Although I loved her previous books, this was not as good. Lackluster characters and Not a very compelling story

Thank you to netgalley.com as well as the publisher - Gallery, Threshold, and Pocket Books - for an advanced digital copy of this novel.

I like Ruth Ware - really liked both "In a Dark, Dark Wood" as well as "The Girl in Cabin 10". Both stories, from start to finish, really kept my attention as well as kept me guessing as to the end. That is, in my opinion, the definition of a great psychological thriller. Unfortunately, "The Lying Game" did not live up to this same potential.

As with her previous novels, Ware does "hook me" with an interesting start - an "I need you." text from one of the characters in the novel to the main character. Reminded me quite a bit of the start of a Harlan Coben novel, and I typically enjoy reading his books. The plot of the story was initially well-done, really had me thinking and wondering how it would conclude. However, a little over halfway through the novel, the story started to sputter. Not sure why the main character's baby daughter was in the story - other than as a quick scare, "my daughter is missing!", for example. Also, not sure if I really caught the idea of why Ambrose (the father) was killed. Just left me disappointed.

Again, a great start to the novel - I just wish it would have finished strongly in the end. I just wanted to be done with the novel by the end of it.

This book had me hooked from page 1 . Loved how it went from the present to the girls lives at the school and all their history. A brilliant beach read!

Isa is a successful London lawyer with a good job and a newborn. But when she receives the simple three-word text, "I need you" she knows she must drop everything and return to the seaside village of Salten, the location of her former boarding school. Now Isa, along with high school friends Kate, Thea, and Fatima must relive the horrible secrets and lies they shared as schoolgirls after a body is uncovered on the Salten marshes. In The Lying Game, Ruth Ware does it again, weaving a suspenseful tale of lies and deceit, but as the story progressed, it felt as though the pace became too slow and the plot was becoming too drawn out, just for the sake of the story. While certain to be another hit, The Lying Game does have the tension and atmosphere like Ware's two previous novels, In A Dark, Dark Wood and The Woman in Cabin 10, but doesn't seem to be as strong as the previous ones.

When Kate, a school friend she hasn't seen for nearly seventeen years texts "I need you," Isa Wilde drops everything and rushes to the salt marsh town of Salten, where she and two other former classmates learn that bones have been found on the shore. Back then the four girls were inseparable and played a "lying game" where they scored points for fooling others.

This is a good, suspenseful read, but for me it just didn't have the punch of Ware's other books. I did guess a couple of the twists early on and wish that I could have learned more about Thea and Fatima, the other two friends in the game.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.

Not as eerie as In a Dark, Dark Wood (though here the marsh works much the same as the woods), not as suspenseful as The Woman in Cabin 10 (though it does have the sudden surprise element as that book), this was still another good novel from Ware, who I am continuing to find a reliable read. In some ways this reminded me a bit of The Secret Place by Tana French (boarding school plus dangerous teenage secrets) and Into the Water by Paula Hawkins (just because of the ominous proximity of a body of water that is almost a character unto itself) - but it was much better than both of those. (I feel especially horrible saying this because of how much I love Tana French, but that was by far my least favorite of her books.) I do wish this was a bit more suspenseful. It definitely had a panicky feeling because the women could go to prison for what they did as girls and the tension there is palpable. However, even as Isa teases out new details, the suspense doesn't feel threatening until the very end. Despite that, I think readers could make a claim for this being Ware's best book because her study of how different people handle guilt and grief is quite good. And Isa's protective instinct toward her daughter is enough to scare anyone away from having kids! Oh, and if I do, I'm definitely never sending them to boarding school. Fiction is brutal toward boarding schools!

I will post my review closer to the publishing date. http://hotcupofteaandagoodbook.blogspot.ca/


Isa, Kate, Thea and Fatima meet when beginning a school year a residential school in Salten. They seemed to destined to be best friends when they bond over a lie. This begins the lying game. There are rules for the lying game and points rewarded. It's all fun and games until the lies become life and death.

15 years late the girls are trying to move on with their lives but they are still lying. When Kate sends a text message saying 'I need you.' The girls grab trains and come running.

The Lying Game is a story that slowly unravels with details being revealed at a pace to keep readers intrigued. I felt like I was clenching my jaw at the suspense and tension of this novel. Ruth Ware is a talented suspenseful storyteller. She is also the author of The Woman in Cabin 10.

This book was suspenseful from beginning to end! Even as the truth was finally coming out the ending was still unpredictable. Great story!

The Lying Game is an account of 4 women who were good friends in high school who participated in what they called "the lying game". The story is told by one of the friends, Isa. All the women are grown now with lives of their own, but they can't escape the past. There was something that the girls did as a result of the lying game that came back to haunt them. Kate, who owns her dad's estate near a body of water in England, sends each friend a text telling them it is time to come back. The book's plot goes back and forth between what happened with the girls as teenagers and present day.

