After Leslie finds her sister dead from an overdose in a crappy Las Vegas apartment, she convinces Mary, a girl she's just met and who also bears an uncanny resemblance to her dead sister, to come back to Albuquerque with her and pose as her sister so they can split the inheritance money from her father's death. The two women spend quite a bit of time deceiving just about everyone around them, while trying to sort through all of the lies that the other one is telling.
I was mostly buying the story right up until the end, when my suspension of disbelief was reeeeally stretched. ***Spoiler*** I just couldn't accept that Leslie wouldn't recognize her only sister, especially after spending all that time with her. I mean, come on - a nose job isn't that drastic.
Overall, I enjoyed it, but I knocked off a star for that silly plot twist.

A psychological thriller. Two sisters pitted against each other. Each trying to out maneuver each other. They are only brought back together after ten years due to a codicil in their father's will. It says they must be together to get their inheritance.
There are all kinds s of intriguing in and outside in the story about sister, sister relationships, husband, wife relationships and mother child relationships. The heart of the matter is whether this mother can be a good mother. Her child is a year old and she doesn't feel the live or bond a mother has for her child. She feels what's best is to disappear. That would be better than just leaving. If she just left her husband would be devastated. She ultimately truly loves her husband and doesn't want to hurt him.
Great story about womens fears in having children.

3.5 stars

This book was just okay for me. It took me a while to get into the story. The last 20% was the best part of the book, but I was really disappointed in the ending. Overall it was a good read, and I actually think it would make a really good mini-series or movie.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read The Better Liar in exchange for an honest review.

The Better Liar by Tanen Jones
September 24, 2019
Rebecca Heath

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.

Leslie has taken care of their dying father for years, while starting a life of her own with her husband and new baby. When their father passes away Leslie discovers he has put a strange requirement in his will. Neither daughter can claim their inheritance without the other being present. Now Leslie must find her sister - or forfeit her share of the inheritance.
Enter Mary - a young, charming waitress living in Vegas with dreams of moving to LA to be a famous actress. Mary has troubles of her own but reluctantly agrees to help Leslie claim her inheritance - at a price.

This is a story with cleverly written twists and turns that will keep you reading well past your bedtime! What a joy it is to find an author who can pull off a twisted, smart, carefully worked out plot. Bravo to Tanen Jones for creating such a smart, suspenseful page turner! I couldn’t put it down! I would never have guessed that The Better Liar was Jones’ debut novel.

Normally books that are written from several perspectives don’t hold my attention, not to mention jumping from past to present. It’s too easy to lose track and I lose interest. Jones manages to pull off both while keeping the story going at readable pace. If you enjoy Gillian Flynn and Paula Hawkins’ novels, Jones is definitely an author you need to check out!

"The Better Liar", the first novel by Tanen Jones, is a well told tale of lies and truths, appearances and deceptions, truth and consequences. Jones keeps the reader engaged and never confused. She leads you one direction, head fakes, and moves you into a different realm. If you like novels with excellent character development, clean writing, and a variety of twists . . . . this is one for you.

NO SPOILERS

This is a great book to go in blind!!!!

Names change like a revolving cake walk!!!

...Leslie meets Mary in ...
Vegas.
...Leslie brings Mary home to Albuquerque.
...Mary becomes Robin (Leslie’s pretend sister whom she hadn’t seen in 10 years until finding her dead from overdose)...
...Mary who is pretending she is Robin, ( still pretending to be Leslie’s sister)... meets Billy and tells him her name is Alice.

Alice’s name might change again...

Names that ‘aren’t revolving are:
...Leslie is Leslie Floreses
...Dave is Dave Floreses
...Elie is Elie Floreses (Leslie and Dave’s baby)
...Nancy is Nancy ( community friend and police officer)
...Elaine is Elaine ( a single mother with two kids)
...Billy is Billy ( a guy in the night)
...Sam is Sam...Paul is Paul.. (ex-boyfriends of sorts)

Confused yet? GREAT!!!!
The reader gets the treat of unraveling this enigma!

This story keeps the reader on the edge of their seat.
Questions - questions - and more questions run through the readers mind!!!!

This jigsaw puzzle debut novel pushes the edges..... with clever crafting.

Tanen Jones has an almost uncanny ability to get into the heads of the characters...and the heads of her readers. Tanen knows what we’re thinking - and trying to figure out.
Our talented debut author is many steps ahead of us.
Definitely not a predictable ending!!!

This psychological page turning thriller...
becomes a deeper-in-depth look at serious issues worthy of discussions ‘after’ the ending.
This is truly one of those books where the focus of your thinking has shifted 180° by the end.

Awesome read!!!

Thank You Ballantine Books, Netgalley, and Tanen Jones. ( I’m a new fan and can’t wait for your next book!!)

I enjoyed this book until the last few chapters when it fell apart for me. The ending left me totally confused. When I read the author's notes I kind of understood the point of it all, but it still had me scratching my head.

It's a mystery and psychological thriller. If you like that genre, give it a look. I'm just not sure it worked for me.

Thanks NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review.

Leslie Voigt arrives at her estranged sister's apartment in Las Vegas only to find her dead. Freshly dead. Perhaps if Leslie had arrived hours earlier, Robin Voigt would still be alive. Now, Leslie is in a predicament. She came to Las Vegas to bring her sister back to New Mexico so that they could receive the inheritance their father left them. If Robin does not come home, Leslie can't get the money. But she can't exactly bring a dead body with her to New Mexico.

Told from the perspective of Robin and Leslie over the span of 20 years, The Better Liartells the story of just how far someone desperate will go to get money. With twists and turns along the way, this book held my attention up until the last page.

