This book was ok. Not bad but not great. It didn't give me Jeneva Rose and definitely not Frieda McFadden which are my few favorite authors. It was a little slow for me. It did have it's "omg" moments but just hardly. I still thank you NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this story. Onto the next!!

I devoured this book in less than 24 hours. It’s probably one of the best psychological thrillers I’ve read. Kendall is such an intriguing character and the plot twists gave me whiplash. I can’t wait for pub day and to share this one with my book club. Thanks for the opportunity to read in advance!

First time reading a book written by Angela Henry. Absolutely amazing. Loved learning Kendalls story. Loved all the twists and turns. I thought I figured it out but Absolutely was left with my jaw dropped open. Can't wait to read more from this author!

Enjoyed this twisty thriller from the first page to the last! From the start the sorry sucks you in and the whole book you spend trying to figure out who did what and who is lying to who. I was gripped by the whole storyline that starts with Kendall finding a dead body in an apartment she just started living with when her personal life and school dreams imploded. The story just expends from there and keeps you going on a wild ride. This was an easy book in binge in one sitting and would make a good beach read this summer!

This has easily got to be one of the most engrossing books I have read this year! I was forcibly sucked in from the prologue and wasn't spat out until the very end.

Whilst it was a quick, binge worthy read for me it didn't feel like a 'quick' read as it was so intense, intriguing and the whole plot was so intricately weaved it had me up all night.

Every single time I thought I had it all figured out I was whacked in the face with another twist and they just kept on happening.

The characterisation was SUPERB, I absolutely loved the complexity of each character and they were easy to picture and relate to which is a massive plus for me. Every single character has secrets to hide and that constantly kept me on edge trying to work them out like an amateur Detective... I was usless 😅

A tale so full of twists and turns I was left spinning and the ending was just fantastic. If you are after a book that is non stop drama, twists and turns a plenty and full of intrigue.. this is definitely the one for you!

Huge thanks to Netgalley and Storm Publishing for the ARC.

Her Pretty Lies by Angela Henry

Publisher Storm Publishing

Time to read less than a day

Stars 3

Review

This was a new author to me

I totally got engrossed and could not put it down. Thank you Netgalley and Storm Publishing for the opportunity to review.

A totally binge worthy book that ensured I could escape the real world for a few hours.

This is a new author for me. The premise sounded good so I gave it a try. Kendall is a grad student at a college in Onio. Right before the semester starts, she finds out the fellowship she was supposed to receive was cancelled due to issues with the donor's will. This leaves Kendall in a lurch. With no money, nowhere to stay, and a break up, she's in quite the mess. She decides to take a girl up on her offer of free rent and a lot of money to do something underhanded. Doing this will allow Kendall to stay in school, but at what cost? The first half of the book was smooth sailing. The second half got very complicated and convoluted due to so much going on at once. I kind of got lost. My head was spinning by the end. I don't think so much was needed to pull off the ending of the book. In fact, with so much going on, it took away from the ending.

I loved the writing style and the attention to detail about the characters... what they were thinking etc. I could feel Kendall's indecision about taking such a great risk in order to stay in school. What I didn't like was how everyone was identified by color. For example, black girl, white boy, etc etc. I'm not sure what the difference is whether the girl or guy the author was writing about at the time was black or white. It took away from the story and was like a big lump in the paragraphs. How about just using their names and realizing they are all simply peole in a thriller? I personally don't care what color they are. Overall, if the second half was more like the first half, this book would have been a winner. For me it's 2.5 rounded up to 3.

Thank you to Storm Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC. I greatly appreciate it. I do not recommend this book in it's current form.

This was a quick, binge-worthy read filled with lots of drama, lies, & twists. It definitely reminded me of Freida McFadden books!

Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved:
- How fast-paced this book was. There was never a dull moment and every time I thought that I had figured things out, there was more to be revealed.
- ⁠All the secrets & lies. Every single character had their own secrets that they were trying to protect so I was kept on edge guessing whether someone was telling the truth.
- ⁠The multiple plot lines happening at the same time. I liked that there was a lot going on. It kept things interesting and I didn’t find it too hard to keep track of everything that was happening.

What I didn’t like as much:
- Some of the characters motives seemed a little far-fetch/dramatic (?)
- The way that all the characters were connected to each other was just a tad bit too coincidental and required me to suspend my belief a little bit.

I literally read this book in the span of 1 day bc I was just too engrossed in trying to untangle the intricate web of lies and deceit that Angela Henry created.

Her Pretty Lies by Angela Henry
⭐️⭐️⭐️

Kendal Good has just lost her scholarship. With her job gone and now no money for a place to live, she doesn't know what she's going to do. Out of nowhere, she is offered a lifeline, a job, a place to live rent-free, from the highly sought-after and popular influencer, Mackenzie. Everything seems too good to be true. Will she take up this new opportunity? Does Mackenzie have her best interests at heart?

Her Pretty Lies is a binge-worthy, quick, easy read. This book contains a ton of drama, secrets, and lies from every character. You don't know who to trust. Everyone is hiding something.
Whilst the prologue did grab my attention straight away, I'm afraid that as the story progressed, i struggled to keep myself invested in the plot and the characters. There is so much to keep up with. It has multiple story threads that, at times, are overwhelming, with the number of characters too. I did lose track a couple of times as to who was saying what and had to back track and re-read. It seems like every plot angle has been thrown into this book. It felt disjointed in places and unbelievable.
This book was ok, I just didn't love it.

