and twists and turns were there to keep you to the end!

Dear Amy was one of the first books I read last year, and I absolutely loved it, and so I was incredibly eager to read Helen Callaghan’s latest novel – Everything Is Lies. When I began reading I was delighted to realise it was a duel time frame narrative, as in the present Sophia discovers her quiet and reclusive parents dead in what appears to be a murder/suicide while the secrets of her mother’s past are revealed in the notebooks she’d compiled in the months leading up to her death. I LOVE a duel narrative, it’s probably my favourite writing style to read as I find myself gripped between the switching stories of the past and present and desperate to know how they connect.

Everything of Lies starts exceptionally well – Sophia’s grisly and deeply shocking discovery grabbed my attention and with sympathetic storytelling, drew me in emotionally. Her distress, horror and trauma was palpable and connected me to her immediately. When Sophia begins to suspect that all is not as it seems and discovers her mother’s notebooks, I was hooked by the tale of a young, impressionable girl who finds herself involved in a cult led by a failed rock star. I settled down for the duration, as page after page flew by almost without me realising.

What made this book so compelling was just how convincing it is. The cult is sinister and weird yes, but subtly so and it was incredibly easy to imagine just how easily a lonely young person lacking in self esteem and confidence could find themselves wrapped up in it, not realising what was going on around them until they are so involved and reliant, there’s no way back. I also thought the character of Aaron, a narcissistic, deluded control freak, was well crafted as he relies on his past fame as a rock star to lure in vulnerable people. Again, he was convincing and it was easy to see why he would at first appear so alluring.

I often find that when reading duel timelines, it’s the sections from the past I find the most intriguing and enjoyable. Surprisingly though, it was the present that really caught me attention and drove this book, as Sophia seeks the truth about her parent’s horrific demise and at the same time, finds herself in danger. While I did enjoy reading her mother’s experiences of the cult, I felt that around the middle it lost pace a bit and wasn’t as tense as I would have liked it. On the other hand, the present galloped along and while I did see a major plot twist coming and predicted it correctly quite early on, I still found myself gripped as the truth is revealed.

Everything Is Lies is one of those books that are so easy to read, you find yourself halfway through before you’ve even looked up. Helen Callaghan certainly has an engaging and evocative writing style which manages to emotionally involve readers in her convincing characters and their stories. While I would probably have liked a little more tension and pace during some aspects of this book, on the whole it was a gripping and satisfying read. Recommended.

This book was not what I expected it to be however it was a fantastic read. I loved the fact that Sophia’s mother told her own story within the story itself. I couldn’t put this book down and the twists throughout really keep you hooked. A fantastic read And refreshingly different to most stories the way it has been written! Highly recommend to all xx

I found this book hard to read in parts and very good in others. Just not really for me I’m afraid.

I really enjoyed Dear Amy and was excited to receive Everything is Lies from Penguin and Netgalley. Unfortunately I didn't enjoy this book as much. I thought parts of it were quite drawn out and I kept putting the book down. The beginning of the story was exciting but for me the notebooks took the thrill out of the story.

Everything is Lies is the second book by Helen Callaghan but the first of Helen’s I’ve read. Gripped from the start by the distinctively original plotline, Everything is Lies is an immersive read that sucked me right under.

“Everything is lies. No one is who you think they are.”

When London architect Sophia returns home to visit her parents, Nina and Jared, she finds her mother dead, hanging from a tree in an apparent suicide. Her father is lying unconscious in the bushes next to her, barely alive after being stabbed multiple times by Nina before she killed herself. Sophia is in shock and finds it hard to accept the murder-suicide. After reading a letter addressed to her mother from a publishing house regarding the book Nina had written, Sophia becomes even more convinced that her mother wouldn’t have killed herself as she had always longed to write a book of her memoirs and finally was about to be published. Positive that the answer to this tragedy lies within her book, Sophia starts to read Nina’s journals determined to get to the truth.

Everything is Lies is told from two points of view, across two timelines: Sophia’s in present day and Nina’s perspective in the 80s through her journals, and the author switches seamlessly between both. I absolutely adore books written in this type of structure – alternating timelines through either flashbacks or diary/journal entries, so it was no surprise to me that I found the journal entries the most engaging of the two.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for it to go this far.”

For me personally, Everything is Lies biggest selling point was Nina’s membership (if that is the right word) of a spiritualist cult back in the 1980s, when she was in her late teens. Reminiscent of the Manson Family, the hedonistic, polyamorous group who call themselves “The Order of the Ascendents” is led by ego-maniac Aaron Kessler, a semi-famous musician, drawing a parallel with Manson himself.

Packed with suspense, this tangled web of deceit, manipulation and control is a bit of a slow burner. The author drip feeds information to the reader bit by bit, slowly revealing how a friendship with a group of new people slowly turned into a nightmare. There was something almost enchanting and mesmerizing about the chapters set in the past that made it easy to see how Nina could be pulled in so effortlessly.

