I was really excited to read this book since I read McDonald first novel The Night Olivia Fell and enjoyed that. The first 20% I was flying through but by 60% I was started to get bored. The plot was being stagnant and I was starting to get impatient with who the killer could have been. I was suspicious of Eva’s husband and those suspicions ended up coming true but in a different light. I can say there were a lot of plot twists I wasn’t expecting but I felt like the plot shouldn’t have dragged like it did. I wish it was a bit more fast paced even though the chapters were short.

Eva. Wakes up in hospital after being struck by lightning and discovers her mom has been murdered. She can't remember what happened and is determined to find the killer. As she goes about trying to clear her name she finds out secrets about her mom and someone doesn't want her to know the truth. Told in alternating perspective from Eva' s search to Kat's past who can Eva trust?

I was thrilled at the opportunity of an early review of this book, since I loved The Night Olivia Fell. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this one as much. For me, Behind Every Lie had some issues with predictability and believeability. It is a fast and complulsive read, with plenty of twists and turns; but you'll see them coming and have to suspend belief for much of the book. This story relied heavily on coincidence and unreliable memories, which seem to be increasingly over-used in thrillers lately. Like The Night Olivia Fell, this combines a thriller with an emotional mother-daughter relationship story. However, most of these characters were so detached, it didn't have the same tug on the heart strings as her previous novel.

Eva wakes up in the hospital after being struck by lightening, she also finds out her best friend was murdered on that same night. Policy are suspicious of her of course because she can’t remember anything. Told her alternates perspectives, I loved it even more than her first book

If you can’t remember it, how do you prove you didn’t do it?

Last year, I read an advanced copy of The Night Olivia Fell by Christina McDonald (see my review, here) and I couldn’t wait to read what Christina wrote next!

A couple weeks ago I was scrolling through my email inbox and I came across a surprise email from Gallery Books gifting me an advanced copy of Behind Every Lie! I was so excited to jump into another character-driven story by this author that I pushed this book up on my TBR. Needless to say, I was not disappointed by this story!

+++

Struck by lightning and unable to recall anything from the previous night when her mother, Kat, was murdered, Eva Hansen finds herself to be a suspect, but she can’t remember a single thing from that night.

Becoming determined to find the answers to her mother’s murder, she turns to her fiancé for support. When she finds herself not even being able to trust her own memories and thoughts, Eva soon begins to realize there is so much more about her life – and her mother’s life - she can’t seem to trust.

When dark memories come to fruition, Eva comes to the conclusion that someone doesn’t want her to discover the truth of what happened that night.

+++

Behind Every Lie by Christina McDonald is a fast-paced, intriguing mystery that kept me wondering about every character and their motives.

Though certain situations seemed to be coincidental, and others seemed a little bit unbelievable and left me questioning if it was something that would really happen, I thoroughly connected with the story and characters as a whole. I found myself thinking about the book when I wasn’t reading it – eager to get back to the story.

The concept of the main character losing her memory from being struck by lightning was unique and interesting, and was made to be mostly believable and was well-crafted. However, the only thing that seemed to leave me uncertain was that Eva seemed to experience memories coming back at random times, not exactly being triggered by something specific.

The alternating timelines between Eva in present day and Kat in the past worked really well for the story, especially when both timelines met at present day at the ending. I enjoyed the character/relationship development between Eva and Kat - the twists and turns in the emotional mother/daughter relationship added many realistic elements and made an extremely odd and unique situation more relatable.

The one thing I would have loved to see more of at the beginning was the present day relationship between Eva, her mother, and brother Andrew. It would have been beneficial to me to see more interactions between them prior to the trauma they experience after their mother’s murder.

Though there are elements to this story that could be improved on – including some grammatical errors – I felt that Behind Every Lie was well-rounded, character driven, well-developed, and an emotion filled domestic thriller that I won’t easily forget.

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for gifting me a review copy of Behind Every Lie by Christina McDonald.

Amazing book. You won't be disappointed. It will keep you hooked from the very beginning. I finished this book in a little over a day. Addictive much? The suspense is constant and twist and turns on every page. Amazing work by @christinamac79 Huge shoutout to @netgalley for allowing me to review this book as my first arc! #bookstagrammer #booknerd #bookstagram #behindeverylie #bookreview Five star book ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This story was twisty and I didn’t want to put it down. Eva woke up in the hospital after being hit by lightening only to learn her mother has been murdered and she is a suspect. Now she has to piece together memories of that night and unravel the truth about her past.

There were so many turns to this story. I had so many theories on who the killer was that I literally changed my mind 10 times about the final outcome. I did see a few of the twists coming pretty early on, but the book was still very enjoyable. I like seeing a story unravel and try to see if I picked up on all of the Easter egg clues that were left by the author. The reader doesn’t know if Eva is crazy or if the killer is framing her and making her think she is crazy. No one in the story is particularly reliable and those are my favorites. Everyone was a suspect.

