I thought ‘Lying to you’ by Amanda Reynolds was a very entriguing book. As a reader you were never sure who was telling the truth and who was lying. The characters were very well thought out and believable, not always likeable.Jess as the main character was a very flawed individual and you were never sure if she knew when she was telling the truth or was everything made up. Mark as the main male character was a very disturbed , bitter man who served a prison sentence for the rape of Jess when he was a teacher and Jess a pupil at his school. He came across as a very weak man who never took responsibility for his actions until the end of the book.
Highly recommended

Lying to you by Amanda Reynolds is a psychological thriller that has many twists and turns.
Many years ago Jess who was then a schoolgirl made accusations about a teacher Mark that resulted in a prison term for him. Ten years later she returns to her home town for her mothers funeral to find that Mark now released from prison and his wife still live locally. The situation becomes very difficult between these three people and it's obvious that they share lies and secrets that they would rather keep hidden.
I would like to thank NetGalley and for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

This has everything a good thriller should have. Unreliable narrators, lies, secrets, deceit and a slow revealing back story. I enjoyed reading the book a lot, and am glad I pushed through the first couple of chapters which I found a little slow. I didn't particularly like many of the characters, but their stories were compelling and kept me turning pages. Recommended, for sure.

4☆ Full of Juicy Twists and Secrets!

Lying to You is a twisty turning psychological thriller that plays with your mind.

It took a little while for me to get into the plot as it felt a little confusing and disjointed. But once I got to grips with the style I loved it.

It is written in a style I haven't come across much.
It was written as a story told by Karen and Jess each chapter written in different dates. Then we also had interview entries when Jess was being interviewed by her counsellor sponsor who supports her on her journey to become a counsellor.

I really enjoyed the interview entries as it gave the reader an inside look at Jess's past. Which was so important.

You see something happened to Jess with a teacher but you don't find out straight away you get plenty of teasers which I loved. All you know is he out of prison and he is not allowed anywhere near Jess.

Jess has to come home as her mother has died and her older brother Will needs her. By going back she will have to face her past head on!
Jess is vulnerable, damaged, had a rough upbringing with indications of sexual abuse. But I really liked her character.

Karen is Mark's wife.
Mark is the teacher who went to prison because of Jess.
Karen comes across as Minipulative, broken, suffering with mental health and calculating. When she sees Jess in a supermarket she intimidates Jess when anger and rage/jealousy takes over!

Lying to You is FULL of Secrets, Lies, twists and Turns that kept me guessing the whole way through.
I loved uncovering the truth as I had my suspicions.

If you enjoy thrillers that get under your skin, keep you guessing, juicy twists and secrets then you will love this fabulous new thriller. It's one i will definitely be recommending!

Lying to You follows Jess, a young woman with a troubled past, who has to return to her home town when her alcoholic mother passes away. Her arrival in the town immediately causes a stir as ten years previously, her teacher, Mark Winter, was convicted of raping her. Mark is now at home but he and his wife, Karen, life a life still fractured by the past and Karen vehemently blames Jess for her husband’s wrongful (as she believes) conviction as does their daughter Freya.

For Jess, staying and clearing out her childhood home, which holds mainly difficult memories for her, leaves her troubled and feeling vulnerable. With little help from her brother Will, she finds herself struggling and when familiar threats are made she wonders who she can trust. Events build towards the day of her mother Lisa’s funeral, but beyond that I won’t elaborate.

This is a well written book with a sense of tension and anticipation throughout. The scenes set within Jess’ mother’s home have a suffocating atmosphere and really make you feel her discomfort at being there.

My issue sits with some of the characters within the story. I found Karen really quite dislikeable and therefore hard to sympathise with, her husband also. Jess gleans more sympathy as she has clearly had a troubled life but the other peripheral characters such as Will seem weak and a wee bit self indulgent so again, it’s hard to feel for them.

I do, however, recommend this book as the morning after I had completed it, when I woke, the first thing I thought about was Jess. And I am still pondering this novel as it raises such sensitive and thought provoking subjects, and that tells me it has left an impression on me and was well worth the read.

Thank you to #Netgalley for a forward copy of #LyingToYou in exchange for a honest review.

Goodness gracious me, what a sticky web of lies and deceit this story is!

When Jess Tidy was a teenager, she made an accusation against her teacher, Mark Winter. Despite maintaining his innocence throughout, Mark was sent to prison. Ten years later, Jess returns home to attend the funeral of her mother. Home is the village where she grew up but also, the village where Mark still lives with his wife and daughter. Will the truth about what happened all those years ago finally be revealed?