The detailed, evocative descriptions of Morningstar, the grand mansion where the cult resided in, gave the novel an atmospheric and authentic feel. The characters are all both enigmatic and beautifully drawn, brought into stunning colourful life through Nina’s memoirs. Charismatic cult leader Aaron is so vividly evoked, it’s easy to understand why so many fall under his spell. I connected well with the resolute, pragmatic Sophia and although Nina was frustratingly timorous, I felt nothing but empathy towards her. Being possessed, manipulated and completely engulfed by a toxic character like Aaron is quite a relatable situation for a lot of people to be in, especially women.

Unpredictable and alarmingly realistic, Everything is Lies kept me guessing right to the very end. I would class this under the Psychological Suspense genre rather than a thriller, as it does lack the fast paced, head-spinning events of a typical thriller, however it does contain some of the thriller components: multidimensional, palpable, cultural, and compellingly engaging.

Everything is Lies is an ethereal and bewitching tale with a dark sense of foreboding that increases throughout as more of Nina’s memoirs are read. Would definitely recommend this one, thanks to Helen Callaghan and Penguin for advanced review copy.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this amazing book

nobody is as they seem...a phone call taken at night from a parent asking her daughter to come home...but alas that final call though not ignored will haunt the girl forever as its the last time she will speak to her mother ever again

she finds her mother hanging apparent suicide and her father stabbed and not expected to survive...what follows next is beyond anyones belief but what a read, couldnt put the book down as needed to know what would happen next

the finale was not what i expected but at least it answered quite a few questions, will be keeping an eye out for more books from this author

What a riveting plot, a rollercoaster of twists and turns. It kept me turning the pages until the early hours to a very satisfying ending. A wonderful mix of absorbing characters. This was my first Helen Callaghan book but certainly won’t be my last. Highly recommended.

I received a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This story is about Sophia who works as an architect in London. One night she receives a phone call from her mum asking if she can come home as she needs to speak to her, as Sophia lives a few hours away and she had been out drinking she initially says no but later feels guilty and decides to go in the morning. When Sophia arrives at a parents home the next day she finds her mum has hanged herself and her dad has been stabbed several times. Sophia then puts her career second for once to be by her dad's bedside and get to the bottom of what happened to her parents. 

This is the second book that I have read by this author. This one is a lot different than Dear Amy which I believe was the authors debut novel.  I enjoyed the theme of the book as it was a lot different from other Psychological thrillers. This book is 400 pages long and it did feel it as there were points in the book were the story seemed to just drag on, especially towards the end.  I partly guessed the ending but I have read a lot of psychological thrillers so I pick up on the clues very easily.  I loved the authors writing style and will definitely be reading more from this author.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this as an arc.
This was quite the rollercoaster ride! Sophie is an architect living in London but feels she can't escape her needy mother Nina, who is constantly ringing her and wanting her to come home. After one such phone call, she goes home and finds her mum dead and her dad badly injured. Sophie can't believe her mum would commit suicide, especially when she discovers that she was about to get her memoir published. Sophie goes looking for clues and soon finds the diaries her mother has written about her past life.
Very descriptively written, we learn about Nina's life as a young woman, when she was lured into a hedonistic, seemingly idyllic group of wealthy young people. It takes her a long time to realise that she had become trapped and even when she does get her own life back, she never really feels free, hence writing her memoirs to try to come to terms with her past. Sophie is shocked at the ramifications of Nina's life and there are plenty of twists and shocks throughout the book as the story unravels. I read a lot of these types of thrillers, but I have to admit I was shocked at the outcome! Very twisted!
Really good read, I would certainly recommend.

I was lucky enough to get this book for free and loved every minute of it. It's like two books in one - one is the story of a woman who's mother is found hanging from a tree and the other tells the story from books found written by the mother telling her story... Some great twists and I didn't want to put this down.

Absolutely spell binding story. Sophia's mother has written an account of her teenage years. It unravels and Sophia is taken through a turmoil of emotions and is even attacked. She solves the puzzle and I'm not quite sure it gives her the peace she wants following her Mother's murder but at least she knows the truth.

A riveting story of obsession and the perilous decisions we make in our misspent youth.

Sophia is struggling with corporate life and a lecherous boss when her mother, ostensibly commits suicide, leaving behind a revealing memoir. Sophia plunges into the mysterious past life of her mother and the cult that she succumbed to, abandoning her University degree, family and friends. There are secrets within the pages of her mother's notebooks that some are willing to kill for, and if Sophia can't uncover the truth in time she'll have more than the loss of her pay check to deal with.

I became so engrossed in this tale that I lost count of the amount of times I missed my tube stop - and was only too pleased to miss it because it meant I'd have more time to read. The author moved expertly between past and present, and both stories vied equally for my attention. I cannot recommend this book enough.

I really enjoyed this book, I couldn’t put it down. It’s a story within a story but it weaves together brilliantly. There were times I forgot which story I was in but this didn’t matter. There were no big twists or anything I didn’t see coming, it was just a very well executed novel. I would certainly recommend it