Maybe it is unfair to review a book based on the comparison to another book by the same author, but The Night Olivia Fell was such a wonderful and emotional debut novel that there is no way I can’t compare Behind Every Lie to it. As I mentioned above, Christina McDonald’s debut novel made such an impression on me that I was extremely excited to get my hands on an ARC copy of her new book. Unfortunately, Behind Every Lie did not live up to my expectations, which is OK, because it was still a 4 solid star read for me. What I missed in this book were the well-developed characters and the emotional connection I felt to them. Yes, I do understand that this book was more of a suspense/thriller read, and maybe that’s why the plot was so twisted, shocking, and required for me to suspend disbelief to fully enjoy it, but the lack of characters’ emotions to what was happening to them was a little off-putting.

In the end, this was still an enjoyable read, and I am Christina McDonalds’s fan for life which means I will be impatiently waiting for her new book.

Thank you NetGalley, Gallery Books, and the author for providing me with and ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

A decent predictable read. The one part that felt forced was the love story within all the mystery and drama. Wish every female lead didn’t have to have a childhood friend “that got away” and ends up reuniting.

Eva Hansen woke up in a hospital after being struck by lightning and was told that her Mother, Katherine had been murdered. Eva was found unconscious on the street and is now being questioned by the police. With no memory of that night, she is determined to learn that truth. This is not the first time in her life, that her memory has failed her. She had another traumatic night in her past and had only a vague memory of that event. Is she an unreliable narrator, or has the lightening affected her memory as her treating physician said it could? If lightning is affecting her memory in the present, what caused her lack of memory in the past?

This book is told through both Kat (Katherine) and Eva's POV. We get to learn what each woman is thinking and what/if any her secrets are. As the book progresses, we learn more about each woman's history and learn some family secrets.

There are some twists and turns in this book and some coincidences. I had high hopes for this book after reading [book:The Night Olivia Fell|36962927] and found this one to be enjoyable but it didn't blow me away as [book:The Night Olivia Fell|36962927] did. Like other reviewers, I felt as if the author threw everything but the kitchen sink at Eva. But what I did enjoy is that I learned some things about the side effects of being struck by lightning and enjoyed the POV's of each woman. I also like that she did have me guessing about whodunit. I changed my mind several times while reading. I also enjoyed the fast pace of this book. It did make for a fast read.


*I'm teetering between a 3 and 3.5 stars

Thank you to Gallery, Pocket books 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.

**This was a Traveling Sisters Group Read

I received this book "Behind Every Lie" from NetGalley and all opinions expressed are my own. Lots of twists and turns in this book. It was an interesting read. I did like it for being fast paced and I wanted to learn more about who was the murderer. I didn't read The Night Olivia Fell although it has been on my kindle for a while. I may try that one soon.

Christina McDonald follows up her novel The Night Olivia Fell with the suspenseful Behind Every Lie and proves that she can dig deep into the human psyche and give us another emotionally charged story about family secrets, lies, and survival.

In one of the alternating points of view, we witness a terrifying mother’s experience—the loss of a child. While the two mothers chat downstairs, one of their daughters plunges from a second-story window to her death. To give more away would demand spoilers, and I won’t do that to readers.

But the novel doesn’t begin there. At the start of the story, one of the narrators, Kat, awakens after being hit by lightning. She is covered in blood and believes she killed her mother.

How those two threads weave together is the strength of this novel. McDonald takes us in and out of possibilities leading up to a conclusion that makes perfect sense and will be guessed by a few devout “thriller” readers.

The story shows us how one decision can carry through many lifetimes, decisions that seemed right and necessary at the time, and even seemed the only way out for these two women. I felt the emotional impact of what faced these women and can relate to the choices they made. The tension builds as the decisions lead to even more danger. Not all is what it seems.

The novel is well-plotted and twisty, and in Hitchcockian style, we know more than Eva does from Kat’s storyline, giving us an inside track to what Eva is up against.

I love how McDonald uses the Japanese repair method of kintsugi, the act of repairing broken pottery with gold lacquer. Kintsugi shows off the scars of the mended broken pieces instead of trying to hide them, a wonderful way of making an analogy to Eva’s many physical scars and her broken psyche.

I gave this novel four stars because, although McDonald can write some beautiful and appropriate descriptions for the tone of the scenes, she also creates analogies that stop me from reading. They can be awkward and melodramatic, and because I can’t quote from and an advanced reader copy, I can’t give you examples. Also, she doesn’t need to tell us how a character feels after showing us with body language and dialogue. This may sound picky, but I wish she’d trust the reader more with this.

Thank you to Net Galley and Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read and review this advanced copy of Behind Every Lie.

This was my first Christina McDonald book and I really enjoyed this quick, easy to read story. The plot unfolds in alternating points of view between Kat (the mother) and Eva (the daughter) and as the tension builds, there are flash backs to the past from Kat that add to the present day story. As I got deeper and deeper the possibilities of what could have happened grew and I *needed* to know what really happened that night. The ending tied up loose ends, had a twist you didn't see coming and felt empowering. Great job Christina, I can't wait to dive into your next book!

