Tell Me Lies by Carola Lovering is by far one of the best books I’ve read for 2018. I heard tons of buzz about this book and usually don’t follow the crowd.

As I was reading reviews for this books I found myself pulled in and realized I had it as an egalley from netgalley so I dove in.

The book is told from Lucy and Stephan’s voices. Lucy being a naive girl like I once was who fell for a manipulative bastard like I once did. This book was hard to swallow but oh so good!

You are rooting for Lucy the whole time but also thinking what a stupid girl and develop a distaste for Stephan. I wanted to punch him in the face and one point on the book.

This book also demonstrates that sometimes you just can’t let go of that person who you thought you’d be together forever.

My favorite quote!

“Everyone has that guy, Luce. That one guy you think you’ll never be able to shake—the one who gets under your skin and epically fucks you up for a little while. I know I did.”

I got over the guy who epically consumed my life and tried to get back with me after the girl he cheated on me with dumped him. It was a no thanks. You’ll just have to read the book to see if the same happens for Lucy.

Overall it’s a good book!

Rating: 4 stars

In Carola Lovering's Tell Me Lies, Lucy Albright arrives at college relieved to flee a complicated home life, where her relationship with her mother is mostly now non-existent. There, she meets Stephen DeMarco, a smooth talking operator who charms Lucy with his easy demeanor and good looks, rapidly worming his way into Lucy's heart.
But there's a problem with Stephen. He has secrets. And he lies...a lot.
Lovering's story bridges the past and present with scenes from Lucy and Stephen's relationship, from the time they meet to years later, when they run into each other at a wedding. Tell Me Lies is the vivid dissection of a troubled and stormy relationship, and the lengths both Lucy and Stephen go to in order to keep troubling truths hidden.

DNF at 25%. I couldn't get into this book, but I think that it's due to my current mood, rather than the book itself. I will update this review if I end up picking up the book again.

I usually fall in love with the characters of the 99,9% of the books I read. And I think that’s the point of romance, right? Falling in love with the characters, picturing yourself in their lives… Of course, I have my hard limits very well defined and if I find one book that would cross those limits, I would DNF immediately, so it’s hard for me to not like a character… Unless it’s the antagonist, of course…

And then I come across this book…

Tell Me Lies…

I fell in love with the cover, I was intrigued by the synopsis, I was seduced by the “toxic relationship” topic in this book and I said: I WANNA READ IT!!

I love a bad boy, I love a good bastard who changes out of love, and on second thoughts, I think it’s a very obvious solution for these kinds of characters, but I like this trope and I thought that’s what I was going to find in this book…

BUT THAT’S NOT WHAT I READ!!!

What I read was a completely realistic story, of a girl who got an on-and-off toxic relationship with a “guy”—Let’s just call him just a “guy” for now—and never, for one moment, I wanted them to have a HEA!! YES, I DIDN’T WANT A HEA!!

I still remember a book I read about 3 years ago that I was so mad when the main characters had their HEA, and for me, they didn’t deserve it. Anyway… I thought Lucy and Stephen were better off without each other and I was so annoyed every time they got back together. I rolled my eyes so many times, I cursed them so many times, I even yelled once or twice, because WHAT THE HELL!!

But never, not once, I thought I wanted to stop listening to the audiobook because I wanted to know what was going to happen, I wanted to meet more these two complex characters, and understand them better and maybe, just maybe, feel a positive feeling toward them. But nope, that didn’t happen. Well, maybe a little in the end, in the last chapter, I felt a little relief with Lucy’s reaction to Stephen, but I never really felt love for them. Never.

*deep breath*

Did I love the audiobook more than I loved the story? YES!! I mean, Corey Brill —also known as my beloved Deacon Lee— and Rebekkah Ross are the narrators of Tell Me Lies. They did an outstanding performance. I always love the delicious tone of Deacon, how he makes different voices for the different characters, how he transmits all kinds of emotions with his different inflections, and I always enjoy Rebekkah’s narration, she has a characteristic articulation, perfect for young characters and her male voices are always perfect to match the personalities. They both did an amazing job with this story, and for me, the audiobook experience had a huge part in my desire to continue with the book, because they really made this story better.

What didn’t I like the story? It wasn’t the fact that I hated Stephen and his sociopathic behavior. It wasn’t either his ability to manipulate and control everyone around him. Nor his ability to tell lies, make them so believable that even he thought they were true. And, it wasn’t the fact that Lucy was completely weak when it came to Stephen. I LOVE EVERYTHING THAT I MENTIONED BEFORE!! I think that was the best of the story. What I didn’t like was Stephen huge secret, that yes, it was huge, and I was in shock when I finally read about it and how he felt about it, but the lack of closure in this book for it. I mean, Lucy figured it out but that was it. Nothing else happened and I was like WHAT?

