Book Review - ‘This Lie Will Kill You’ by Chelsea Pitcher ⭐⭐⭐

Thank you to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster UK Children's and Chelsea Pitcher for the chance to read this book.

One year ago, there was a party. At the party, someone died. Five teens all played a part and up until now, no one has told the truth.

But tonight, the five survivors arrive at an isolated mansion in the hills, expecting to compete in a contest with a $50,00 prize... Instead, they realise they've been lured together by a person bent on revenge who wants to finally unravel the truth about what actually happened that deadly night, one year ago.

I was excited by the synopsis of this book and was sure I'd love it. It started well with an opening chapter that flashed back to the night of the party when a teenage boy was killed and a mysterious girl swears revenge on those who caused his demise. There was a sense of foreboding and eerie atmosphere that made me eager to keep reading. The following five chapters introduced our five main characters and I loved that each got their own chapter where we learned about them and snippets of how they were implicated in the events of the party.

Unfortunately, as the characters gathered together at the mansion to compete for the scholarship the story began to lose it's way. While there were some creepy elements at this point, such as the rooms they were all given, I felt these were not explored to their full potential and became secondary to the asinine antics of the characters, who also became overly clichéd and one-dimensional. My initial connection to Ruby faltered and I didn't feel enough for any of the characters to really hold an interest in what happened to them.

The atmosphere and tension did increase a little as you reached the story’s climax but the fact that the bad guy had been obvious pretty much all along took away that edge-of-your-seat rush to get to the big, exciting reveal.

The author of this book does have a very poetic writing style in places that I loved, but sadly the lack of mystery and suspense took away from my overall enjoyment of the novel.

Seems as though I’m going against the trend here, but I really enjoyed this book!

I don’t watch either of the shows that it has been likened to, so I don’t have a comparison, but it definitely has elements of Kara Thomas’ The Cheerleaders, Karen M. McManus’ One of Us is Lying and a dash of Gossip (the movie).

Set in a creepy mansion (I pictured Victorian Gothic) this book takes place over one evening, with flashbacks to a year ago detailing the events of a fateful party. The characters are brought in under the premise of winning a college scholarship and each one has need for that money for their future, but our host wants answers and everyone has a secret that could unravel their entire world.

The writing had me hooked, it was creepy and suspenseful and though it’s not as horror-tastic as a Stephen King novel, I will never be looking at porcelain dolls the same way again (no it’s not a Chucky thing, and I will not give any other comments on this because I don’t want to spoil it). There were moments that I struggled to tear my eyes away from the kindle screen afraid that I’d lose the thrill and have to build it up again.

Given the bulk of the story focuses on just the one night in the present, I think the characters were fleshed out really well. Definitely enough to get an idea of who they are, their values, and their growth. They were mature and had solid back stories.

I’m one of those readers who likes to guess the whodunnit ending, usually satisfied when I get it and love it when I don’t. But there is a middle range, where correctly guessing the who, but the surrounding events of the reveal are still a surprise; and it’s always fun. This book was the latter. 4.5 stars.

Many thanks to Chelsea Pitcher, Simon and Schuster UK Children’s, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to like this story, the plot was intriguing and I am on a bit of a mystery/intrigue kind of roll at the moment. Sadly, This Lie Will Kill You just didn’t do it for me and I do feel bad saying that because I can see the potential of the book. I was left with the feeling that the author/publisher should just have held this one back for a little longer and worked out the finer points and they could have had an enjoyable murder mystery book on their hands. Alas it was not meant to be.

However, ultimately, the characters weren’t well developed and I did not feel a connection to any of them and the mystery element was predictable. There were very little subtleties surrounding who we should like and who we shouldn’t which meant that there could be no big reveal on who the villain was.

I can only really give this book 2 stars but don’t just take my word for it, I would advise you to read it and form your own opinions, I am interested to see what others think of this one because for some reason I feel incredibly guilty writing a bad review for this one!

Yes. But No.

Loved the idea of this one but sadly, for this reader, it just wasn't there.

That's not to say it's all bad. The premise is sound for anyone who loves things like I Know What You Did Last Summer (in fact you could probably use that title for this story too) and the kind of stuck with a killer who will survive vibe.

The writing goes between pretty good and not so hot, but the plotting is all over the place. The bad guy was so obvious they may have well have spent the entire book smirking and twirling a moustache, the events that lead to the final confrontation, well frankly I'm not really clear on to be honest but that's possibly because I stopped paying proper attention.

It has it's very excellent creepy moments to give the author due, porcelain dolls and suchlike but those flashes of brilliance got lost amongst the idiotic and very uninteresting characters. 

It's not horrible. But in comparison with other tales of this nature it falls very flat.

Also if you are going to rip off Edward Cullen you should probably try and improve on the original but Shane was, if it's even possible, even paler. 

A shame. There is potential here in some of the descriptive sense and the setting was I think more fascinating than the characters. The house they were all trapped in was great. I'll see what the author does next. Not dismissing the possibilities just yet.

Not the best book i have read. It didnt quite meet my expectations which was sad as I really wanted to like and engage with the book.
Thank you NetGalley and Simon and Schuster UK Children for my ARC in exchange for my honest unbiased review.

Oh wow. So, I always feel a little guilty writing a bad review for a book and honestly, if you like mysteries like "Pretty Little Liars", this might still be something you'd enjoy? I still saw this as a solid 3 stars until about halfway, so there is some merit in it. However, the issues kept on building up and wrecked any enjoyment I had.

First up, the characters. Some were definitely more fleshed out than others: I really got a feel for Juniper and Brett's headspace, but struggled to work out what was going on with Gavin, for instance. It was also very clear who we were supposed to like and dislike, and I'm not entirely sure that's what the author wanted? For instance, Parker felt like a creepy stalker and awful person from very early on in and therefore I had zero sympathies for him. The revelation about what he did seemed inevitable as opposed to an interesting twist.

Second, the mystery itself. While there were some twists, few of them felt particularly original and it was very apparent early on that not all the students' crimes were equal. I wanted more creepiness as well: the most interesting sections were moments like the rooms prepared for the teenagers, where Dollface was actively trying to freak them out.

But the real kicker was the ending. I mean, on the one hand, Parker wasn't a great person, I wasn't overly sad he got killed. But Ruby...I hated the way that was handled. Hinting but not really saying she obviously has some kind of mental illness? Heavily implying that she struggles with feeling emotions, because she's perfectly happy to let Dollface die, yet we're supposed to believe Juniper's love will completely save her? The "it's a happy ending for them, they're all a bit broken but they'll be fine" vibe at the end. Ruby is not just going to be fine. Ruby has been through multiple traumas and clearly needs help. Not to mention she's murdered people before. I cannot buy that as a happy ending. Even if that's just the gloss Juniper needs to put on it to cope with what she did, it left a bad taste in my mouth.

Oh what a lovely little novel this one was.

The book centers around revenge, and how far someone might be willing to go for it.
5 high school students are invited to a night of murder mystery at a mansion. All 5 of these have something to do with what happened last summer ( trying not to give away spoilers!)

Once they arrive at the mansion, the story unfolds very quickly with occasional flashbacks to add more depth to the characters and what really happened last summer.

I particularly loved Ruby as a character. She has been through a lot and seems to be broken. She was written very beautifully.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes young adult thrillers.

This lie will kill you by author Chelsea Pitcher is a intense and gripping thriller! The plot is amazing, original spookiness! The characters are flawed but in the purposeful way! Overall a treat creepy book!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an arc copy of This lie will kill you in exchange for an honest review!