With her latest psychological thriller GOOD GIRLS LIE, J.T. Ellison again takes us through a whirlwind of emotions as we try to unravel what is true during this heart thumping spiel of lies and cover ups. The characters are enthralling and the torment and terror are divine, though hard to follow who is who at times.

Secrets and lies abound as a teenage Londoner travels to a prestigious Virginia all-girl prep school to round out her high school years with studious precision that will surely get her into the college of her dreams. She has secrets that we think we know the truth about, but as months unravel, we learn all isn't what it seems.

When a popular student who happens to be her roommate winds up dead, everyone begins to believe the stories floating around about why she would want to commit suicide ... but when more truth comes to light, it leads to more info than they ever bargained for. In the end, the day of reckoning arises ... but who will be the victor?

I recommend this story to anyone who enjoys a deeply combustible story line of danger and lies. I was hooked from the start and though there was some confusion at times to figure out who was actually on point in certain scenes, I really enjoyed it.

A roller coaster of a read that grabbed me from page one and didn't let go! I loved the boarding school setting and the twists kept me on the edge of my seat! I can't wait to read more books by this author!

I have always been a fan of boarding school mysteries and high school girls' plots purely for the drama it will most definitely involve. As expected, this consists of a lot of drama for sure. Goode school is a boarding school for the girls of rich elite of the country. From there it is an investigation to find if it was a suicide or a murder. However things go even crazier when another girl is found brutally murdered. It goes into a high gear from there for a newcomer Ash Carlisle, who comes there all way from London to Virginia. There is another backstory on why and how she ends up in this school as a rich orphan.

It starts off dramatically where the body of a girl falls off from the bell tower of the school. This plot consists of many secrets which kept coming up and the whole boarding school itself has a huge role in the plot with secrets clubs, hazing, scandals, blocked areas, murders, etc.

The plotting and technological capabilities of the girls especially Ash, was a bit too much to believe. But I was fine with that as the drama kept it interesting. The ending seemed a bit hurried up version as the buildup to it was good but the ending could have been somewhat better I felt.

This is definitely worth checking out for the sinister plot and the girl’s boarding school drama.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy to review!

Excited that this Bad of Paper January book pick. I really loved this book set in boarding school. Can't wait to listen to the episode.

The Goode School is an elite, all-girl boarding school in Virginia. As the novel begins, a 16-year-old student is found hanging on the entrance gate. Secret societies, cliques, and a mysterious past are all part of the culture at Goode School.

However, the story slows down quite a bit from the impactful beginning and takes awhile to pick back up. It reads as an adult novel in a YA setting, which gives it a little identity crisis. As the mystery of the novel unwinds, it provides a surprising ending.

Good Girls Lie by  J.T. Ellison is a psychological thriller.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Harlequin/Mira, and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
 

My Synopsis:   (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)

The Goode School for girls is a prestigious prep school in Virginia, designed to ensure its students get into the Ivy League Schools like Harvard, Yale, etc.  They have a really good track record.  The school has been run by one of the Westhaven women since the early 1800s, currently by Dean Ford Julianne Westhaven.  She is determined to make everything run smoothly until she can escape to New York, and if that occasionally means looking the other way, so be it.

But there is a dark side to this wonderful old school.  The rules are not always followed.  The competition is fierce, the girls rather mean, and the cliques and secret societies can be painful and deadly.  Lies and truths become mixed.

When Ash arrives from England, she has her own secrets, and although she wants to fit in, she also wants to lay low.  That is not to be.  This boarding school is steeped in traditions and secrets, and lies... and they aren't all Ash's.



My Opinions:  

An old school on a hill was a great setting for this mystery, adding a lot of atmosphere.

Definitely some good twists in this one, although there was enough fore-shadowing, that they didn't seem really big.   However, even when you knew that someone was lying, the truth, when it came, sometimes snuck up on you.   

I found that the book moved slowly at the beginning, but the writing was so good that it still kept me interested.

The characters, in particular the cattiness and gossip among the privileged girls, seemed a little cliché, but suited the narrative rather well.

This may not have been her best, but I did end up enjoying it.  I have read four or five of Ellison's books, and my ratings are all over the place,  which is why I continue to read her books....you never know when you are going to hit gold!


For a more complete review of this book and others, please visit my blog: http://katlovesbooksblog.wordpress.com/

Truth, Lies, and Murder at and Elite Girls' School

The Goode School is for those privileged young ladies born to wealth and position to train for leadership positions in the world. That is what parents and even the dean of the school would like to believe, but there is a darker side of troubled teenagers, secret societies, and an honor code that doesn’t stop the girls from committing dangerous acts and lying about them.

The opening scene is suitably chilling. In the early morning of a Virginia day, the students wake to find a classmate hanging from the arch of the entrance gate. Her face is so mutilated that it takes time to identify her. Who would do such a thing and more important, why?

This is a suitably chilling psychological thriller. As we’re introduced to the girls, we realize that all is not as it seems. Ash, a new student from England, is talented and beautiful. Her parents are dead and she’s there on a scholarship sponsored by the dean. It all sounds very normal, but immediately she tells us how much she likes to lie. It’s the first hint of the serious troubles infecting the school.