But, aside from that, I think that Tell Me Lies was great and I highly recommend it.

4.5 Stars

'Tell Me Lies' is a mesmerizing debut novel that blends a coming of age story with contemporary fiction dealing with loads of relevant topics like friendship, love, trust, forgiveness, truth, and so many others. Once I started reading, I was immediately hooked and had to see how this layered story would play out. The setting was a great backdrop for everything that happens in the book and made it all seem natural and easy to imagine in my mind's eye. The characters were all very realistic and well rounded, including some of the secondary characters like Lucy's friends and family.

I felt this was mostly a character study mixed with a deep look inside a toxic relationship that has the ability to change a person's entire life if given the power. Lucy and Stephen were both very well written characters with tons of facets in their personalities that are slowly revealed throughout the story. One aspect of the novel that really sets it apart from others in the genre is the writing style. It's told in both the past and the present, alternating between Lucy and Stephen's viewpoints. It gives the reader the opportunity to get to know both of the characters on a very personal level during the story, both for the good and the bad. I loved getting to know each of them and how their lives became entangled and what happens after that fateful day. Seeing the story told from each of their viewpoints made the novel feel more whole to me because as we all know - every story has two sides. You might not want to know the other side of some stories, but with this addictive debut, the author gives us no choice but to see the darker side of relationships and people themselves and to take a long look inside ourselves. Definitely recommended for fans of thrillers, contemporary fiction, and character-driven novels.

When I started Tell Me Lies by Carola Lovering back in early June, I was immediately drawn into the drama of this deeply dysfunctional relationship.

lies

We follow Lucy and Stephen (told in their alternating viewpoints) through the long and winding road of their relationship. Beginning in college and ending in their mid twenties when they reunite at the wedding of a mutual friend.

First, what I liked:

I found it really interesting to read Stephens perspective. It isn't often that you are able to get into the head space of the piece of shit, sociopath boyfriend.

I think it was really well done here.

I also enjoyed all of the references to Fleetwood Mac songs because, much like Lucy, they are my favorite.

Unfortunately, the pros end there. After the first 60 pages or so, I felt like it was very repetitive and it just got to be boring. By the end of the book there was not a single character that I liked or was rooting for. I didn't even care what the "terrible thing" was that Lucy's mom did because Lucy's response to it was so juvenile and needlessly dramatic.

*sigh* perhaps I am getting to old for these kinds of reads. I'm sure thirties, married, with kids was not the target audience. Anyone else ever read the kind of book they once enjoyed and find that it just doesn't work for you anymore?

In the immortal words of Stevie Nicks
"Time makes you bolder, children get older, I'm getting older too"

There is not much of a plot in this novel, but there is a character arc.  Lucy's character does grow at the end of the novel.  So what made this novel so good?  The fact that it gave you the opportunity to really look at someone else's relationship.  You got a more intimate view of someone else's relationship than you would if it were just a friend telling you about their relationship.  You knew when they had sex and what it was like and what they each felt when they saw each other and how much time they each spent thinking about each other.

I think it is true that we all have that one that got away or the first person who made us feel certain things, but I didn't really think that was what this was about.  This novel was more about a guy, Stephen, who is extremely narcisstic and psychopathological and a girl who becomes obsessed with him.  Stephen is a typical charming, cunning, calculated psychopath.  He researches her and observes her and realizes what it will take to make her feel certain things.  Stephen doles out his love for her in small doses, just enough to make her want him, but then withholds anything real, making her always chase that elusive intimacy.

I found it interesting that Stephen's mother was bipolar.  He had a terrible view of her and I think, of all women.  He saw his father's love of his mother as weak and he would never want to be that way, which attributed to his psychopathic-tendencies.  

Lucy, on the other hand, had an experience with her mother when she was in 8th grade that she calls The Unforgivable Thing and so she doesn't trust her mother and she doesn't go to her mother for advice, even though she laments that her mother would know what to do.  

I spent a fair amount of time psychoanalyzing these characters, even though I am not a therapist.  I think his absent mother and her distrust and distance of her mother contributed greatly to their both becoming obsessed with each other for so many years (it starts in college and end several years later when they are both done with college and at a friend's wedding).

