For anyone who loved One of Us is Next or This Lie Will Kill You, this new book is a brilliant take on the murder mystery theme running through YA books. However the twist with this one is that we know what happened but can this group trust each other enough to keep quiet and not turn on each other. The twist at the end was perfect.

This was a fun read, but also left me a little uneasy at times, and not in a good way.

Five Little Liars follows five different characters who all end up implicated in the murder of their teacher. Each individual has their own secrets and complicated histories, all of which intersect as they try to decide their next steps.

I liked this as a thriller-esque novel, because it was a different take on the genre. It wasn't particularly tense, but it was really complex, with the focus more on the individual lives of the characters, and the ways these affected the storyline. There was some great foreshadowing, and the five stories unfolded really well.

That being said, there were some pretty iffy things going on. There was a lot of ableism, particularly in the ways the characters talked about the teacher, and massively in the way that Jeni (I think- Cade's sister) was portrayed. No spoilers, but the way this was handled perpetuated really harmful stigma. Mattie's story did the same, I was super pleased that there was a bi character, but actually it just came across as quite harmful (again, no spoilers!).

I found one of the biggest plot twists quite foreseeable, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing, if anything it added a little more tension in it's own way. I did find it frustrating at times- for example, not calling an ambulance at all and instantly jumping to 'omg we're gonna get done for murder'- but it's a book about teenagers, and teenagers don't make rational decisions!

Overall, this had an engrossing plot with five well-developed characters, but I would worry about the stereotypes & stigma this could contribute to.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Five Little Liars is a light cosy thriller and it defiantly an easy read. There isn't a huge amount of tension, and the characters can be a little bland and I found myself not really invested in them. The plot is slow burn build up. I think this effected my enjoyement of this book.
The book suffers from a slow start. Nothing really happens so I found it quite difficult to start with. However, it picks up and things get more juicy with a bit more mystery as secrets begin to pile up and threaten to spill over. . Which makes you want to continue reading, it does keep you entertained enough to want answers.

I’ve read better thrillers, this for me was a middle of the road read nothing I will remember forever fun while reading but not what I hoped it would be. But I you like cosy murder mysteries that you can just breeze through I would pick this up because if anything it’s a fun time. You never know it might be your next fave unfortunately it wasn’t that for me.

oh wow, what a strange novel. i didn't really like it so much but i appreciate the ambition that morgan employs. just not for me.

A really engaging story - definitely for fans of Karen M McManus’s One of Us Is Lying series. You know what happens to their teacher, that’s a fact. But what pulls you in is each character’s own view point, their back story (warts and all) and how the whole issue with the dead teacher affects them. It was interesting that in Five Little Liars you go in thinking you have your stereotypical bunch of high school kids; there’s the nerd, the delinquent, the jock, the popular girl and the token gay guy. But as their stories develop you learn those stereotypes are spun around. There were some elements in the story that I didn’t gel with, particularly the stigma around mental health; but this could be the attitudes of certain characters. If this is the case, I would have liked to see the development and growth of certain characters. Other than that a great YA read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an early copy of this book.


Oof.

Listen.
I wanted to like this book – I really did.
I'm a sucker for good YA thrillers / suspense. Are they cliché? Sometimes, yes. Do I still like them? Hell, yeah.

But there is such a thing as too cliché, and Five Little Liars is, unfortunately, that thing.

I found the set of characters to be too stereotypical (you've got the token gay (okay, bi) guy; the promising student; the delinquent; the rich guy; and the queen-that's-not-a-queen-anymore) and, also, frankly stupid in some of their decisions.
Similarly, the victim of our cliché group of murderer, Evil Teacher Stratford is just... meh. There are evil teachers, don't get me wrong on that, but they're usually characters that you want to know just a touch better and, maybe, understand. In the case of Startford, he's just an ass from start to finish, with his students and with his family, and there's no redeeming quality whatsoever – at least, none mentioned. That makes it a touch difficult to feel sorry, or anything else, really, for him.

As for the story in itself, I'd say the middle of the book is the most gripping part. It gets a bit tense, everyone gets a bit crazy, you wonder how or why it's gonna end... And then, it *does* end, and there's a few minutes of staring at the book (or screen), wondering if it's even legal to have such a disappointing ending.

I'm very sorry, but I don't feel like this book lived up to its promise. I'd be happy to pick up other books by this author, though, as I truly believe in giving authors a second chance, but this one just wasn't for me.

Five Little Liars is a light thriller and an easy read. There isn't a huge amount of tension, but the characters are engaging enough to stay invested.

The book suffers from a slow start. Nothing really happens until nearly 100 pages in, so I found it quite difficult to start with. However, from there it picks up, with a bit more mystery as secrets begin to pile up.

I have definitely read better thrillers, but this was a fairly quick and enjoyable book.

