Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

This was a perfect combination of Pretty Little Liars and Mean Girls. Pretty little liars because of all the secrets and revenge plots, and Mean Girls for the plain nastiness women seem to be born with. Entertaining read. Recommended.

Yes!!!! This is the perfect (ha) book to keep you reading late at night!! Former mean girl Claire has built the perfect life for herself - until someone she hurt with a past lie, or omission of truth, comes back to seek revenge for having his life ruined. I loved that the story was told in alternating timelines which helps the suspense build..
Just how far would someone go for revenge? Does the past truly stay hidden?
Thanks to Karen Osman, Aria, and NetGalley for the ARC of this great book!

The Perfect Lie is an utterly gripping and mesmerizing read. Easily read in one sitting as you won't want to leave the characters, you're so desperate to see what happens next. Told through alternate points of view, one present day and one from the 1980's. I really enjoyed this aspect of the book as it gives the characters a lot of depth, it gives an insight into the actions of that time and how they have impacted the story today. This story is the perfect portrayal of the ripple effect and how one action can change so many lives. I thought the writing was phenomenal, as once we see 'current day Claire' a woman who seemingly has the perfect life, perfect husband and children and back to a career she loves the tale doesn't take a harsh turn of direction more a slow and unfolding of her past that's coming to catch her. This kind of story telling had me hooked. Brilliant read, highly recommended.

A fast paced good all round thriller. Got this as an advanced copy. And Loved it from day one. Thank you for the advanced copy

This is a fabulous fast paced and enthralling thriller. It drew me in quickly and once I started reading it, I couldn’t put it down. The plot is a little far fetched and you can guess what is going to happen, however that didn’t take away from my enjoyment.

Karen Osman is a genius!!

This is as close to perfect thriller, as we are going to get. Karen Osman hit the nail right on the head with The Perfect Lie.
<striker> I did not want to put it down </strike> I couldn't out it down! This story is told in a dual POV, we hear from Claire Carmichael, a woman who has it all, or so she thinks and we get to hear from the inner workings of the devious person, set to bring her down.

This story was interesting and had me hooked from the very beginning and refused to let me go.

THE PERFECT LIE
BY KAREN OSMAN

Five Resounding Stars for this perfect book. It ticked off all of the boxes that you look for in contemporary fiction. Brilliant imagination from Karen Osman for creating this outstanding tale. Perfectly paced writing style that kept me interested from the very first sentence until the very last word at the end. Fabulous character development and chocked full of crackling dialogue. And for any of my Good Reads friends interested in buying it---it's free if you belong to Kindle Unlimited and just 99 cents at Amazon if you aren't a member. If you like contemporary fiction I promise you will not be sorry that you chose to read this one. I have read a lot of five star reads over the years in Good Reads,but I have never before advertised the price or tried to endorse a book on Amazon on here. So I hope those who enjoy this genre take advantage of this deal. I promise you that you will be glad that you did. And what a bargain for an incredible reading experience. This has sat on my shelf on Net Galley for way too long and it has taken me way too long to get to it. It is one of my favorites this year. Isn't that always the way? The best ones are sometimes the very last ones you get to reading?

I loved the book since it explored the sometimes life changing consequence a lie can so adversely affect the innocent person's life for good. How an innocent person can not be believed just because he or she is unpopular judging by kids standards and kids judge people for all the wrong reasons. How both girls and boys in school sometimes do terrible things just to be in the right social circles or clubs and they are so afraid of doing the right thing for fear of being ostracized. How we can sometimes think that we are secure and life seems perfect for us and then boom tragedy strikes us when we are the least prepared.

I don't dare give out too much information for fear of spoiling it and you are better off going into this one blind without reading any reviews. Just trust me you won't be sorry that you have read this. It is mostly about beautiful, successful Clair who is a partner at her law firm married to the highly successful husband with their two beautiful boys. Joshua is 17 and Jamie is five. They live a comfortable life in a great house in a pretty suburb. Life couldn't be going any better for them until the day it doesn't. Very Highly Recommended!!!!

Thank you to Net Galley. Karen Osman and Aria Publishing for generously providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

This was a well-written and suspenseful book about how the past can haunt you. Claire seems to have the perfect life, with a loving husband and two sons. When she was in high school, she was initiated into a group called the Queen Bees, otherwise known as the “mean girls.” It is this choice to belong to this group that comes back and smacks Claire in the face when she least suspects it. The story is all about how past choices can affect your current life, when you least expect it. This well-written novel was written with a steady pace, using a dual timeline and increasing intrigue about Claire’s past. The clues were spot on and the book was a gripping and realistically told tale. I would recommend this book to those who enjoy psychological suspense.

*thank you to Netgalley, Karen Osman and Aria for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*


3 stars.

This story had such a strong beginning. It was so interesting and engaging. I had wondered how the story would end up and was quite excited to discover it and take it all in. It was shaping up to be a good mystery thriller. 