I have known a Stephen, although not in any romantic way at all whatsoever, but I have seen how he treats people and I have listened to several of his ex-girlfriends talk about how he was a serial cheater, how he was charming, how he kept getting them back, etc.  This guy's mom passed away from cancer right after he graduated from college and from what I know, his relationships  in college and before were a lot more healthy.  I found myself drawing A LOT of parallels, like Stephen could have been based on the guy that I know.

This one was just OK for me. The characters irritated me, but the book was easy to read and hard to put down. The writing style was solid, the plot was good and fast moving. Three stars!

Jade's 4 out of 5 "Clouded Judgement" Blush Review
Carola Lovering tells a story that many of us have lived one way or another in Tell Me Lies.  We all have that ONE person that had gotten so deep in our skin, there would be no way we could free ourselves from them, no matter how toxic it was for us.  Carola Lovering will throw you back in time, when you were so sucked into the emotional merry-go-round of a twisted relationship.


Lucy and Stephen are classic.  They both are striving for something out of their on again-off again love affair.  I think Lucy was in it because she became consumed with Stephen's ability to make her feel valid, but only when it was convenient for him.  I believed Lucy was a game to Stephen.  He toyed with her sense of self so deeply that she became addicted to the moments when he would make her feel worthy of him.

Tell Me Lies is very real and very frustrating.  I wanted to shake Lucy... make her WAKE UP... put the defrosters on to clear the fog she was trapped in!  But the truth is that we've all been Lucy and Carola Lovering shows us the ugly truth.  This was an eye-opening experience!

Dawn's 3.5 Blush Review
Well, this debut totally thew me for a loop!! Tell Me Lies by Carola Lovering is such an unexpected story. I have to give this new author credit. She took a big risk with this storyline. People will either love it or hate it. This is not a typical romance with a gorgeous, protective alpha male. It's based around an average Joe, who just happens to know how to play women. I didn't expect to have such intense feelings towards Tell Me Lies. I almost stopped reading it a few times. I'm so glad I stuck with it because somewhere along the line I became totally addicted. I could not stop cursing and shaking my head throughout. I was flabbergasted with the amount of bull these women put up with! Tell Me Lies is not an easy read, but it is completely honest and realistic.

I have such a love/hate relationship with this one. Especially the lead characters... My initial thoughts about both of them were NOT GOOD. Stephen DeMarco & Lucy Albright are characters you love to hate!
After meeting in college, their dysfunctional relationship starts to form and unfold.... Stephen is a master manipulator. He knows exactly what to say and do to get the girls and keep them coming back for more. He's a user and abuser. No relationship is sacred to him. It is all just a game... Stephen is the worst unredeeming ASSHOLE I have ever read about!! I could not stand him, but the sad part is, I know guys who are exactly like him. You know... the self-centered ones with no conscience. Most of the things he said, thought and did were deplorable. I couldn't thoroughly enjoy the book because I was pissed off most of the time! Not only at Stephen, but Lucy, too. OMG! This girl frustrated me to the max. Besides becoming Stephen's doormat, she was so superficial and insecure. Some of her actions were just as bad as his. I disliked her immediately. As I got deeper into the story, I began to understand her more, and I did eventually like her. It just took me a while to get there. I, however, NEVER LIKED STEPHEN. His relationship with his mother may have played a role in him being a sociopath... But it's still not a big enough excuse for his behavior towards everyone including animals. He just needed a severe ass kicking.

I’m someone who loves falling in love with new books and part of what makes me love them more or less, are the characters and how attached to them I get.

In Tell Me Lies I struggled with finding a character to fall in love with, but for once it didn’t make me enjoy the book any less!

Tell Me Lies tells the story of an abusive relationship and the mind games abusers play. I feel like there are differents kinds of evil in the world and Stephen is definitely one of them! That man is all you don’t want to find in a partner and he is so completely without morals! Being inside his head of some experience!

Lucy while the victim of said relationship, wasn’t an easy character to like either. However, the book is well written, gripping and I could not put it down!

This book was overly self-indulgent and melodramatic. It's an easy, light read, but the characters are irritating and it's hard to root for anything besides the end of the book.

It pains me to write this because I really wanted to like this book. I just didn't feel this one. The characters were completely unlikable and there wasn't a moment when I felt that I could connect to them. I have read books with characters that I haven't liked before, but for some reason, this story and I didn't connect. I will say that the writing was solid and moved at a decent pace. And in case you are wondering, I did finish it hoping I would have my moment where everything fell into place. Unfortunately, it didn't. This is a perfect example of a book that one person loves and another person doesn't.

