This is definitely a twisted tale. It was hard for me to like any of the characters in the story. The only character I liked was Jay, Natalie’s brother. This is a story with a lot of people that really need to listen to each other and tell what is happening in their lives. This is truly a very good psychological suspense novel. I felt very sorry for the lives that many of the characters lived. I received a copy of this book from Harlequin for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.

What a deliciously juicy and twisted book this was!!! Stories about the rich and privileged are always the most fun to read! Learning about their weaknesses and how they’re just like the rest of us keeps me turning pages so fast! The Lying Club totally has Big Little Lies vibes and I’m so here for it! I absolutely recommend this book!!!

I was thrilled to get a copy of this book after loving Beautiful Bad, and I was not disappointed. Excellent psychological thriller set in an elite high school. The story follows three different woman in a wealthy community all with ties to the beloved coach and trainer Nicholas. Asha and Brooke are moms who hope coach will take their daughters to the Ivy League with athletics, and Natalie is his girlfriend who is spiraling out of control due to his influence. Addicting, multilayered story of deceit, sexual abuse, drug abuse, and lies. Not to be missed.

As the title suggests, there's a whole lot of lying going on here.
There are three women all connected in one way or the other to the coach of the Falcon Academy's girls soccer team, Nick.
There's Natalie, an office assistant at the school, Asha, the assertive mother of Mia who is suspicious of her husband's fidelity and Brooke, the mother of Sloane, Mia's competitive best friend, who's husband has left her for another woman. Mia and Sloane play on the soccer team and Nick is both coach and mentor to them both. Natalie is in love with Nick, Brooke wouldn't mind hooking up with Nick and Asha wants Nick to help get her daughter into UCLA.
They all have secrets and tell lies. When two bodies are taken out of the school on stretchers the lies and deceit only gets worse.
The first sections of the book are spent on character development as we get to know this cast of characters and their histories. This lays the foundation on which the story relies on to move it along. The last chapters speed it up as the three ladies lives get interconnected in ways they didn't see coming.
I really enjoyed getting to know these primarily despicable characters who, except for Natalie, flaunt their wealth and privilege while trying to get the best for their daughters at any cost. Natalie on the other hand is a drug stealing dimwit making poor choices with a man twenty years her senior.
It all makes for an interesting tale of who did what to who and who will pay. I recommend this one to all of you who enjoy the crazy messed up lives of the haves and have nots and the lies they tell along the way.

Everyone lies at a school where wealthy kids go and parents expect the very best. A lot of blood is found in the gym and some people will lie to cover everything up.

The story is mainly told ‘before’ with snippets of a police interview between some of the chapters. The book held my interest and the characters were very relatable. There is a lot going on in the book and it all comes together in the end.

The Lying Club by Annie Ward is one of those thrillers that draws the reader in via clever connections and red herrings before gut punching with a heck of a twist.
The author starts with a prologue that sets the tone right from the start. It also lets the reader know that Natalie is an unreliable narrator. The question then becomes whether she is naturally so, or if there are reasons for it.
Just another layer of the mystery that unfolds.
The other two narrators, Asha and Brooke, are slightly more reliable But, they have their own issues as well. So, the reader is never sure if the women are putting their own spin on events or if the reactions are legitimate.
One thing I really liked about this author’s writing style was that the chapters from the various women’s points of view reflect their personalities.
Natalie’s are hazy and wander. Asha’s are scattered and a bit frantic. And Brooke’s are sharp, in focus, and get to the point.
To be honest, I didn’t entirely get that as I was actually reading the story. I did notice that the book held my interest and felt fresh throughout. In writing this review, I realized the chapters may have something to do with that.
The plot itself unfolds in an interesting manner. We know there is an incident in the beginning, and then the author goes back in time to the events leading up to the event before moving forward from it.
That’s all I want to say about it because I don’t want to give details away. Suffice to say that characters who may seem superfluous probably aren’t and you need to pay attention to relationships.
For example, even if Natalie can’t make a connection, you should be able to.
I will also say that the author did a fantastic job with a sensitive subject while illustrating that true monsters are among us in our everyday lives.
I had a hard time putting The Lying Club down, and I highly recommend it.

The Lying Club by Annie Ward has two murders occurring at the elite Falcon Academy where reputation is everything. Rich parents send their entitled children to this prestigious school which will set them up to get into an elite college. Lies abound in this story. The Lying Club is told from several points-of-view. It did take me awhile to adjust the changing viewpoints. The key is to try and figure out which are lies and which are truths. Who could have committed such heinous crimes? The beginning of The Lying Club is a little slow as the story (the characters, the setting, and the plot) is laid out. The author provides plenty of detail which allows readers to visualize the characters and the scenes. We get to meet the various characters (rich parents, bratty teenagers, staff tired of dealing with both parents and the students). The pacing picks up in the second half where there is more action and a twist or two. It is a disturbing story that delves into dark areas. Annie Ward combines dysfunctional characters with drama, revenge, lies, deceit, secrets, and murder into one twisty tale called The Lying Club.

The synopsis of this one says it’s about revenge, murder and shocking secrets and those damn buzzwords will get me every single time, anyone else?! Then it opened super strong for me, you have two bodies being carried out of an elite private school but you don’t know who and then it flips back a few weeks. So needless to say my attention was there right away and it genuinely stayed there throughout the book. This was a total popcorn thriller, lots of drama between the three women who narrate but although it was definitely catty fun at times it also went pretty dark too. If you like books with toxic relationships, betrayals and plenty of surprising secrets try this! I listened to this one and throughly enjoyed Teri Schnaubelt’s narration. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thanks to the tagged partners for my copy.

