Densely plotted, jaw-droppingly twisted and absolutely heart-pounding, get ready to lose sleep and to have your life completely and utterly consumed by J.T. Ellison’s latest page-turner, Good Girls Lie.

The Goode School is not an ordinary school for girls. Known as Silent Ivy, this prestigious academy is the school of choice for the daughters of the privileged and the powerful, the rich and the influential and the brightest and the best. The Goode School does not let anybody to stride through their doors, but it is a domain occupied by girls who will be the leaders of the pack and the movers and shakers of society. It is an institution that prepares its students on how to conquer the world and reach the top and stay there whatever it takes. Traditions are of paramount importance to the school, yet it looks like Silent Ivy might not have been as vigilant lately because a stranger has walked through its august doors and the ivy has just turned poisonous and deadly.

The pupils who attend Goode are used to life bending down at the knee for them. Their every need, whim and desire is catered for and they never question their privilege or think about the consequences of their actions. Any misdemeanor or misconduct is quickly brushed over and forgotten about, but it looks like getting away with murder could well and truly become a thing of the past when a popular student is found dead. The truth can no longer be glossed over because a Pandora’s box has been well and truly opened now and as shocking secrets, deceptions and revelations come to light, the glossy veneer is stripped back once for and all and the unvarnished truth is exposed – alongside with its harsh flaws and ugly blemishes.

In a world where reputation and appearances are everything, the students at Goode are about to get a very harsh dose of reality. But will the guilty be punished and will truth prevail? Or will money and privilege once again end up triumphing?

A spine-chilling thriller you will want to tell all of your friends about, Good Girls Lie is a heart-racing page-turner that grabs your attention from page one and will keep you glued to its pages until the early hours of the morning. J.T. Ellison is a phenomenal storyteller who knows what scares, worries and terrifies her readers and with her exceptional gift for storytelling, keeps the shocks and twists and turns coming.

A captivating thriller you will not easily forget, clear your schedule, switch off your phone and get ready to lose yourself in J.T. Ellison’s latest chiller, Good Girls Lie.

Thank you to NetGalley and MIRA Books for sending me a free advanced reader copy of this book for an honest review. Good Girls Lie debuted December 30th.

Good Girls Lie from start to finish felt like a book in conflict with itself. It’s not being marketed as YA, but many of the main characters are teenagers–though their dialogue speaks otherwise. The book is set at a boarding school, so there are the requisite secret societies, girl-on-girl drama, school murder, et cetera… but somehow it feels throughout the book like nothing is happening. And then the adult main characters (remember, this is supposed to be for an adult audience) fall seriously flat; I cared about a grand total of none of them, even as the author is dragging them through romantic twists and important life decisions.

The dialogue was the real death of me in this book. Much of it was entirely out of character, and nothing sounded like it would come from a teen’s mouth–way too staid and old-fashioned. Here are a couple examples:

-“Are you well, Camille?”
-“I’ll bid you goodnight.”
-“Then your insult was not only ill-advised but inaccurate and illogical.”

It felt like the author had never spoken to a teenager in her life. To make matters more difficult, there weren’t many dialogue tags included, so it often became difficult to follow conversations. I’m a fan of keeping dialogue tags on the sparser side myself, but I still recognize that you need to include enough of them so that readers have a sense of who’s talking.

Basically it felt like there was too much crammed into the book, and yet nothing was going on, and even worse, the characters were not nearly fun enough to hold up a book with little plot. I just think that there are so many other books that tackle similar subject matter in a more satisfying fashion. School murder, with people playing the blame game? One of Us Is Lying. Boarding school drama? Maureen Johnson. Young-feeling thriller with a twist at the end? Lock Every Door. Unfortunately I did not get on well with this book, and the writing style makes me wary of picking up another book by this author.

A psychological thriller set up in the elite boarding school for rich girls. Mystery after mystery, twists and turns. J.T. Ellison definitely knows how to grab reader’s attention. I really enjoyed this interesting book.

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for a fair review.

Thank you to MIRA for providing me with an e-ARC of Good Girls Lie by J.T. Ellison in exchange for an honest review!

3.5 rounded up!

Content Warnings: Good Girls Lie starts off with a scene of a character hanging. This is mentioned a couple more times through the book. There are also scenes & mentions of child abuse & drug addiction.

