A dark story full of dysfunctional families, their secrets, manipulation, and utterly despicable characters! Told in multiple POV (love this!) we follow Rachel as she navigates her addiction with the help of addiction specialist Amber… Amber, what a character (there were plenty of eye rolls…) speaking of despicable characters… Lily … OOFT!!!

This was a slower burn than I’m used to reading, and I managed to guess the twists but it was still a good book. Filled with unreliable narrators, I found Ruby’s writing quite light, given the darkness of the story. I love a dark thriller with despicable characters, and even though I felt this one needed that little bit more for me to fully invest in, it was still an enjoyable read!

A masterful mix of tension and intrigue that grips you from page one. You won’t be able to put this one down I gobbled it up within a day and was gutted when I read the last page!

This was a gripping read that keeps you entertained throughout. I haven't read any by this author before, but will add her to my ever growing list now.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for approving me for this book.

I felt the writing was done well in this book but there was just something missing for me and I couldn't get into it and enjoy it as much as I hoped I would.

A gripping thriller that has you turning pages. Easy reading, flows well.
Recommend for avid psychological thriller readers.

I really enjoyed this book in that it is the perfect balance of a dark family thriller, paired with a cast of characters that really cannot be trusted. A brilliant page turner that kept me intrigued from the prologue and racing through towards a really satisfying conclusion. I found Ruby's writing style really drew me in and the themes of revenge and toxic relationships are a perfect basis for this debut thriller.

Tell Me Your Lies is an interesting domestic thriller based on a self-destructive family which are overcome by deceit and lies.

Told from the alternating dual perspectives of Rachel and her mother Lily, the story follows Rachel as she navigates an alcohol addiction with her newly found therapist Amber.

It becomes quite clear all is not what it seems with both the Applebee family and indeed Amber and things begin to turn messy quite quickly.

Bursting with unreliable narrators, it's clear everyone has their own interests at heart, but at what cost?

A classic domestic thriller with plenty to keep you interested until the end.

When Lilys daughter Rachel starts to spiral out of control she hires a therapist to help her daughter. But does the therapist have her daughters best interests at heart or is there something more sinister going on?

This dual character thriller from the perspective of mother and daughter was a little bit of a slow burner to start with but picked up a lot towards the middle and ending. I thought the breakdown was covered well and while it has some quite in depth alcohol and drug use felt this added to the storyline. I did struggle to see who was at fault and the ending had me very shocked - I didn’t see that coming!

Tell Me Your Lies opens with a prologue that's dripping with self-righteous bitterness and Lily's fury immediately ensured I was intrigued to find out just what had occurred between her, her daughter, Rachel and the person her ire is directed towards. The storyline then reveals what happened over the previous year to bring her to this point – and it's not a happy read.
Rachel's life is in freefall; when her wild partying results in her being hospitalised and having her stomach pumped, Lily hires Amber, a therapist who has come highly recommended. Rachel is reluctant at first but quickly forms a bond with Amber which initially gratifies her mother – until the relationships connecting the three women transform into something dark and ugly. The first-person narrative switches between Lily and Rachel which frequently allows us to see the same event through their separate perspectives. Both are the epitome of unreliable narrators which is fascinating, particularly as it becomes increasingly clear that the truth is being twisted and the vulnerable manipulated.
Rachel's addictions stem from an unresolved incident in her past and she believes that Amber will help her come to terms with her feelings about what happened back then. The lines between therapist and client become ever more blurred as Rachel's dependence on drink and drugs is transferred to Amber. The most compelling scenes in the book are perhaps at a retreat where Rachel meets other clients who are equally under Amber's spell. She is evidently not a conventional therapist but her methods do seem to reap results and the atmosphere at the retreat is unsettlingly fervid. Kate Ruby's experience in television pays dividends here and these scenes are powerfully dramatic. Meanwhile, Lily's obsessive need to present a picture-perfect façade extends beyond her own appearance and as she realises Rachel is slipping away from her, she cajoles and threatens others, and I raced through the pages to discover what it was she feared being exposed.
The character-driven plot is riveting, with the three women at the heart of Tell Me Your Lies vividly brought to life. They are complicated, flawed women and I can't say I especially liked any of them but I was compulsively curious to learn more. The nuanced storyline meant my sympathies shifted constantly and even at their worst, I was able to understand and appreciate what motivated them. Interestingly, I thought the men in the novel were weaker characters with their roles often consigned to the periphery; perhaps as a consequence I particularly disliked Rachel's father and brother.
I managed to guess some of the secrets before they came to light in the book but the clues are there to be followed and it's really the impact of these revelations that is most gripping. Tell Me Your Lies is compulsive domestic noir, exploring toxic relationships, obsessive love and cruel revenge. It's also an insightful and disturbing examination of the darker side of psychotherapy, having been partly inspired by a true story. Menacingly suspenseful from start to finish and with a deliciously satisfying conclusion, Tell Me Your Lies is an engrossing debut and I look forward to reading more from Kate Ruby in the future.

