Cobain thought everything was going great with his girlfriend Molly, until she goes missing. Until everything he thought he knew about her and their relationship comes crashing down around him. Until he sets out on a mission to find her all on his own—because the police are too busy trying to pin the crime on Cobain himself.

Oof, this is a tough one to rate and review. On one hand, it was kind of addicting and I flew through it; on the other, there’s a lot to unpack here that might make this one a tough sell for a lot of readers.

→ L I K E S :
The truth is, I want to talk about her. I need to go back through every moment we shared and figure out where things went wrong.

Let’s talk about the pros first: most notably, the writing here is great. Victoria Scott is a talented storyteller and I was easily captivated by the characters and setting she laid out. The mystery was suspenseful (and, while not shocking to me, would probably draw gasps from quite a few readers), and I liked the twist at the end, even if it wasn't very fleshed-out. Overall, it’s a pretty decent thriller.

I’m thinking about Molly’s hands. How small they were in mine. Not nearly large enough to hold my heart inside them, and yet they did. But now she’s gone.

There’s also the matter of the characters, who I liked, though I don’t think I was supposed to? They’re problematic, toxic, manipulative, and flawed as hell, but I kind of enjoyed how gritty and awful they were. Granted, I have mixed feelings about recommending this book based on that fact, which I’ll get into more later. Mostly, I was stunned by how unapologetically manipulative and conniving Molly is—I don’t feel like most YA authors are willing to go there when writing a love interest.

→ D I S L I K E S :
Was there anything I wouldn’t have done for her from that moment forward? I was easy. One act of kindness and I belonged to her.

Unfortunately, I had two major problems with this book:

1) There are several plot threads that don't get tied up in the end, leaving me wondering why they were introduced to begin with.

2) The main character's viewpoint on romance and his relationship with Molly is kinda terrifying. He's super toxic and borderline abusive (maybe more than borderline, tbh). It seems at points like it's being addressed, but in the end, I didn't feel like progress was made. While it was interesting to read, it’s hard to really recommend to the target audience for this book, because I have a lot of weird feelings about encouraging teens to read this ‘romance’.

There’s also a lot of talk of mental health struggles and suicidal ideation in this story, and it’s thrown about pretty casually, so if that’s a major trigger for you, PLEASE be aware ahead of time!

→ F I N A L THOUGHTS :

Despite how quick and fun of a read it was in the moment, those two drawbacks were enough to stop me from giving this a more positive rating. I'd probably check out more work from Victoria Scott in the future, but don't think I'll recommend this one too highly.

→ RECOMMENDING TO… :

Fans of the mystery/thriller genre who don’t mind questionable endings and aren’t turned away by the underlying themes of problematic/controlling/potentially abusive relationships.

Content warnings for kidnapping, controlling/manipulative partners, mental illness, suicidal ideation, violence.

All quotes come from an advance copy and may not match the final release. Thank you so much to Entangled Teen for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book made me feel a little gross. I don't like the portrayal of teens as violent, essentially soulless beings. Sure, teens lie. They manipulate people. And damage in childhood makes these things more likely, as we see with both protagonists here. I think what I particularly dislike about this book is the portrayal of mental illness. Everyone mentally ill is dangerous and/or shameful. The mother is a leech, "crazy" and manipulative. The girl never tells the truth and twists everyone around. The boy has hallucinations and is simply avoided. There is more interest in pretending nothing is wrong than actually helping them. These characters are meant to be feared, not understood as damaged people.

Molly and Cobain...two people that find themselves apart and trying to find each other; one knowing where they are but stuck and the other looking. This was a book that had some sad, dark and intense parts. The author did a good job with the way they put the story together. Who is the person they should be looking for, blaming?
Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this book.

*I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

2.5 stars

This book didn't work for me. I was able to read through it, but I was never invested. Part of the problem might be because it is told in first person which is harder for me to get into. And not all of the book is told in first person either so, there is that. I'm also not big on unreliable narrators and for most of the book we don't know if we can trust was Corbain remembers.

