Member Reviews

Oh I really really enjoyed this book! Secrets, lies, mystery, drama and death, all surrounded by the honour code at an all girls private school filled with some vicious and venomous teenage girls! You never know what to expect and who you actually friends are because in the end, everyone is hiding something! Loved this intriguing and thrilling story!

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Well, that was fun! The Goode School is an elite, all girls school with creepy staircases, tunnels, secret societies and lots and lots of secrets and scandals.

It’s hard for me to write a detailed review without giving too much away on this one, but I found it brilliant and super fun to read! You always want to know what’s coming next!

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Oh wow, What a book! I love a good boarding school mystery/thriller, but this is next level. The number of twists and turns this book takes is insane. I was shocked by most parts, and I never could have predicted the ending. It was phenomenal. I will be thinking about this one for a longgggg time. Highly highly recommend!

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Having been to an all girl's school ( though not a posh one like this) I could realte to the goings on in this story. Characters were believable and I certainly sided with the main character even though she was not necessarily a good character.
All was not what it seemed once I got towards the end of the book. Would certainly recommend.

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Good Girls Lie is the newest novel by author J.T. Ellison. This book is set in Virginia at an elite boarding school known as the Goode School. Ash is a new transfer student to the school from England. She's left a traumatic past behind and is ready to begin her new life. However, she's not quite ready for all of the happenings that are occurring at the school. There are taps into secret societies, girls dying for no known reason, and hazing. The deeper Ash becomes involved in these happenings, then the more she is making herself vulnerable. Read and enjoy!

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I'm typing this with an unrepentant smirk on my face and holding back a diabolical laugh. Perhaps a part of me is evil...or maybe I enjoy a wicked twist!

Good Girls Lie is filled with intrigue, lies, secrets, and plenty of mystery. The Goode school gets exactly what it deserves. Forged into a respectable girls school, The Goode School houses 200 well respected young women who will go on to be leaders and captains of industry. Goode girls run this world. Goode girls never lie.

On my honor...I had a wild time figuring it out. I was wonderfully entertained by this novel. I think my paranoid mind was extremely helpful in discovering the secrets in these pages. Devious or not, any mystery lover would have fun dissecting these pages. Just dont forget...Goode girls never lie.

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Sigh, this is another thriller that everyone lauded as being fast-paced and amazing and yet I struggled through it all. It just wasn't that compelling to me. And I wish I felt otherwise cause the premise was really intriguing. I just didn't like many of the characters and they weren't even cool unlikable characters, just merely dull.

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Set at an all girl's boarding school amidst drama, cattiness and murder, the setting of this book was great but Unfortunately the rest of it didn't work for me. I couldn't get into the mystery or connect with the girls. This had a very YA feel to it and YA isn't my favorite. Could be a case of this just wasn't the right style or plot for me but I've liked her last 2 books much better

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My Highly Caffeinated Thought: A complex layering of duplicity, emotional relationships, and fierce reactions.

GOOD GIRLS LIE is another brilliantly executed dark and twisty novel by J.T. Ellison. I cannot stress enough how positively delicious the plot and development of this thriller is. It is downright addictive.

Here is the thing. No matter how many times I read a book by Ellison, she continues to shock me with her tales of lies, bad behavior, and murder. I think I am going in one direction and have a grasp on where the story is taking me. Then, she reveals a crucial tidbit to the plot, and I am on shaky ground again. I love it so much! 



What I enjoyed about this particular book is how the author wove together the privilege of these girls with the grit and angst. There was not one character I met that didn’t have multiple facets…or faces…to them. For each lie, nasty act, or secret, there was a moment of heart, honesty, and emotion. This balance truly enriches the psychological aspect of the thriller. As a reader, I couldn’t get enough of the happenings at the Goode School for girls.

At this point, I just have to say one thing.

All hail J.T. Ellison, the queen of the mind f*ck thriller. I cannot wait to read want she gives me next.

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Good Girls Lie appealed to me because of the boarding school setting. It sounded like the perfect setting for a thriller-author to wreak some havoc! I wasn't wrong. She turned the Goode School upside down. I kind of wished the school would have been based in Tennessee, though.

The characters in the story are the kind of girls the rest of us love to hate. They're beautiful, filthy rich, and oh-so-snotty. The dean of the school comes across as classy and eloquent, yet there's this feeling that she's super shady. So of course, you're just waiting the whole time to see it all come down.

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B | This is a solid thriller/mystery book that had me on the edge of my seat half the time. It’s a dark and twisting tale. It has elements of Gossip Girl tossed into the mix, although this is certainly more grown-up. From the very first page, this book refuses to let you go. It makes you go back and forth, making you question what is truth vs. lies.

The first impression I had with the book was that it has a very Gossip Girl like vibe. Except, you know, this book opens with a death. Now, this is one of those books (well, eARC in my case since I received this book as part of the blog tour, but you know, schematics) that I can honestly say I enjoyed it. But while it captured my attention from the start, it wasn’t until I made it to about the middle of the book where I truly started to devour the book, even then I felt like the moon — waxing and waning in interest. Before that, I was only really interested in certain parts of the book because they were so — different.

Strange? Well, let’s just say that it had to do with the tone of some of the chapters written in 1st POV. I won’t say anything more than that.

But the tone is one of the biggest strengths in this book. While I didn’t care for Ford or any of the other characters presented to us in 3rd POV, every character had their own distinctive tone and voice. That’s part of the reason why certain chapters caught my attention more than others. My interest waxed and waned until I reached the middle part of the book, and then I was all in.