I have a hate love relationship with stories where there’s a mother daughter main plot.
This one luckily falls into the very enjoyable stack. I haven’t read many of the author’s books but this one is really interesting and written in a way that kept me engaged and invested at all times. I was so intrigued by each of the characters agenda because they are so different and still, there’s something that holds them together. Some parts were harder to read and capture the essence but only because the alcohol/drugs assumption is not a topic for my heart and I totally hold that on me.

A must read story overall for any domestic thriller lovers

This is a gripping exploration of a mother and daughter relationship. This is unlike anything I’ve read previously and the tension is evident from the beginning. I mean, no family is perfect but this is a family on the brink.

Rachel is a hot mess, continually lying and drinking. Intervention is needed and this comes in the form of expensive therapist Amber.

This is a brilliant read, it moves at the perfect pace. Ruby has created a well written and suspenseful gem which ramps up the tension as you read.

The characters are well developed, you definitely feel as though you know them reading this one. Each with their own personalities and agenda.

This is a book that has definitely kept my guessing. I cannot wait to see what the author has in store for us next.

‘Tell Me Your Lies’ has been at the top of my wish list for a while now. I happened to listen to Kate Ruby talk about her book at the crime writing festival in Whitley Bay and it sounded like just my kind of read. So as soon as I was able to get my hands on a copy, I grabbed a cup of tea, grabbed my copy of the book and settled down for an interesting couple of days reading. ‘Tell Me Your Lies’ was one hell of a read and then some. I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘Tell Me Your Lies’ but more about that in a bit.
I have to say that it took me a little while to get into ‘Tell Me Your Lies’ which has a fair bit to do with the fact that I found it hard to warm to any of the characters. It could just be the fact that I have read far too much crime fiction and that I suspect everybody and believe nobody. When I got used to the characters then that was it and I was away as the saying goes. I had my own suspicions as to what was going to happen and I had to keep reading to see if I was on the right track or if I had wandered in the opposite direction. The more of the book that I read, the more that I wanted to read and the quicker the pages seemed to turn. This wasn’t one of those books that I was able to finish over the course of a day but I did manage to read it over the course of a couple of days. I found ‘Tell Me Your Lies’ to be an interesting and gripping read, which kept me guessing.
‘Tell Me Your Lies’ is well written. The author certainly knows how to grab the reader’s attention and draw them into what proves to be one hell of a compelling story. The author has one of those writing styles that is easy to get used to and easy to get along with. For me, this was more of a slow burn type of story and not a particularly fast paced one. The story is written with each chapter being written from the point of view of Rachel or of her mother Lily and illustrates just how complex their relationship became. The chapters interlink well and the story flows seamlessly as a result. I love the way in which Kate makes the reader feel as though they are part of the story and at the heart of the action.
In short and overall I did enjoy reading ‘Tell Me Your Lies’ and I would recommend it to fans of psychological thrillers. I hope to read much more from Kate Ruby in the future. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 4* out of 5*.

This book is a vortex of manipulative women who drag you in, like Charybdis, a monstrous creation of their own making which often leads to death of others who get caught.

From the very start you get a specific perspective from Lily-her name denotes a purity and association with being 'whiter than white', so her authoritarian stance confers her a certain sense of trustworthiness-where she casually drops the hint that what has happened to the Appleby family made newspaper front pages.

With her daughter, Rachel, seemingly undermined in the minds of the reader, we move to her perpsective of a daughter who is always made to feel 'not good enough', someone who takes refuge in drink and drugs to an excess.

