Cover Image: Seven Lies

Seven Lies

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

Loved the idea and premise of this book - a lady disclosing seven lies! Whilst the book is slow developing, it made me want to keep reading and find out what would happen next. Lots of gasp out load moments and twists and turns. Would make a great tv show/series!

Was this review helpful?

Sadly I couldn’t get into this and therefore I was unable to finish it. Not for me. I really struggled with it

Was this review helpful?

A modern twisty thriller that I found it difficult to stop reading once I started! I needed to know exactly what was going to happen!

Was this review helpful?

This was a gripping thriller and was pretty fast paced so I gobbled it up in no time, very dark and had my attention from page one, loved it….

Was this review helpful?

Dark and gripping. I'm looking forward to reading more from the author after this debut. Highly recommended

Was this review helpful?

A compelling psychological thriller with an engaging writing style. It's twisted and gripping and will grab you by the throat and not let go until the final page is turned.

Was this review helpful?

This is a fantastic debut novel.
The writing was fast paced and the plot was unpredictable.
A fantastic thriller to get your teeth into

Was this review helpful?

What an excellent read!

This was one of those books that drags you into the story and before you know it your in that cycle of just one more page.

Jane and Marnie have been friends since secondary school and as Jane freely offers up, as different as chalk and cheese. In fact you quickly get the impression that but for a quirk of fate these two may never have exchanged a word let alone a friendship that transitioned from secondary school to adult life.

The book has a perculiar quality as Jane is telling the story but it isn't clear, certainly at the beginning, who to! Elizabeth Kay gives us a narrator of the best kind - only you, the reader, can decide how much to rely on. One thing you can be sure of her story is compelling.

Jane and Marnie have been friends since their first day at secondary school. As different as chalk and cheese, but as close as twins, their friendship has been the one thing that hasn't changed, until recently.

Both Jane and Marnie found love and happiness, but remained close friends. When tragedy struck Jane, she became ever more dependent on their friendship, until Marnie herself found Charles.
Handsome, successful, domineering Charles; the love of Marnie's life; the absolute bane of Jane's.

Seven Lies is one of my favourite reads of the year. It touches upon all the big ticket items, friendship, grief and relationships and these are executed with aplomb. Enjoy!

Was this review helpful?

This was an interesting read, although I think I've probably had enough of the unreliable narrator trope for a while (but this is very much my own fault for my narrow reading scope, rather than a flaw of the book itself!)

The plot flows well, and I found myself constantly intrigued by Jane and her lies. She has spun herself a very tangled web and continues to do so throughout the majority of the book; you never quite know what's real and what isn't, which keeps the story interesting right up until the final page.

Was this review helpful?

I thought this book flowed well, well written and was a great plot. The characters weren’t very likable, but then I don’t suppose they were meant to be.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

Was this review helpful?

A dark, gripping and tense thriller which reminded me a bit of "Single White Female". Totally enjoyed the narration point of view by one of the main characters, Jane. I love stories which have character narration and coupled with the suspense ans drama, this book was worth requesting.

Was this review helpful?

I read this in one day. The narrator leads the reader through each of her lies, justifying, explaining, lying some more. The story seems plausible at first until you become aware of the lies heaped upon lies by Jane. A wonderfully unreliable narrator leaves the reader to pick through what is being said (and what is not being said) to get to the truth of the story. Recommended.

Was this review helpful?

Seven Lies starts with the narrator, Jane, telling the story of ‘seven lies’ she told her best friend Marnie. She hints at deaths and tragedies to come, which only interested me more (as bleak as it sounds!), and we are taken forwards and backwards in time, to the day they met, through to relationships they’ve each had, family issues, and the various incidents that prompted these lies from Jane.

Jane herself is such an interesting character. She seems to have many pyschopathic traits (I guess she probably is a pyschopath) but, if so, she’s a likeable pyschopath! I found myself really warming to her, despite uncovering more and more of her ‘unhinged’ thoughts and feelings – and actions, let’s not forget – about certain matters and people. She’s a master manipulator who appears to only want the best for Marnie, so perhaps some of that was rubbing off onto me as the reader too! We spend all of the novel in Jane’s head, seeing things from her point of view entirely, and the more the novel continues, the more we see things become more and more twisted. We never know whether to completely trust what Jane is saying, because we’ve known from the start that she has no problems with lying. Who is she addressing in Seven Lies, and would she be lying to them too?

Seven Lies is definitely dark and disturbing, with plenty of shocking moments throughout – some of which felt guiltily satisfying to me, too. I don’t want to give too much away but I really liked how Elizbeth Kay ended the novel; it felt just right to me and I finished it with a satisfied smile on my face. After this electrifying debut I’d definitely read more by Elizabeth Kay!

Was this review helpful?

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book, which gripped me, despite being quite claustrophobic. None of the characters were very likeable and I think the ending was quite obvious, although I did find parts of it well observed.

Was this review helpful?

The writing in this book is incredibly insightful and accomplished. The author has a way of describing things that made me just stop and think “oh yeeeahhh that’s so true”.

The plot is mainly driven by the characters; namely Jane our narrator and her best friend Marnie. I felt like I was on a rollercoaster with them - one minute hating Jane and feeling sorry for Marnie and then vice versa. Both women are so flawed but incredibly complex, realistic characters. There are some other supporting characters such as their respective husbands, and Jane’s mother and sister. We only really get to know a bit about her sister Emma but the supporting characters are all viewed through how they impact on Jane rather than in their own right so you don’t really get to know them too well.

Without spoiling anything, the ending was interesting and satisfying but has left me wanting to revisit these characters. I was left with a few questions about their friendship though.. things like why Marnie wasn’t at Jane’s wedding if she was so important to her and then why Jane doesn’t call Marnie in a time of need.

I cannot wait to read more from this author as her style is so beautiful. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

Was this review helpful?

Fantastic! The author has done a wonderful job of layering the seven lies so that they build to a heart-stopping conclusion. I couldn't look away from the page!

Was this review helpful?

Great storyline, great characters and a intriguing story about obsession and friendship. Was easy to read but the ending was a little disappointing and not really a surprise.

Was this review helpful?

Seven Lies is a fantastic psychological thriller that builds in tension as the story progresses. Jane and Marnie have been inseparable since secondary school. Jane has been through unimaginable trauma, her husband Jonathan being killed by a drunk driver in front of her. So we have great sympathy towards her at the start of this book. When Marnie meets Charles, Jane tells her first lie - that she thinks they are right for one another, when actually she despises him and believes him wholly unworthy of Marnie's love. And we the reader would agree when he tries it on with Jane on his and Marnie's wedding day.

But events take a sinister turn when Jane finds Charles severely injured after falling down the stairs. Her actions set in place a chain of events that will have tragic consequences, and we begin to question just how far she will go to keep Marnie close to her.

In the closing chapters of this book, your pulse will race when it's revealed just how sick Jane is, and the lengths she is prepared to go to to have Marnie all to herself.

Was this review helpful?

Wow!! this is one that will certainly keep you on the edge of your seat, and perhaps make you look at your friends in a different light!!

A really good page turner that will keep you on your toes.

Was this review helpful?

For some reason I just couldn’t take to this book when I read it first. I think it was just my frame of mind and after so many people saying it was really good I decided to read it again, Well the second time round it was like a completely different book I was reading and I totally loved it. It wasn’t a fast paced read but one that you want to keep reading to find out what is going to happen. This book kept my interest until the last sentence.

Was this review helpful?