Set at an elite boarding school for girls, Good Girls Lie is a twisty psychological thriller that will keep readers guessing until the end. Another great read from J.T. Ellison.

A twisty mystery of life and murder at an elite girls boarding school where everyone has secret desires and no one is as uncomplicated as she seems.

I would especially like to thank Mira Books and the Netgalley website without whom I would never have been able to read this wonderful story.

I was immediately attracted by the cover of this book, which shows a young girl well dressed with her face hidden.

This book is author J T Ellison's new psychological thriller in which she shows us that to protect their secrets people are willing to do anything like befriending each other, keeping power over their lies while making desperate efforts.

One learns from the beginning, given the title too, that good girls don't lie. The story takes place in Goode, better known as Silent Ivy, a boarding school for the daughters of rich and influential people where only the best and brightest are accepted. And thanks to the classes taught, they can have a bright future at Ivy League University. Except that a stranger will arrive at the boarding school and that will cause harm because a young girl will be found dead.

I got so hooked on the story, which is so moving in some parts, captivating, addictive, full of suspense and twists and turns with very endearing characters, that I pre-ordered the paperback book for August.

The daughters of the rich and famous attend Goode School, in West Virginia in the hopes of getting into a Ivy League school. Ash is among one of these hopeful attendees. As long as the girls pretend to follow the rules of The Honour Code, the secret societies are allowed to run. But when a girl is found dead, its rumoured that a big secret had lead her to suicide. But secrets can no longer be hidden and the truth will have to come out sooner or later.

I read J. T. Ellisons Lie to Me last year and thoroughly enjoyed it, so when I saw that they were releasing another book, I knew I needed to get my hands on it. I flew through this book, finding it difficult to put down, needing to know what happened next in the mystery. I like how the beginning of the book starts off with the death, and then we are thrown back into the events leading up to the murder. I loved trying to piece together what happened to the girl and why it happened. I also enjoyed how the story was told in alternating POVs at times and how we didn't know who a few of them were. The author also did this in Lie to Me, so I'm guessing it is part of their style, but I am definitely a big fan. I really liked the epilogue, I hadn't seen that part coming and like how it concluded everything in the end. I think Ash was a very interesting character, and I loved how my emotions kept switching between feeling sympathetic towards her and not knowing whether or not I could trust her.

Overall, a quick and entertaining thriller!

3.75/5 stars
Summary: The Goode School in Marchburg, Virginia is a boarding school where the rich and powerful send their daughters. The waitlist is lengthy and its graduates almost exclusively go on to attend Ivy League schools. With the start of the new term, a new girl, Ash Carlisle, arrives from the UK after the murder-suicide of her parents.
Ash quickly grabs the attention of Becca Curtis, the daughter of a prominent government figure. She is brought into the underground world of Goode’s secret society. When Ash’s roommate is found dead, all of the school’s secrets begin to seep out. As the school’s principal, local law enforcement, and Ash investigate what lurks behind the pretty ivy-covered walls, they will uncover secrets that no one anticipated from the unlikeliest people.

Thoughts:
Overall, I really enjoyed this book! I loved how many twists there were and the way that the ending answered each question that I had. I had a wonderful time trying to put together each piece of this puzzle, though I wish some of the twists weren’t as predictable. Ash was a wonderful protagonist whose wit and intelligence helped her navigate the twisted world of Goode. I appreciated the use of multiple POVs, but felt that a few of the characters were ultimately useless to the story.

I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it. To be honest I felt the character development was awkward and strange. The relationships between the girls just didn't fit. I wanted to be creeped out, but this book just left me wanting more.

I will eventually feature this on my IG and blog. I've been on a break from posting because of the racial tension in the US. I feel at this point it's more important for POC and BIPOC authors to have the spotlight than it is for my own content.

Exciting Thriller based in a boarding school! I'm a sucker for anything set in a boarding school and this kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time! Definitely worth the read if you're up for a fun suspense :)

I'm a big fan of J.T. Ellison's work. This one didn't disappoint! She set the tone and setting really well, which created a creepy ambiance of the school and the students and staff. It was hard to know which character to root for, if any! I can't wait for Ellison's next novel.

While i love a prep school setting, this one was so hard for me to connect with and get into. Once I got way over the halfway point I did start to enjoy the twists and turns more but still, was underwhelmed overall.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of Good Girls Lie by J.T. Ellison.

When Ash pulls up to the prestigious school of Silent Ivy in Virginia, she prays for anonymity. Carrying giant secrets, Ash just needs to get in and do her work so that she can move on to Harvard. But her English accent and mysterious air quickly single her out, and next thing she knows, she is being pulled into The Goode School elite.

But the magic wears off quickly when sinister things begin happening at the school, and Ash always seems to be at the center of it. Have Ash's secrets followed her, or is there just something wrong with Ash?

This was fine. I'm quick to tire of teen girl cattiness, I would really like to move beyond that in our modern day. Overall this was just kind of much. After a while the twists and turns also got tired and I grew less and less invested in the story. I may be the wrong audience for the book in fairness.