After the latest hospitalisation, Lily brings Rachel home and enlists the help of therapist, Amber, to once and for all heal Rachel.

But what if, in the process, terrible secrets are revealed at the heart of this picture perfect family?

Lily clearly has an image to protect, and is so highly caught up within the maintenance of it, that she is prepared to overlook the 'failures' of her daughter to represent the life she feels she has been handed on a silver platter.

Rachel's rebellion is cantered in a world of very real trauma, and a sense of being a less than grateful daughter, especially when compared to her high achieving brother.

And then there is Amber, the third side of this toxic triangle-she has a part to play in all of this, beneath her quotable notions and ease of reaching Rachel, there is a woman who you cannot quite weigh up. What is her perspective? Does she genuinely want to make Rachel better and in so doing create a situation which leads to a permanent fracture between mother and daughter?

It's such an interesting read, and a highly underrated (in my humble opinion) approach in how Kate makes these characters slightly opaque and off, you are looking for a symmetry in them which just does not exist and as the story unravels to it's shattering conclusion, all the pieces fall into place and it makes you want to read the book all over again!

I wasn't personally invested in solving the mystery, I was interested in the portrayal of 3 very distinct phases of womanhood and what constitutes a lie-does it matter if it is in the interests of the wider good?

I very much enjoyed the way the author plays with commonly held myths about being a mother, and the weight of the responsibility we have towards our daughters, to bring the truth into the light and damn the consequences. Superb and so engaging, I thoroughly recommend it to those who enjoyed Gillian Flynn's 'Gone Girl'

he fractured relationships of a family are laid bare in this clever psychological thriller which brings the story from the viewpoint of three main narrators, namely Lily, Rachel and Amber.

We pick up the story some twelve months before when Rachel is admitted to hospital following a drink and drugs binge. In desperation, Lily, Rachel's mother employs the services of Amber, a psychotherapist and healer, whose empathetic skills seem to be just what is needed to bring Rachel out of her spiral of self destruction. Over the course of the year, Rachel becomes more reliant on Amber and more estranged from her own mother and that's when the tension really starts to bite.

Tell Me Your Lies is an interesting window into the lives of a dysfunctional family and the many reasons why they are so out of step with each other becomes apparent as this dark and sinister story progresses. Creative, intelligent, and with enough great twists and turns in the plot which kept me turning the pages, Tell Me your Lies is a great debut from an exciting new talent in this psychological suspense genre.

Tell Me Your Lies is a book which I think we can all see a part or traits of ourselves in if we’re really honest.

Kate Ruby’s novel alternates chapters between Rachel, who’s in her early thirties and battling seriously unhealthy relationships with drink and drugs, and her mother Lily who is obsessed with keeping up the veneer of perfection for her family unit. There’s an admission that “Truth was the most expensive luxury of all in this family.”

There’s a definite toxicity between mum and daughter, and they’re competing for your trust and belief as the reader, that their perspective is the truthful and reliable one.

Kate enables you as the reader join Rachel and Lily on their journey of deceit and mistrust, alongside Rachel’s spiteful brother josh and cheating, pompous dad.

Rachel is in a bad way – she’s vulnerable physically, emotionally and psychologically which is why Lily enlists the help of professional therapist, Amber. Rachel is a compulsive liar, and there’s a lot of mentions of shame – Rachel speaks of “…a wave of shame washing over me…’

Rachel starts to trust and align with Amber and distance herself somewhat from her relatives, to stabilise and to heal as best she can. You get a feeling from Rachel and Lily that they both are desperate for Rachel to get better to any extent. There’s a memorable line: “Love was the point; the toughness was a necessary by-product. It was a poison; it was medicine.”

What transpires is a devastating family secret coming fully to the surface, which needs to be confronted and answered by everyone. Somehow Amber is connected (great plot twist I didn’t see coming).

Tell Me Your Lies is a beautifully written novel which questions you as the reader of what we feel in the realms of love and hate and how far we will go to protect our loved ones, or what we perceive to be just so.

A book with twists and turns and not knowing who was telling the truth.
Lily will do anything to protect her family and telling the story from different peoples views kept the pages turning.
Good read and twists all the way through.