The thing is, I do like guessing and thinking about who could possibly be the bad guy, but none of our suspects seem remotely guilty or have anything to suggest they are.I mean, I ended up being right... even though I was wrong which I will say is the one thing this book really has going for it. There is a huge twist at the end that I didn't see coming. Totally out of left field. This might also be because all the times Corbain does search for clues it feels awkward and blunt which may be because the Then chapters were written more wistfully and felt very different.

There is so much going on in this story, but it is all in the background while Corbain and Molly's relationship and her disappearance are at the forefront. Their relationship by the way is completely unhealthy. Actually, every single relationship in this book is unhealthy. No wonder the teens in this book are so messed up! But how destructive their relationship is makes it so difficult to root for them.

With the end of the book I felt like one problem was solved, but honestly a whole bag of worms still needed to be dealt with.
Would I recommend this book? I don't know. I wouldn't tell someone not to read it, but I don't plan on pushing it towards anyone either.

Rating 4/5

Full of suspense and mystery this novel took me on a drive to the deepest part of the forest and left me there to die. I barely survived coming out of the end pages but what a thrilling adventure! Highly recommend!

I got this as an ARC (on Net Galley) for an honest review. This book definitely keeps you in suspense, the whole book. It was very well written. . I don't normally read this Genre but it was a nice change.

This one was good! I loved that Victoria branched out and did something a little different. This wasn't my favorite of hers, but it was definitely a solid read. I enjoyed the characters, though they did take a while to grow on me. The ending wasn't what I was expecting, but I like what she did with it.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Entangled Teen, and Victoria Scott for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are 100% my own and independent of receiving an advanced copy.

Mild spoiler alert - if you don’t want to know, don’t read below.
Also, because it is YA and some people might care there is sex, nothing any high schooler isn’t already aware of, I don’t think, but in case that is important for you.

So here we have yet another thriller with lie/liar in the title. Is that a prerequisite nowadays? Is the writing community become so lazy that they can’t think up an original book title? Let me tell you a little secret. If you are writing a thriller, murder/mystery, psychological warfare, suspense novel then you are going to have characters who lie. Yes, imagine that - THEY WILL ALL LIE! The bad guy will lie, the good guy will lie and here is even more shocking news - teenagers lie - a lot. They lie to each other, they lie to adults and teachers and especially the police. And if the title is that they told six lies, then please make it clear what those six lies were and how it relates to the story. I want that aha moment by the end of the story, where it all clicks. It should be a standout and I couldn’t figure it out.

That being said, I loved this story. I thought it was exciting. I really enjoyed the beginning and the end. It did lag a little in the middle, the storyline became a little repetitive, but there were so many great qualities that made it worth sticking through. The last chunk of the book had twists and turns and what I look for in every thriller happened. There was a build up of suspense that gave me this bubbly feeling inside and that little voice in my head going back and forth, guessing, trying to figure out the mystery. I thought the writing style was unique and well done. It was mostly told through the main character’s perspective with alternating chapters between the past and present. I am so tired of the dual narrative POV. It has been done ad nauseam and I am honestly fatigued. This was a refreshing change. It made a stronger storyline just having Cobain’s voice with a little sprinkling of Molly. The early chapters had an almost journal-like quality to them, which allowed for depth into his character. We get sucked into his world and forget that all the other characters are being shaped through his eyes. It is when he starts to question his list of suspects that we start to realize that Molly is not the person he thought she was. I like when Scott starts to bring Molly’s voice into the storyline and we start to gain some perspective. I felt Molly’s fear during her captivity and appreciated her survival instincts. This was where the novel became really exciting and I was riveted to the end.