Good Girls Lie is a wild ride from beginning to end & you truly don’t fully understand what’s happening until the conclusion.

Without giving spoilers, there are chapters in which it’s difficult to know whose’s point-of-view the story is being told in. This may sound like a mess, but J.T. Ellison ties it together very well at the end and makes the set-up worth it.

As much as I found the beginning to be interesting (learning the history of the boarding school, the traditions, urban legends, etc.), I did find it to drag for a bit. It wasn’t until around the half-way mark that things started to fly, and I found it difficult to put the book down.

Good Girls Lie has a lot of ~spooky~ factors — from whispers in the hallways to the boarding school’s murder history. At times, it feels Good Girls Lie has the right amount of ingredients to be a ghost tale. That is until you fully grasp what’s happening in the story.

There’s also a lot of scandals within the halls of The Goode School. If you’re a fan of the dramz and shows/books like Gossip Girl then definitely give this book a checking out. There are relationship scandals & banned hazing rituals. What more could you want?

There’s an epilogue & that ending is extremely satisfying, even more so then the conclusion provided before the epilogue. In fact, if the book would have ended without an epilogue, I don’t think I would have enjoyed it as much.

Good Girls Lie is a good read for anyone who enjoys boarding school novels, mysteries/thrillers & drama.

Fun, fast-paced psychological thriller. An exclusive girls boarding school in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, with a checkered past, doesn't know what hit them when dead bodies start showing up at the same time as the arrival of a new transfer student, Ash Carr, from the UK whose parents are recently deceased. But something in all of this smells very off. The headmistress, with secrets of her own, is desperately trying to save her school and get to the bottom of it all.

Recommend this as an highly entertaining fun read. I pretty much knew the how and why through most of the book, but it didn't detract from the reading and I still had to second guess myself a few times throughout. I loved the ending and how there were no threads left dangling.

Many thanks to HARLEQUIN - MIRA and #NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

It is called The Goode School. A driving force behind the school is the strict code of honor. Only daughters of the well-to-do are privileged to attend. Girls that graduate from what is also called a Silent Ivy go on to be doctors, lawyers, politicians. How is it, then, that the school has become tainted?

Who is this the student that has changed the environment? It is someone the school's dean admitted, Ash Carlisle, or more accurately Ash Carr? Who is she? Why did Dean Westhaven allow her to become part of the school's student body?

Shockingly, a body is found hanging from the iron gates guarding the entrance at the school? Who is it and why are some girls heard to be practically chanting, Ash, Ash Ash?

What a way to start Good Girls Lie! From this point on in the book, the story starts being delivered in multiple viewpoints and at breakneck speed.

There are leading chapter headings such as The Lies, The School, The Arrival and The Dean. These first several chapters deliver a fantastic setup for what turned out to be a thrilling story of secrets, lies and much, much more. And, as entertaining as this book was, it is easy to see why this book was impossible to put down. As a matter of fact, any book read by J.T. Ellison, whether singly, or co-authored with Catherine Coulter, has proven to be a winner for me.

It has been a while since I have read a principle character with an unreliable narrator, and Ash fit that to a "t". The deeper the story got, the more convoluted it became. This compelling story led to an amazing conclusion. Another job-well done for one of my favorite authors.

Many thanks to Mira, NetGalley and Edelweiss for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

We love a mystery set in an elite private school! Murder, secret societies, friendship, lies - the perfect combination for a great read! Another entertaining book from J.T. Ellison!

Thank you to netgalley for providing us with a copy!

I first have to say that this is not my usual read but after reading a little more about it I had to dive into this story. It is full of secret society’s and rituals, which are completely my style of book. It is exciting and has a good tempo. However, I did find parts of it very unbelievable which in turn ruined certain characters for me. A younger me would not have cared at all about these things so I just tapped into her and enjoyed it for what it was, a really fun and exciting thriller/mystery.

There is just something about a story set at an all girls boarding school that peaks my interest. Be assured this book did not disappoint. There is something dark, gothic and forbidding about the Goode School, set in Virginia. Small town, the school being its claim to any name. Full of history and traditions and rules, oh so many rules. While set in current day the rules seem very strict, no cell phones for the students being one of the most constricting.