There are two stories going on here. One is of the present where Claire and her friend Julia have just started a new law firm, where a rape case is handed over to Claire even though she protested that she didn't want such case, due to what we readers assume at this point, to be for personal reasons. Which it was.

The second story starts up after a decent amount of first chapters of the present. We are taken back into the 1980s where Claire is in high school. There we learn about her obsession with wanting to be and then becoming, a Queen Bee. A group of female students, who are seen as popular. But with this there is also the story of a nerdy teenage boy named Paul. Claire starts to develop feelings for him after completing a challenge set by the Queen Bees. But Claire knows that if the group finds out she actually has romantic feelings for Paul, she will be kicked out of the group. Then suddenly something huge happens with Paul and lives are forever changed.

Unfortunately this is also the point where my interest started to drop. I found from about 60% of the way onwards really dragged out. What was a decent fast paced story stared to run out of steam and I found parts to be boring and unimportant. Still I kept reading. Things picked up a little and a twist was thrown in and while I gasped in surprise, I also felt it wasn't that shocking. It had been something that I had suspected from early on.

Once I got near the end and found out all the truths, my opinion of Claire changed. I actually felt anger towards her and my previous feelings for her went out the window.

Still, this was a good read. But because of the parts I felt weren't important, my star rating is a 3 instead of a 4. I wouldn't recommend this but I also wouldn't tell people to skip it as it was still enjoyable for the most part.

The Perfect Lie kept me reading until I literally couldn’t keep my eyes open. One Omission of truth decimated the most promising future of a secret boyfriend, who finds a devastating way to seek revenge many years later. Loved the dual timelines and chapter cliffhangers. Also appreciate that Claire’s perfect life was haunted and forever changed by the perfect lie. You can never escape your past. If you love thrillers this is a “perfect” read for you! Brought back memories of the social climate of high school many many years ago. Many thanks to Karen Osman, Aria, and NetGalley for affording me the opportunity to read this arc of a recently published book. Don’t miss out on this one!

Karen Osman's latest suspenseful release, The Perfect Lie, is a slow burning domestic thriller with a startling conclusion. Clare was a popular high school girl; part of the secret club The Queen Bees, she learned from her mother to protect her reputation at all costs. The Bees protect her-and Clare's silence set a course of events in motion for her ostracized secret boyfriend. Years later Clare is a mother of two sons and a smart attorney having married the golden boy from high school. Told in alternating timelines the story builds suspense as Clare takes on a young client with unexpected ties to Clare and her family. Just how far would someone go for revenge? Does the past truly stay hidden?

These questions and more are answered; while the part of the story dedicated to the past was a little lengthy it all serves a purpose and the last third of the story races forward to that stunning conclusion. Another great read by Karen Osman-if you are a fan of domestic thrillers and the psychological suspense genre-pick this one up today!

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for this ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

A good, fast paced thriller, which was written in an engaging and hard to put down manner. This book really made sure to give me plenty of chills, thrills, twists, and huge shocks. I found myself trying to find a good place to set it down, but unable to be easily done. Highly recommend to those who love quick. Intense thrillers!
Will make sure to buzz up!

This was a perfect thriller where the short snappy chapters made me nearly inhale the book.

High school was more the political ground than ever, and Claire wanting to fit in and keep her perfect appearance did something bad and damaged someone. That boomeranged years later when she thought she had the perfect family and career.

The book started with the perfect prologue which had me looking at the author Karen Osman with new eyes. She knew the right words to pull me in. It was like a hook dangling in front of me, luring me away from my routine. I am weak willed like that. I couldn’t resist.

The writing was perfect where every chapter made me feel as if a shadow of the past was dogging my steps, snapping at my feet to make me read faster. The swirling winds buffeted me and pushed me to fall apart when the book reached its zenith.

Past always has a hold on the future especially if it is a bad deed. And the author brought it out perfectly. The pace was kept steady throughout the book with hints about Claire, added at every chapter which beguiled me completely.

And the characters, where do I begin with? Claire’s need for perfection had me shaking my head, but the inner small sliver of me had to acknowledge I too have been guilty of that vice. The unraveling and fear and dread were the emotions acutely felt by me reflecting off Claire.

A perfect breakfast read which had me so enthralled and eager to get to the end that I missed my bus to work. Ah well… The traffic jam excuse always works

One Perfect Lie is the kind of book that you think about after you complete it. I was left almost speechless at the end, it was a great psychological journey through alternating viewpoints. The characters are well-developed and seem realistic. The plot, while revolving around two individuals, is fairly simple, but the way that Ms. Osman circles around the central theme and includes twenty years of history pivotal to the beginning and ending scenes is masterful. I really enjoyed this tense thriller, as there are many that seem "one size fits all" in the current market, but this one is certainly unique and exciting. I highly recommend this book for anyone that enjoys thrillers, psychological fiction, or even contemporary fiction.
I was provided an ARC by the publisher and NetGalley on which to base my honest review.

