I enjoy Ruth Ware's writing style because of her ability to engulf the reader in the setting fully. The opening act of The Lying Game gives that same feeling of calm inclusivity familiar to all parents, mothers in particular, during an early morning call to action. A message across her phone lends a nice foreboding of something to come, a requirement of mystery/thrillers. All the elements are there, and the thin reference to some long ago incident starts creeping into the narrative. A compelling main character is needed to guide the reader through the mystery's intricacies. However, I did not find Isa, the lead character, as compelling as I expected. She's absorbed into her new life as a new mum to handle the protagonist's job. She's too distracted or uninterested in what's going around her to question anything. The other characters in her group are too thinly written to be much help, and secondary characters don't stay around long enough to make an impact. The big reveal is not as shocking as it could be. The wrap-up is tidy but not entirely believable. The conclusion feels unresolved. There is no sportsmanship in The Lying Game, reasoning, or conflict resolution. Disappointing.

The Lying Game by Ruth Ware

I was super excited to get my hands on another Ruth Ware book, but unfortunately this one wasn't as strong and as suspenseful and her others. I LOVED The Woman In Cabin 10 as well as The Turn of the Key, so I was looking forward to another book with atmospheric suspense and some interesting characters. I just didn't like Isa, and since hers is the only point of view we get it was a bit of a chore to get through this one. The mystery dragged on and on. The last 75 or so pages were good, so in the end I was happy I stuck it out. But wow, I almost DNFed it multiple times.

Thanks so much to the publisher and to NetGalley for giving me access to this book. Well written, great plot and interesting characters. Ware has a real gift for writing psychological thriller. Great book! I will be recommending this book. Thanks again for letting have a chance to read it.

The Lying Game is another fantastic thriller by Ruth Ware, full of twists and turns. This author never ceases to dissapoint.

I adore Ruth Ware’s work and purchase copies of most of her novels for my classroom, but this one was not a favorite. The story lacked her usual depth and sophistication, but it’s still a fun beach read.

I received a copy from the publisher via Netgalley for an honest review.

I have genuinely loved and been SUPER surprised by Ruth Ware's books....thus far. This novel seemed quite predictable in may ways and was a bit disappointing compared to what I am used to expecting from this author. This novel was still good and entertaining, however, I was more annoyed with the characters than anything else.

We don't get too much about Thea (who seems like a serious drunk and maybe anorexic) and Fatima (who is a concerned medical doctor and become more religious). The novel is told from Isabel's (goes by Isa) point of view and frankly the ACTUAL story of the novel seems distracted the entire time by her CONSTANT helicopter parenting and ONLY ever thinking about her child. This is exactly why society has entitled, spoiled assholes coming into adulthood now with no concept of how to adult...it's because their parents were constantly hovering like this and it was nauseating and infuriating and bored me. Beyond constantly hearing her gush about motherhood because clearly women who ARE NOT mothers, like Thea and Kate, have done nothing with their lives whereas the two mothers in this story are so happy and successful, Isa seems to slowly understand what occurred 17 years ago. Kate's story is predictable and unimpressive and I think everyone will have this one figured out really quickly, which is atypical for the subtle nuance that Ruth Ware normally has.

Overall, of Ruth Ware's novels, this is definitely the most disappointing. If you have NOT read any of her novels before do not judge her by this novel, pick up ANY of the others!!!! This novel will not stop me from reading her, I am just disappointed in this novel.

Took me about half the book to really get into the story. I don't like the method of having most everyone in the book know the situation (even if it's not always the truth they know), but not letting the reader know. So when the reader is finally let in on the event and some details, then it starts getting a little more interesting. I didn't care for the ending either. One other nitpicky point: the title doesn't really have anything to do with the important parts of the book. I mean, of course there's lying involved, but this silly lying game the girls play when they're younger isn't directly related to the big event the book is focused on. This was my first book by this author. It won't stop me from trying her others. Hopefully, I enjoy them better.

Ruth Ware, even when she is not at the top of her game (as in this book) is still a marvelous author, creating full-blown worlds. In this case, she places us inside the head of Isa Wilde, a young mother who feels guilt over her actions as a teenager but is nonetheless drawn back into that earlier world. She and two of her best friends receive a summons from Kate, the fourth of their childhood quartet, and all return to the scene of their earlier trespasses. Once there, they find themselves imperiled, and Ware does her usual magic with obscuring the truth while slowly removing the fog surrounding it.

There is a definite gothic feel to this book, including a house that is slowly sinking into the marsh, a rundown girls' boarding school replete with towers, storms, and blackouts. Characterization is strong, with the landscape almost serving as an additional character. Isa is particularly well drawn, and the fact that she is a conflicted young woman who continually makes unwise decisions is the downside to the reader being stuck inside her head for the duration of the book.

The second half of the book is far more compelling than the first half, and the fast paced action of the last half redeems the book overall.

The Lying Game is a psychological thriller and suspense story that once again confirmed my belief that I will read any book that Ruth Ware writes. I missed this one along the way, but am so happy that I am now caught up.