Ash Carlisle arrives from Oxford, England just before fall classes are set to begin. We learn immediately of her family tragedy and her desire to be a studious yet invisible student. Dean Westhaven sees herself as confidant, guardian and friend.

A school full of privileged teen girls has to include drama, because this is the real world. The natural hierarchy of who’s who, money and power have dug in deep at Goode, and with ominous and deadly results.

J.T. Ellison has given us a compelling and can’t put down book to begin 2020. I felt inside the dark and hallowed halls of the school, the dorm, the secret tunnels and passageways. An unreliable narrator doesn’t even begin to tell the story of the secrets and lies that are all over this school.

This is my first book by the author but certainly not my last. My advice, grab this up any way you can and be prepared to enjoy every dark unputdownable page.

There is something about the Goode Girls..........they come from well respected families...they are wealthy...they are smart...they are wealthy...they are driven...they are wealthy...Also..they drink, do drugs, cut school, murder, bully, haze, lie and get into the BEST colleges!

The Goode Prep school is the best of the best. All girls of Goode are hand picked by the dean and have been for decades. Goode is almost a guarantee to an Ivy League school of your choice upon graduation. The girls of Goode seem to have it all...don't they?

I loved the atmospheric feel that the author managed to create. An old building surrounded by wrought iron gates, a wicked past filled with suicides and murder. The building is cold, dark, secluded. Often as the girls were going about their day I felt a tinge of unease and creepiness as I imagined the building and the secrets it kept.

The girls at Goode seemed much older than the high school girls that they were. They were functioning in an environment with very little supervision, treated more like college students. They were expected to be able to write a thesis and it was not uncommon to be a part of secret societies with outlandish initiation processes.

Ash Carlisle was like all the other girls that arrived at the school. Well except her family is dead and she was witness to it. Pretty much everyone around her dies...well there is that. Maybe it is just a coincidence? Bad luck?

As a fan of J.T. Ellison I knew she would bring a big twist into the mix. She did with this book as well, although I did find it a slower pace and more atmospheric than her other books I fully loved the boarding school setting. I thought the ending was a bit predictable but I still enjoyed the road we took to get there.

There's a lot going on in this book; plot points pile one on top of the other and things get pretty crazy. Private school antics. Illicit romances. Ghost stories. Unreliable narrators. Depending on the thriller, I like to have the story firmly grounded in reality, or I just go with the flow and get swept up in the drama. Good Girls Lie requires you to do the latter. Enjoy the twists and turns, the spooky murder mystery, and the entertaining characters. Though the middle of the story dragged a little for me, overall I thought this was a great mystery/thriller.

Good Girls Lie by J.T. Ellison is a difficult novel to get into. I could not connect with characters. I struggled with knowing who the main protagonists were. The beginning was so slow, I wanted to skip halfway through the novel just to see if it was better. I was so disappointed with this book. It was frustrating. I know J.T. Ellison can write well. This novel was just not up to her normal high standards. The topics issued in this book sounded good-reminded me of Pretty Little Liars. A lot of the content was geared for YA but it was so dark it should be for those 18+. I am not judging the book by the topics it brought. I was so curious to read about a prep all girls school and see what secrets were hidden. Yet, as I read it, I was like-nope, forget it. My attention span said this isn't worth reading. Again, I was upset that this was not as good as it sounded or should have been.

No one is as special as a Goode girl. The Goode School is nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains, far away from outside distractions to provide privileged, bright young girls the tools they need to be leaders in society. But for Ash Carr, her arrival at Goode is tinged with the haunted memories of her parents' deaths.

As smart and talented as Ash is, she is no match for the girls at Goode, especially Becca, a brazenly cruel senior that wants Ash to be her mark. It is through her classes, her interactions with other students, and her past that never seems to leave her alone that Ash must forge ahead to prepare herself for the life that she wants to live. But when teachers and students start dying under mysterious circumstances, it is apparent that Ash will not be able to live the quiet life that she desperately wants.

This book is full of intrigue, but some of the twists and turns will have to wondering just who the narrator is at times. This is ultimately on purpose, making sure that you are just as confused as the rest of the character in the book until the reveal. However, at about 70% every reader will realize what is going on, it is just a matter of getting to the resolution after that. The problem? The resolution is ambiguous. I found it a head-scratcher, which I enjoy, but those looking for a clear resolution to Ash Carr's story may walk away from the book without a solid answer.

