This is a good book overall albeit a little frustrating due to the naivety of the main character. The plot was interesting and the twists were good but generally predictable. It is definitely a good debut and I look forward to seeing what the author writes next.

Trapped in a marriage with the abusive James, Anna plans to leave him for her childhood love Sam. But when Sam goes missing just before their planned escape, Anna must take things into her own hands to figure out what happened - or resign herself to a claustrophobic life with James.

Initially this is an enjoyable easy read with a good premise and plot. The characterisation is well done with some likeable characters like Rosie and her adorable children.

There are so many lies from so many sources and the twists just keep on coming! Unfortunately I can’t get past Anna’s character to enjoy the book more. As the story unfolds and things begin to look shady Anna is very naive living in a fantasy world. She is weak and her refusal to accept the truth about both Sam and James becomes wearing and boring as it holds back the plot. As the story reaches the end it is very clear and easy to work out what happened to everyone other than Anna!

Nevertheless a very enjoyable read with all the elements of a classic psychological thriller - controlling husband, secret liaisons, murder, kidnapping and missing people.

Thank you NetGalley and to the publishers for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Anna wants to escape her emotionally abusive husband James and when she remeets her childhood sweetheart Sam. She falls in love and they make plans to be together. But Sam disappears and Anna's life begins to unravel.

Manipulated Anna appears weak, her self-confidence having been constantly undermined for many years by James. She has been kept in the dark by people she trusted and lies and betrayals abound in this very readable psychological debut.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read and review All My Lies.

READ THIS IF… you like female-led thrillers, books about family and relationship dynamics, and if you enjoyed books like Blood Orange and I Let You Go.

THE STORY… Trapped in a marriage with the abusive James, Anna plans to leave him for her childhood love Sam. But when Sam goes missing just before their planned escape, Anna must take things into her own hands to figure out what happened - or resign herself to a claustrophobic life with James.

ALL MY LIES… grabbed me from page one and took me on a journey of ever-heightening stakes, with twists that upturned everything the minute I thought I’d figured out what was going on. Tension is built so effectively throughout the novel, to the point that I felt genuine anxiety for Anna. This is a book that you read as fast as you can - every single chapter ended on a note that made me need to carry on reading.

The cast of characters was excellently built. I was firmly placed in Anna’s world, and her drive to find unconditional love made me root for her. Her husband James was horrifying, and his manipulative abuse tactics were very cleverly portrayed. It was a great choice for Anna’s best friend to be James’ sister Rosie, as it meant, despite how lovely Rosie was, Anna couldn’t confide in her. Sam was so interestingly portrayed - especially as his absence meant I had to rely on what Anna and other characters thought about him.

What a fantastic debut! I really enjoyed this book.

NOW… If you’re a fan of thrillers, I’d highly recommend reading this. Sophie Flynn has kindly answered some of my questions about All My Lies on my blog - https://elsieseyesonbooks.wordpress.com/2021/04/23/sophie-flynn-on-all-my-lies/

I absolutely loved thus book. I did not put it down until I'd finished it.

It starts with Anna living a typical day in her married life with her controlling husband, she explains that this is the last time she's going to have to pretend .. We soon find out she's been having an affair and is planning on leaving her husband... TODAY. But everything doesn't go smoothly at all.

It's such a twisty story, I actually found myself really tense in parts, scared that James was going to find out what was going on. I don't want to spoil anything for anyone so all I'll say is its a must read.

Debut novel and all the elements for a tried and tested psychological thriller were here, contolling husband, secret liaisons, boyfriends from the past, babies/adoptions, murder, kidnapping and missing people, maybe just a few too many elements in one book?, saying that for everything that was involved and thrown at the reader the story zipped along nicely and was well
written, involving and had a lovely setting in Cornwall ( amongst other places )
The main character, who gets and has got herself in all these predicaments is though has to be said a tad annoying and also has an ability to drive cross country seemingly at the drop of anyones hat, sometimes more than once a day and arrives quickly at every destination
I guessed the ending, that’s ok, doesn’t always have to be a shock and it all ended famously, maybe a bit too famously BUT as say for a debut it was good and I look forward to reading more from this author
Loved the acknowledgements, very personalised and funny

7/10
4 Stars

Dark, Well Paced Domestic Noir.....
With Anna’s marriage on the rocks a re-connection with her past in the form of Sam is an unexpected delight and the pair soon make plans for an escape from the present to a new future together. Things soon go wrong and it appears that Anna’s past is about to catch up with her in appalling fashion. Dark, well paced domestic noir with a credible protagonist and a convincing supporting cast. Compelling reading.

Thanks for letting me read this really great thriller .
Anna was married to James but she was terribly unhappy, though he gave her what she wanted he abused her mentally and Anna was terribly unhappy.
Until in Oxford she met Sam her childhood lover, who was the love of her life.
They fell in love all over again, and arrangements were made to run away together and start a new life.
On the day they were meant to run away together Sam never turned up for their meeting, and Anna was really worried where he was.
Then started a roller coaster chase to find him, and in doing that Anna found all the lies that Sam had told her.
Great story from beginning to end.
Thanks.

I could not got to sleep
Last night without finishing this book!!

Anna bumps into her childhood sweetheart one day in Oxford. She is married to James, who is let’s just say, verbally not very kind to her. But he does it without her realising at times. She realises she is scared of him.

Meeting Sam again, makes her think of when they were both younger and his family who she loved too. They start an affair but Sam doesn’t turn up to meet her ..... where has he gone. Is everyone who they seem to be. ?

This book didn’t ease you in (which I loved) it was edge of your seat from the very start. Always finding out new things about the characters. Loved it!!

