So so so so good!!! I read this in an entire day. I could not stop!!!! It was one of those situations where you just keep thinking one more chapter again and again because you need to find out what could happen next! I loved the unreliable narrator vibe where you’re thinking can I truly trust what I’m reading? Somethings didn’t seem to add up.. but in the end it all ties together perfectly.

The romance was sweet too. Not forced but definitely slow building throughout the entire book and finally that sweet relief at the end. That not only will they end up together, but that the mystery is solved as well… it was honestly such a satisfying read for me.

I would love to look into any other books by this author and see if they are just as good!

Jealousy. Rivalry. Cheating. Then it turns to murder.

The characters are girls in an all-girls private school and boys in a reform-type school. She likes him, her friend is jealous, he cheats, the girls scream in the cafeteria, the boys fight, you get the picture. Now the question is, who did the killing?

Thanks to Netgalley and Inkyard Press for the read.

Thank you to the publisher, Inkyard Press, and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Jenna Dallas is near the beach at dawn, taking photos as she usually does when she hears a cry for help, only to discover that it is Adam Cole, who has found a body in the water – Colleen O’Dell, who attends the same school as Jenna. The coastal town is shocked by the news, especially after it becomes clear that this was no accidental drowning. Jenna and all her friends are interviewed by the police in light of this revelation and when her best friend, becomes a key suspect, Jenna is determined to get to the bottom of things. As she examines the possible suspects, she is increasingly certain that the boys at Rookwood Reform School, where Adam is also a student, know more than they are letting on. Adam, meanwhile, is just trying to finish up his time at Rookwood and when Jenna starts digging, he wants no part of the drama. But as his friends begin to be investigated, trusting Jenna to find the culprit might be the only way to keep them safe.

I love a good murder mystery, so I could hardly pass this one by when I’d been hearing about it since the beginning of the year! The pace of the narrative was well maintained throughout and the story was an intriguing one from start to end, so much so that I read the entire thing in one go! However, I felt that there wasn’t too much about this book that particularly stood out – much of it felt like it was a script I’d seen before, intermixed with a lot of high school drama. The inclusion of the police interview transcripts were a nice touch though, as they gave the perspective of the characters that don’t have POVs. I didn’t see the point of the flashbacks initially, but they turned out to be key to the mystery later on. I also liked that there were so many possible scenarios that kept popping up and it was really hard to pin down any one suspect from a reader’s angle.

As far as the characters go, Jenna and Adam were solid protagonists and their POVs were easy to follow, giving us insight into the two major groups of people surrounding the mystery. Adam was quite interesting as it was rather obvious that he was hiding something right away and the story leaves that thread hanging for a while. I was hoping to get more of a backstory for both him and Jenna and some of the side characters as well, because they show up very frequently. Unfortunately, character development was this book’s major weak point. I found it really hard to connect to any of them and the romance, although quite minimal felt very unnecessary and out of place. There simply wasn’t enough time in the story to allow for it.

The ending was quite unpredictable, and personally I thought that there weren’t enough hints at who was behind the whole thing, so a more drawn out reveal would have really helped. Overall, this was a quick and easy read, and an entertaining one too. I think this book would be a great choice if you’re in the mood for a mystery that’s not overly complex or for any reader who is new to the mystery genre.

Title: This Is Why We Lie
Author: Gabriella Lepore
Genre: YA
Rating: 4.0 out of 5

Everyone in Gardiners Bay has a secret.

When Jenna Dallas and Adam Cole find Colleen O'Dell's body floating off the shore of their coastal town, the community of Gardiners Bay is shaken. But even more shocking is the fact that her drowning was no accident.

Once Jenna's best friend becomes a key suspect, Jenna starts to look for answers on her own. As she uncovers scandals inside Preston Prep School leading back to Rookwood reform school, she knows she needs Adam on her side.

As a student at Rookwood, Adam is used to getting judgmental looks, but now his friends are being investigated by the police. Adam will do whatever he can to keep them safe, even if that means trusting Jenna.

As lies unravel, the truth starts to blur. Only one thing is certain: somebody must take the fall.

This was a quick, enjoyable read—and I didn’t figure out who the killer was on my own. I liked Jenna a lot, and it was interesting watching her perspectives change over the course of the book. I liked Adam as a viewpoint character, too, with his experiences—so different from Jenna’s own—that shape his views and loyalty, almost to his own detriment. This was an engaging read without a big time commitment.

Gabriella Lepore is from South Wales. This is Why We Lie is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Inkyard Press in exchange for an honest review.)