The story alternates between Jess and Karen, Mark’s wife and the chapters are interspersed with snippets from counselling sessions Jess has attended and excerpts from a book Mark was trying to write. Suffice to say that none of these characters, while realistic and believable, are particularly likeable and I often found myself wondering how reliable their version of the truth was. Jess is obviously a very troubled young woman with a rather disturbing background and while Karen may have deserved some sympathy for her situation, for some reason I found it quite hard to muster any up.

The fall-out from whatever event occurred between Jess and Mark has an effect on everyone around them. This adds a truly thought-provoking layer to the story. How well do you really know someone? Why would a woman stand by her husband when he has been accused of something horrible? How does something like this affect the life of his own daughter? I admit that when stories like these pop up in the newspaper, these aren’t exactly the people I’ll be thinking of.

This is one of those character-driven slow burners, where the scene is set and the characters are introduced. Nevertheless, I personally thought it was utterly gripping from the start and found myself turning the pages faster as the truth was slowly being revealed. As topics go, this isn’t exactly an easy one to deal with but I feel the author tackled it brilliantly and has delivered a well-written and compelling story.

This is my first introduction to Amanda Reynolds. I’ve had her debut Close to Me on my TBR pile since it was published but still haven’t gotten around to reading it. If that one was anything like this one, I’ve been missing out and I should rectify that error soonish. Thoroughly enjoyed this psychological drama and I’m definitely keeping my eye on this author in future!

Firstly I have a confession to make in that I still haven't read Amanda Reynolds' debut novel Close to Me despite meeting the author last year and getting her to sign my proof copy of the book! Last year was a bad year for me reading wise and sadly this book was one of the ones to be neglected but having just finishing reading her current book Lying to You I resolve to rectify this sooner rather than later.

Lying to You is a story that will have you questioning and doubting as to who is telling the truth about the events of that fateful night 10 years ago, there were so many inconsistencies in their respective accounts that as a reader you really have to reserve judgement until all the facts have been revealed. But as is so often the case in real life it is so easy to jump to conclusions, and I'm as guilty as charged in that aspect whilst reading this book, as certain things said and actions taken by the respective characters made them totally unreliable narrators and made you question who was telling the truth, or what they believed to be their own versions of the truth...

Jess has not been home since she fled her small town but now she's back and not only having to deal with the death of her mother and all that entails for her dysfunctional family, but it also means that there is a likelihood that this will bring her face to face with her teenage mentor Mark Winter and his wife Karen who she last faced in a courtroom. The story is told from the viewpoints of the two main female characters Jess and Karen, and it was clear that they were both deeply troubled, tormented women who have coped with blotting out feelings and emotions in their own ways.

But what I thought was an interesting concept is that we also get to see accounts of that period 10 years ago through two other means, transcripts of therapy sessions between Jess and supervision sessions with a counsellor, as well as Karen reading chapters from a novel she has discovered written by Mark on his computer. Both were clever additions which really helped to give us as readers a few more snippets of the relationship between Jess and Mark and help us piece together what really happened. At times I almost found myself flicking through the pages a bit too quickly to get to the next transcript or chapter of the novel to read these aspects of the storyline, almost more so than the events of the current day.

It feels wrong to say I enjoyed reading this book considering its subject and the fact that I didn't particularly warm to any of the characters involved but it is testament to the writing skills of Amanda Reynolds that I found this to be a cleverly crafted, compelling read. I'll be interested to see where she takes us with her next book.

I was utterly gripped by this book. I hadn't read Amanda's first book but I certainly will be now. Ten year's ago Karen's husband Mark was accused of a terrible crime but he maintained his innocence. Now his accuser is back and Karen is questioning everything her husband told her. But who is lying - Karen, Jess, Mark - or someone else?

I enjoyed the pacing of this book and the way everything is revealed and the different points of view. I was also impressed by how Reynolds handled the sensitive subject matter, especially in light of everything happening with the #metoo movement and #ibelieveher

I'll definitely be buying Amanda's next book.

Thanks to Netgalley and Wildfire for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

I have to apologise in advance for such a vague review, but, due to the nature of the storyline, I am having to be extremely careful with what I write as I don't wish to give anything away.