Kate sends to her three best friends from boarding school, Isa, Fatima and Thea, saying, "I need you". Within 24 hours each of the three have left their homes, husbands, and in some cases, their children, heading to Kate's home, "The Reach". Many hours were spent there while in boarding school, where they had become fast friends. They were so close, the other students steered clear. They were known for playing “The Lying Game”, a game to see who could come up with the most outlandish lie, then convince as many people as they could that it was true. The number one rule of the game however is that they never lie to each other. When there is a tragedy in their last year, the girls are all expelled, and even though they go their separated ways, they remain friends. What happened 17 years ago? What was the final lie that go them all expelled? Who else knows who's bones were uncovered in the opening of this story.

The story is narrated by Isa, a government employee who is on a maternity leave. Accompanied by her six-month old daughter, she heads off when Kate calls. I'm not sure if I liked any of the four main characters. They all had some baggage and some issues in their past, that unfortunately led them to make some bad decisions. Even as adults, the lying game still has a hold on these women and they are not being honest, even with each other. This book is full of unreliable narrators and I didn't know who to believe. The book was divided into five parts, each part entitled by one of the rules of the Lying Game: Rule 1: Tell a lie, Rule 2: Stick to your story, Rule 3. Don't get caught, Rule 4. Never lie to each other, Rule 5. Know when to stop lying. This was a character-driven psychological thriller. Parts of it were slow, but it picked up in the last 1/3 of the story as the women start to remember certain things and finally face the truth of what really happened so many years ago. As I began to realize what had probably happened, there were still a few twists to come until we reached a satisfying ending. Overall, I enjoyed this story, but it was not the best I have read authored by Ruth Ware.

This was a really good read about the perils of friendship after a lifetime of keeping secrets. Ruth Ware always brings twists and turns that you don't expect while pulling at the heartstrings of her readers. Looking forward to reading more of her work in the future!

I am a fan of Ruth Ware and was not disappointed in The Lying Game. I enjoyed the suspense of it and though I had part of it figured out fairly quickly, I was surprised when all the mystery was revealed. The book was somewhat melancholy for me, which was felt strongly in the ending.

Loved the misty-foggy feeling of the setting and the way Ruth Ware looked back on the kids her adult characters had been, which made them believable if not always very likeable.

Parts of this I really liked. Other parts annoyed me and made rush through. Some of the writing and plot points were clever, while other parts seemed a bit amateurish for this well-known author. I’m just a little underwhelmed.

There are parts of this book that I really enjoyed, and parts that I felt dragged on and just seemed to unbelievable. The four friends did not seem to have a ral connection and I struggled to really like any of them or understand the depth of their friednship. So with this in mind it made the plot quite weak in my opinion and predicatable,
Don't get me wrong, I did read til the end so I did invest in the characters/plot to an extent, but I would not describe it as a page turner.

I have always enjoyed Ruth Ware's book and this was no exception. The one issue I had with this story was the baby.I don't know what kind of purpose the baby was supposed to serve in this story. But I felt the baby was not needed.to tell this story. Ms.Ware's books always have a little twist at the end which I always enjoy. The characters of Fatima, Thea and Isabel. all share a terrible secret with their friend Kate, whom I didn't care for too much either but she was necessary to the story. When they each receive a text message from Kate, they learn the secret they thought was dead and buried refuses to stay buried. If you love a good mystery I think this is a good one. I am looking forward to any book written by Ruth Ward.

As I mentioned in my last post, I've been making my way through the works of Ruth Ware and, frankly, it's been making me a little paranoid. A girl can only read so much suspense, especially when it isn't her usual genre, without questioning everything she thinks she knows. Ruth Ware is a master of making you think you have it figured out and then smacking you in the face with another plot twist.

My latest read is The Lying Game about a foursome of young girls at boarding school who immerse themselves in a game of, you guessed it, lying. Kate and Thea, friends already, meet Isa and Fatima, new girls to the school, on the train at the start of term. They quickly become an impenetrable clique developing a real "us-them" mentality. Things fall apart before long and the girls go their separate ways, each leaving the school. Nearly twenty years later, they are called back together to account for the biggest lie they ever told and it may cause their whole world to come crashing down on them.

Of the three Ware books I've read, I liked this one the best. It isn't because the mystery is so much better, but because the storytelling felt more like a story, more like fiction with a mystery thrown in than a mystery trying super hard to be mysterious. I will say I wasn't a big fan of then ending which felt a little flat, but the rest of the book was really fun to read.

Looks like I only have In a Dark, Dark Wood left to read. What's your favorite Ware novel?

Ruth Ware is my favorite modern mystery writer. Her style, pacing, and characters are always on point and this book is no exception. From the beginning, with lying teenagers turned into lying adults, Ware sets the stage for a scenic and brutal psychological thriller that will have you gripping the arm rests and yelling at the characters in the book. I even threw my phone, which I was reading this book on, at one point because I was so angry/couldn't believe what had happened. If you loved In a Dark, Dark Wood, I highly recommend this as a follow up.

This book never grabbed me. I thought I'd really enjoy the English backdrop and the boarding school aspect, but the story slogged along and didn't pan out in the end either. I didn't necessarily dislike anything, though. I have Ware's next book (The Death of Mrs. Westaway) in line, but I think I'm going to put some time in between.

This was a disappointing release by Ruth ware. I feel like she is a strong contemporary thriller writer and this plot and series of events in th3 lying game felt dull and uninspired.

Well paced, atmospheric and addictive with the clever, slow unraveling we’ve come to expect. I love Ruth’s books and this has been one of my favorites.