Mary's life seems to have found a smooth pace after her husband's passing. Is when she decides to attend to a school reunion and keep in touch with some old friends when the story picks up speed. She develops a new friendship that will alter her life forever. And several others as well.
I loved this book! The story is strong and the characters are perfectly constructed. The epilogue is magnificent.
I admire the authors capable of handling reader 's minds as they wish. It's a gift. And Gail Schimmel is a gifted author. It's my first book from this author and it will not be the last.
Thank you Netgalley for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars.

What I like about the book: the story is engaging and flows smoothly, it is based in South Africa so it is a nice change. The story has a romance element that is always a plus, although it was too good to be true. The suspense was quite intense and kept me on my toes wondering who the true abuser is and I liked the twist, although it did not surprised me too much. Overall I am intrigued by the author and am curious to read more of her work.

What I did not like about the book is that the main character Mary is not very likeable and April is unbearable.

Mary is supposed to be close to 40 but she acts more like a teenager - throughout the book a lot of time is dedicated to her texting and noting whether the other person read a message, have not read a message, etc. You are a grown up woman, pick up a phone and just call!

As April and Mary were never friends in high school, it is not clear why Mary decides to become fast friends without having much in common, and continue staying in touch although April soon starts acting very selfishly and disturbingly. Most people by that point would just stop returning the calls.

Joshua is portrayed as such a lovely and kind guy who is easy going. He is way too good for Mary who has a lot of baggage and secrets. Without spoiling it, through out the book Mary's behavior is so immature that I am surprised that any man would be attracted to her.

Finding a person who supposedly lives in another continent through a random post on Facebook? Very unrealistic.

There was an effort spent to tell us that her dad was a mechanic, that Mary had a good knowledge of cars and her husband dying in a car accident. I don't want to spoil it so I will leave it at that.

Lastly there are some PC elements as in other author's books and it made me wonder whether big publishers nowadays would only publish if certain characters are introduced or certain references are made.

Thanks Netgalley for a free copy in exchange of the honest review.

This book gripped me from the start. I really liked Mary's character, she seemed like a friend I wanted to have. As the book went on, you find out more about her life and what she's been through and how this affects her current relationships.
A really great read about the power of small lies.

It's much easier to read a book where not much happens if you like the characters. And I do like Mary, a spunky single, widowed mom who lost her own mother when she was just 2 years old. The book starts off with the promise of an interesting plot line; Mary finds a postcard from her mother to her father - the mother she's been told died when she was very young.

It's a while before we find out what happened to Mary's mother because first, we have a 20th high school reunion to attend. Mary reconnects with an old crush, but also with a woman, April, whom she cannot remember all too well. There is a mysterious incident that happened when they were in high school that has turned some against April. Instead of just asking her classmates what happened, Mary befriends April and later her husband, Leo.

April and Leo have a glamorous life, but is all as perfect as it seems? Why does April have bruises...and why does Leo?

As Mary gets pulled into their world, we also discover what happened to her mom - and to her deceased husband.

The book reads smoothly even though not much happens until the very end, and I believe all of the little mysteries could have had a bigger twist for a bigger impact. But if you're looking for a light thriller with a fun heroine, Never Tell A Lie may be your next read.

Thank you Netgalley for this preview!

This was an interesting read and I loved that it took place in South Africa - I think this is actually the first book I have read that takes place there.

The story was interesting, and I liked that I didn't know who was lying. However, I also wasn't really surprised by anything.

I enjoyed the book, but didn't think it was truly gripping.

I am rating this good, but not great.

I do want to thank the author, the publisher and #netgalley for the ARC which did not impact my review.

Compelling and intriguing, I really enjoyed this book. I enjoyed reading and connecting to Mary's character and had a few surprise moments with some twists. Although the ending left me a little unsatisfied, Id say this book was still a very entertaining one that I would recommend to friends.

Wow what a ride this book was. It starts with a troubled past, a school reunion and what did happen at camp? Abook that took the reader on a journey of guess who. Constantly altering who you believe and would you make the same conclusions and outcomes Mary did. From personal experience it was a hard book to decide who to velieve as both sides where well written and shows how a manipulator is very good at playing the victim.

She’s your best friend… but do you trust her?

Oh, this was a juicy and exciting novel! I was hooked right from the beginning scene with an invite to a reunion. I loved the banter between the characters when discussing whether they would go or not. I knew I would like to read about the characters and that the reading would flow. The reading was easy and intriguing, and the suspense had me on the edge of my seat throughout the entire novel.
Lies are always interesting yet devious, and they always come back to haunt you. Mary can contest to that. She was living her life happily, with her lies tucked away and hidden, until they weren’t. As the lies start to unfold, so does her perfectly constructed life. Lies not created by her also began to be exposed, adding to her anxiety and turmoils. The relationship she had with her father was so interesting to me and led me to ponder what I would do and how I would react as each lie and truth were revealed. I questioned some of Mary’s parenting decisions with Django, but who am I to judge? Maybe if my life were built on carefully created lies I would do the same? We get to know Mary’s “friends”, how each one plays an important part of her life, and how she treats them. Who is the better friend? Who is the best confidante? Who is the reliable one? Some uncomfortable and sensitive topics are introduced but not only are they important to the novel, they are also important in general. I had my suspicions about a few things that happened, some were accurate while some were way off. I don’t want to give anything away so I will leave it vague. This was definitely a good read that you won’t want to put down.

