First, this is definitely a mature book. I would say 16+ unless the younger reader has read things like this before. Think of a trigger warning and it's probably in this book. I will mention just some of them, but please be aware. This book was dark. Suicide, murder, drug addiction, hazing, physical abuse, abortion, mutilation, relationship with 16 and 20 year old, drinking, mental health issues, and more.

Even though there were some strange parts, I really did like this book. I wasn't quite prepared for how dark and mature it was, but I don't need the warnings (except for pet deaths). I was excited when I saw another mystery/thriller that took place in a boarding school, so I knew I'd have to sign up for the review tour. The book starts off with a body hanging from the gates of the all girl boarding school, The Goode School. When she's turned around, everyone says the word Ash. Everything goes back in time and it works its way back to that moment and what led up to it. The narrators were weird at times. It wasn't always the same person, but mostly Ash. I was questioning a lot and didn't believe anything. As the story was told, we find out that Ash's parents both died and she left Oxford to go to an elite boarding school in the US. She is 16 and a sophomore. It' obviously early on that Ash is upset about a lot of things. There are flashbacks to abuse from her father and drug use. She's determined that this fresh start will get her into Harvard and she can live a new life.

Ash had no idea how this school would be. It has an honor code with no lying. There were other rules, but that was the big one. There were no cell phones or internet use. Ash was good with computers and hid some accounts and could hack. She didn't do it often though. She really was trying. Her goal seemed to be to blend in and just get through school. But at other times, it seemed she wanted real relationships. Ash has a weird relationship with multiple students. Her roommate was hot and cold, often crying at night. Then there was Becca. Becca was the "head girl" at school. Everyone followed her and did what she told them to do. There was something about Becca that Ash was attracted to.

The school had a big history with some major scandals. The dean, Ford, was young, but it was a family school. She was determined to make it work. While reading, a lot of the past comes out. There are also secret societies with hazing that goes on. The school was a bit dark considering only the best 200 girls get into the school. Most of these girls are rich and privileged, so it wasn't surprising that they were viscous and backstabbers.

The book goes back and forth in time. There are also chapters that cover people like Ford, where Ash is not the narrator. Secrets and twists happen until we get back to the girl hanging on the gate.

I gave this book 4 stars. Thank you to the publisher for my review copy.

Good Girls Lie by JT Ellison ticked all the boxes for a great psychological thriller for me. I am a big fan of JT, loving her stand alone books as well as the Taylor Jackson series through the years. When I heard about her new book I was desperate to get my hands on a copy. l was thrilled when I was approved for an ARC. And true to form once I started reading I did not want to put it down. I was completely hooked after that first chapter - and it just kept getting better.

So Good Girls Lie opens with a young student hanging from the front gates of the Good School in Virginia, a boarding school for the daughters of the rich and elite. A new student has arrived, Ashlyn Carr. She has recently become an orphan when both her parents died suddenly. Being from England this is a whole new world for her. A school steeped in history, old and creepy with secret societies and lots of mean girls. Ash has plenty of her own secrets and struggles to find her place. She tries to fit in and make friends but these girls do not make it easy. And then girls start to die...…

Absolutely loved this book, could not get enough. Highly recommend.

Thanks to Netgalley and Harlequin MIRA for my advanced copy of this book to read. All opinions are my own and are in no way biased.

Not you average “ mean girls in a boarding school” book. I really enjoyed the twists and turns of Good Girls Lie.
Ash has entered a new world at an elite boarding school, where everyone has secrets. But maybe not as many as Ash. Is she really who she says she is? And why do people start dying when she is around?

Thank you to NetGalley, J.T. Ellison and Harlequin – Mira for the free e-book in exchange for an honest review.

I love Ellison’s writing and I was so excited to dig into her newest dark mystery! I love boarding school mysteries and I was not at all disappointed by this one! It was a long, but interesting and quick read for me as there was never a dull moment. I loved the characters and all the rivalries’ that were occurring between the grades and the different personalities. Each character seemed to have more than their fair share of secrets and finding them out throughout this novel was so much fun. This was such a twisty, dark novel and I was thrilled to be allowed early access! This one is definitely worth the wait and I would definitely recommend!

Out December 30th!

Oh. My. Gosh!!! What a juicy and compelling read!! I had trouble putting it down until I could see how it all planned out.

Take one very small, female-only, very elite prep school. Fill it with rich, young, entitled women on the fast-track to the Ivy League college of their choice, add a Dean who has issues of her own and a couple of girls with serious mental health issues and you've got a recipe for disaster! And disaster finds the Goode school in small-town Marchburg, Virginia, again and again and again.

This book is one that fully earns its inclusion in the psychological suspense genre. Twists and turns, abundant secrets and duplicity, creepy factor, Ellison plays us well with this one! Add it to your TBR pile. This gets a 4-star review from me!

Many thanks to NetGalley and MIRA publishers for allowing me to read an ARC of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. All opinions expressed here are my own.