Not everything was tied up with a neat little bow. I felt like there were some things that should have been addressed or developed more, and other things that just bugged me and I wanted an answer. (Cobain? really? Is Scott a Nirvana fan?) Molly’s issues weren’t really addressed and I would have liked her character developed more fully. I didn’t want to accept the happily ever after version of “I got captured and you saved me so now I love you”. No one is that manipulative for that many years and then changes all at once, no matter how traumatic an event is that happened to them. What was the deal with her mother? We never learned what her deal was. I also found Cobain’s mother a little suspect. She was this wonderful mother and then after this event happened (I don’t want to give everything away) she wasn’t. It didn’t make any sense to me why she would have abandoned Cobain emotionally to go and help other kids. The psychiatrist’s diagnosis for Cobain was whack. I didn’t get that either.

So I recommend this read. I think you’ll find enough to make it worthwhile. The ending is definitely worth it.

I have read a few other books by this author and this one sounded really good to me. A psychological thriller. This was a very fast read. I enjoyed this book for the most part, but I did have a few things about the story that bothered me. It was enough to enjoy it for what it was but the few negatives kept me for absolutely loving it like I thought I would.

Cobain and Molly were a thing. They had a plan. Cobain was the serious one, the one that needed something in his life to be enjoyable. Molly was the free spirit. The one that brought the joy into Cobain's life. They had a plan to disappear together. The problem, Molly disappeared before they could together. The police have questions and so does Cobain. He knows something had to of happened to her and he is dedicated to finding out who and how and just where Molly is.

Okay so I had some issues with this book and I will get to them. For the most part I enjoyed the story. The mystery was good, the pacing was good, the ending threw me for a loop. I can say that I didn't figure it all out by the end. So there was some good things about this book. Enough to keep me reading to the end and enjoying it enough to give it a 3 heart rating. On the downside, if it wasn't for the few issues I had I think this could have been a 4 heart rating.

The book was easy to follow, it kept me interested. I needed to know what happened to Molly and so I continued to read. I really didn't know what was going on. I am not sure if it was because there were no real clues... as I was reading from Cobain's point of view and he really had no clue... or if it was written so well I didn't pick up on the clues, or if the clues just weren't there. But at any rate, not being able to figure it out kept me reading.

The pacing and the mystery and the ending was what I liked about the book. I didn't care much for the characters, I didn't care much for the love story, I didn't care much for the more adult-ish content in the book.

The characters had nothing to make me care about them. I don't mind books where everyone is broken, but I felt I didn't find too much I liked about them or felt for them. Now in the end I liked Molly. She came around for me. But for most of the book... which has Molly in flashbacks... I didn't care for. Maybe it was the way Cobain saw her that drove me nuts.

Cobain was an unstable character. I didn't know if I could trust him, his memories, or his motives. This isn't what I didn't like about him. I like unreliable narrators. What I didn't like was how co-dependent he was on Molly. It was creepy. He was creepy to me.

The romance felt just well an unstable and unhealthy relationship. Some may like this from love stories, or from characters. I think maybe the younger crowd (you know the ones that this book was actually written for) but I guess I am over that. Speaking of the crowd this was written for. I know that some don't mind very adult content being in YA and I don't mind it at times if its done it good taste. The scenes in this book were to adult style. I just didn't think it was appropriate for the age group this book is written for. So I didn't like that.

So other than the characters, the romance, and the adult scenes... I enjoyed the book. Going into it wanting a mystery and wanting to be clueless in what was going on, feeling like I was trying to figure it out. That is what I liked and why I rated it the way I did. just the few things that kept it from be the most awesome read.


For a psychological thriller, I enjoyed it.

It’s not often that a book leaves me going ‘wtf’ even after I’ve finished it, but that’s exactly what happened here. Told in alternating POVs and alternating timelines, We Told Six Lies tells the story of Molly and Cobain’s relationship while he struggles to find her after Molly goes missing. Generally I don’t like the alternating timelines narrative in books, but here it just keeps adding to the suspension. Cobain is an unreliable narrator and with every detail that unfolds in either timeline he becomes more so. The nonlinear narrative supplements the disjointed thoughts in Cobain’s head and when he starts to doubt himself, so do you. And if you’re like me you’ll start to doubt him even before that. Every time I thought I knew what was going on, I had to second guess myself with the very next chapter. And I didn’t even get it right by the end of the book.