Just published in June 2018, Tell Me Lies is an in-depth examination of a young woman's toxic relationship with the wrong person, a guy she meets her first year in college and stays more or less entangled with over the next several years. If you've ever dealt with a sociopathic lover who's hard to give up, or known someone in that situation, or would just find it fascinating to see the same situations from the points of view of both the vulnerable partner and the user who has no mercy or conscience ... I'd recommend this book.

Lucy Albright has no idea what she's in for when she lets Stephen DeMarco into her life when she's a freshman in college. He's attractive but not all that, but he knows how to appeal to women. In fact, he makes a study of it, deliberately creating a persona that his target young lady will like ... and lying ruthlessly and without conscience. Mostly so he can juggle several different sexual relationships at the same time. Sex and money are his only real cares - well, along with alcohol and drugs. And both Stephen and Lucy have secrets they're hiding.

The chapters alternate between Lucy's and Stephen's points of view. Stephen's chapters were chilling but effective. The author never tries to hide the ball or surprise you about what's going on in his head.

"Stuff like that used to happen throughout my childhood and into my teenage years—events or moments when I’d lack the specific emotional response expected of me. Time and time again, the empathetic reactions that seemed to be required never came... I learned about appropriate responses; I began simulating them when appropriate. And somewhere in that haze of it I came to the realization that I was different. I didn’t want to hurt people, but I could, and when I did, there was something cathartic and liberating about it, especially because any collateral damage was almost always rectifiable. I know about guilt, and it doesn’t apply to me—I don’t carry the burden of it. It actually works to my advantage, most of the time."

Tell Me Lies kind of accidentally got put on my NetGalley approvals (I was asking the publicist for two other books and this one just got approved along with them) so I took a look at it, even though this really isn't my type of book. It's hard R-rated, with lots of college parties, drinking, drugs and sex. F-bombs litter the pages like confetti. I ended up skimming most of it, and it was rather slow-paced, but it was compelling in a hard-to-look-away kind of way.

Some readers will love this book; others will hate it. Know yourself.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5

Tell Me Lies by Carola Lovering is one of those books that I really wanted to love, but I just couldn't. It took me awhile to get into, and when I was done I felt oddly disappointed.

Tell Me Lies is about a woman named Lucy Albright who we initially meet as a 20-something working in sales at an online publication called The Suitest in New York City. She really wants to be a journalist but was attempting to get her foot in the door by starting in sales. We learn that she is pretty blasé about her current situation. The chapters alternate between Lucy and her college "boyfriend" Stephen. The book also skips around between past and present then it all comes together at the end of the book in present time. I really liked this style a lot, although I felt like we would start in one (either past/present or a particular month) and end up somewhere else by the time the chapter was over. This happened quite a bit and did irritate me.

Tell Me Lies is a scarily accurate description of what it is like to be in a toxic relationship. Even though Stephen proves himself to be absolutely no good, Lucy still hangs onto him and is completely enamored with him. That being said, this got old really fast and I felt like the book was way too long for what all happened in it. By the end I had completely lost all empathy for Lucy and wanted to knock her upside the head for many things. Frankly the only character I did like wholeheartedly was Lucy's dad who we don't see much of.

Final Thought: There are going to be a lot of people that love this book, heck there already are, but unfortunately it just fell a little flat for me. However, I think that Lovering is extremely talented and although it took me awhile to get into, her writing made me want to keep reading. I definitely recommend this book to people who are interested in reading a book about a toxic relationship and don't mind a bunch of unlikable characters in their books. If you are a fan of great writing I also recommend giving this book a shot. It wasn't a perfect fit for me, but I am definitely interested in reading more from this author in the future.

Tell Me Lies in 3-ish words: Charismatic, Realistic, Haunting

This toxic, honest, dark love story is one that most of us can relate to. For me, Stephen wasn't just one person, but a good study of how dating, in general, can be. The games, the manipulation, the fear, all of it hit home.

All of these characters were fairly unlikable, but I don't mind hating my main characters. Lucy could be likable, she's just in a very unlikable phase of her life when this story takes place. She revolves her life around being skinny and a man, and it doesn't do any favors for her personality. Still, her story is one worth reading. College can be such a nasty time in life - you're on your own for the first time. It's billed as the time to explore who you are, and sometimes you can get lost in that. Lucy is a good example of how you can get lost in someone else and wither away so much so that no one recognizes you.

The alternating POVs made this even more interesting to read. We see that Stephen is a psychopath from the very beginning and get the opportunity to feel this incredible sympathy for Lucy that she doesn't see this asshole coming. It makes you want to shout at your kindle sometimes. But in a, you know, fun way. The suspense of waiting for Lucy to finally realize that he's TERRIBLE was engaging and made me want to read on.