A brilliant psychological suspense. Really creepy and dark. Chilling to the point of scary characters. Reminded me of The Dead Poet Society. Brilliant xx

This thirller is based at a boarding school, it is filled with so many secrets, hazing, murder, and some amazing surprises. I thought this was more of YA read when I requested it, but I can see now, that it could be for anyone.

I absolutley loved this fast paced read, I read it in a day. I couldn't put it down. This is my first book by this author, and I hope to be able to read many more.

Thank you Netgalley for a copy of this book for my honest review.

The Goode School is a prestigious all-girls boarding school in a small town in Virginia. They only accept the best and the brightest, and have a select number they accept each year. This year one of the ones accepted was Ashlyn Carr...recently orphaned rich girl from England. But bad things keep happening to the people around her.....
This book was SO good. I could not put this book down. This is definitely a must-read for all suspense lovers.

This book was a little bit hard for me to get into. I normally don’t mind books that seem a little on the YA side but this one was a bit predictable to me. There was some tension and secrets that made me keep going back to it though. This is definitely one of those fun weekend reads to relax to but not exactly my favorite. Still, the writing was good and I would read another book by this author.

Thank you Mira Books and Harlequin for the advance digital galley.

The Goode School has been around for decades, providing young women with a top notch education and ties that gain them early acceptance to ivy league schools. But, the school has its share of secrets and scandals. And Ashlyn Carr is about to bring even more of that to the table.

This book kept me reading until all hours of the night. It has twists and turns that kept me on my toes til the end. Just when I thought that I had things figured out, a new twist was thrown into the mix and I was left slack jawed.

This Gothic take on a boarding school with secrets made for an atmospheric thriller that sucked me into the complicated lives of all of the characters. I was engrossed in this story and invested in the people, likable or not. I do wish that I had more background on the detectives that were involved in the case and I wish that I was able to get to know Rumi (the townie who works for the school) a bit more. He is an interesting character that I would have liked to have gotten to know better.

This is a page turner of a thriller and the first JT Ellison book that I've read. I really enjoyed it. I like her writing style and I'll definitely be reading more of her work.

I will leave a review on Amazon or B&N on Dec 30, 2019

My thanks to the author, Harlequin-Mira and NetGalley for a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wow this was really one twisted book. I love thrillers, but for me this one was really out there. I'm not sure its because of the ages of most of the characters, but I have read many books that are more a YA book. The author is a very good author the book was well written but really just too twisted for me. I am sure many will love this book, and I was recommend anyone that enjoys thrillers read and make your own opinions.

This one was...weird. I read The Swallows earlier this year. I've read Prep and Magic for Liars and Old School. I get it. Boarding school is ROUGH. This one started out as strongly as all of those - but somewhere near the beginning of the end, it got just plain odd and it started losing me...

There's a lot of good stuff here. The characters are well developed, as is the setting - and in an atmospheric novel like this one, the school is almost a character in and of itself. Ellison did a great job establishing the creepy environment early on and that, coupled with our protagonist's disdainful dismissal of all the ghostly mumbo-jumbo, sets the stage nicely for the bizarre twists and turns that unfold. For the most part, throughout the majority of the book, the stage and the twists/turns follow a pattern that makes sense - a pattern that I enjoyed following along its windy, twisty way. But then, as things finally reach a head and actual (as opposed to red herring) revelations start trickling in, things shifted and the pattern felt hinky and I started rolling my eyes and skimming a bit...

I saw the major twist coming. Early on. But that's not the issue I had. I read A LOT of thrillers, and it's getting increasingly difficult to *really* throw me for a loop in this type of story. It happens, and I love when it does, but even if it doesn't, I often still enjoy reading them. These are escapist stories for me, and when they're written by someone who clearly knows what they're doing (as Ellison does), the pattern feels comfortable, like snuggling in your favorite sweater or watching your favorite movie yet again. The twists can be a fun diversion, but even they have to follow some kind of logic - even if only the internal logic already established in the book. I think that's where this one lost me - something about the runaway train of revelations and lies uncovered felt like it took a sharp left turn at Albuquerque (yes, I went with a Bugs Bunny reference) and that's where it started losing me...

On the whole I still enjoyed the story. It's got a VERY dark underbelly, but the writing is solid and so is the vast majority of the plot/pacing. Ellison is good at writing this particular brand of darkness. It's a compelling tale and you'll want to read it through to see what on earth it all means/was about. Just don't be surprised if it hiccups a little as you near the end...

3.5 Stars The story kept me engaged and I read it on a weekend. There were aspects especially towards the end of the novel that felt rushed and definitely "told rather than shown." I appreciated the author's note that explained the real-life inspirations. Overall, I'm still a fan of Ellison and look forward to reading more.

<i><b>Goode girls don't lie</i></b>.......or do they?

A code of honor, secret societies, and murder!

