Member Reviews
This Lie Will Kill You Chelsea Pitcher “Tell the truth. Or face the consequences. Clue meets Riverdale in this page-turning thriller that exposes the lies five teens tell about a deadly night one year ago. One year ago, there was a party. At the party, someone died. Five teens each 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 $50,000 grand prize. Of course…some things are too good to be true. They were each so desperate for the prize, they didn’t question the odd, rather exclusive invitation until it was too late. Now, they realize they’ve been lured together by a person bent on revenge, a person who will stop at nothing to uncover what actually happened on that deadly night, one year ago. Five arrived, but not all can leave. Will the truth set them free? Or will their lies destroy them all?” First, let me extend my thanks to NetGalley, and of course the author, Chelsea Pitcher, for this copy of ‘This Lie Will Kill You’ to read in exchange for an honest review. This has many ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ tones to it. We have a group of teenagers, a party, drinking, driving and finally, a death. One year on, someone wants their revenge. Five teenagers – Juniper, Ruby, Parker, Brett and Gavin – all arrive at a mansion with the expectation of competing to win a $50,000 scholarship, a prize each of them desperately needs. After the events of one year ago where a fellow student tragically lost his life, each of the five have struggled academically. Juniper, for example, would have been valedictorian with a scholarship to a school of her choice. But that party, that fateful night one year prior changed everything. It was a similar story for each of them. One night altered their lives in unimaginable ways. This is a story about bad decisions. A showcase of the poor life choices we make in haste turning out to have lasting consequences. This is a whodunit novel, Cluedo for the Riverdale-age, with a variety of shallow and frankly quite annoying characters. I found myself wanting to carry on, but struggling to connect with the book. It wasn’t a read I particularly enjoyed, which considering I am a fan of franchises such as I Know What You Did Last Summer, and shows like Riverdale, I thought it would definitely be something I would like. I feel like, well for me, the let down here was the characters. They were annoying, boring, shallow, horrid people. No one you would be able to garner any sympathy with. A big part of my enjoyment in a story comes from my developing relationship with the characters. I love to be invested, I love rooting for a character, being drawn into their lives, feeling a variety of emotions for them. That was missing here. The setting itself had loads of potential. A creepy mansion, life size porcelain dolls (they are extra creepy at the best of times), and a murder mystery dinner. It could have been really good. It’s a real shame that it was let down by the lack-luster characters. 2/5 Lesley-Ann (Housewife of Horror) |
Thrillers are a book genre that is either hit or miss for me -sadly This Lie Will Kill You was more of the latter. I liked the state of uneasiness that the start of This Lie had me in but I found it difficult to gain a sense of attachment to the characters. The description of the murder mystery party gone wrong at the beginning creeped me out enough that sleeping was difficult that night, this is definitely a good thing for a thriller. Once twists were revealed though, I felt like something was missing. As the night in the mansion goes on we learn a lot more about the 5 characters playing the game as flashbacks ensue. We learn a lot about the characters, in particular the heartbreaking back story of Ruby and her love for Shane. I wasn’t able to find a character I had any defining emotions for so I didn’t mind if anything bad happening to them. The mystery element was focusing on flashbacks of the night that someone died in suspicious circumstances and all the players had something to do with it. All they need to do is tell the truth. This Lie Will Kill You did make me hate a character more than I’ve hated any book character before and I feel this is a strength on Chelsea Pitcher’s part. This character is evil incarnate and the manipulation that goes on is terrifying. Although This Lie Will Kill You fell a bit flat for me I do feel that other people would like it, particularly if you have read and liked Neverworld Wake. *ARC received from Simon and Schuster via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review* |
This Lie Will Kill You by Chelsea Pitcher sounded like the perfect book for me... Pretty Little Liars meets Riverdale.... 2 of my favourite shows. Unfortunately it just did not live up to this at all for me. It was creepy but totally unrealistic and I really did struggle with it. I was enjoying it in the beginning but it went downhill for me once the kids got to the scary house. I loved the idea of this story but it fell flat for me. Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster UK Children's for the advanced copy of this book to read. All opinions are my own and are in no way biased |
Kiera O, Media
Good concept but the execution felt flat in my view. The florid prose and extended flashbacks were at odds with the murder mystery plot, and made it quite hard to work out what was going on. |
I would like to thank Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this as I was quite intrigued by the synopsis. I will be honest, I wasn't feeling the beginning of the book, it seemed a little all over the place but I continued- I rarely like to mark a book as DNF. And eventually I kind of found a flow- it is still quite stilted throughout but at the end it almost makes sense as to why. Parker was definitely my least favourite character from the beginning- he is just far too possessive and I could not warm to him at all, where as with the other 4 I didn't mind them. The idea for this is interesting and Chelsea wove quite an interesting story but I didn't really connect to any of the characters, the setting however, now that I did like- I could picture that very vividly, it was almost a character in itself I would say this would be a good one sitting book, if you like Pretty Little Liars, Riverdale, I know what you did last summer or other teen targeted murder mysteries then you might like this, personally I think this was actually a little better than PLL. This definitely had potential but it fell a little short for me. |
2.5 stars Five teenagers - five invites - one party. I think perhaps I was a little older than the targeted audience. I found the characters very one dimensional and didn’t warm to any on them. I also found the writing style a bit ‘jumpy’ and somewhat disjointed but I think that was probably deliberate as it fitted the storyline. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced read copy of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. |