ARC - The Better Liar


**Disclaimer: I was given an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.**

DNF @ 9% - I tried picking up and restarting this book several times. The Beginning is jarring and confusing. The following chapters don’t make sense in terms of what exactly is going on, is it taking place in the past or present? Who is what character?

I’m reading through numerous reviews and can’t seem to figure out what gripped people so quickly with this story, but it’s obviously not for me.

I received an ARC of this excellent book. It is a story of 2 sisters and their relationship. It was an intriguing story, full of twists that kept me guessing until the end.

ALL THE stars. Absolutely loved this book! The story flows, the characters are fascinating and I couldn't put it down. Highly recommend.

First off I’d like to thank Netgalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book..

I found this book hard to follow with the changing POV’s but overall enjoyed it. There were so many twists and turns!! I thought I had it figured out but there’s a big twist at the end I didn’t see coming!

I’d recommend this book.

Huge thank you to NetGallery for sending me this ARC to read and give my honest feedback!

The Better Liar by Tanen Jones is so well written, suspenseful and is one of those thriller books you cannot put down because you NEED to know what happens. The POV's in the book are mind blowing, insane and keep you wondering and the ending was INSANE. The book picks up towards the end because it does start slow paced but once you start to uncover and pick up, its hard to put down.. For being a debut novel, This book is smart, chilling and worth reading. If you're a fan of Gillian Flynn, Paula Hawkins or other authors like so, Give this book a read!

Thank you Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Leslie's younger sister, Robin, ran away 10 years ago, leaving Leslie with their dying father to take care of. When their father dies, he leaves each of his daughters with 50 thousand dollars which Leslie is desperate to get her hands on. But the only way she can is to find her sister and spend some time with her per the outlines in their father's will.
But when Leslie finally tracks Robin down... Robin is dead.
When Leslie meets Mary who resembles her sister, she gets an idea.

I loved this book, it was full of so many lies and twists, you won't know who to believe. But also, it highlights some very real issues that some women do have with postpartum depression.

The style of writing is unique, the character POV's were a little disconnected where we really couldn't see what the character was thinking which annoyed me at first but I later realized that the same effect couldn't have been achieved any other way.

I really enjoyed this rollercoaster of a read, I devoured it in less than 24 hours.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for my copy of this book. I really enjoyed this one from start to finish. Leslie needs to find her sister in order to get the money left to them both by their recently deceased father, but that is easier then it sounds. Robin has been gone for years, and has always been the wild child. When Leslie finally tracks her down, she is already too late. Then Robin meets Mary, who bears a striking resemblance to Robin, and a deal is made to claim their inheritance. And now the fun begins!!

The Better Liar is one heck of a debut novel! WOW! I don't think I've ever read a book like this. Sure, I have seen a similar movie (I think it was a lifetime movie) but this book goes above and beyond anything like that! Readers, this is going to be one of those books that everyone should have on their shelves in 2020! You won't regret it!

4.5 stars!

I received an advance copy of this book for an honest review. And honestly - this is undoubtedly the BEST book I've ever lucked into on NetGalley!!

In Jones' author's note, she states, "The Better Liar is a nightmare, full of wild shadows and exaggerations... if I had a baby, I might not feel what I am supposed to feel, and I might be too afraid to tell anyone." PPD is so real and only recently are women feeling empowered enough to share their stories. My daughter had severe PPD and attempted suicide twice before my granddaughter was one. It's been four years and she only recently has become more herself; she is terrified of another pregnancy.

I loved this book for its voice - the story flowed so well. There were no missteps with dialogue or description. Robin and Leslie had a very interesting dynamic throughout the book, as they approached each other through the lens of what they needed.

Looking forward to reading more from this very talented author!

The chapters are from the POV’s of the main women in this story. This allows the reader to know....who’s thinking what & doing what because all these things are important to know for the ending

This needed the set up the author writes & with deliberate order. So many twists toward the end which was when I couldn’t read fast enough to see how this would play out. At first, I thought the author was going the “happily ever after” way, then I would’ve been upset BUT she did it even better than I wanted! Great plot twist

Felt like this was a book written from an experience or possible experience from the author, rather than write the book & it be a fiction written as an original thought for a book. I guess I can appreciate all the afterwords, but for me, it took away from thinking this was a truly masterminded plot by an author

I received a digital copy of this book from Net Galley. Many thanks from Penguin Random House Publishers f the author for a very good read! I highly recommend this book esp. if you like plot twists & stories of women

Thank you to NetGalley, Tanen Jones and Random House Publishing Group for this fantastic ARC.

I loved this debut novel by Tanen Jones! It was an exciting read which would make a great Netflix movie. I thought I had the ending figured out, but nope! Threw a good twist in there that I didn't see coming.

I look forward to reading more by this fantastic new author!

Leslie and Robin are estranged sisters. Their father thinks it would be a good idea for them to get back together and makes it a requirement for them to receive their inheritance.. The problem begins when Leslie shows up to find Robin and instead finds her dead body. Knowing that they both have to be at the lawyers office to receive the inheritance, Leslie "hires" Mary to impersonate Robin and agrees to give her Robin's money in exchange. Mary returns to Leslie's home and is passed off as her sister, fooling everyone that she needs to. After the money is distributed, the twists begin. Is Mary going to leave quietly or cause a problem for Leslie.? Is Leslie going to go through with the plans she has for the money? If she does it will upend a lot of lives and have huge repercussions. You don't find out everyone's motives until the end and what a ride it is.
Thank you to netgalley for an ARC of this book for my unbiased opinion.