Also: THIS COVER! Gorgeous.

I've never read anything by Lovering before so I didn't really know quite what to expect. I thought the writing style was unique and it was interesting how the story jumped back and forth between Stephen and Lucy's viewpoints. There were times when I thought it was overly repetitive, but it was easy to skim over the repeats until you reached new information. The story was fast paced at times, but other times I really wished the pages would turn a little faster. In my opinion, I think the novel could have been about 100 pages shorter.

The characters were all extremely interesting and I loved that Lovering didn't shy away from tough topics. A lot of kids go through some really hard things in college and I appreciated that this wasn't just some fluffy college romance novel. It really talked about some deep things and I think Lovering did a great job discussing such heavy topics. Even though Stephen was not my favorite character, he was so incredibly complex and I loved getting to know his inner thoughts (as horrible as they were). I also really enjoyed Lucy's character. She was so honest with herself and I was really happy to see her grow as a character.

All in all, Tell Me Lies was a captivating story about how college can make and/or break you, how it can help you find out who you really are as a person, and how it can lead you to lifelong friends and partners. I thought this was an intriguing read and I would definitely recommend it! Thank you to Atria, Booksparks, and NetGalley for sending this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Rating 3.5/5

Sigh. I liked this book... I really did. I just felt at times it hit a little too close to home in relation to some past toxic relationships of my own. Perhaps that's a positive, because it made the book very emotional, real, and believable to me. I will have to take some time and re-read this one. In the meantime, I feel it is something readers across the board will be able to invest in.

WARNING. This book is NOT a love story. This book is not romantic. This book is like a psychological soap opera on paper. And it recounts the toxic relationship between two people who, just like the blurb says, can’t let go even though they know they should.

Watching this story unfold and their ‘relationship’ unravel was a train wreck I couldn’t look away from. And though I hate to admit it, I’ve been Lucy. I’ve dated a Stephen. And reading about this girl fall for this master manipulator but defend their behaviors because of the 'connection' they share is something I think will resonate with a lot of people.

Stephen, the male lead, is probably my most hated yet most interesting males I’ve read about. He’s manipulative scum. Yet being in his brain was so fascinating. Everything he said made me want to reach into my kindle and punch his smarmy face. And still, I couldn’t read his chapters fast enough.

I can already see a lot of people not liking either character. I know that statement doesn’t seem like a raving recommendation to read this book, but hear me out. Stephen - for obvious reasons – isn’t a male lead people will swoon over. And Lucy will undoubtedly make people uncomfortable. While it’s easy to disagree with how she handles a lot of things, the author’s portrayal of her issues and insecurities is just down right accurate. ANYONE who has dated someone like Stephen will understand (thought may not like) a lot of things Lucy does.

If you happen to pick this up and are going into it expecting a redeeming love story, don't. You won't get that here. But if you do want to dive into the minds of two dysfunctional characters who have no business being in a relationship, than this is for you =)

Whenever a novel is written from multiple perspectives, it immediately catches my attention! Carola Lovering's Debut Novel Tell Me Lies is a book about something we've all been through...toxic relationships! We get to view the relationship from both sides which made this book that much more engaging! When you're in this kind of relationship, its hard to take advice from bystanders. However, reading about it and gaining perspective from both sides can truly be an eye opening experience!

Told from the alternating POV’S of Stephen and Lucy, Tell Me Lies is story that quickly pulled me in. Stephen and Lucy meet while in college together. Lucy is bright with a great group of friends just looking for a fun experience. Enter Stephen, a world class jerk who thinks he can get away with anything. It doesn’t take that long for these two to start dating. They end up developing a toxic on-again, off-again relationship filled with lies and cheating. Even though Stephen is definitely not good for Lucy, she can’t seem to understand that. At least not right away. Lucy has blinders on because she thinks she is in love with him. And even if Stephen is flawed, it’s hard to sever ties with someone who gives you butterflies or makes you feel special whenever they are around. I felt that Stephen was just using Lucy. He didn’t really want her, but he didn’t want anyone else to have her either.

Stephen and Lucy are not really lovable characters. But I think that’s the point. The author created these characters that you may not necessarily want to root for, but you can’t stop from wanting to know what is going to happen next. It’s like watching a car accident happen. You know there is going to be some damage and it won’t be pretty, but you can’t make yourself look away from it. And I enjoyed every page. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good contemporary story filled with deceit, drama, and a side of un-healthy codependency.

RATING: 3 out of 5.