Review: The Lies You Told by Harriet Tyce

 

Title: The Lies You Told
Author: Harriet Tyce
Published: December 2020, Grand Central Publishing
Format: Hardcover, 384 pages
Source: Publisher

Summary:
In the playground it's the law of the jungle But at the school gate, there are no rules at all... 

When Sadie Roper moves back to London, she's determined to pick up the pieces of her shattered life. First, she needs to get her daughter settled into a new school-one of the most exclusive in the city. Next, she's going to get back the high-flying criminal barrister career she sacrificed for marriage ten years earlier. But nothing goes quite as planned. The school is not very welcoming newcomers, her daughter hasn't made any friends yet and the other mothers are as fiercely competitive as their children. Sadie immediately finds herself on the outside as she navigates the fraught politics of the school gate. 

But the tide starts to turn as Sadie begins to work on a scandalous, high-profile case that's the perfect opportunity to prove herself again, even though a dangerous flirtation threatens to cloud her professional judgment. And when Julia, queen of the school moms, befriends Sadie, she draws her into the heart of the world from which she was previously excluded. Soon Sadie and her family start to thrive, but does this close new friendship prevent her from seeing the truth? Sadie may be keeping her friends close, but what she doesn't know is that her enemies are closer still... Dark, addictive and compelling, The Lies You Told is a compulsive psychological thriller from a master storyteller.

My thoughts:  This is the second book I've read by Harriet Tyce and I am definitely a fan. I loved her debut novel, Blood Orange, and this latest book is just as captivating and addicting.

 

This book really captured my attention from the get-go and never let up. I love books where there are unlikeable characters and there are quite a few here. I also love books where I think I know where things are heading and I definitely had things pegged wrong, but that's ok because it just keeps me more engaged and my brain working overtime as I try to work out just how the pieces will fall together. 

 

I loved that there were a few different threads happening in this book so it kept things moving along but it also made me want to read faster to get to the end to see how things in both would end up playing out. And I really did end up becoming equally invested in all threads.

 

The writing in this book is so smart and addicting...I just could not put this book down until I reached the end - and the last few chapters really had my heart pounding as we reached the final conclusion. If you have not picked this one up yet, I highly recommend it...it is definitely a thrilling, binge-worthy read.