Jess Tidy is back but, despite the several years of radio silence, a lot of people won't be putting out the bunting to welcome Jess back to the village - even though she didn't want to go back in the first place! The death of Jess' mother has brought her childhood back to the forefront of her mind. All Jess wants to do is give her mother a respectful send off, re-pack her bag and go back to the place that she now calls home. Simple enough, right?

When the author makes it clear what the situation was with Jess, straight away I sided with her. I'm only human after all! But, as the storyline progressed and more things came to light, 'confusion' became my middle name and I had absolutely no idea who to believe. As the storyline is told from different viewpoints, each character explains the situation in the way that they have perceived it after all this time, taking readers even further away from the truth.

What an intense read! The storyline made my mind spiral out of control the more of it I read, telling myself to not believe a word that was coming out of anyone's mouth, yet I had to find out the truth whatever that may be! The lead up to the truth was full of grit and questionable circumstances - Amanda Reynolds words engaged me with such force, I couldn't help but be impressed. The pace of this book was on point for the majority of the book, yet I did feel that there were a few too many twiddle my thumbs moments half way through. However, the author soon rectified that with several red herrings, a little more spoon-feeding information, and another dose of grit.

A very cleverly written, suspenseful, and highly addictive read which is bound to make you go stir crazy trying to work out the truth.

I would like to thank Headline and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘Lying To You’ written by Amanda Reynolds in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.
Following the death of her mother, Jess Tidy has returned to village where she grew up after an absence of ten years. Her teacher, Mark Winter, who was found guilty and jailed for having a relationship with Jess, still lives there with his wife Karen. Mark has always professed his innocence, but something happened on the night of the school prom – will the truth every come out?
This novel is well-written, easy to read, and flows smoothly between the parts where Mark is writing a book of events surrounding his relationship with Jess, Karen who’s surreptitiously reading his book in an attempt to discover what really happened, and detailed notes of sessions held between Jess and her supervisor. ‘Lying To You’ is tense with an interesting plot that kept me absorbed, ending with a surprising but satisfying conclusion. It’s a thoroughly enjoyable novel and one I can recommend.

As soon as I read the blurb for this one and saw that cover I knew I had to get my hands on a copy of this book, and I certainly wasn't disappointed. It was a really good thriller and very, very enjoyable.

The main characters are great and I loved the suspense built up through the plot. The pace is great and the writing style helps bring everything together really well. It is gritty and deals with a tough subject from a different perspective to the norm we see in this kind of book.

A solid four stars from me for this one - it certainly is a very enjoyable read!!

Have read and enjoyed the debut novel Close to Me by Amanda Reynolds, I was really looking forward to this second book! And what a darkly, dramatic and unputdownable read it was!

What I loved about this book was the how the plot revolved around a current issue that seems to be reported in the media much more nowadays-that of a teacher abusing their position of trust. When Jess returns to her home town for her mothers funeral, its the first time she has returned since a court case that we gradually come to realise was related to such an issue. Mark has been in prison for what happened but is now back home with his wife and daughter who are devastated to see Jess back. But what really happened between Jess and Mark? His wife Karen has her own secrets but she trusts her husband and knows he was telling the truth about that night so why is she sneaking around behind behind his back? And who is targeting Jess and why? All these questions were flying around my head as I became more and more involved in the lies and deceit surrounding these two families.

Whilst the characters in Lying To You were never particularly likeable, this gave an added edge to the narrative as I was never really sure where my sympathies lay. Jess was very much a closed book, we find out more about her through her chats with her supervisor, as she’s become a trained councillor herself since what happened ten years ago. But it’s through her interactions with her brother, her ex best friend and police support officer that we realise that maybe everything isn’t as clear cut as we had first thought.

I would describe this as a bit of a slow burner as Amanda Reynolds takes her time setting the scene and building up her characters as the plot twisted it’s wicked way towards the end. I was desperate to know the minute “ins and outs” of how this student/teacher relationship had caused such devastation for all concerned because, sadly, no one escaped the toxic fallout.

I have added Amanda Reynolds to my “must read” author list. Her unsettling insight into her characters dark and enthralling domestic lives helps to slowly unravel their intriguingly flawed natures therefore bringing them vividly to life in the best possible way. This is my kind of psychological drama!

Lying to You falls into the category of books that I love so I couldn't wait to get stuck in and learn all about Jess Tidy and her chaotic upbringing. The story comes together through the voices of Jess Tidy, her teacher and 'attacker' Mark Winters, his wife Karen and Jess' counsellor superviser. Flicking between present day and flashbacks that are detailed in Mark's biography the story ultimately has us guessing about who the liar in the book is.