This Is Why We Lie is a YA mystery/thriller that falls more on the side of mystery than thriller, and I really enjoyed that change of pace. Jenna lives with her aunt, who is a police detective. When her aunt starts investigating the murder of a classmate, Jenna feels like the police have it all wrong.
They are looking at other teens with who Jenna is close, and she knows it can’t be them. So, to make sure the right person is caught for the murder, Jenna starts investigating it herself and puts herself in the killer’s crosshairs.

The story is narrated by Jenna and Adam. They each represent the kids from their prospective schools implicated in the murder. Adam found the body in the early morning hours floating in the ocean and tried in vain to save her. Jenna watched it all unfold as she was there taking photos for her portfolio. Together, they try to figure it all out, and they make a good team.

I only guessed the killer fleetingly as I grabbed onto one of the actual clues but lost that train of thought as I analyzed red herring after red herring. This mystery has plenty of misdirections, making it a genuine puzzle. I enjoyed that aspect as well.

The pace is quick, the ending explosive, and this is easily a one-sitting kind of book. The setting is a perfect teen setting staying almost exclusively on one high school campus or the other. The overall setting is a beach setting, which I always love. I can never get enough of a good beach local. Age-wise, I would probably place it at the lower end of the teen years, though I think any age would enjoy trying to figure out the whodunnit.

Characters
Jenna and Adam are the main characters and the narrators. Jenna lives with her aunt because she has no idea who her father is, and her mother is off trying to find her next adventure halfway across the globe. Adam is at a reform school because of his anger issues after his mom’s death and his father’s re-entry into his life. Both have lots of baggage for being just teenagers but are easily relatable and even admirable on occasion.

What I Wish
I wish that Jenna had a little more depth to her character. Adam actually has a pretty sound foundation of development. But Jenna, I felt like only the surface was scratched, and I would love to have had a deeper look into what makes her who she is and why she feels like she must save her friends.

To Read or Not to Read
If you, or a teen you know, are looking for an excellent puzzling mystery, then This Is Why We Lie should be at the top of your list to get this fall.

THIS IS WHY WE LIE is a fast-paced, super twisty murder mystery about a girl who tries to find out who killed a classmate and the boys everyone suspects. There's a fun mix of formatting here, with snippets from text messages, police interviews, and even newspaper articles. And did I mention fast-paced? This book hurls you towards the ending so fast you might get whiplash. It's one of those stories that wraps around you so subtly that you don't even realize how caught up you are until you can't turn the page as fast enough. If you like Holly Jackson's Good Girl series you won't want to miss this one.

This is an extremely fast paced thriller that I flew through in less than a day without even meaning to. I would pick it up and the next thing I knew I had sped through 30% of the book in a short amount of time. The short chapters helped as well as Lepore’s captivating writing style. The story itself was intriguing enough to keep me guessing on who killed Colleen although I didn’t necessarily care why. The synopsis makes it seem like the schools the characters go to are important but they really aren’t which was a little disappointing. I also found it odd that our two main characters, Jenna and Adam, act like they don’t really know each other but we quickly find out that they run in the same circle of people. The story is told through Adam and Jenna’s perspectives which I enjoyed. It helped give the story a well rounded feel since we see both the boys’ and girls’ sides. However, they both use a lot of flashbacks to tell their side of the story and some of the time it just felt very repetitive to what we just found out. On the other hand, I did enjoy the way Lepore interspersed the story with police interviews, news articles and texts. It helped keep the fast pace of the story and also added a bit of fun. While the ending was action packed and somewhat surprising I do think the fast pace makes it a little difficult to connect to the characters. I do think that you will get the most enjoyment out of this book if you are already a fan of YA thrillers like I am.

When Justine Sha from Inkyard Press reached about this Fall 2021 blog tour lineup, I immediately knew I wanted to read and review This Is Why We Lie by Gabriella Lepore. I hadn’t read anything by Ms. Lepore yet, though she’s got a number of indie-published books that I’ve seen on Amazon for a while. I love a good standalone thriller, so I was eager to finally try out one of her books, and I thoroughly enjoyed this one!

I started reading This Is Why We Lie one night before bed, and before I knew it, it was after 1:00 in the morning and I was 80% done! I literally flew through it. I honestly didn’t know whodunit most of the way through, then close to the end I thought I had it figured out. Well, let me tell you, I didn’t! I kind of want to read it again to see if I missed some clues that would have led me to the correct conclusion!

Overall, I really liked this book, and the only thing I was missing was a bit more in-depth character development so I could feel more connected to the characters. As it was, Adam was definitely my favorite, and I did feel for him, but it was a bit hard to connect with some of the other characters, but I recognize that’s sometimes how it goes with thrillers. If you’re a fan of YA thrillers, I definitely would recommend this one! It’s definitely got some shocking twists and turns that you won’t see coming.