I highly recommend We Told Six Lies if you like thrillers and mysteries. Yes, we’ve probably all seen this story line play out in other novels, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done well again. And Victoria Scott does a fantastic job.

I received this book from NetGalley and Entangled Publishing as an ARC for an honest review.

I am totally one of those people who judges books by their cover. The prettier the cover the more likely I am to read a book. I know, I know shameful. I just can't help it. And I sure couldn't help it with this book cover. I was in love with this cover when I first saw it and after reading the description I needed to obtain a copy of this ARC so I could read the book.

When I first read the description to this book I thought it might be something that I would be really interested in. I’ve been looking for a new mystery/thriller to read and this seemed to be exactly what I was looking for. The book is told in two perspectives. One of Molly and one of Cobain and the timeline goes back-and-forth between the Past and the Present. I really enjoy novels that have more than one point of view telling the story, it lets you know what the other main characters are thinking and feeling throughout the novel.

At the start of the book we are at immediately thrown into chaos. Molly has gone missing, so the police are interrogating Cobain to see if he knows where Molly might have gone and he is the main suspect in the case. Once I started reading it, I felt kind of bored. I didn’t connect with Molly or Cobain which made it harder for me to read since I couldn’t connect with either of them. I didn’t really understand the “relationship” that they had. It really confused me because they didn’t really act like a couple and Cobain seemed to be a little strange and obsessed with Molly and he came off as really really creepy to me. The book was fast paced and easy to read. I was on the edge of my seat toward the end of the book, because like Cobain, I had a list of people who I thought might have Molly. This was the one part of the book that really had all of my attention, the rest was just unsatisfying.

I’m going to give this book a solid ★★★ stars. I just don’t think this was the young adult mystery/thriller that was up my alley. Could you possibly like it? Absolutely. It’s not a terrible story by any means it just wasn’t for me.

I don't often read YA thrillers, so I was excited to pick this one up. I thought the premise was interesting enough, and sounded pretty unique. Unfortunately I was able to predict the ending pretty early on, which made a lot of the twist at the end a lot less shocking for me. We begin We Told Six Lies with Cobain being question by the police after his girlfriend, Molly, has gone missing. Cobain becomes obsessed with trying to figure out what happened to Molly and where she went, while Molly struggles to stay alive.

Although I predicted the ending, I still found the plot interesting. There were a ton of twists and turns in the story, which would help keep the reader guessing throughout the story. I also really enjoyed the fact that the story was told from two different points in time. I enjoyed seeing Cobain and Molly's relationship bloom in the sections set in the past, and the struggles that both characters were facing in the present. I also enjoyed how slowly things were revealed about certain characters. It helped create an air of mystery and forced the reader to piece together the story as it went on. The plot did drag towards the end after the final reveals, and I wished it wrapped up a little quicker.

I can't say I really felt for any of the character though. They all were incredibly flawed, which usually I love in a character, but this time around I just felt really disconnected and found it hard to care about what was going to happen to them. I appreciated learning about the struggles Cobain had to go through, and I enjoyed trying to figure out just what was going on in his head, but in the end I found him pretty hard headed and not super interesting. The same could be said about Molly. While she had an interesting enough backstory, I still did not feel much of a connection with her character.

Overall, this was an interesting mystery story with a lot of twists and turns. If you like mystery thriller stories, I would recommend you give this one a try.

Really enjoyed this one! Was happy to host an interview with the author on my blog: https://livereadandprosper.wordpress.com/2019/02/05/we-told-six-lies-by-victoria-scott-interview/

Couldnt get into this one. I love this author but I have a problem with young adult mysteries. Just couldnt connect with the story or mc.

I kept trying to get into this book, but couldn’t. I thought that it was written in a fashion that started off confusing and hard to entice readers, but I also am a moody ready and will update if I’m able to get into it later.
Will use in a challenge in Chapter Chatter Pub and let members know about it’s release

Overall, I thought the plot of this book was good, but I had a really hard time staying focused on the book.