If you enjoy psychological thrillers with lots of twists, this is a good one. The lives of the students, parents, and teachers are intertwined in sinister ways it’s hard to guess. The setting is realistic, not surprising because it’s based on the author’s years at Randolph-Macon Woman’s College in Lynchburg, Virginia. Because of the author’s familiarity with the setting the hidden tunnels and haunted arboretum are quite realistic.

I received this book from Harlequin for this review.

Thank you net galley for this advance copy in exchange for an honest review. I really like this book, though the first 1/3 was slow and wasn't sure that I'd like it even though the prologue really grabbed me and I wanted to know who it was and what happened. I really liked the insights that she gave into the characters. There are also a lot of lessons to be learned about hazing and bullying, although I was unaware that hazing happened in high school too. There were a few surprises in this novel, though I was able to predict some of the twist. The ending left me shocked and wondering who the good girl really was.I love J.T. Ellison books, this was not her best, but it was very good.

This book is a dark exhilarating thriller of a ride. This book was almost impossible for me to put down because there was always something that was happening that I couldn’t take myself away from the story. The high speed pacing of this book along with the breadcrumbs of truths that we get kept me enthralled all the way through. The gothic setting of the story along with the social structure of the school added so much depth to the story that I was captivated from the beginning.

The structure of the book was also unique in that each chapter has a headliner that signified what was going to happen. I love that the author, Ellison, chose to do this because it amped up the suspense so much. This is probably the biggest reason that I read this book in practically one sitting.

The characters in this book are all so dark and complex that I never knew who was doing what or who was in on what or who was hurting or helping someone. I love books like this where you are never sure exactly what is happening. Even when you do think you know something it turns out that you didn’t know everything and I really appreciate when an author is able to do that.

The ending of this book was just as spectacular and didn’t let me down. I will admit that I was a little worried that things were getting tied up a little too neat but there was still some stuff thrown in there that kept me just as hooked as I had been all the way through. Good Girls Lie is hands down the best thriller I have read this year and I cannot recommend this book enough to you. If you want to either end or start your reading year off right then I highly suggest this book. It is a masterpiece of a thriller and is definitely one of my top books of the year.

Good Girls Lie is wonderfully atmospheric with a Gothic feel, and some of my favorite parts of the book were the descriptions of the school and its surrounding area. That's not to say that I didn't like the suspense of the story. And yes, I say suspense, not thriller, because this one moved a little too slowly for me to consider it a thriller. It does start out with a thriller vibe that is sure to pull a reader in. However, it slows down considerably after that and doesn't really pick back up until about the 50% mark. There is a decent twist, but if you're paying attention, it isn't hard to figure out way ahead of time. That's not necessarily a bad thing. I always try to guess the big reveal, and while I love it when the reveal shocks me, I'm not disappointed when I'm right either. Although, I will say that this one could've been a little less revealing in its tidbits and hints from the start. In the end, this one didn't wow me, but it was worth the read, and once the story took off, I was invested enough to keep turning the pages. I really think Good Girls Lie would make an excellent movie or mini-series with its rich atmosphere. One thing is sure, this author certainly knows her stuff when it comes to setting.

UNPUTDOWNABLE!!!

The Goode School is a school for girls in Marchburg, VA. Most of the students are daughters, of wealthy people in the Washington, DC area. The school is built on the Honor Code and Goode girls don't lie. The school has been around for generations. After the death of her parents, Ash Carlisle is sent to Goode. She really has no other place to go. But Dean Westhaven thinks there is something a little off about the Ash who is at her school compared to the Ash she interviewed as part of the application process. She can't really put her finger on why. When strange things start to happen, the dean has to wonder if bringing Ash to Goode was a good idea.

Thank you to NetGalley and MIRA Books for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This book was so hard to put down. It had me at the edge of my seat from the beginning to the end. I know I could never go to an all girls school, especially for high school when hormones are running rampant. The Goode School is a good opportunity for the girls to get into an Ivy League college. But there are secrets hidden all over the place that no one wants exposed.

From the beginning, the story draws you in and doesn't let you go. I immediately felt a connection to these characters and was invested in what was going to happen to them. I couldn't stop reading until the very end. This was the kind of book where I wish I could have put all of my responsibilities to the side just so I could concentrate on this book alone. But with the holidays and four kids, it's kind of hard. Without those distractions, I'm sure I could haven finished this book in 1-2 days.

Ash Carlisle just wants to get away from all of the drama in Oxford. Coming to the United States is just the escape she needs to make the circumstances of her life just a little better. But when things around her start happening that she has no control over, she knows that there are other factors at play. Will she be able to make it through the school year without the drama that has seemed to follow her? Or will Ash fall victim to the secrets of the Goode School?

Well this one grabbed me at the beginning and didn’t let go! It was well written, fast paced, and full of suspense.
Many thanks to Harlequin MIRA and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Girls can lie and be nasty. Oh what a tale Ellison wields in her new novel. Ash, a new student to the private prep school that caters to the rich and famous finds her new life quite interesting and seemingly quite dangerous. She’s come across the ocean to attend the Virginia s elite school where rules are set and expectations are high, but oh what a student society actually exists. There are secret societies, rumors, lies, secrets, mean girls, and deaths to keep you winding your way through a thriller to find out who’s who, who did what, why they did it to an intriguing conclusion.

