There are two timelines in this novel, one set in 1986 in Cambridge and the other in present day London. They seem completely separate from each other but that's the only predictability of this story - you know they'll eventually merge, it's just a matter of when and how. In the first timeline, Beth is the mother to young Hannah. Beth believes her daughter has sociopathic tendencies. In the other timeline, Clara's boyfriend Luke goes missing. I felt like I was reading 2 separate novels until their connection was revealed. I couldn't put this down!

O.M.G! This book is an addicting, fast-paced thriller! Filled with suspense, I tore through this dark and disturbing read rather quickly. I loved the characters. Not because they're heros, but because they're unreliable, driven, incredibly twisted and complex. Oh, and the lies told are just ... w-o-w. There are so many secrets and betrayals that you’ll be left speechless...I know I was! It's brilliantly written. My mind was racing and I couldn't stop thinking about all the possibilities. The backstory in this novel is terrifying. It will give you chills and make your jaw drop. I had some parts figured out, but many were a complete surprise! I absolutely loved this novel and highly recommend it.
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/5

I love mystery thrillers and this one did not disappoint. Didn’t fully understand or partially solve the mystery until 2/3’s of the way through.

As Clara sets out to find her missing boyfriend, Luke, she finds herself uncovering haunting family secrets.

An awesome read with an equally awesome last chapter that took me by surprise!

It’s been awhile since I’ve given a 5 star rating, but this is it. I could not put this book down and stayed up all night to finish. Now I’m exhausted, but still thinking about this book. It had everything I love about thrillers and suspense. Fantastic story.

Thanks NetGalley for the preview copy.

I loved this book. I love alternating pov's and the author created a book that is in no way predictable. There are so many twists and turns. If you're looking for unputdownable thriller, you've found it in this book.

The Lies We Told by Camilla Way is a suspenseful psychological thriller that will have you zooming through it to reach the satisfying conclusion. Way tells two separate stories that end up becoming very intertwined in a manner that you might not see coming. Lots of suspense and not too heavy on the foreshadowing. Read and enjoy!

My review has been posted directly to goodreads. Please refer to the link below to see my review of this book on goodreads.com.

This book was great. I enjoyed the two timelines, just like her last book. I strongly recommend reading this book. I read the book in one day. The story is compelling and I also liked the main protagonist Clara.

Looking for a dark psychological read with twisted characters, then you should definitely pick this one up! It was a bit difficult to wrap my head around the swapping around of families who seemed to have nothing to do with one another but wow, the connection was pretty amazing.

Clara has been in 7th heaven that she had seemed to catch the best looking guy at work - and they were even living together! But then Luke, didn’t come home one night and seemed to disappear, most folks assumed he dumped her. But Clara knew more than anyone else - Luke had a stalker!

There were complications in Luke’s family – Luke’s older sister, Emily who had vanished twenty years earlier, suddenly contacts Clara but doesn’t want Clara to tell anyone of her existence, or she’ll disappear again. Emily wants to help Clara find Luke, but won’t tell Clara why she disappeared 20 years earlier, leaving Clara to wonder what Emily’s end game seems to be.

There are a lot of questions you’ll be thinking of when you read this. The biggest one is what really happened 20 years ago and why is no one discussing what happened, including Luke’s brother Tom who seems very angry with everyone.

Marilyn Rondeau

Thank you NetGalley, Camilla Way and Berkley Publishing Group for the free e-book in exchange for an honest review.

Clara’s boyfriend disappears after work one day and she panics, but most people believe he has just left her. Luke has a stalker and Clara is worried that he has been kidnapped, and involves the police. Suddenly Luke’s older sister Emily reappears after twenty years and wants to help find Luke. Emily won’t talk about what happened or why she disappeared, but as Clara begins to dig into his disappearance, she finds that the two things are interconnected.

This book starts right off with Luke’s disappearance and suddenly you wondering what the heck Luke got into and why he is gone missing now. We start meeting all of Luke’s friends and family and I found that I liked some people and distrusted others, but I was wrong about most of my guesses. I really loved Clara’s character and the way that we begin to find out about her and Luke’s relationship. We find out it wasn’t as happy as Clara was lead to believe and find out things she would rather not know. I found the plot line to this novel very addicting and I couldn’t put down the novel because I wanted to know what was going on!