A thank you to Netgalley for sharing the ARC in exchange for an honest review

Immediate thoughts when I finished this? Well, that was twisted - and I liked it! The neighborhood secret trope is far from new, but if done right, it doesn't ever get too old, at least not for some of us. Secrets, sick people, and some seriously sick people make this a pretty enticing read, so while long, the pages just sort of flew by. A great read-alike for Liane Moriarty and books like Sarah Langan's Good Neighbors. With the right narrator, it could be great on audio.

I love a good thriller and I love it even more when multiple storylines are woven together. This absolutely brought back memories of Big Little Lies, and that was perfectly fine by me. Granted, they were alike and yet so different. Of course, at a private school, there is bound to be drama.

The Lying Club was definitely an interesting read with an intriguing premise. Super quick read as it kept my attention.
The characters were interesting and I got the love hate feeling for many of them, especially Brooke! I am looking forward to reading more from Annie Ward.
Thank you netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Slow Start Yet Overall Satisfying. This is one of those books that starts a bit slow and has a LOT of moving parts and thus can be a touch difficult to keep track of at times, even for those of us who like this type of setup. One where there is little action and it seems a touch pointless at times... until the back parts of the book where the action truly finally picks up steam and gets fairly suspenseful. And yet, by the end all is tied up neatly - perhaps a bit too neatly, and the epilogue is perhaps unneeded as well. Ultimately a strong book that arguably tries to do a bit too much - but still largely succeeds in telling its tale its way. Very much recommended.

The Lying Club
by Annie Ward
Pub Date: March 22, 2022
Park Row
A tangled web of lies draws together three women in this explosive thriller of revenge, murder and shocking secrets
Thanks to the author, Park Row and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.
I felt this book was a bit long, but I did enjoy the story. Many twists, turns, backstabbing, actual stabbing, lying, and cheating. Except for Rocky and Jackson, cannot think of any likable character. With all that going on the action should have been nonstop but was actually a rather slow burn. A dark read, but it was hard to put down and had an unexpected ending.
3 stars

Thank you @netgalley for my advance copy!

This was marketed as Big Little Lies meets Little Fires Everywhere and I couldn’t agree more! Filled with juicy lying, cheating and some major backstabbing you never really know who is “guilty”. Taking place at an elite private school in Colorado (favorite state) we get a plethora of characters to follow with several plot lines. Now I know that sounds like it would be difficult to follow by Annie Ward makes everything come together in the best way possible.

This was suspenseful and engaging. I loved all the different characters and their perspectives as well as the continuous twists. If you are looking for something to keep you flipping pages-look no further. This one was great!

I am voluntarily posting an honest review after reading an advance reader copy of this story.

One of the perks of being laid up with a bum knee is that I could read this story from start to finish, which I did in 1 day. The beginning was a little confusing to me but it wasn't long until I was into the characters and ignoring the TV. I had no idea what was going on until the last bit of the book & that's a hard thing to do. No red herrings that I can point to so I was surprised. I was puzzled by the book title and in the end it became very clear.

#TheLyingClub #Netgalley #AnnieWard #ParkRow

This was a really good thriller. A little misleading with the title as there really wasn’t a lying club, but that didn’t stop ,e from loving it! I think this book can be enjoyed by a wide audience, it involves parents, teachers, coaches, and students. There is jealousy, lies, scandals and a whole lot of disturbing things! A ,just read for thriller fans.

"If you loved Big Little Lies and Little Fires Everywhere, ..“
When I saw this teaser about The Lying Club, I should have realized this was not the book for me. Stories about the rich and entitled are not my cup of tea. One of the characters trots out that tired old motto about being kind because you don’t know what problems other people are dealing with, and I guess you could say that was the case here, but my empathy can extend only so far for people whose issues arise because they have too much.
The story itself, a murder mystery set on the campus of an elite private school in Colorado is loaded with sex, drugs, and toxic families and keeps you guessing til the end. If you don’t mind living with the brittle needy women of this privileged community, you might enjoy separating the victims from the vengeful. Or you can wait til Reese Witherspoon options the story for Netflix.

Thank you Netgalley for this Arc!

This mystery/thriller was incredible! I loved the whole set up. Natalie works at the front desk of a high school that is known for it's sports department and the entitled teens that go there. Natalie has an interesting past so when things become derailed at the school with a certain staff member, she becomes a suspect in a crime.

Going between Natalie's police interview and the start of everything to the explosive ending was the perfect way to tell this story. It's fast-paced and intense. I definitely recommend This!

Look for this on March 22nd!

4.5 / 5 Stars

The book begins on a snowy day, when Natalie wakes up in her car and can’t remember what happened. A body is found and Natalie fears she might have done something really bad… then the book pivots to 6 months prior. We meet Brooke, Asha, and their daughters Sloane and Mia. All of them have secrets, and you’ll find yourself racing to the end of this book to find out what happens.

If you liked Big Little Lies, you’ll like this one. There wasn’t any huge “twists” but there were some good surprises! I enjoyed the multiple viewpoints/characters, and trying to figure out not only “whodunnit” but also who the victim is.

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing & NetGalley for allowing me to read an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Lying Club is my first book by this author and will not be my last. It gave me Big Little Lies vibes and I enjoyed it from start to finish. The first few chapters were teasers and hooked me. A girl wakes up confused, trying to remember where she is and what she may have done. A janitor finds a body. A breaking news report is given. It then switches to six months earlier and we meet all the characters who may or may not be involved. Who is the victim? Who is the killer? It seems like everyone is hiding something. Towards the end of the story when it is all coming together, time melted away and I was reading as fast as possible because I had to know how it would end. I highly recommend this book to everyone and especially if you enjoyed Big Little Lies.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free copy to review.