An intriguing first chapter followed by an attention grabbing story.
The scene is set with a prestigious all-girls boarding school with an Honor Code and seemingly perfect girls with strictly laid-out rules but all of it is tinged with a darker undercurrent of secrets.
It is a bit difficult in the beginning to identify all the narrators, but it soon becomes easier.
The ending blows you away - I'm still not 100% sure who the "real" villain was
Well-written with enough intrigue to leave you reading deep into the night. The title is a clever play on words.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me the chance to read this book.

I featured this on my blog and will provide specific details directly to the publisher in the next round of this process.

The book was a twisted tale of girls in the exclusive Goode school. A new girl, Ash's entry flipped the balance. And secrets overtipped it.

My second book by the author J. T. Ellison, it was predictable in its mystery. The book had a lot going for it with its secret societies, the meanness, drinks and drugs. The school gave an eerie atmosphere to the book, its characters added to the mystery to some extent.

But the suspense and buildup of the plot were missing. Compared to the previous books, this was just meh. I tried liking it, but unfortunately it kind of misted away like a forgotten fog.

Overall, it was an okay book.

Good Girls Lie is set at an all girls boarding school, which already has me taking interest. Boarding school stories, especially those with secret societies or similar aspects are typically must reads for me. This one did not disappoint. It had a lot of twists and turns, some that I predicted but also some that threw me for a loop.

I did really enjoy the format with the flashbacks that suitably built up the backstory. It was like puzzle pieces falling into place as each different perspective and scene was revealed. The suspense and pacing of this book was also really good as it was a relatively fast read for me.

This was definitely a win when it came to suspense and creepiness, a lot of the time you are left wondering just who certain people are and what they have as motivations. And there are definitely moments of misdirection that I loved.

There is definitely something to be said about J.T. Ellison's writing style. The descriptions are soooooo damn good! I love it when I'm completely connected, feel as though I am inside the pages of the story. I was hooked from the first page of Good Girls Lie, read it in a day. It ticked all the boxes of a stellar psychological thriller for me. The creepy watch your back vibes, interesting characters, awesome storyline and asking yourself - who's the killer? This was an excellent read you're going to want to get your hands on.

Huge thank you to Harlequin - Mira & Netgalley for my review copy!

I am such a sucker for stories that take place at boarding schools, so as soon as this one came across my radar, I knew that I needed to read it as soon as possible. Thankfully, Good Girls Lie did not disappoint!

The Goode School is a prestigious all-girls boarding school located in Marchburg, Virginia. Each year, only 50 girls make up the incoming class which means that the roster boasts the brightest (and richest) girls in the country/world. This is ensured by Dean Westhaven who hand selected the accepted girls herself. One day, one of the students is found hanging at the front gates. Did she commit suicide or is there something more sinister at play?

Ashlyn Carr, who is originally from the UK, has arrived to the Goode School, but she does so under a different name. She is now Ash Carlisle, and she is desperately trying to keep her past life under wraps. All Ash wants is to finish school without drawing attention to herself, but she has managed to get tapped for one of the exclusive secret societies on campus. Can Ash maintain her secrecy when other sophomores dream of the opportunities that she now has access to?

Good Girls Lie was a fast-paced, page turner that left me needing more at the end of every page. I loved learning more about Ash’s background and the secrets that she so desperately wanted to hide. Additionally, the twists and turns left me guessing along the way. Some of them were a bit more obvious, but I was ultimately was guessing up until the very end. This was my first book by J.T. Ellison and will definitely not be my last!

Thank you to Harlequin and NetGalley for providing an eARC for review. This did not influence my review. All opinions are my own.

The story, Good Girls Lie, opens with a lie and a truth. It's your job to figure out which is which. I'll admit that this book was slow to start for me. I wasn't into the perspective switches and was kind of confused as to where the story was going. However, I did end up ultimately liking the end result. The characters were interesting and trying to figure out who had secrets kept me on my toes. At about halfway, the pieces started to fall into place and I found myself sucked in and wanting to see the solution. I did think I had guessed the big twist, but I was only partial correct. There are a lot of surprises along the away as well. I also loved the ending. It is almost best to go into this book not knowing much more than the synopsis. Even though it is slow to start, it's worth sticking to the end. I definitely recommend this one. What a great way to start off the new year!