BEHIND EVERY LIE by Christina McDonald is a riveting novel of psychological suspense that had me hooked from the first page. I really enjoyed the author’s debut novel, THE NIGHT OLIVIA FELL, and couldn’t wait to read her next book. I was definitely not disappointed. BEHIND EVERY LIE is a fast-paced and emotionally-charged story filled with secrets, lies and complex family relationships. It is told from the alternating perspectives of Eva Hansen and her mother, Kat. It also alternates between Eva’s present and Kat’s past leading up to when two time frames intersect. Eva wakes up in the hospital after being struck by lightning. She is informed that her mother has been brutally murdered and she is a possible suspect. She has no memory of her mother’s death, but police tell her that there is evidence to place her at the scene. As Eva sets about trying to clear her name, secrets are revealed that cast doubt on everything Eva knows of her mother, her family and her own past. As the story unfolds, there are shocking twists and turns that kept me guessing right up until the dramatic ending. I truly enjoyed this gripping and intense book and look forward to whatever comes next from Christina McDonald. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read an early copy.

Christina McDonald's follow up to The Night Olivia Fell is a different kind of thriller. Behind Every Lie explores a mother-daughter relationship with a twist. The story is told in two timelines: Kat, the mother when she was living in London; and Eva, the daughter, living in Seattle where she was struck by lightning the night her mother was murdered -- and she can't remember what happened that night. I felt that the twists were too far-fetched to be believable. The writing was gripping and fast paced - I kept turning the pages because I needed to know what happened. Overall, an enjoyable thriller, but definitely unrealistic in my opinion.

Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery, Pocket Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

5 stars. I loved the suspense & with so many twists and turns I spent a majority of the book sitting on the edge of my seat! ❥ Excited for & moving up next, The Night Olivia Fell.

Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Releasing February 2020.

I gave up sleep to finish this enthralling tale! Very well written and well paced, i loved the story and the way it was told.

If you read my review of The Night Olivia Fell by Christina McDonald then you know why I was excited to read Behind Every Lie. I absolutely loved the way McDonald portrayed the mother-daughter relationship in The Night Olivia Fell. It was emotional, complicated and made the characters come alive for me. I expected the same kind of emotional thriller novel in Behind Every Lie, but it was much more of a straight-out suspense/mystery than being emotionally driven.

Normally, I talk about what I loved about a novel first, but this time I want to get what didn’t work for me out of the way first – mostly because it has a lot to do with how I’ve reviewed the book. I enjoyed the story itself and the characters, but there was a lot that was just hard to believe. I’m a huge sci-fi and fantasy fan so my ability to suspend disbelief is pretty high up there. Behind Every Lie requires that you believe in a series of consequences that, taken by themselves may not be that unbelievable, but when combined just ruined my ability to pretend what I was reading was anything other than make-believe.

Another problem I had with this story wasn’t so much to do with the writing itself, but because I had recently listened to the audiobook Silent Child by Sarah A. Denzil. While the plots of the two stories are nothing alike, the characters and their relationships are essentially the same. The result was that I figured out almost every plot twist just because I knew how the relationships were going to play out.

All that being said, I still really enjoyed this book. I’m definitely a fan of the way Christina McDonald writes and this would probably be a full 4- or 5-star book for me, if not for the issues I pointed out above.

I’ve become a fan of books written from different perspectives, but it’s hard to pull this off well and so there are few stories I can even read like this. But Christina McDonald has perfected this way of storytelling. In Behind Every Lie, the story goes back and forth between Eva and her mom, Kat. Kat has been murdered and Eva is suspected of being the murderer. The relationship between Kat and Eva had recently become more strained than usual and we’re slowly let in on the reasons for this most complicated of mother-daughter relationships.

It’s hard for me to say much more about the events or people in the novel itself because SO MUCH happens and is interconnected that this entire review would just be spoilers. So I’m gonna go ahead and wrap this up…

This book is worth the read for anyone who enjoyed The Night Olivia Fell. I know I’ll definitely be picking up the next novel Christina McDonald writes.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to preview Behind Every Lie by Christina McDonald. To get struck by lightening and be seriously injured and then to find out your mother has been murdered is alot to take in - but that is the plot of the new novel by McDonald. The Night Oliva Fell was very good and this follow up novel holds up.
This is a quick read with some twists.
3 stars.

After skimming some other reviews, I'm in the minority that I figured a lot of this book out before the "twists" came. Therefore, it was not nearly as thrilling for me as I think it was for others. I found myself skimming because I knew what was going to happen, I just wasn't sure how (or why) we were going to get there.

I enjoyed The Night Olivia Fell, but what really stood out in that one was the relationships and how they evolved. I love a good mother-daughter story that tugs at the heartstrings, and Olivia did that much more than Behind Every Lie. While the story is told in alternating chapters of Eva (in her late 20s) and Kat (her mother, starting 25 years ago, jumping a bit, and then present), the mother-daughter relationship isn't really explored. The pair has a strained relationship, but the author begins by using a tactic which is over-used in that it hints at some event that happened but doesn't let the reader know. You do find out and it doesn't have anything to do with the main plot (Kat is found murdered, Eva was struck by lightening near her mother's house that night but has no memory of the night).

There was a lot of suspended belief, an unreliable narrator and a lot of twists (although, again, to me, the 'bad guy' was obvious all along). I did want to keep reading and I flew through the book, so a solid 3-star read.