Rating: 4 stars!

**Disclosure: I received an early e-copy of this book for purposes of this blog tour. This review is voluntary on my part and reflects my honest rating and review of the book.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this book! I love to read murder mysteries, but lately I haven't picked up as many because they just don't suck me in like they used to. I went into this novel with sort of neutral expectations, just given my recent history with YA Mystery/Thrillers, but I was pleasantly surprised! I was completely lost in the story and, honestly, couldn't put it down! I wasn't completely sold on the writing style and I think that's why it took me a little bit to really get into the story, but as it progressed I was completely hooked. I didn't love the plot twist but I will be the first to admit that it was really well done and honestly took me by surprise! I don't want to give too much away because I think this story is best gone into with just the knowledge of the blurb, but if you like Karen McManus or Holly Jackson I definitely think you should give this one a go!

✨ The Title/Cover Draw:
This book sounded like a fun fall YA Mystery. Thanks to @netgalley and Inkyard Press for allowing me to read this ahead of publication and be part of the book tour! (see website for more).

💜 What I liked:
This story is told between Adam and Jenna, who find the body of a friend drowned at a beach. The truth is riveting as they start to try to discover what is actually happening. I really liked the pacing of this story as it allowed me to really think about the clues.

😱 What I didn’t like:
The ending didn't pan out as well as I would have liked. Also I really wanted to understand the characters more but I felt like we only scratched the surface.


🚦 My face at the end: 🧐

💭 3 Reasons to Read:
1. Lies!
2. Mysterious deaths
3. Interesting Location



🕧 Mini-Summary:
When Jenna and Adam find their friend drowned at the beach, they try to discover who did it, while keeping their own secrets away.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Received from Netgalley.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital review copy. This was a quick, decently entertaining read. Has most of it been done before? Yes. Was it predictable? Also yes. Overall, I am never mad at a book I can get through in a couple of hours, but there were definitely some things that could have been done better - especially the transitions between past events and what was currently happening. It was a little tough to figure out was was going on at points. Perhaps in the final version there will be dates or something to distinguish the flashbacks from the main narrative.

A solid middle read. This would've been better if it weren't for the ending, which I just did not vibe with.

This books alternates between Adam's POV and Jenna's POV. Both Adam and Jenna are there when a girl's body is pulled out of the ocean, and as suspects start to pop up and evidence comes to light, they both find themselves lying in attempts to save the people they love.

Jenna is a student at the fancy prep school for girls called Preston, and Adam is a student a little down the road at a reform school for troubled boys called Rookwood (basically a last stop before Juvie). I really liked the dynamic of Rookwood school, because it was so mysterious and off the path. I'm also a sucker for the whole "You go to a fancy rich school and I'm basically a criminal" dynamic they've got going on.

I think this is a book where dual POV really shines. You get to see Jenna work through the mystery and lies that Adam cloaks himself in, and you get to see Adam try so hard not to let his guard down around her. I also think it was a great choice because for a lot of the book, Adam is really unreliable in his narration and you don't really know what's going on with him. There are a couple times where you do really think he might've killed Colleen.

I liked both of the characters. I think Jenna is a really cool character, because she's stubborn but she's also not entirely stupid. She knows what she wants to do, and she knows what she really shouldn't do. I appreciate her intense loyalty, and I also appreciate that it doesn't cloud her judgment. I really liked watching Adam's character unfold, because even though you get his POV, you kind of get to learn about him as Jenna does. He's just a soft misunderstood baby trying to survive and thrive in the world. I also liked the side characters, especially because Lepore does such a good job of painting everyone as both trustworthy and entirely suspicious. We get to see everyone through the eyes of Jenna and Adam, who love their friends so deeply, but are also not dumb enough to not be a little suspicious.

Personally, I did not vibe with the ending. Without giving anything away, I just don't think it's that creative of an ending. It was a little surprising and also didn't come totally out of left field (both things I appreciate in my murder mystery reveal), but the motivation just really soured it for me. I was expecting more and it was kind of a classic motive, which was not nearly as fun. Overall it was a solid and suspenseful read up until that point, so I would still recommend it.

First of all, thanks to NetGalley and Inkyard Press for approving my request and sending me an eARC in exchange for a honest review.
You have to know English isn’t my first language, so feel free to correct me if I make some mistakes while writing this review.


Oh, how much I liked this mystery YA!