The Goode School is a prestigious all-girls school in Marchburg, Virginia which  accepts only the brightest and the richest  girls.  Rules are expected to be followed but the secret societies and their hazing  are overlooked as they are time-honored traditions .Then one day a student is found hanging from the front gates of the Goode School . Was her death a suicide or  was she murdered? Soon suspicions  fall on  the new student Ashlyn who has recently become an orphan when both her parents died suddenly. 

Good Girls Lie by JT Ellison  is a fun YA mystery . Even though the suspect was not a great reveal and the book had terrible characters who have no morals or thoughts for anybody else it works in this story and made for an interesting read 

I would like to thank  Harlequin -Mira & NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest and fair review.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to review this book and to be an early reader via NetGalley! However, I will not be writing a review for this title at this time, as my reading preferences have since changed somewhat. In the event that I decide to review the book in the future, I will make sure to purchase a copy for myself or borrow it from a library. Once again, thank you so much for providing me with early access to this title. I truly appreciate it. Please feel free to contact me with any follow-up questions or concerns.

Not a easy book to read. I’m not sure what was wrong....maybe it was me and not the book. It did get easier to follow toward the middle of the story.
Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read and review this book for my honest opinion.

This book is well written. It was a slow start and I had a hard time staying involved until the second half. The story just didn’t get me. And it was a little too twisty more tricky then turny. This one wasn’t for me.

Loved this book. Plenty of devious surprises and crackling suspense, along with interesting characters. Just the sort of book to cause a lack of sleep, but I won't complain! Highly recommended.

*This book was provided to me as an ARC at no charge in exchange for my honest review. My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to participate in this program.*

I feel kind of lukewarm on this book. It took a little for me to get into it and I almost gave up reading it several times - then about half way through things started getting interesting and continued being interesting as things started falling into place and I enjoyed the book until the last few chapters when I felt like again it just didn't do it for me.

Good Girls Lie by J.T. Ellison is a psychological thriller that is set in an elite boarding school for the wealthy and privileged. The Goode School is located in the tiny town of Marchburg, Virginia and only allows in the best and brightest daughters of the rich and influential holding them to a strict honor code. Of course with any elite boarding school there comes the time honored traditions that defy the code but are overlooked and ignored.

The story in Good Girls Lie certainly opens with a bang taking readers straight to the scene of a murder at the Goode School campus. Spectators have gathered when a body is found attached to the front gates of the school with the whispers and rumors flying left and right as to what had happened. The book then takes readers back in time to slowly build the dark and twisted web that led to that fateful day.

For me as a reader I often love when a book throws a huge scene at you to start so that it’s easy to become engaged in a story when you already know the ominous outcome. This one wasn’t an exception to that with adding plenty of drama and angst among the secrets, lies, twists and turns of the story. The thing was I wasn’t overly shocked with the ending of this one when it got there so despite the bang of a start I ended up at three and a half stars overall.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Boarding schools, drama and murders? Sign me up, sounds like my kinda read! Good Girls Lie has everything. from great characters and an intriguing plot to an exciting ending. Ash Carr is a great character - at first I felt sympathy towards her and then I wasn't quite sure that she was trustworthy. She was a very interesting character! It was an exciting read that I think anyone that likes thrillers and mysteries would enjoy.
Thank you J.T. Ellison, MIRA and NetGalley for this ARC.

Good Girls lie was a saucy read! It had all the elements of a good thriller: teens, boarding school, secrets, and murder. I wish my high school experience was this juicy! At first, I thought this was going to be a YA novel but it was much more than that. The Honor Code is the Holy Grail that all girls must abide by, one day a young woman is found hanging from the gates of the school. Was she killed, or did she commit suicide? Was is a vengeful death? What happens to the honor code now?
The book had a good flow and as promised there were several twists and turns, but the one thing that stood out to me was some of the character narratives. The dialog that was used did not resemble anything that a teen would say. I know they’re supposed to attend an elite boarding school, but I found it to be a tad unrealistic. As the story wore on I started to struggle. The characters weren’t relatable and at times were hard to relate to. I enjoyed the premise of the mystery, and found the ending to be satisfying.

I’m still not sure what to make of this book!

It’s set in an almost cult like, old fashioned, all girls boarding school in a village in America. Pupils are meant to follow the ‘Honour Code’ and be truthful and kind etc. The school has a prestigious reputation and its graduates are accepted into top universities.

Ash is from Oxford and has received a scholarship to attend the school. Her parents have recently died and it seems like the perfect opportunity for her to start a new life.
As Ash makes friends and enemies there are a number of deaths at the school.
As these are investigated, police suspect something doesn’t add up about Ash and dig deeper into her past.

I found this book didn’t grip me as I expected it to, I didn’t like any of the characters and there were a lot of catty, bitchy teenagers I found quite annoying.
Some parts I had already worked out and found quite predictable. Some parts seemed a bit unbelievable too. The end felt a bit flat and cliched.

Thanks to Harlequin and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advance copy for review.