Whew. Emily Giffin brought it with this one. She took an event that we know so much about and spun it into a fascinating tale of love and searching.

While I didn't find this book as egregious as some of the reviews I had read had led me to believe it would be, it was still not my favorite book by this author. The believability of this book was also really hard, such as the depth of Cecily's feelings for Grant and a lot of very convenient plot points.

Interesting read about a woman who has just broken up with her boyfriend and meets another man in a bar. It is love at first sight. But not everything is what it seems and 9/11 throws everything into disarray.

I wanted to like this book. I really did. But I could not stand most of the characters and the story line just wasn't did not appeal to me.

The Lies That Bind by Emily Giffin is an amazing book. I have read and enjoyed other books from this author. I was intrigued by the 9/11 storyline. I think she handled this topic really well. It really resonated with the experience of that day, in my opinion. The plot itself was pretty crazy and kept me guessing throughout. What a great story! I recommend it. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher with no obligations. These opinions are entirely my own.

Emily Giffin novels are such a treat - so light and distracting. It almost doesn't matter what they're about - I'll read them all. Once again, she nails the balance between engrossing and relaxing - the mental vacation we all need.

Every time I read an Emily Griffin novel I’m always left amazed at how well crafted her stories are.. They are always guaranteed to leave me marveling at the occasional elements of surprise, the flawed but fully developed characters, the tiny tidbits of emotion that she weaves through her tales of life and love. I loved the setting of this story- early 2000’s when the world was a much different place. the Lies that Bind is such an apt title for an epic book. Emily Griffin just keeps getting better and better.

While I enjoy Emily Giffin's books, this one was a bit hard for me to get into. The story was challenging to read- not because of the writing - but the protagonist's choices. Every 5 seconds, I was screaming for her not to do something crazy - but I guess bad decisions are true to life.

Oh I’m so torn by this book. It was interesting, it was sometimes predictable and sometimes ridiculously unbelievable. But I couldn’t put it down. But I didn’t love it. I don’t know... it seemed like maybe it wanted to be too many things at once.

I really liked this one. A compulsive read. I did have to suspend some belief at times but I don’t think that took from the story itself. It seems like many of the reviews that I’m reading are referring to their unlike of the author and not to this specific book. All in all, I really liked this one and think it handled the experience of 9/11 quite well in terms of how it played out and how it felt to experience the event. Read it quickly and enjoyed it!

Thank you to Netgalley & Emily Giffin for my copy of The Lies That Bind, for an honest review. For the first time in a long time, I read reviews about this book & they weren’t all positive. I finally figured it was time to start it and make my own decision. It is written like most of Ms. Giffin’s books. Some how it’s an unbelievable storyline and I am not a fan of all the characters and yet I read on and I have to finish. This story was quirky. Cecily Gardner is a writer in NY City.. she finds herself alone, in a bar, thinking about her break up with her boyfriend. A stranger walks in and it seems they have an instant connection. They go away for the weekend, for their first date. They enjoy a great weekend and Cecily thinks she has found the perfect man. It’s all there, he is good looking, loves his brother & his work. Yet as we know things aren’t always as they seem. In a bit of bad taste, the author uses the back drop of September 11th, as a turning point in her story. I really didn’t like this at all.. but fast forward and things go wacky. Matthew, her old boyfriend resurfaces, a friend named Amy comes to forefront. Things are so unsettled and Cecily can’t seem to find her way. The story build up was a little slow. The writing was good. The story was ok.. But Like I said, I couldn’t m, not finish it. I had to see how things ended. It was a doozy of an ending. Kind of weird. Over all it wasn’t my favorite story but I would give it 3 stars. I have spoken about it on my Instagram page and shared my review on Barnes & Noble. As always it is great to get an advanced copy of a book and would read the next book by Emily Giffin.

This is the first book I've read by Emily Griffin and have heard amazing this about her. This wasn't my favorite book and I feel like I should read another by her. This book was really hard for me to connect with and I couldn't relate to the characters. I got half way through and had to stop forcing myself to get through it.

After breaking up with her boyfriend of four years, Cecily Gardner was sitting in a pub in New York, toying with the idea of calling Matthew and getting back together, when the man sitting next to her said, “Don’t do it – you’ll regret it.” Deciding the man – Grant - was correct, he and Cecily share shots of Goldschlager and talk, ending up back at Cecily’s apartment. As their relationship progresses, Cecily falls for Grant, even traveling to London with her best friend Scottie to see Grant when he takes his twin brother Byron to enter a clinical trial for ALS. Once Grant returns to New York, on September 10, he spends the night with Cecily and then disappears, one of thousands missing in the tragedy that was 9/11.