In the beginning Jess is asked to come back home by her older brother Will due to the her mother's death. We soon learn that she is reluctant to go back home and the reason why is that she was raped by her teacher. But as the story takes its expected twists and turns we are left wondering if Jess' account of the past is entirely accurate. Is Mark's insistence of his innocence really genuine and how will this checkered history impact Mark's wife, Karen, and his daughter, Freya?

As intrigued as I was with the story I really could not warm to any of the characters yet I really had to read on and find out if Jess was genuine or not. Lying to you really is a rollercoaster ride with so many twists and turns and an ending that will genuinely take your breath away.

A brilliant book full of twists and turns. Very heart wrenching. Brilliant read.

This is the first book I have read by this author. She writes well, with insight into her flawed characters. A little bit of 'he said she said 'helps build the tension in the story. As a reader, you cant help but surmise what happened that night of the rape, however full disclosure with its twists and turns keeps you riveted. Good insights into the the work practices of counselling add a novel backdrop to this story I would definitely recommend. l

I read the author's first book and this one is just as good if not better. Jess Tidy is living alone in London when she gets a call to say her mother has died and to return home. Jess left her home town after she was raped by her teacher Mark Winter ten years previously for which he was sent to prison. Jess knows when she returns home that she will see Mark and his wife Karen who stood by him.
But who is telling the truth about the rape and about what happened that night?
The book draws you in as Jess and Karen narrate their own account of the events of the past and present.
Definitely recommended.

Lying to you by Amanda Reynolds.
Wasent sure what to expect from this book ,but I couldn’t put it down,not expecting the ending,would recommend to family and friends

This was an enjoyable read. It is the second novel I have read by this author and find her writing intense and well plotted.

The story is told using two different mouthpieces. Jess Tidy, who is returning to her home town for the first time in ten years to attend her mothers funeral and Karen Winter whose husband, Mark, served three years in prison on the back of the accusation from Jess. Mark had been Jess Tidy’s teacher.

As the novel developed over that ten day period I became totally engrossed in Jess Tidy’s character and this made it compulsive reading for me. The author had me hooked.

I’m an addict for disconcerting endings and even though this did not fulfil that I loved it anyhow.

Recommended. Thanks to NetGalley, Headline, Wildfire and Amanda Reynolds for this ARC in return for my honest review.

Thank you for allowing me to read this book. This is told from two perspectives and they switch seamlessly. It did start slightly slow but the book hooked me in and I stayed up late to finish. Worth a read

Lying to You is a compelling recollection of past events from two perspectives, both on opposite sides of the fence. A journey though the past of Mark Winter and his former student Jess Tidy. Their history together may seem black and white but Lying to You is a tale which teaches you that things may not always be as they seem and no one person ever has the full story.

Told from two perspectives in the first person - Jess Tidy and Karen Winter (Mark's wife) - with supporting material from Mark's book looking back on that time as well as transcripts from Jess' meetings with her supervisor. The events of one single night are far reaching beyond the two-people involved. Consequences that Lying to You explores. I loved the addition of both the supervision transcripts and the book being written as it added a fantastic dimension to the story. One which explicitly shows that history is in fact his-story and one that varies depending on the person telling the tale.

I felt a great sadness for Jess, her life and the impact of her decisions. Like many young girls in her position, she is dubbed a "troublemaker" and "slag" for no reason other than being born to the wrong family. It's a label given to some at birth and one that many young people adopt and wear like a mask. Jess is so much more underneath though, something you come to discover as her story unfolds and the truth of that night revealed.

Uncomfortable reading at times, Lying to You touches on many dark themes such as neglect, abuse, child grooming and violence. It doesn't shy away from them. It meets them head on and explores the consequences of actions, lies and the destruction they can cause.

The story itself is fairly predictable but this didn't stop me enjoying Lying to You. The ease of which it is written, and the unique perspective of our narrators makes for a compelling read. Though I would say that it all ends rather neatly with a nice bow on top for my usual taste. After all, when is real life ever like that? However, this didn't diminish my enjoyment and Lying to You kept me turning page after page to find out what really did happen on prom night, and who has been lying to themselves for the last 10 years.

"You can tell a lie over and over, convince those who love you, who are desperate to believe you, but can you ever convince yourself?"

Many thanks to the author and publisher for granting me an eARC of this title in exchange for my honest review.