I loved reading the book in the two different timelines, but not quite being able to put them together in the right way. I loved being kept guessing and wondering if I was on the right track to figuring out the novel. I really enjoy the fast pace of this novel and how things kept happening each chapter than kept me on my toes. This was a fast-paced and addicting thriller that I think almost anyone would enjoy!

Started out strong then went downhill and I found myself skimming through the final chapters.

The beginning definitely captured my attention and I really liked the protagonist Clara. But further into the chapters things started to become a bit murky and the plot became a bit much for the imagination.

The author also went into overkill with having multiple characters 'tell' how things happened at the end, just in case the reader couldn't figure it all out.
I'd like to consider myself an educated reader that doesn't need to have flash cards on how the 'twists' were executed.

Considering how much I loved Watching Edie, (5 stars) I will certainly give this author another go around.

ARC provided by NetGalley

This was such a roller coaster ride! I was not expecting it to be THIS good. Not only did Camille Way present a well thought out story with multiple point of views, she did it in such a way that you wanted to keep reading to figure out how it intertwined and what the relation was.

At the beginning of the book I felt like I was reading BABY TEETH by Zoje Stage all over again. Hannah, the daughter of Beth, was such a mean child that I was ready to DNF immediately. So glad I kept going. The story eventually developed and opened up to the very reason as to why Hannah was the way she was and what happened to her. I almost felt sympathetic to her life after the secrets started to come out.

The other half of the story is reserved for Clara and her search to find her long term boyfriend, Luke. What we didn’t expect was the other life Luke was living, the secrets HE had and how they eventually all came out. At one part in the book, the author presented an extremely strong #metoo situation that can allow a reader to view things from a morality standpoint.

I gave this book 4/5 stars. I took 1 star off because the beginning was a tad bit slow and BABY TEETH like. Other than that, I loved it and will recommend to my book friends.

This author was made for writing psychological suspense novels. This story shines a light on the fact that those closest to us are the ones that hide the deepest secrets, whether we suspect it or not - you can never truly know anyone, even your own family. A great and thrilling read.

Wow

I had no idea what this book was really about when I first started reading it. I wanted to be surprised so I didn't read the synopsis. It's a risky thing to do, I know... But I'm so glad I've read this book even without knowing what it was about. I'm kind of new to the mystery/thriller genre but I'm excited to read more now that I've read The Lies We Told by Camilla Way.

In this book, we follow two women: Beth, a woman who has always wanted to be a loving mother and to found a happy family. And Clara, a young woman who has to deal with her boyfriend's sudden disappearance and its consequences. As time passes, you try to figure out how both of their lives are going to collide. (Beth's point of view is mostly in the 80's/90's)

I feel like this book deals with a few important subjects such as the way men tend to treat women, the fact that the criminal justice system is far from perfect, and that even if we do what we think is best for ourselves doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. Idk, I'm bad with words but this book really impacted me. I loved it and I hope you'll enjoy it too.

This book was atmospheric and I was hooked from the beginning. Also, I was honestly creeped out at some moments so it made the perfect October read. And the way it ended... Well, I didn't expect that last chapter. I wish we could have had a few more to find out some things that were left unsaid. (view spoiler)

(I received a copy of this book from Negalley in exchange for my honest review)

Loved this page turner book. Secrets, lies, love, what more could you want. The end left you wanting more. I’m sure there will be a follow up book and I can’t wait!

Requires a little more suspension of disbelief than I am willing to give. Kept me interested but in the end, just too unrealistic.

That's now 2-2 that I've red from Camilla Way. She has now proven herself to be a must-read author and I am now officially a loyal reader. I cannot believe my good fortune to have read yet another not just great, but unpredictable psychological thriller.

There were quite a few characters so it became a little tricky to keep up with them and sometimes that can count against a book, but in this one it was done meticulously and it worked out lovely.

Clara.... She's a sympathetic character and one I really liked. She had this great boyfriend and then suddenly.... He was gone.

Luke..... Amazing boyfriend. Comes from a great family. Such good fortune. But we all have secrets. What are his? Are they why he's gone missing?

Tom..... Older brother of Luke. What's up with him? What is he hiding? Why does he seem so off? What does he know?