The Goode School is a prestigious all-girls school where the girls gain early acceptance to the ivy schools of their choice. This boarding school in Marchburg, Virginia accepts only the brightest (and richest) girls - daughters of politicians, prominent businessmen/women, and elite members of society. Rules are expected to be followed, there is an honor and conduct code that must be abided by. Sure, the secret societies and their hazing i.e. tagging activities are overlooked. They are time-honored traditions after all.

Then one day a student is found dead. Was her death a suicide? Was she murdered? Soon suspicions are voiced and students, police and the dean begin to have doubts about one student. Are their doubts correct? Who is to blame?

The setting was wonderful. An all-girls school in the hills without much around, secret societies. This sounds like the making of a very book (even movie) but there was just something a little lacking in this for me. I wanted just a little bit more oomph to this. I wish there would have been more mystery as to who the culprit was. The reveal was not shocking to me. Plus, I was really hoping that a secret relationship would come out. This is a book that I feel would make a great plane book. It's entertaining, a great way to pass time, but will I remember it months from now. Probably just vaguely. I will say that I found the epilogue to be excellent. Very clever. I thought the epilogue was the best part of the book.

The writing was good, and the plot moved at a good pace. Many are enjoying this book more than I did so I encourage my fellow readers to check out those reviews as well.

Thank you to Harlequin- Mira and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

I absolutely adored Good Girls Lie. It had all of the elements I love in a thrilling book. The atmosphere, the plot twists, the murder, the private school drama: all so well done and built up to create such a wonderful novel. I know I will be putting all her other works high up on my reading list for next year!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin for my copy of this thriller. I found this book difficult to put down. It starts off pretty quickly with a young woman’s body found hanging from the gate at an elite all-girls boarding school in Marchburg, Virginia. The Goode School is for the daughters of the rich and well-connected. Only the “best” girls can be Goode girls. Oh, but the appearances can be deceiving. The Goode School honor code and traditions give way to secret societies and darkness around every turn at this old school. And, of course, a ton of lies.
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Good Girls Lie spins a tangled web that is told from several different POV. After the initial shock of the first couple of pages, things slow down and we go backwards in time to find out what happened at the school. I can’t really say too much more, but I enjoyed this thriller, probably one of the more memorable ones I’ve read. I never really knew where the story was going, the web of lies and deceit was so intricately woven. I will definitely read more of J.T. Ellison’s books in the future! You can take a visit to The Goode School yourself on December 31st. If you dare!

I was pulled into this story immediately. There are few sure-fire ways to pull a reader into a book, and I will stand by the opinion that a murder is always a good place to start.

With an elite all-girls school as the setting, I expected cattiness and toxic friendships—and I was certainly not disappointed. The Goode School fits all those prep school stereotypes with ghost stories, secret societies, humiliating initiations, and privileged girls who think they can get away literally with murder.

The perspective shifts in this book are really quite unique. We mainly follow the first-person POV of Ash, which provides an excellent sense of unreliability and twisted instability that I really enjoy in first-person POVs. There's also third-person narratives following the school's dean and the local police enforcement. All of them helped push the mystery further, with the third-person ones offering more insight into Ash and the possible going-ons at the ironically named Goode School.

I did have a few issues with the motive behind the killer's actions, as well as some characterization. I felt some questions of why or how were not properly addressed.

But overall, it's a twisty and fast-paced novel that you won't want to put down!

This was a great edge of your seat book! This book kept me captivated the whole time! I could not put it down!

Let me start out by saying that I love, J. T. Ellison’s books which is why I was so excited to receive an advance copy from NetGalley. Let me tell you that I was not disappointed in the least. The name on the building is the Goode Academy. It is a boarding school for young ladies. Believe me, these girls may be young, but they are not ladies. Second, there is not much “good” going on inside the academy. From secret affairs to hazing to sex and murder, there is not a day, or night, that goes by that there is not something happening within these walls. Although this was a fairly long book, I was glued to the pages from the very beginning and did not want the story to end. Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the opportunity to review this book.

Mysteries set in boarding schools are always fun and very Gothic. Good Girls Lie grabbed me and didn’t let go. As the story opens, we know that one of the Goode School girls has died in a horrific manner. The rest of the novel tells us how this happened. Ash Carr is a British transfer. Her parents just died (also in a horrible way, what a coincidence!) and she’s trying to fly under the radar. So far, not so good when she catches the attention of the queen of mean girls and accidentally sends a teacher to the hospital. The Dean of the school is also keeping an eye on her, but she has secrets of her own. Everybody, it seems, is hiding something. I had an inkling of what was going on but had no idea how it could be. The plot kept surprising me and I loved the ending. My favorite part is the Goode School itself, with its underground tunnels, secret rooms and legends. In the afterword, the author explains how some of this is based on schools she attended. Sounds fascinating! But it’s Ash that’s at the heart of the story. She may be a sociopath or just a fragile, lonely, scared girl. Either way, I enjoyed reading about her.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/HARLEQUIN – MIRA!