#netgalley #allmylies #soohieflyyn

Publication date - 23rd April 2021

https://www.instagram.com/Bookstagramshaz

What an addictive read this was. I couldn't put it down.

I found Anna really relatable, you can see her fear of her husband and I was keeping everything crossed all the way through.

I loved the characters, especially Rosie. James was just cruel and very unlikeable.

I cant wait to read more by this incredibly talented author.
⭐⭐⭐⭐

3.5 stars

This is a good debut. It’s an interesting premise and I really liked the twists in this, slowly unravelling the mysteries of both the past and present. I liked the fact there were two clear timelines and the author did well at making sure these made sense.

I did find the actual ending was a tad too obvious, but all the other twists worked really well. It was a very easy read and I read it in 2 days. The writing style is easy to follow and I could see this being a great read to take a long journey or on holiday.

The author did a great job with the characters. Multiple characters really seem to go on a journey in the novel and become better people by the end of it.

3.5 stars. I’m interested to see what this author does next and thought it was a good debut.

I've said this before recently about another book in this genre, but this is not in a genre I read much. After reading the blurb several times and reading all the praise it was getting from people I decided that perhaps this IS a genre I should be reading more.

When I started reading this book, I have to say I really wasn't keen on the main character, Anna: she's having an affair, for a start, and although I understand the reasons why; it's always going to be a recipe for disaster. Then when things don't go quite how she planned, she goes full-on stalker on the guy she's seeing.

But this isn't even the story here - we peel back so many layers to get to the endgame that I found it hard to put the book down. A real cliche I know, but I did find myself at the end of most chapters saying to myself "hang on, what's just happened? Okay, just one more".

During the course of the book, you will both love and hate most of the characters in this book - apart from Rosie, Rosie's perfect.

About halfway through the book I had pretty much guessed what the reveal at the end would be and was pleased to find out I was right. Figuring this out certainly didn't spoil the story for me, and I even found myself second-guessing my theory as I read through several more twists along the way.

In the end, I was up way past 2 am to finish this because I just couldn't stop - demolishing half the book in one sitting is something I rarely do these days, which is a testament to just how good this is.

Also, hats off to the waiting room scene at Truro A&E where Anna struggles to get any help - I've been there and this was spot on.

Very impressed by this debut. If you like good books, this will be right up your street.

I made the mistake of starting Sophie Flynn's "All My Lies" just before bed and ended up awake reading half the night! It's an incredibly compulsive read with the tension building to almost unbearable levels. "All My Lies" is a brilliant debut about secrets, coercive control and the lies we tell ourselves to excuse other people. Flynn illustrates accurately the ways in which gaslighting shifts the ground beneath our feet. I particularly admire the way she portrays the subtleties of domestic abuse and sows the seeds of doubt in the reader's mind. Flynn has come flying out of the starting blocks with this one and I can't wait to see what she does next. A belter of a book!

Wow what a twist of a book, page turner at its best. The storyline did not give anything away. Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity of ARC.

i very much enjoyed this story very gripping and twisty .Anna has it all money the house but does she her husband James is a bully and likes to know her every move .Anna still loves her first love Sam and he comes back in to her life and she is going to leave her husband but when the day comes Sam promises to come back for her at the pub but he not shows Anna goes to the police and reports him missing but the police then say he is ok she tries to get in contact but wont answer her calls only texts her .Anna then goes to Sam s family home i not saying no more but so good .

We meet Anna at the start, trapped in a loveless and abusive marriage to James, older, richer and more powerful. But Anna has a plan to break out with Sam, who is everything her husband isnt. When Anna tells Sam that she's found them their dream cottage and that they can start their new lives now, she's surprised by his cool reaction and what follows from there.

A book of two halves for me - I enjoyed the pace of it and the first 1/2 although I was anticipating some twists that werent there. Throughout the book I got frustrated with Anna on so many occasions for her blindness to what was actually going on and Im not sure if that's what the author intended, or if we were meant to be more sympathetic to her. If I met her in real life, she would annoy me with her inability to see what's in front of her!

A 3/5 for me, pacy read but lacking something to make it stand out for me

For me this book sounded right up my street and the concept is brilliant.

We meet Anna in All My Lies, basically living a lie herself, seemingly perfect but very much controlled by her husband. Anna is having an affair with one of her old partners and madly in love. Promising to run away together and live their best life together they set a date. Anna is stood up by Sam and this in turn opens up a huge can of worms and we see lots of covered up lies come to light. We learn a lot about Anna and Sam's past lives from when they were much younger, and I feel that this is where the story really lies.

I really flew threw the first half of this book, looking forward to seeing what had happened to Sam but for me this is when I started to find myself frustrated. Anna is a likeable character but she is so frustrating.

I started skim reading as I found that some of the story was very repetitive which is when I know a book is not for me. A good concept though.

Thanks to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for an advanced copy of this book.

Terribly sorry. I just felt I could not connect with the main character and I found myself getting frustrated and annoyed by her decisions. Did not finish.

A fantastic debut that showcases how blind love can make us. Sophie Flynn has written a brilliant book that sucks the reader in and keeps them guessing throughout. The writing is flawless as are the characters who, though not always likeable, are believable in their strengths and their flaws. The book opens dropping us straight into Anna's life and follows her on the day she tries to leave her husband, she's a woman trapped between her present and her past, desperate to escape but not fully understanding how best to do it. We are then pulled with Anna as she is forced to confront her own weaknesses and prejudices. What stood out for me was how, as a reader, you could never fully trust Anna or her judgement and this was what made the ending all that more powerful!

I cannot wait to see what Sophie Flynn writes next.

This was a very interesting take on the domestic thriller genre, with the blast from the past twist. Highly recommended!