The Truth begins with the marriage of a young, naïve woman, flashing back and forth between her life and some redacted medical reports which concluded women committed suicide. We quickly find the woman is getting into a marriage which will harm her: a man from a higher socio-income status who enjoys controlling her, especially when she develops a debilitating illness. The story takes twists and turns, but, I won't do any spoilers. The surprises at the end were unpredictable to me. The latter half the book gained momentum and left me musing-,,"oh, that's what happened."

Well hello you twisted, domestic psychological thriller...I loved Naomi Joy's debut novel The Liars and I wondered if she could do it again....the answer is yes, hell yes she did!

Do you trust your spouse? In sickness and in health? Are you sure? Whoa pump the brakes people this book is sooo twisted. Anthony is the picture perfect husband. He is so loving and caring towards his wife Emelia that people are constantly telling her how lucky she is. Yet is she lucky or is she the object of obsession for her husband? Will he do everything in his power to control her life? Till death do they part? The ultimate story of control and the lengths people will go to.

Yet in a typical thriller fashion, you can't always take things at face value. There may be more to the story. This author took us on such a twisted path that I never saw the ending coming. A unique approach as we learned about Emelia's life through her secret blog that she kept from her husband. The details on her blog were so disturbing and chilling.

The Truth is a great title for this book as I had no idea who was telling the truth! Based on some true cases in the media, this book is sure to have you reeling as to who does this stuff?! Well apparently there are people out there that do!

Thank you so much to Aria for this ARC! Congratulations to Naomi Joy for writing yet another great thriller!

"Ahem... envelope please.

And the winner for "Most Unreliable Narrator in 2019 goes tooooooo.......

*d r u m 🥁 r o l l*

The Truth by Naomi Joy!!

Naomi can't be here to accept her award because she doesn't know she was nominated."

_______________________

This is a good one y'all. An utterly unique plot loosely based on real events. Naomi's writing flows flawlessly making this a fast read with a reveal I never saw coming.

4.5 Stars



**I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.**

The Truth is hard to summarize, can’t say too much as it will ruin the plot for future readers. The fact that this is based on actual events is reason enough to give this a read. Majority of this book is a domestic thriller with a concept not necessarily new to thriller readers, with some horrible and unlikable people. That being said, I liked the writing and the overall story, which is partially written as a blog. I also really liked how everything I read and thought completely did a 180 and left me saying Whaaaat???? Along with some good twists, I also learned something new from this book. What I didn’t like was that I still had some questions as some things didn’t add up for me, but perhaps that’s just me. Overall solid ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️.

A perfect marriage? Looks like it from the outside, but all isn’t as it seems. Emelia and Anthony have a whirlwind romance and are supposed to live happily ever after. Not sure what to make of this book, exasperation to start with, then it gets interesting and then back to being a bit strange. It’s gripping in parts and then lets you go again until the next bit of madness! The characters were all horrible in various ways but that was part of the “charm” of the story.

I enjoyed this book. It was gripping and compelling from the off, and the idea that Emilia's husband was trying to slowly kill her was terrifying and intense. At times certain characters' behaviour seemed a bit odd, but some of that became clear through the twist at the end. The story has plenty of turns and twists, some I guessed, others I didn't. Overall, a good read, something different in the thriller market.

This ARC was courtesy of netgalley - all thoughts and opinions are mine and unbiased
I also post on Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes&Noble, Kobo


Wow - this is an incredible book - totally original - I can honestly I've not read anything like for some time - so many congratulations should be given to this author. Can't wait to read more

This kept me up at night - in a good way !!!

The use of blog posts to tell the story is so clever and done in such a modern and original way

Can't recommend highly enough - wish I could give it more than 5 stars !!!

am in absolute shock over what I have read. The author Naomi Joy is brilliant and evil. She has taken a real life event and written a story so convincing that I had a hard time separating the truth from lies. I thought I have read it all... But nooo... This author with her wicked plot line kept me so confused in the entire story that even when I wanted to stop reading, I couldn't.

Emelia had a fatal heart condition, so when she met Anthony she found him to be a caring person till post marriage, she realized he cared way too much. It was a controlling sort of a caring. The only freedom she had was to write a blog to tell her followers the truth about her life. Soon she received evidence about her husband's past. And things were not as it seemed.

How do I even write anything more in this review? The entire story was told to me as blog posts. Each word was convincing with the right emotions. The story was a mirage, but it was real too. The life was a lie, but it was the truth too. The story was written in shadows; I knew there was something more which was hiding from me. I could feel the truth in front of me, but I couldn't see it. There were a couple of clues, but I didn't deem it important.

I have to say it Naomi Joy is brilliantly evil. The lattice of her plot made me awestruck of her brain, they merged yet there was a thread of discord. How did she even think of it? The only metaphor I could think of is - House of Mirrors. How would you know if the image was real or simply a reflection?

I dare every blogger to read it, stick with it, live it, breathe it and then tell me - have you ever met Emelia?

A breath-taking read!!

Hey here’s today’s review for ‘The Truth’ and next up ‘The Secrets We Kept’ which promises a tale about 2 spies and a banned masterpiece, its intriguing enough in the blurb to give it a whirl!