Thank you, NetGalley and Storm publishing.
My opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this one, there was plenty twists and turns in it and I really did enjoy it! I would definitely recommend this book!

The paramedics tell me I’m in shock as they load the body bag into the ambulance. Only days ago, I had everything. A man I wanted to marry. A prestigious fellowship for graduate school. A perfect new apartment. I’m a psychology student. I should have known she was hiding something from the start… Now I’m shivering under a foil blanket wondering how my life became a nightmare. And when the paramedics check me over, it’s not concern I see on their faces. It’s fear. They think I did this. They think I killed her! Great book! I definitely enjoyed reading this one! It had suspense, intrigue, action, murder, mystery, a great who done it and some crazy twists and turns! The storyline was very interesting and had me glued to my Kindle! I definitely recommend reading this book! Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!

Kendall loses her fellowship, finds out her boyfriend is cheating on her, and has to find a new place to live. She runs into an influencer Mackenzie Burk who is willing to help her with her situation. But something terrible happens and throws Kendall back into the situation she’s already in.

This is a very good page turner and keeps you wanting to find out what and who did what. And I completely got every person wrong and didn’t even think about that one person being involved. This book had so much drama and twist and turns that I believe I got whiplashed. 😂

Thank you NetGalley, Storm Publishing & Angela Henry for the eARC to this book.

This book is insane, if you think you know something, you don't.
Loved every twist this book had and it's going in my reread pile

Lots of little pieces of drama all adding up to figure out all of the big secrets. Things were really twisted up with each other.

Wow! From the very first page of this book I did not want to put it down! This girls life is in shambles from the very beginning! Every page is filled with Drama! Just when you think you have it figured out, BAM! Some more pops up! Such a great book! Will definitely be looking for more books by Angela Henry!

Her Pretty Lies by Angela Henry is a mystery thriller about graduate student Kendall Good and how her life gradually falls apart due to some wild twists. She goes from graduate student with a paid fellowship/scholarship, nice apartment and boyfriend, and a certain view on her family and personal history, to losing those things, being suspected of murder and questioning everything she believed about herself & her family.

The twists start right away with some backstory pieces that don’t specifically name Kendall but you assume they are about her, but the twists keep going the whole book. Kendall doesn’t start out super likable but as she starts asserting herself and stops being “mousey,” you start to root for her more. Her relationship with her mother is very relatable and you want to get to the truth as badly as Kendall does.

The book is listed as an adult book but sometimes it feels on the verge of YA. Some of the language is just trying to hard to sound young. I know the main character is a graduate student hoping to become a psychiatrist but she’s resorting to using TikTok Gen Z slang. “The oxtails are fire.” “Comfortable as a pair of UGG boots.” “Average AF.” “Girl, bye.” It just sort of reduces her to some basic girl stereotype. She has some great psychological insights and words of wisdom throughout the book, so it’s kind of disappointing.

Overall, I really enjoyed the twists and the interconnecting characters and their secrets. Definitely will be checking out some of the author’s other books!

Kendall has her life pretty much sorted, she has a prestigious scholarship to pay from her upcoming graduate course (as well as pay her rent on a gorgeous apartment) and a boyfriend of three years. But then one fateful day everything comes crumbling down. Gone is the scholarship, which means no flat or course, she finds her boyfriend in the throes of passion with his ex and she gets a creepy childhood photo bringing up the spectre of her father.

Initially the story jumped around in time, I wasn’t sure where it was going. And I felt that for a long time.

I found Kendall a frustrating narrator, her thoughts are so repetitive. Starting with the name of the scholarship (Lena Bennett fyi), which is repeated so many times when it is cancelled. Then when she has no choices but doesn’t want you to go back to her mum. So we have her cyclical thoughts. I wasn’t too keen on the writing style (I almost gave up at 54%). At the end there are some ludicrous coincidences and so many twists, it’s a little too improbable. Didn’t quite work for me.

as kendall loses her scholarship at college she meets a mysterious woman who will give her money ….. but is everything as it seems?

the diary extracts scattered through the book of her childhood memories, make the reader feel even more emotionally attached to the character.

the writing is, fast, gritty and very emotionally charged. the reader cant help but flick through each page wanting to know more.

the few places where it fell apart for me was, at times the dialogue between characters felt like things we wouldn’t say in real life. there was also a lot of plots going on at once so at times, it felt a bit overwhelming to follow.

fans of tv shows like gossip girl, pretty little liars should definitely pick up this book

I enjoyed the first half of the book, snorted laughter several times, and was looking forward to enjoying the last part. Well, it didn't happen that way. The second half felt overly-complicated with too many things going on. I appreciated the Ohio setting.

If the author can continue the formula she used for the first half of the book, she will have a winner.

I received a complimentary copy of the novel from the publisher and NetGalley, and my review is being left freely.

The overall plot was interesting and had potential. The story initially flowed well but nearing the end, it became confusing and choppy with excessive twists. There was just too much going on to causing the plot to become disconnected and ending poorly.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.