This book practically blew me away! As things developed the story grew darker and more intense. At one point I almost started to dislike Molly and Cobain. There is something very edgy about the atmosphere of this book.

But the last twenty percent of We Told Six Lies was gripping, the story complicated and layered, the characters being so human... it well deserves five shiny stars for its intensity.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book.

Even though the synopsis seemed a bit vague, I was incredibly excited to read this book, because I really enjoyed the other book I read by this author, and the premise was pretty mysterious and I wanted to know what was going to happen and what the book was about, but overall I was so disappointed with the story and everything, and unfortunately for me it didn't fulfill my expectations.


Starting with the things I enjoyed, I think the tone of the story was so fitting. It was very dark and the author did a great job at creating this sense of anticipation and dread to the reader, and I really enjoyed the feeling and chills it gave me when I was reading this novel, and the mystery, though it was pretty simple, kept me interesting and engrossed in the book and wanting to know what was going to happen next and how everything was going to end.


My main issue was regarding the characters. I didn't like any of them. They were the type of characters that were pretty dull and simple but acted so edgy and brooding, and they kept contradicting themselves throughout the entire book. Their interactions were so forced and cringy, and I didn't like their dynamics or inner monologues, and found that they shared no chemistry whatsoever, despite what the author was trying to tell us.


The plot twist and the big revelation made at the very end of the book was such a disappointed to me. I hate seeing that twist or trope in a mystery, and though it made sense once I thought about it, I feel the reader didn't have a lot of information and it seemed very convenient.


Overall, though the concept was pretty interesting and I was so excited to read it, the characters weren't my favorite and the big reveal at the end was pretty disappointing, so I didn't really enjoyed the story, despite the mystery being pretty fun to follow.

[Excerpt]:

First thoughts:

Cobain is the MC’s name. So of course it put me in mind of Kurt Cobain. I wondered if there were going to be any similiarities – drug addiction, rocker aesthetic, etc. He did like to wear black and had that whole “loner chic” thing going on, so there was that.

Then there’s the girlfriend. Molly is such an old-fashioned name, one that makes me think of politeness, good manners, and introvertedness, but the girl herself seemed extremely….unlikeable. She had an attitude, and not a very cute or quirky one either. In fact, she very much was a manic pixie dream girl-type, especially from Cobain’s POV. He talked about how “odd” and “strange” she was, and how he loved her so much and would do anything for her. I don’t know, their whole relationship was unsettling.

From the synopsis of the book, which really doesn’t tell you much, it seems like Cobain did something to Molly. He comes across as maybe psychotic or unhinged, but for the first couple of chapters, he just appeared lonesome and kinda angry, but not in a “I’m gonna kill you” kind of way. I genuinely wanted to know what happened to Molly and why. Was Cobain really as innocent as he seemed? That was the major question on my mind.

Final thoughts:

The end of the book is not what you expect. Throughout the book, you’re led to believe one thing, but – surprise! – there’s a twist, and it’s revealed who’s responsible and how and why. The problem I had with the ending was, in fact, the total unexpectedness. There was no “leading up to” or clues throughout the book that hinted who had actually taken Molly. All of the information is revealed at the very end: Cobain has a huge revelation, he remembers everything [conveniently and suddenly], and he knows how to fix everything. I thought this reveal [i.e. who took Molly and why] was unlikely because the twist came out of nowhere and seemed a bit forced. It was also revealed to us in a way that was pretty confusing; I wasn’t sure if Cobain was having a mental breakdown or what.

[Full review on my blog!]

I am quite sad that I didn't like this more, as I have loved the author's previous books. Honestly, I just disliked all the characters so much that I didn't much care what happened to them? Things did pick up toward the last 20% or so, which was a bit of a saving grace, but since I wasn't really invested in the characters, I wasn't that concerned about what ended up happening to them either. It was a pretty quick read, though!