I liked the general theme of the book, that "your sins will find you out" and "whatever you sow, you'll reap." I really wanted to like this book, but I couldn't quite get into it. It seemed that there were many parts of it that were too drawn out. I have read Ruth Ware's Woman in Cabin 10 and really enjoyed it. I thought I would enjoy this one as much, but I didn't.

Ruth Ware has a way of grabbing your attention and never letting go. The twists and turns make your brain work in a way that is stimulating and keeps you going even after you have put the book down for a while. Where is this going? Did s/he do it or someone else? Hmmm.... makes you explore the possibilities and it's great that way.

The Lying Game is a game that starts with school girls, but carries on well into their adult lives with repercussions they never imagined. Now we have to decide what is a lie and what is not. Great book, great author. So glad I had the chance to read the advance from NetGalley!

I absolutely couldn't put this book down! I bought In A Dark, Dark Wood in La Guardia airport last winter win I got stuck in New York for a few extra days. I had the same problem not being able to put that book down, but in the end it was just an okay book to me. The Lying Game is a different story. It was interesting from beginning to end. I needed to know what was going to happen next and what exactly it was that actually happened in the past. I didn't think that the plot twist was ground breaking, but it was just good enough to throw me off the scent a little bit  and if a suspense novel manages to make me wrong in my guesses at all, it's a winner in my book. I like the thrill of the chase of figuring out the right answer.  If you enjoy suspense, The Lying Game will be your summer must read book!

An excellent read. Suspense, best friends, mystery -- this is Ms. Ware' s best one yet!

Once again, Ruth Ware presents us with a group of female friends bound by youthful secrets who reunite in a dark, desolate location. This time near a town of locals meant to give us an impending sense of doom: the postmistress; the taxi driver; the half-brother; the babysitter. Very Agatha Christie-ish and a great whodunit for those who like ominous British fare.

Readable, suspenseful and unpredictable. I was riveted by this suspense psychological thriller. Completely compelling as a mystery. Her best novel yet.

My third book by Ruth Ware and I think I previously said she's our generation's Agatha Christie, which I still believe with this story. It's very much a who-done-it.. In this story we have 4 friends who went to a private girl's school in the remote beachside town of Salten. There they became fast friends, start The Lying Game, and became the "mean girls". After a scandal caused by The Lying Game, they were all expelled, very quietly and moved on to start their own adult lives. After 20 years they all receive a text, "I need you", and as it's a signal, they head back to Salten. There in Salten the secrets they tried so hard to keep seem to be coming in on the tides of the marsh. Can the four trust each other to keep to their story?

Super interesting and suspenseful. A stay up late to finish type of book...

Thoroughly enjoyed this book especially the main character Isa. Great plot with numerous twists and turns. Look forward to her next book.

When Isa’s friend Kate sends her a text message that says, “I need you,” she drops everything to run to her friend’s side. She packs up her nursing baby and takes the train to Salten, where she went to boarding school. As young girls at Salten, Isa, Kate, and their friends Fatima and Thea had quite the reputation. Kate’s father was an instructor there, but the girls were sort of snarky brats. Their main form of entertainment was lying to others—trying to see how far they could push it to make people believe their lies. When tragedy strikes the girls are expelled amidst a cloud of secrecy. They leave the school and the town forever. All except for Kate, who lives on in her quickly deteriorating childhood home. Kate’s text brings all four girls, now women, wives and mothers, back to Salten. Something has happened that just might bring their past lies into their perfectly constructed presents.

I love the overall feel of this book. I’m a sucker for all things boarding school-related, so maybe that’s why. The mood is dark, and dreary, and very, very British. There’s a sense of foreboding that Ware has crafted here. You can almost feel the thick salt air in your lungs as you read. Isa is also an engaging and unlikely heroine. I love how she runs this story constantly lugging around her six month old, with all the stresses of a new mother at the forefront of her mind. Unfortunately, despite all the good this book has to offer, I found the plot a bit slow, and the ending to be less than satisfying. This is my first from Ruth Ware, though, and I liked it enough to want to add her other titles to my TBR pile!

This was a very well written book. The characters are well developed and continue to evolve to the end. This book hooked me from the beginning. The book is told from Isa's voice, and has definite twists and turns. Having said that, close to the end I found myself predicting what happened all those years ago and how the end would be wrapped up.

The story is about 4 girls who meet at boarding school and become instant friends. They play a game called the lying game in which they tried to make people believe them. When a teacher and father of one of the girls disappears, the girls keep the biggest lie to themselves for 17 years. The games begin again as all are called back together just as a body is found. The women come to grips with their role in the disappearance years ago just to discover they had been lied to by one of their own all those years ago.

*Language could be very offensive to some readers.
*No sexual content.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2015515493?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1