A good YA / teenage murder drama.. Easy to read and follow, there's not really any mystery and certainly no great surprise but it works in its premise and for the target audience. I didn't particularly relate or feel for any of the characters, I am not sure if that was because they were not really created with me / my age in mind or because there just wasn't enough buy in for the reader to be invested in any of the characters. More at least could have been made of the victim and the relationships they had with those in the story but it was all a little light on the details for my liking. One point I never really got past was that they all accepted their invitation because of desperation but didn't really believe it and certainly didn't once they were there but did not make much effort to leave (in my opinion). It could have been a great horror / slasher type story or a super mystery to solve, even a mix of both but it ended up being neither. |
Michele Y, Reviewer
The premise behind this is excellent, but unfortunately did not live up to my expectations. My 12 year old daughter and I read this at the same time and both agree it starts off well, enticing us to read on, but then seems to lose its way. So much happens at the end and it becomes so confusing that we both thought the ending was completely different from the each other. Such a shame because, as I began by saying, the actual idea for a story is excellent. |
I'm...slightly disappointed with this book. The premise sounded great. A year after the death of a charismatic and mysterious new boy, the five teenagers involved with his death are lured to a murder mystery party. Will any of them walk out alive? And certain parts of it were great. I liked Ruby's character and certain parts were very creepy indeed. But other characters were lacking and just caricatures almost. Parker, the jock type, was laughable. Juniper had a few good moments but ultimately verged on dull. And as for the villain of the piece, it was far too obvious. Even the twist wasn't very twisty and soured Ruby's character a bit. Other than that though, she was a bright, interesting person that I enjoyed reading about. A lot of the plot went quite slowly. It wasn't until the final confrontation almost that I felt excited Shane was likeable...but dead sadly. And the Edward Cullen arrival made me laugh out loud! It felt too forced, too narmy. I didn't buy the 'connection' between him and Ruby. It was just trying too hard. Not one for me, sadly. I 'm being generous with three stars as, despite my comments above, I've read worse. It had some very good elements but not enough. |
I was really excited about this because I was a huge fan of One Of Us Is Lying and it seemed to be just along the same lines. It was really tense and thrilling and I enjoyed the competition aspect. |
This is the perfect read for anyone looking for something to fill the hole left by Pretty Little Liars. There's plenty of jumps, twists and reveals that would fill a season of the CW show. Following a third person narrative, you're treated to everyone's perspectives over the novel; put you will never know who to trust until right at the very end. It'll be an atmospheric read for the winter evenings. If you dare, |
Jenn M, Bookseller
I was excited for this one, anticipating another great entry in the growing thriller genre. Instead, it's sort of fairly ok, not as good as I hoped but not too bad either. I was a bit confused in spots, as various people seemed to be working together or against each other without too much logic, but it worked out in the end. We didn't get too indepth with the characters, as everything happened in a night and a few flashbacks, but we got to know them enough for the story to work. Not bad, not great. Just kind of there. |
I wanted so much to like this book but unfortunately it wasn't my cup of tea. The first part was engaging and interesting but then the book failed to delivered and I felt there was no real suspense. There's a lot of potential in this book but it reminded me of a souffle that failed to raise. Many thanks to Simon&Schuster and Netgalley for this ARC |
The word that comes to mind is 'awkward'. I found it difficult to engage with this book - the writing was laboured and the characterisation clumsy. |
After reading the synopsis on this book on NetGalley I convinced myself that I would love it, so went and requested it, also the cover looks really nice. The book started well and pulled me in but as I read on the plot started to deflate a bit. The first five or six chapters sets the scene for the book, as well as introducing each of the main characters. The first few chapters individually introduce each of the characters. I thought this was really good as we get to know more about the characters before the main plot starts, and we also get to learn how they link together. I found the characters interesting but they seemed to be a little predictable at times. There were some interesting twists but again these were a little predictable too. I actually managed to work out the ending of this book. Overall an enjoyable YA Horror, but I personally feel it could have been a little better. I recommend this book to YA Horror lovers as I think you will enjoy this one much more. I would also like to thank NetGalley and Simon and Schuster UK for a copy of my eARC in return for an honest and unbiased review. |
I’m always reluctant to leave a bad review but I’m really struggling to find much I enjoyed about this book. The premise: five classmates receive mysterious letters inviting them to a murder mystery night, with the prize of a scholarship dangling in front of them. The one thing tying the five together is a party that happened a year previously where a boy died in seemingly ordinary circumstances. What follows is honestly a confusing mess. There are some good elements - the writing is evocative and interesting and it’s certainly not predictable. But the whole thing was just too far fetched, too discombobulated, to make much sense or be enjoyable at all. (Thanks to the publishers for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review) |
Laura H, Bookseller
Really half baked and overblown with characters it’s hard to engage with or invest in. Hash of every teen thriller cliche going. |
I found this book disappointing and hard to read. Really enjoyed it until halfway, the characters were interesting and there were some really good creepy parts. But as the book progressed it felt too predictable and couldn't sustain my interest. |
Centered around a murder mystery party that becomes all too real for its participants, this book is a unique read perfect for fans of pretty little liars. I initially found it hard to get into, but once I was a few chapters in and all the players were in place, I found it to be a gripping read |
This is a cracking read. Being neither a Teen or YA I can't comment for either of these groups, but, for anyone who enjoys a well told, creepy story, this is for you. It's a solid read about a group of friends who experienced a horrible incident and were involved, or, were they? Who within the group is really responsible? Then, a year later, they are all brought together into a large house on a murder mystery event that is really about uncovering the truth. The characters are well developed and I really cared about (most of) them! I found the story engaging and interesting and it maintained my interest throughout. There were some elements that were slightly drawn out and/or required a suspension of disbelief, but, I still really enjoyed it. This has happened to me a couple of time with previews of books, where, unexpectedly a book designed and marketed for Teens and Young Adults, far outweighs some I've read for mature readers. So, don't always stick to your genre, would be my advice. 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. |