Emily.... Missing sister of Luke and Tom that suddenly resurfaced. Surely all she wants is to find her brother.

Mac.... Best friend of Luke.... He just wants to help Clara find Luke and make sure he is safe. Right? Maybe it's him that's lying.

Rose and Oliver..... Parents of Emily, Luke and Tom. Esteemed pediatric surgeon and respected professor. Beautiful family. What is it that they say about people in glass houses?

Beth and Doug...... Parents of Hannah who clearly is troubled. Scary troubled. Should be institutionalized troubled.... But what does this family have to do with missing Luke? How are these families entwined? Are they entwined? Is Hannah really Emily? Are Beth and Doug really Rose and Oliver?

My goodness this was a doozy. And a juicy one at that. Most definitely in my top books for 2018.

Thank you to netgalley and St. Martin's Press for this amazing ARC!

This book had me hooked from the very first line.

"At first I mistook the severed head for something else."

This story is told in two narratives in alternating chapters:
1. from the past featuring Beth and her psychopathic daughter Hannah and
2. from present day, following Clara as she searches for her missing live-in boyfriend Luke.

For the first 75% of the book the reader is left trying to piece together the mystery of how these two seemingly unconnected stories are related.

The chapters featuring Hannah were by far my favorites despite the fact that Hannah is the cliché "bad seed". She's a deviant and violent child that presents with all of the typical behaviors as every other story with this same plot. But she's still fun no matter how many times I've read similar characters. I never tire of creepy kids.

I couldn't really relate to any of the characters nor did I like them. Aside from Clara, they were all self-serving and devoid of morals, especially the men.

Trying to piece together how this cast of characters could possibly be related is twisty suspenseful fun. I felt like the truth was always just right there in front of me, just enough out of reach to keep me fully engaged, eager to get to the hook.

And alas, that's where it all fell apart for me.

The final reveal is forgiveabley improbable had it not been so chaotic and rushed. Because of this, a book that up until that point had been a brilliant thriller turned mediocre for me.

The ambiguous last scene leaves the story open for a sequel that I would definitely be keen to check out.

3.5 Stars rounded up to 4 for the first 75% of the book was riveting.


I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Clara and Luke are living a pretty good life in London, both young professionals who met working for the same company. They’re in love, they’ve moved in together. Then one day, Luke just disappears. Days go by, the police get involved, but no one knows what could have happened. And while it’s heartbreaking for Clara, it’s particularly tragic for Luke’s parents, warm and wonderful people who have felt like family to Clara, because 20 years earlier, their oldest child, Emily, just left one day … and never came home.

Clara, sick with worry, finally decides she’s going to try to start looking into some of Luke’s past girlfriends, because she finds on his computer that he’s received hundreds of disturbing texts and emails from a woman who is clearly unhinged and upset. What she finds out as she talks to some of these women isn’t necessarily helpful in the investigation. Or maybe it is. But she does find out some things that make her wonder how well she knew him.

The story alternates between the current day involving Luke’s disappearance and a few decades earlier, with the story of a young mother, Beth, who is worried her small daughter is sociopathic. Hannah is so young, but she doesn’t connect with her parents; she seems to be deliberately causing pain and problems in the people around her, enjoying the havoc, and it’s very disturbing. But Beth is harboring a secret, and it’s preventing her from being able to get help for Hannah — if professional intervention can even help her.

For much of the book, the stories don’t seem to intersect, and readers are left wondering, trying to piece together the possible connections. And then they do, and the results are explosive.

This novel is one of psychological suspense; the characters are dealing with secrets that are eating away at them, the effects radiating out into their relationships. Hannah is a dark and menacing figure, particularly because she is so young and exhibiting such disturbing behaviors.

I enjoyed the book, turning pages eagerly to see how it would all come together. It was interesting to get a few different points of view, including one near the end that was pretty brief, but I thought it was kind of tacked-on rather than a natural, seamless part of the story. My one main wish was that the book didn’t have SO much bad language. It just seemed so unnecessary.

Google doesn't much like duplicate content, so I will not copy-paste the entire review, since it is an original review on my site.

I will say this, however, that this was a great psychological thriller by a British author that I haven't heard of before but now has become one of my favorite thriller authors.

The full review can be viewed at: https://mysterysequels.com/book-review-lies-we-told-camilla-way.html