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This review has been posted to Goodreads and Amazon

This book felt very promising to begin with. It opened well and for the first half I would say I was really gripped. I found it fast and easy to read and I was flying through it because I was so keen to see what would happen next. There for 5 main characters, all taking part in a summer Psychology class at school. The story is told through alternating points of view between the different characters. I thought the characters were introduced well and I had a clear idea of who everyone was and a little about them to gauge their character. I also do enjoy thrillers which are told from the perspective of different people involved.

Reading the scenes between Professor Stratford, their teacher and the students was interesting. He is certainly a deplorable man and when he did eventually die, I felt little sympathy for him. I was still enjoying this book until about half was through but then things just started to go downhill. I wrote a full spoiler filled review of this book where I went into a lot of detail about the things I disliked in this book. However, I didn’t want to post that as I try not to post negative reviews where I really break apart a book so I have just kept that for me. I will surmise my feelings by saying I was just really bored through the second half of this story. It didn’t feel like a whole lot happened regarding the main plot. Following the death of their teacher the students make a pact but then they all veer off and deal with their own life drama. You know all along who the murderer is and this will go into spoiler territory but the body isn’t even found until 95% into the book. Its then all wrapped up very quickly and conveniently all bar a predictable twist so I just ended up questioning the point of it really. None of the characters are likable and they seemed to make really odd decisions that make no sense. I would say if you are a complete newbie to YA thrillers genre then you may want to check this one out. However, I read quite a lot from this genre and I didn’t feel like this one did anything particularly original. It was unfortunately a bit of miss from me.

Five Little Liars has all the essentials of a great YA book – starts with a dead body and five very different students in the room. We are then taken back to finding out why the deceased teacher is hated by all of his students leading up to him dying and what happens as a result. I don’t want to go into any further detail, without giving away the plot. However, this is a fast paced book which leads us into finding out about the complexities of each of the teenager’s lives and the secrets they hide. I read this book in two days. It is suitable for the whole of the YA audience, with no bad language or sex. A good read.

This book was ok. I didnt love the writing style, and I unfortunately struggled to finish it. I didnt connect with any of the characters

I really enjoyed this book, it reminded me of One of us is Lying. It keeps you reading throughout, and each character is built well and very well developed.

Five little liars is a story about 5 students, Ivy, Mattie, Cade, Kinley and Tyler who’s teacher has died, the really mystery isn’t who killed the teacher, but the secrets each student is hiding,

Overall this book had me hooked, because I wanted to know all the secrets, but at the same time, I didn’t care for two of the characters at all and the other three I was a bit meh about. And this is with the POV shifting between them. I was interested in how it was going to end, but when I got to about 80% and a good lead up wasn’t happening, I feared it would be a dissatisfying ending and ultimately it was. Maybe if there had been more of a climax preceding it I would have been okay with it, but as it was there seemed to be no consequences apart from a two page teaser. If there is a sequel in the works, fine, if not, then that’s just incredibly annoying.

So, while an easy read, I don’t care enough about the characters to pick this book up again and the ending left a lot to be desired. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review..

‘Five Little Liars’ is pitched as ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ meets ‘One of Us is Lying’, and the similarities are immediately apparent. Unfortunately, this just isn’t gripping in the same way. I’m not sure what was missing, but I wasn’t engaged by the plot and – with the exception of Tyler, who deserves better – didn’t care enough about the characters.

The story follows five students – Ivy, Cade, Tyler, Mattie, and Kinley – taking a summer psychology course taught by Dr Stratford, the single most unpleasant teacher in existence. I hated him, to the extent that I wasn’t sure why he was allowed to be a teacher – the way he treated his students was emotionally abusive at best. The five students aren’t friends – Mattie is from out of town, Ivy the once-Queen Bee who’s fallen from grace, Cade the millionaire’s son who’s quite frankly unpleasant, Kinley the nerd, and Tyler the delinquent. However, they are forced together when they all become involved in the murder – and subsequent cover up – of Dr Stratford.

The premise is excellent, with the tension hinging on who’s going to crack and tell first. However, much of that tension is lost because the story doesn’t make the reader care enough about the characters. I wanted Tyler to be safe, but the others almost seemed to deserve to be caught. They all had secrets of their own and – as much as many of them were in dreadful situations which explained their terrible decision making – I didn’t like them enough to worry about their fate. Their interactions with each other also suffered from several tropes of young adult literature, with insta-lust if not insta-love distracting from the plot. As a bisexual, one of my biggest pet peeves is the bisexual teenager who’s unfaithful to their partner, because it perpetuates the harmful stereotype that bisexuals are more likely to cheat. When it comes amongst other LGBTQIAP+ representation I can allow it, but when it’s the only representation in the story I become very uncomfortable.