Even in my little town in California, we felt shock and horror at the events of 9/11. The streets were empty, people were pulling together to do what they could to help, and I can’t even begin to imagine what it was like for those directly involved. With that said, I didn’t get that sense from The Lies That Bind. Cecily was not a character I was able to relate to, and I felt that 9/11 was used as a gratuitous backdrop for the irresponsible decisions she was making. Though I normally like Emily Giffin’s writing, this was not one of my favorites.

The author's horrible racist comments aside (and I'm not putting them aside except for the sake of the review, I won't ever buy or request another book from her again), this is an awful book in its own right.
Using 9/11 in such a disrespectful way and disrespecting the victims and their families with an incredibly inane "plot twist"
The main character starts out naïve and ends up stupid. She is a woman living in New York City, the stupidity is unforgivable.

Emily Giffin is a favorite author of mine. Her writing is thorough and her plot’s are what I’ve come to expect from her. Always recommend Giffin’s books.

Os poucos livros que li da Emily Giffin, gostei bastante. Tramas românticas e cheias de clichês, uma pitada de drama... aquela leitura sem grandes expectativas, mas que certamente aqueciam meu coração.

Em “The lies that blind” eu reconheço o traço de sua escrita leve, a forma como ela trabalha os clichês, mas fiquei completamente incomodada com como a protagonista da história Cecily foi trabalhada. Não tenho problema com instalove, em alguns livros acho que funcionam super bem, mas nesse... não rolou.

Tudo começa com Cecily triste, após o término de um relacionamento sério em um bar. Ela não tem a pretensão de entrar em outro relacionamento, mas antes mesmo de pensar duas vezes, já está completamente apaixonada por Grant, um homem que pouco conhece. Infelizmente o livro usa o trágica data do 11/09 de uma forma que soou boba, e em 2021 sabemos o peso dessa tragédia histórica.

Depois da tragédia Cecily então se vê presa em uma teia de mentiras e é desesperador como ela toma suas decisões, tem a chance de seguir em frente e não consegue. Sem contar com o quanto que essa teia é pequena, conectando todos os personagens de uma forma um tanto absurda.

É uma história sobre segundas chances, outro tema que eu amo, mas no final de tudo, o mais importante é que torci para que ela pudesse ser mais honesta com ela mesma o tempo inteiro. Que pudesse ser a protagonista de sua vida independente dos imprevistos que ocorrem em sua vida. As reviravoltas do livro em alguns momentos soam absurdos...

Dessa vez, a história não funcionou para mim. Quem sabe na próxima?

I really love Emily Giffin's writing, but unfortunately this book did not do it for me. It felt really "unbelievable" and too far fetched for my linking. I truly pushed myself to read this book and can only give it 3 stars.

This was not the book for me. I felt that the characters were vapid and condescending. There were several points I did not appreciate about this book, including:
⁣
+ The author chose to use 9/11 as a plot device for why a romantic relationship ended. There are ways to reflect on difficult events in history with nuance and grace, but this was not it. Forcing people to relive trauma (Griffin chose to include bits about people jumping to their death and being burned alive) just so you can explain why some characters didn’t end up together is insensitive. ⁣
+ The cultural Christianity was rampant in this one. I feel very frustrated about that in real life, and I don't want to spend my time reading preachy books. The main character is sleeping around with multiple people and, spoiler, gets pregnant. When someone suggests an abortion, she is aghast, in part because of her religious beliefs. But I’m like “Girl, you’re sleeping around with everyone and if you take the Bible to mean you shouldn’t get an abortion, it also says you shouldn’t sleep with people outside of marriage.” I was over the judgemental, I’ll-choose-the-rules-that-cater-to-me-and-skip-the-ones-I-don’t-like attitude real fast. I am not shaming her for having sex before marriage; I was frustrated by her cherry picking of the Bible as it suited her beliefs and imposing that on others. ⁣
+ The main character is self-centered and selfish. Also, she’s incapable of being without a man. Rather than take time to heal her hurting self, she pushes herself into relationship after relationship hoping it’ll fix her. News flash, romantic relationships do not fix you.

I appreciate the opportunity to read and review this novel, but unfortunately, it was not an enjoyable read for me.

I have read several Emily Giffin books in the past, but this one was not my favorite. I think the early chapters that included the romance seemed rushed to me, so I didn't really get to know the characters. I did enjoy the book more as it went on, though.

I was disappointed in this trite love story. Two immature adults meet in a dive bar in NYC. there is a spark, and eventually they develop a relationship. Then, 9/11/2001 happens, and they are ripped apart. In the aftermath, the main protagonist starts to look for her lost love, only to discover someone else is also trying to hunt him down. It was an okay read for me.