I was provided with an ARC of this title from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This story has all of the elements I want in a thriller:
- a sinuously twisted, sinister plot that kept me guessing until the final chapter.
- a cast of unpredictable and unorthodox characters with conflicted loyalties.
- a backstory revealed in poignant glimpses.

I devoured it during a 2 hour flight. I highly recommend this outstanding read to anyone who enjoys reading the works of Riley Sager or Ruth Ware.

I will start off by saying I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The first chapter had me hooked, and I hadn't figured out the ending until the very end. This book wasn't your typical thriller, it had more to the story and kept you guessing throughout the entire book.

Ash takes off to America to an all-girls prestigious boarding school to escape her life back in Oxford. What she doesn't expect is to find herself full of emotions and becoming the centre of everyone's attention. When one domino falls, all the pieces begin to crumble and she needs to escape her past, once and for all.

This was my first novel by J.T. Ellison and it will certainly not be my last. The character build up made you connect so deeply with each one, but also left you guessing about their motives and personalities. The story wove a grand tale of deceit and who to believe, while never giving away too much and keeping you wanting more. Definitely check this one out!

I have two types of catnip when it comes to books; Witches coming into their powers and Secret Societies. Good Girls Lie by J.T. Ellison is filled with secret societies and teen drama, just like the shows I watch on CWTV. Don’t judge! Legacies, Nancy Drew, and Charmed, yup, some people think it’s trash TV, but I love it.

This is the second book I’ve read by Ellison, the first being Lie to Me. I really enjoyed that one, so I was excited to give this one a read. Good Girls Lie is filled with one twist after another. Many of them you knew were coming with the foreshadowing and clues Ellison weaved into the story. But this didn’t take away from the enjoyment of the book. And there was still some surprises that I didn’t see coming.

It’s told from multiple points of view, with the main one being Ash’s. I thought this worked well to keep the reader a bit off balance. Right when you’re starting to get into Ash’s head, Ellison switched to another character, one of them being a menacing voice that the reader may not be sure who it is.
There is plenty of character development. You will root for some of the characters, feel sorry for some, and perhaps hate a few. Ellison also does a fantastic job with the descriptive elements of the school and town. You can feel how lonely and isolated the school is, and how the town is dead only to come partial alive when the students go into town.

As with any good secret society book there are secrets, some deadly, hazing, and the questioning of one’s sanity. And of course, with an all girls school, you’re going to have some questioning of one’s sexuality. I thought Ellison did a good job of combining hormones with not being sure of your place in the world yet.

There are two reasons I’m giving Good Girls Lie four stars instead of five. The first being I felt the story could have been tightened up a bit, and that would have given it a more frantic feeling that would have enhanced it as a thriller.

The second is because of the very, very ending. If Ellison would have left it at the first ending, I might have given the book five stars, but the second ending was a bit too far-fetched for me, and it felt like a horror movie when they add on the last jump scare so there can be a sequel.

If you enjoy thrillers, secret societies, or all girl boarding school novels then you should give this one a read. I know I’ll be reading even more of Ellison in the future.

Goode girls don’t lie...or do they?

After a life-changing tragedy, Ash Carlisle moves from her home in Oxford, England to an all-girls boarding school in Virginia. The Goode School attracts the wealthiest and most elite girls and gives them the upper hand in Ivy League acceptance. But among the school’s accelerated courses, rich traditions and secret societies, something sinister is lurking. Who is behind the mysterious things that are happening at Goode School? Who is telling the truth and who is lying?

Good Girls Lie was my first book by J.T. Ellison and I really enjoyed it! It kept me guessing along the way and delivered some unexpected twists. I loved the boarding school setting and the alternating character perspectives. Overall, a quick and twisty read that my mystery and thriller loving friends will love! This one will hit shelves just in time to add to your 2020 TBR. Look for it December 30th!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin-Mira for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Good Girls Lie - Available December 30; 2019

Girls at the prestigious Goode school, an all girls boarding school in Virginia, are held to a strict honor code. When Ash shows up for her first day she is already hiding her past and living a lie. As she struggles to make friends while slowly discovering the school has a dark past and secrets of its own, she fails at keeping her own past hidden. When one girl turns up dead, the dean of the school, the students, and Ash.s secrets unravel.

I wanted to like this book but it was a little too far fetched for me. I felt the transitions between perspectives were confusing and it was obviously supposed to be that way. While this book wasn’t my favorite by the author, it was still a fun book to read and I was up late reading to see how it ended,.

Thank you to NetGalley and MIRA Publishing for the free copy of this book I’m exchange for my honest review.

Great thriller, fast and easy to read. A cozy and intimate setting of the Goode school got the book going, interesting characters kept me turning pages in the middle, and a nice twist at the end made the the book exciting. Very well done.

The book starts off with something or someone hanging from the iron gates. Everyone at the prestigious school is shocked this could happen. The book is full of twists and turns and the writing was on point,