There are strong aspects. Tyler in general is an excellent character, and I liked his interactions with his brother, Jacob, and with Kinley. Kinley is an interesting if hard to like character, and I like the exploration of parental pressure – the lengths her dad goes to make me very uncomfortable, but I suspect that’s the point. In fact, part of the reason that this review comes across as very harsh is because there was so much potential. It was an excellent story idea and, whilst the characters are tropes, they could have been fleshed out into very intriguing people. I also thought the final chapter was a great way to end. However, the pieces never clicked together, and the characters never quite elevated themselves from tropes into full people.

Overall, this is a good idea lacking somewhat in execution. It’s unfair to compare books, but this compares itself to ‘One of Us is Lying’ and just feels a bit like a knock-off version. For those looking for a quick young adult mystery this provides entertainment, but there are better options out there.

This book was INSANE. As a massive fan of I know what you did last summer, I immediately wanted to read this book and I read it all in one sitting. As soon as I got approved I started reading and just couldn’t stop.

This isn’t a really new plot idea but I still think the book was really solid. It was so fast paced that I was on the edge of my seat the entire time whilst reading because I just needed to know what happened. I was stressed through a lot of this book and that’s normally the sign that I like a thriller.

I’m glad I gave this one a go and now I’m in the mood for some more ya thrillers!!

With a terrific premise, this had all the ingredients for a compelling murder mystery - a group of disparate students bound together by their involvement in the death of their teacher and, although I felt it lost its way slightly at times, I enjoyed the portrayal of the characters and the pages certainly kept on turning. A decent read for thriller fans, ideal for readers who enjoyed One of Us is Lying and A Good Girl's Guide to Murder.

Really enjoyed this story. It was such as easy read, with the pacing really good and the tension kept tight all through the story. I may be confused but it seemed like two characters had the same kind of conversation twice at chapter 250, then again at 305. It jumped out at me that Tyler was explaining the same thing again, or maybe I was just reading too quickly and misinterpreted. Anyway, enjoyable read. This book doesn’t seem to be listed on goodreads, so the review won’t link.

Note: This book was originally published in 2016 in the USA under the title Secrets, Lies, and Scandals.

As I run out of the Serials to watch during the quarantine, I decided to pick up some old ones with a high rating that I’ve never had the chance (or the time) to watch. So I started watching How to Get Away With Murder and I got hooked. Then I saw Five Little Liars in NatGalley and checked it out in Goodreads. You can understand my excitement after I saw that it is compared to the aforementioned series. As a result, I wanted to read it straight away and I was so happy when Simon&Schuster granted me a copy of this book to read in advance.

Who will sign for a summer class voluntarily? Not me. But who knew that the boring psychological summer class will turn into the worst summer class ever for a group of 5 college students.

Kinley is an outstanding student, she is the favourite student to all teachers, except for one – Dr. Stratford, the leading teacher of the psychological summer class.

Tyler is a perfect case of a bad boy and delinquent who is trying to start a new chapter in his life, to drop the bullshits and start all over again, but this time as a good guy.

Cade is a spoiled Asian guy, a son of an unspeakably rich father. Cade couldn’t care less about the world that surrounds him. He knows that his father has contacts everywhere and he would be able to pull him out from whatever mess he gets caught up in.

Mattie is the new-in-town-boy. He is visiting his auntie for the summer, so he could take the summer class he is obligated to do in order to pass in the next year because he got caught cheating on his final exam.


Ivy is a popular girl. Or at least she used to be. Until her not-so-popular ex whom she helped climb up to the top of the social ladder, dumped her.

What do they have in common? You would say nothing and that would be completely true until the night they accidentally killed their summer class lecturer – Dr. Stratford and covered his murder.

The book is quite a catch for these of you who love YA Mysteries. Let me say that it is a mystery and it is not. This is one of the things I didn’t quite like. We know who killed the teacher from the very beginning and this kills the suspense. The book is more about self-doubt and how five different teenagers manage to cope with the guilt of killing a person. There is a story behind each character and they are not completely connected. It’s like every character has a small standalone story inside the big story and their stories randomly intervene every now and then. This divides a book a bit sharply for my taste and it feels like the book is not completed or like the author has so many different ideas and wanted to put them all in one book.

Overall, it is a good book to chill with, but I missed the mystery part and that the twists get revealed quickly, in the next few pages. We can’t speak about the tension and ‘sitting at the edge of the chair’ feeling that the typical mystery brings. It just a good YA Fiction book.

I'm confused about why this book is being republished under a different title as it was originally published in 2015/2016 under the title Secrets, Lies, and Scandals, and it does read like a 5-years-old cliche. I was disappointed by the only bisexual character being a stereotype. The diversity in this book felt like major tokenism relying on stereotypes and lack of research or interest from the author.

I love YA books because they tend to be a bit more fast paced with lots going on- this does what it says on the tin! It catches your attention, keeps it and leads you on the path of a brilliantly written story.

Five Little Liars is a gripping read, it's a story with many layers and subplots that are slowly and expertly peeled back to create a really interesting read.