It's dawn on a late September morning - Jenna is on the pier taking some photos for her portfolio when she hears a voice calling for help. Once she rushes to the beach, she recognizes Adam carrying in his arms the dripping and lifeless body of a girl, Colleen.

Jenna and Colleen went to school together, although it can't exactly be said that they were friends; Adam is a guy they know relatively.

But everyone's lives are more connected than they can imagine - and gossip certainly doesn't help. Nor does the quarrel that Jenna's best friend Hollie had with Colleen the day before she died with the whole student body as witness.
Jenna, however, is convinced of Hollie's innocence and is ready to bet everything on the Rookwood guys - Colleen wasn't as innocent as everyone is painting her: she liked to party and never missed the parties organized by the Rooks.

Everyone has a reason to lie: Jenna, Hollie, Adam, Jenna's other friends from Preston, Adam's friends.
But what they try to protect by lying is only about them or could it also be about hiding a murder?


I really appreciated the double point of view: Jenna's takes us to an all-girl school attended by rich girls, where Jenna is only there because her mother made money with her travel blog and was able to send her there while leaving her to live with an aunt; Adam's takes us almost "next door" to Rookwood - a school where troubled kids with a messed up past are given a second chance to straighten their lives instead of going to jail.

Jenna and Adam aren't exactly friends, but they know each other: Jenna's other best friend, Serena, is dating one of Adam's best friends, Max. Jenna has been to Rooks parties a few times, but they've never been her "scene" and she never trusted the boys of that school too much.
But now they have to work together, still it's hard to stop lying - especially when you're trying to find out what the other person knows without revealing what you know instead. While Jenna is determined to exonerate Hollie and is convinced that the boys knew Colleen more than they let on, Adam is willing to do anything as long as the cops stay away from him, Max and Tommy.

We discover their personalities little by little and I liked Jenna in particular because I saw myself is a few of her characteristics: she’s always the one who tries to mediate, to see the good in a situation and to justify people – I’m mainly talking about friendships, when she tries to never speak ill of anyone especially following Serena's abandonment in favor of more popular girls like Imogen, Brianna and Colleen.

Adam, on the other hand, is a victim of circumstances and a past that hasn't done him any favors. The Rooks are his brotherhood, Max and Tommy are his family – he’s loyal to the impossible.

The flashbacks - although at times I would have liked to have a temporal location that would make them immediately clear - help to reveal what we have lost in the lives of the characters before meeting them on the beach, shed light on some dynamics and reveal how the protagonists came to be what they are.

I had no idea who the culprit was until I was practically at 90% of the book - only then did I start putting the pieces together and remembering some details that I had read previously and that the author has placed in strategic places.

It has great pacing, captivating writing that intrigues the reader, and the chapters - interspersed with message exchanges and police interrogation transcripts - are short, just the right length to make you say "just one more" and suddenly you find yourself reading half of the book.
I liked the way friendship is portrayed and I liked especially how none of the female characters is a cliché in itself - even Colleen, who sometimes resembled the mean girl with the things she used to say and the way she seemed to behave, had a good side and cared about Serena in her own way.
Too bad for the ending which is a bit rushed - we are told what happens and not shown, so an extra chapter would not have hurt to see the consequences on all the characters involved and not just on some of them (and not even that much).

However, it remains a very good mystery YA, as good as I haven't read for a long time because they always had some aspect - mystery or character - that disappointed me. This one is super approved!

This would pretty much be my nightmare in high school. I actually had a classmate die when I was in school and it was at the hands of my classmates so this was very real. It was well written and I also like the cover.

There's a saying that those with glass houses shouldn't throw stones. Well, what happens when everyone in a town has a secret? That's the story that Gabriella Lapore captured in This Is Why We Lie.

Every single person in Gardiners Bay has a secret. That in itself is probably not too uncommon. Lots of people have secrets, after all. However, the secrets of Gardiners Bay are about to get blown into the open once Colleen O'Dell's body has been found.

Now Jenna Dallas is determined to get to the truth of Colleen's death, and in doing so, she's going to accidentally tear through every dark secret the town has been trying to keep. The sheer number of secrets blur the line surrounding the truth until Jenna and the town feels nearly lost.

If you're looking for a young adult mystery that will hold your attention, try checking out This Is Why We Lie. It's got a strong 'whodunnit' vibe, which makes it all the more intriguing as the dozens of secrets come to the surface.

I enjoyed how complex this thriller/mystery became. I also loved that the narrative was told in two parts. There's Jenna (obviously) and her best friend, Adam. Both are intrinsically linked to the murder that has occurred, but for very different reasons.