Rachel is a mess, she’s lying to everyone, drinking to oblivion and causing heartache for those around her. She needs an intervention. An intervention in the form of Amber, therapist extraordinaire hired by her long stuffing parents. Can Amber save this lost soul?

But mum Lily doesn’t like this form of therapy. Rachel is changing and Lily doesn’t like it. And so ensues a power struggle between mother and daughter which as the book goes on is more deep seated than just Rachel and her addictions.

This dark domestic thriller grabbed my attention from the off. Rachel’s continual spiral of self destruction showcased her rock bottom “don’t care” attitude but the human intervention and Rachel’s therapy with Amber showed the distance she went on her recovery. But there was something that wasn’t quite right, I just couldn’t put my finger on it… until the end…

Tell Me Your Lies gobbled me up for an afternoon. I couldn’t get enough of Ruby’s twisted look at a very messed up family. As the story climaxed, I wouldn’t have fathomed out where I was going,. I felt I hit blind bend after blind bend with Ruby keeping me on a journey of surprises. My eyes widened as the chapters went on! This may come as no surprise given the author’s background but I could see this as a tense series to binge watch on the tellybox!

Tell Me Your Lies is a twisted, addictive thriller that will keep readers guessing until the very last page. Lily will do anything to protect her family. Rachel, the middle daughter, has a partying problem that is skewing into addiction, so Lily hires therapist and healer Amber. Amber is just the confidante Rachel needs, but what is the real reason Amber showed up in their lives? The plot is engrossing with excellent character development and plenty of twists. Highly recommended!!

You think she wants to help.
You're wrong.
Lily will do anything to protect her picture perfect family. She’s made ruthless choices to make sure their secrets stay buried, and she’s not going to give up control now.
Rachel is her middle daughter. When her partying tips into addiction, Lily hires renowned therapist and healer, Amber, as a last resort. But how much are Rachel’s problems down to the very secrets Lily is determined to keep locked away?
Amber is the skilled and intuitive confidante that Rachel desperately needs. But as Rachel falls increasingly under her spell, pulling even further away from her family, Lily grows suspicious that there is a far more dangerous reason for Amber’s arrival in all their lives.

This is a brilliant read.
Wonderful well written plot and story line that had me engaged from the start.
Love the well fleshed out characters and found them believable.
Great suspense and found myself second guessing every thought I had continuously.
Can't wait to read what the author brings out next.
Recommend reading.

I was provided an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher. This is my own hone\st voluntary review.

Tell Me Your Lies is a gripping debut by Kate Ruby, exploring the fractured relationship between Lily and her daughter, Rachel. You can see right from the first few pages that this is a family on the brink, and the tension is there right from the beginning. Rachel is an alcoholic, and her mother is desperate to save her daughter from falling further into a deep hole. Lily employs the services of Amber, a psychotherapist, but as Amber reaches out to Rachel and tries to help her understand the root cause of her problems, Rachel’s relationship with her mother worsens.

I really liked how Kate Ruby delved into Rachel and Lily’s relationship. You can see just how determined Lily is to protect Rachel, but you can also see that she is at the end of a tether and that she can’t take much more. The step of employing Amber’s services seems to be the last throw of the dice for them. Kate Ruby has really built on the backstory of their relationship, but whose side can we trust? You can see just how Amber begins to manipulate Rachel and this really drove the tension, especially as Lily tries to win her daughter back. Lily has a very strong personality. I could see that she is a person who will not give up easily when she has a goal in mind, especially when it comes to her family.

Amber is a really fascinating character and I wanted to get to the bottom of what her goal was here, especially as she takes more than a professional interest in Rachel’s wellbeing. I felt that there was something more going on here and I wanted to know what that was. This was the point when I began to fear that something terrible might happen to Rachel, and I could understand why her mother was desperate to bring her back into their family.

As we get to know Rachel and Lily further, I wanted to know the reasons why Rachel was in the position she was now in. Was there something traumatic that happened in her past? I wanted to know if Amber would be able to get to the causes of Rachel’s problems and what impact that would have if she got to the truth.

Tell Me Your Lies is a clever and an utterly gripping debut by Kate Ruby. There were some really surprising twists as Kate delved deeper into her character’s lives that I did not see coming. I will definitely be looking out to see what she writes next.