Claire seems to live a pretty good life except for the harboring guilt she has over a lie she told back in her teens. Told from alternating timelines of Claire’s high school days to the present, we see just how some lies can come back to haunt us in the worst ways. Ways that can make your seemingly perfect life begin to fall apart. This wasn’t exactly a mystery or thriller but a good story overall. I was a bit disappointed in the ending but still, a good read.

Claire Carmichael has the sort of life many would dream of: a successful husband, two lovely sons and a great reputation. At school, her brains and likability led her to becoming a member of The Queen Bees, a clique of popular girls. Something happened to Claire back then, though, and The Queen Bees closed rank to protect one of their own. Now, years later, there is someone who hasn’t forgotten what happened, someone who is keen to exact their revenge…

Although from the blurb, we know that something horrendous happened in Claire’s past, it is not until about a fifth of the way in that we finally get a glimpse of what it may be. I liked this very much as it gave me the chance to be introduced to the characters whilst also allowing me to speculate as to what was going to happen. During this time, I came up with several theories, all of them incorrect!

For me, the book really took off when we went back to 1989, just prior to the event that would, eventually, change Claire’s life. In Claire, we see a teenager, desperate to fit in with her peers by being accepted into The Queen Bees, a clique of all the ‘popular’ girls. It was obvious that this was never going to end well, and my heart went out to Paul who, unbeknownst to him, was a pawn in the hands of these girls. Similarly, though, I also had a lot of sympathy for Claire, whose feelings towards Paul were at conflict with her need to appease The Queen Bees.

The Perfect Lie is a lesson in how one event can completely alter the course of your life, whether it be for the better or for the worse. We also discover how past sin will eventually find you out as the events of 1989 start to impact on Claire’s present life, threatening to bring it all crashing to the ground. I do not want to say too much about the plot, but I did deduce what had actually happened in 1989 and made the connection to what was happening in the present. The shock, however, came towards the end, when you see the lengths people will go to exact their revenge.

This is a great thriller and one that became difficult to put down as the plot progressed. It is also one of those books that is so well written, it will leave a bit of a nasty taste in the mouth.

Favorite Quote:

After John Griffith, Claire had kissed other boys at various parties. There was Cameron with his braces and saliva, Rich who had licked her teeth, and Tony – probably the best of a bad bunch, with his eager tongue.

My Review:

This tautly written book hit all the right notes for me. Penned in my favorite dual POV with dual timelines, the original storylines were compelling, intriguing, maddeningly paced, and unpredictable. I quickly fell into the tale and was soon hooked by this clever and sneaky wordsmith’s agile misdirections and deftly handled twists and turns. It was deviously crafted and cast with a bevy of difficult and unusual characters who were actually rather awful human beings.

Lessons I learned from this story include: mothers don’t want you to do the right thing if it would potentially cause them embarrassment; selfishly keeping your mouth shut to avoid personal shame will surely backfire; never screw over a highly intelligent person; Queen Bees are an excellent name for an elite pack of vapid mean girls; and what goes around may eventually come around but it pays to manipulate the timeline and help karma along with your own vengeful plotting. I was on edge and nibbling on my cuticles the whole way through and huffed in disbelief at the ending. It was outstanding!

Book Review
I came across this author recently having read her book "The Home".
I absolutely loved it so I was delighted to be asked to take part on the blog tour for "The Perfect Lie".
I knew this author would not disappoint me with her story and I was right.
I love when I pick up a book and I take to an authors style of writing immediately.
Even though a book cover will win me over, I can usually tell straight away if it's for me...
You sit back and you let yourself become absorbed into their characters, the storyline and suddenly you find you can't quite put it down...
We meet Claire Carmichael who returns to work having been out on maternity leave.
Of course, we see her juggling her work and home life almost immediately as you would expect.
Her husband Chris does his best to help and he comes across as a good dad.
There was something about him though that was off for me if I'm honest.
I couldn't quite put my finger on it as I read along.
The story flicks between two timelines.
Present day and back to when Claire was in school and her longing to be part of the Queen Bees.
As the title goes, something happens in school and just one perfect lie or so they think has dramatic and devastating consequences.
It's bound to come back to bite you in the ass at some point right?
I must admit Karen had be guessing throughout with her story, I was completely gripped.
A brilliant psychological thriller, well worth taking the time to check this one out.

Thank you kindly to author Karen Osman and her publishers Aria fiction for my copy of this book. Much appreciated.

A cracking, all-consuming psychological thriller!

The Perfect Lie was a chilling tale, told from alternate timelines of present day and the late 1980's. An extremely well thought-out dual plot-line had me guessing until the very end, The story unfolded slowly but Karen Osman's writing was so fluid and full of detail. This was beautifully structured, entirely believable and really gripping. It was book I really lost myself in - and the ending was just perfect! An awesome story, worth much more than the five stars I can give it.

I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel, at my own request, from Aria via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.