As such, I enjoyed watching the story unravel through their eyes. More than that, their friendship is so strong and amazing. Who wouldn't love to have a friend that would literally dive into a murder mystery to protect you?

Overall I really enjoyed This Is Why We Lie, though I felt as if the conclusion was not quite as strong as the rest of the book. I think I just let it get built up so much in my head, you know? Either way, I think Gabriella Lapore will be an author worth keeping an eye on.

This Is Why We Lie by Gabriella Lepore is a young adult thriller. The story in this one is told with dual narration by Jenna Dallas and Adam Cole who discover the body. It is also one that takes place in a current timeline with also flashing back to the before timeline. This is also a book that has things like news articles, police interviews etc mixed into the story.

Jenna loves taking in the scenery in Gardiners Bay at dawn just before the morning light comes and the day starts. Out taking photos once again Jenna believes she is all alone but she then hears a call for help. Rushing over Jenna comes across Adam pulling a body from the water and when she gets closer to help she sees it’s someone she knows, Colleen O’Dell, who also attends Preston Prep School with Jenna and Jenna fears Colleen is beyond help.

Soon Jenna finds herself being interviewed by police as it seems Colleen being in the water was no ordinary drowning but possibly murder. When Jenna’s best friend becomes a suspect in the death Jenna knows she needs to get to the bottom of what happened to Colleen. Jenna suspects that the boys at Rookwood, a reform school, may know more than they are telling since Colleen regularly attended parties there.

Boy those city planners in Gardiners Bay really needed to rethink the decision to have a girls elite prep school so close to the boy’s reform school but of course then we would not have this YA thriller. This Is Why We Lie moved a little slowly for me a couple of reasons. First, I had a bit of trouble connecting to the characters with this one and it took a while to get to know them. Then I also felt the flashing back could have been done in a little better fashion to make it flow better and make it clearer when/where parts are taking place so in the end I’d rate this young adult thriller at three and a half stars.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

I did not finish this book.

Just wasnt for me. I tried starting it several times and finally just decided it wasnt going to happen.

This is a great YA thriller, set in the dual worlds of an elite all-girls prep school and a last-chance, all-boys boarding school, where the co-mingling leads to. More than hook-ups and partying, it also has deadly consequences. And the mystery itself is pretty good, very intriguing with plenty of suspects and motives to go around.

The story is told on two timelines, with chapters split roughly in half, with part of the chapter taking place in the present day, and part telling the story of the events that led up to the present events. Interspersed amongst the chapters are also excerpt from police interview or text message chains, etc.

I enjoyed getting to know these characters, who were all interconnected in some way - frenemies, some of them - and it was fascinating trying to pick apart what was happening amongst each group, as faction seemed to shift. The author did a good job of keeping readers on their toes with that.

The ending was also good. As I said there’s plenty of suspects and motives, so it was interesting to see which one emerged, and I have to say, I didn’t particularly peg the right one. But it fit all the same.

Overall, this was a solid YA thriller, full of suspense and with deep characters. Fans of the genre will really enjoy it.

On a bit of a YA Thriller buzz at the moment, I decided to read This is Why We Lie by Gabriella Lepore. This book starts with two characters Jenna and Adam who both happen to be at the beach. Jenna taking photos when she hears Adam calling for help and in his hands is a dead body. The body turns out to be a girl from Jenna's school and someone who was a close acquaintance and in her friends' group - Colleen. She has been murdered and now Jenna's group of friends and best friend Hollie is one of the main suspects. Both Jenna who attends Preston High which is a wealthy school and Adam who attends the Rookwood Reform school know there is more to the story and someone in their group of friends is responsible but who? All Jenna knows is that Hollie didn't kill Colleen and that she suspects Max who is one of Adam's friends. In This is Why We Lie we will join Jenna and Adam on their journeys of trying to protect their friendships but also their search for the truth. But what will happen when Jenna's main suspect and Adam’s friend Max end up dead? Is someone trying to keep the truth a secret and willing to kill for it? Find out in this good YA thriller read - This is Why We Lie by Gabriella Lepore.

This was a really snappy mystery that kept me hooked throughout! There were enough characters to keep things interesting but not so many that it became confusing. The characters were fleshed out well enough to make them realistic but there was still enough mystery to keep me on my toes. The story developed well, and the pacing was well done. I did not see the resolution coming until the very end, and it was unexpected but still believable. It was a little difficult to keep track of the timeline because there was a generous dose of flashbacks, but it wasn't enough to be seriously detrimental to the story.
Overall, it was a great private school whodunnit with a plethora of interesting characters and sneaky plot twists!