Still, while it took me a while to get into the groove of things and care — I did like Ash. Her POV chapters were mostly interesting and the more I read, the more I needed to know.

Another strength of this book is the writing. Ellison’s writing is to the point. It is straight forward and doesn’t weigh you down with nonsensical descriptions. While I tend to appreciate the worlds around the characters described in sci-fi/fantasy novels (or hell, even historical fiction) because they are different worlds/times, after all, I don’t like to see it very much in contemporary fiction. This was a “wham, bam, thank you, ma’am,” sort of book which I’m happy for — at least in this case.

However, where there are strengths, there are weaknesses. One of the biggest weaknesses was pacing. The book felt stretched out — like things were added in just to add more pages. There were times where I told myself to just keep going and reading. Yeah, the plot is interesting, but even an interesting plot can be maimed by bad pacing.

Another weakness is the other characters. Yes, Ash is an interesting character and her chapters in 1st POV made things even cooler because I ended up wondering if she was a reliable narrator. But, aside from Ash, Becca was the only other interesting one. Everyone else felt — boring? A bit dull, really. They were just there.

Overall, I still say that this is a solid thriller. I recommend that you give this book a try.

I received this book as I am taking part in a blog tour for this novel. Thank you to Harlequin Mira for a chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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I really enjoyed this read. I enjoyed the boarding school aspect of this one. It provided a little mystery, some creepiness with all the secret societies, and a solid twist in the end.

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I don’t like to tell much about a book in a review because it ruins it for others, so I will just say this: Girls boarding school, rich and powerful girls, haunted tunnels, secret societies and murder. What else do you need in a book?

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Slow start with a great ending! What drew me to this book besides the synopsis was that it is set in a prep school in the mountains of Virginia. Any books set in my home state will usually pique my interest even though this is indeed a fictional prep school and town. Back to the story.. I did indeed guess a few of the plot twists but still enjoyed them. If you're a Gossip Girl fan you'd enjoy this book as the characters are all catty and dramatic high school girls. So many lies! Towards the end of the book is when things get really interesting and I had a hard time putting it down. This is the first book I've read by J.T. Ellison but I look forward to reading more of her books in the future.
*I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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I am regretting my procrastination because it means I read this book 6 weeks ago and my memories are already hazy. One thing I can definitely say is that it was probably a mistake to read it so closely to The Swallows, which had a similar setting and feel. (Props to Ellison for setting this is Virginia and actually making a strong effort to get the geography right - I can picture the location of this town and school perfectly because her description matches my geographic memory so well.) The school is filled with girls of all types, many of whom it's easy to love to hate 20 years removed from the time when they would have tormented me in reality. There are quiet girls who go along to get along. There are few who stand out; I found it difficult to like a single character, even the murder victim. When the twists start coming at the end, they are totally out of left field—I don't remember there being any possible way the reader could have predicted it. Great plotting in general, particularly around the school's Honor Code. A good summer read, but if you choose one girl's boarding school book to read this year, go with The Swallows.

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I really liked the storyline of this book and thought it was an interesting read but something just didn’t click for me. I felt like it dragged on at times and something felt very familiar about the twists. The characters were great and overall it was still an enjoyable read.

Thank you to the publisher and @netgalley for providing a free advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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I really loved this story. I need to check out more of Ellison’s work. Great characters and that twist, are you kidding me?! So good!

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“Good Girls Lie” by J.T. Ellison
Genre: #fiction #thriller ⁣⁣
Synopsis: see comment section⁣⁣
CW/TW: suicide, homicide, drug addiction, abortion⁣⁣
Rating:☀️☀️☀️/5 ⁣⁣
1-Word Review: ⁣⁣
histrionics[ his-tree-on-iks ]⁣⁣
noun⁣⁣
dramatic representation; theatricals; acting.⁣⁣
———————————————————⁣⁣
𝟑.𝟎/𝟓.𝟎:⁣⁣
𝗪𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐝:⁣⁣
The girl drama is strong with this one. I loved the gossip girl-esque setting with characters that are driven and smart (despite what their motives/intentions may be). This book kept me entertained from start to finish. ⁣⁣
⁣⁣
𝗪𝐡𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝟓/𝟓? 𝘙𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳: 𝘐 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝟻𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵:⁣⁣ 𝟷. 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 ⁣⁣ 𝟸. 𝘐𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘤....⁣⁣
𝗪𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞:⁣⁣
•This is not a book that will necessarily “keep you guessing” until the end. You figure out at an earlier point than most thrillers, what is “going on”. What keeps you reading, is blatant curiosity for how this will turn out.⁣⁣
•I need more shock, more surprises, more “OMG” from my thrillers. In cases where I don’t have the aforementioned qualities- I need the book to be wrapped up beautifully in terms of closure for all characters and story lines. For me, there were characters that were beautifully developed and essential to the plot ...and then at the end it was like: hey here is what ended up happening to them but in ONE sentence. ⁣⁣
⁣⁣
𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: If you’re ok with no big SHOCKING moments in your thrillers (and you are in the mood for some gossip girl vibes)- I recommend this book for you. ⁣⁣

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It's been a while since I read this one, but I remember really enjoying it. There were twists and turns around every corner and it did not end as I had expected!

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WOW. I'm not even sure what to write that won't give much of this story away. So I will just say that this book was insane. INSANELY AWESOME. There was so much drama! and crazy boarding school sorority type chaos, and unbelievable twists and turns, and death...and it was just such a quick fantastic read!! This was my first JT Ellison book, and let me say I feel the need to read another of hers RIGHT AWAY!

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