‘The Truth’ by Naomi Joy published by Aria on Sept 5th

308 Pages

This is an interesting review for me ( at any rate ) to write because more or less any indication of what the book is about will give the whole game away
So let see.....
It is based on real life similar events
It is about ‘something’ I had never heard of ( vague anno!! )
It is partly written in Blog form via one of the characters
Some of the characters are unlikeable, some are detestable!
It is, at times, a bit complicated to follow as the characters errr swop and change but NOT insurmountable to get to grips with and cope with!
It’s chilling
It’s even more chilling at the end when the real life stories it is based on are written about
And thats it really, except to say it is a well written, solid psychological thriller with just a tiny element occasionally of ‘ but, look, why dont you just do this/do that instead of suffering’ ...

Emelia thought she'd never meet a man to share her life with.With a life-limiting heart condition, she'd given up hope of finding a romantic partner to take on her complex needs - but then she meets Anthony. Suave, sophisticated, and renowned in his field, Anthony is everything Emelia could have wished for, and wants only to provide and care for her.

But does Anthony care too much? While Emelia gets sicker and sicker, Anthony seems to thrive on being her carer, and soon Emelia's world has shrunk, and Anthony is controlling who she sees, what she eats, and everything else in between. The only thing Emelia has control over is her blog, in which she expresses her fears that her husband is poisoning her. Why can't she trace any of Anthony's previous girlfriends? And will Emelia be able to keep her sanity - and her life?

I thought I had the measure of this story from the beginning, but it's one of those rare books that genuinely surprises the reader. NOTHING is as it seems, and no-one is reliable in this beautifully written and tightly plotted novel from Naomi Joy. I was enjoying this book so much that I didn't want to finish it; the first thing I did when I DID finish it was download Naomi Joy's other book, and I can't wait to read what she does next. As an avid reader of psychological thriller and domestic suspense novels, it's very rare that I'm blindsided by a book - there are only so many devices and plot twists a writer can use, after all. But this one was a turn up for the books. I can't recommend it highly enough. Drop everything you're doing and dive in - you will NOT regret it. Tense, clever, and twisty - it's a definite five stars from me.

Thank you to NetGalley, who provided a free ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

The storyline is interesting but the characters aren’t
Majority of the characters are unlikeable
It’s a basically a book of horrible people being horrible
This book wasn’t for me

The Truth is one sick story - literally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. The first half is a ‘regular’ domestic thriller about an abused wife and a cruel, sadistic husband and we wonder how she can get away from him, when, suddenly, everything we thought we knew tilts and shape-shifts and we are reading a different, smart,,confusing, brilliant novel where we don’t know who is who and who is telling the truth. And what is truth anyway? What we believe? What we see? What we think? My head is still spinning and I am feeling sick.myself.

I had a hard time with the first 15 percent of the novel but it actually turned into a great read. It was a little slow at first, but really picked up as the plot progressed. There were many twists and an unreliable narrator. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for review.

4.5/5

The Truth by Naomi Joy will intrigue the reader from the very start. Random autopsy reports are presented intermittently between the opening chapters, and right away the stage is set for a compelling mystery.

Emilia and Anthony are a couple who seemingly have it all. Yet Anothony is not the man that he appears to be, and Emilia is trapped in a marriage that is shrouded in secrets, lies, and emotional abuse. She will never measure up to the woman that Anthony wants her to be, and her illness and frailty make escape all the more difficult. Emilia vents her fears and frustrations on her blog, changing the names, in the hope that someone will hear her cries for help before it is too late.

This is an addictive read, and the twists are superbly executed. The story flows well, and will keep you guessing until the very last page.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Aria for this ARC.

Aargh. I hate leaving negative reviews but I could not finish this book. If someone is interested in archeology and fossils then this book is for you

A fresh take on abuse/domestic thrillers. I thoroughly enjoyed Naomi Joy's story of a husband who is so self -serving, even to the point of perversion, that he has absolutely no regard for anyone else.

We see the plot develop through Emelia's eyes. A whirlwind romance between Emelia and a famous archaeologist, Anthony, leads to a wedding 8 months later. Emelia has been ill with heart problems since she was a teen and was straight about it to Anthony. He fawns over her, cooking, giving her meds, holding her.. Of course his oldest and best friend is the calculating Heather. Emelia knows what Heather is like but is not allowed not to upset her lest Anthony will be angry.

Anthony buys a new kitchen for Emelia's parents and tells his side of their story: (that Emelia is a psych case) to everyone. Emelia rarely leaves the house so, except for her daily blog, she may as well be cut off from society.
Anthony stages an intervention along with Emelia's parents and Emelia is dragged into a psych unit. This is where Emelia learns a lot more about Anthony and herself.....

Superb read!!!!!

Many Thanks to Aria and NetGalley for a very different and entertaining story.

The Truth by author Naomi Joy is a spot on domestic/psychological thriller novel! This is exactly what I look for in a book when I’m looking for my fix of thrill in a book. The darkness and twisty in this book is real, fast paced and will have you on edge throughout!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was very well written. Nice and easy to read and flowed well. Had me on the edge of my seat. Wondering which way it was going to go. Great mystery can’t beat it.

A really good, solid read but awful characters! The author did a good job with the story overall and the tension ramped up towards the end. I enjoyed it overall.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance copy. This book is about a fairly common issue among many couples. Many issues that are in a abusive relationship. Emelia is scared to death of Anthony and it's understandable that many women are so scared of their abusers so they stay in that relationship. So when Emelia could have left him she did not. It wasn't really a mystery or suspense because you know whats going to happen pretty much. But not a bad read.