Never Tell A Lie by Gail Schimmel.
After a tumultuous marriage, Mary Wilson is happy in her uncomplicated life, focusing on her twelve-year-old son. She’s always been content with her little family—but then she finds an old postcard that throws her whole past into question…
A good read with good characters. Likeable story. 4*.

A book dealing with domestic abuse and it's victims.
The story of Mary and her friend April, both victims of abuse but as the plot progresses there are twists and this is where the lies come to the fore.
Narrated by Mary, the characters are believable.

Thank you Netgalley and Amazon Publishing for the ARC

This is such a roller coaster ride of suspense and mind games right from the first chapter. I didn't like Mary's character, however, that's not the kind of problem I would consider when rating a book. The book was unpredictable for the most part. Although the climax was a bit predictable and rushed. Still I loved reading this book.

Thank you for NetGallery for providing me with this arc for review.

I enjoyed reading this book it tackles and explores issues around domestic abuse in a realistic way, whilst having a thriller element entwined.

I found this book utterly gripping and devoured it as quickly as I could. Just who is telling the truth? And who is lying? I was kept guessing right up until the end, as was the protagonist, Mary Wilson.
We begin by accompanying Mary and her great friend Stacey to their high school reunion. Both are reluctant to attend, but end up having a great time reconnecting with classmates they hadn’t seen for 20 years. Mary doesn’t really remember April from school, but the two form a bond and soon become close friends. Can April be trusted though? There’s something slightly off about her. And there were some rumours about her behaviour at a school camp all those years ago…..
Wow! I couldn’t put this down. I loved the relationships between Mary and her girlfriends, her new boyfriend, and her wonderful, charming father. Author Gail Schimmel hits just the right notes with the dialogue; it’s always thoroughly believable and utterly authentic. We gradually learn about Mary’s marriage and why she grew up without a mother.
Never Tell a Lie throws out one surprise after another. Just as I stopped reeling from one unexpected revelation I was treated to another curveball. It was both great fun and horrific. Mostly, it was really compelling as the author manipulated me into continuously second-guessing myself. I honestly didn’t know who to believe or who to trust, and kept on flip-flopping.
Apart from a novel Schimmel co-authored with Kate Sidley, under the pseudonym Katie Gayle, I’m ashamed to say I hadn’t read any of this South African author’s books. I intend to rectify that very soon.

This is my first book by Gail Schimmel and I will definitely be reading more. Never Tell a Lie is a rather tame domestic suspense novel, but it’s engaging and I couldn’t read it fast enough. I love stories about complex friendships and complex female characters. A school reunion has main character Mary becoming best friends with old schoolmate April—even if Mary can’t actually remember April from them.

There are so many secrets wrapped up inside this novel. April has a dark past linking to an event at school; April and Leo’s marriage is abusive but the big question for a long time is who is the abuser; and Mary discovers her long dead mother isn’t actually dead.

But the big plot centres around April—Mary believes her husband is abusing her, as all the signs are there, but Leo spins a convincing tale as he tries to persuade Mary that he’s the one being abused. Given we know April has done bad things in the past, this is plausible too, and the plot evolves into this twisty narrative where we and Mary are trying to work out who is telling the truth.

Spoilers ahead: So, April’s character was so well written and developed for a long time. Leo’s character had less page-time, and so when he managed to persuade Mary to help get April sectioned in a psychiatric unit, I was surprised by how quickly that happened. And then we end up with time-jumps
Suddenly weeks have passed and Mary is on her third date with Leo—where she discovers the truth, that April was telling the truth all along. And while I like that this is a great #MeToo story showing how men can hide their abusive actions and appear charming to others, I really felt like this ending was just too rushed. It felt like it all happened too quickly, like the pacing was off. This is my only complaint about the book, and so it’s a 4.5 star read for me.

All the characters were all so well written, especially Mary’s son Django and her new boyfriend Joshua and her old friend Stacey. Even Mary’s parents felt real.

The writing is well done and sophisticated.

While I usually gravitate toward suspense novels with more action, this one still had me gripped.

Mary is a widow raising her 12-year-old son, Django. Her and her best friend Stacy reluctantly decide to go to their 20th class reunion and surprisingly have a great time. She reconnects with a bunch of old friends and one, April, that she doesn't really remember but seems to have a secret following her. April and Mary become close and Mary suspects that April is being abused by her husband. Mary is a free lance writer and the insurance from her late husband pays for Django's tuition.

I really didn't like Mary very much. She is close with her father who raised her alone since her mother died when she was two. She makes everything about herself and even though Stacy is super supportive of her she never seems to return the favors. With April she is the same, always trying to think of a way to interject her troubles into a conversation rather than really listening to what April has to say. One of her assignments is to write reviews of whiskey for a small magazine. She never tastes the whiskey and writes some pretty lame reviews. She thinks it's funny that she is pulling the wool over their eyes but I found the behavior childish.

Django seems like a good kid but really hates his name. He seems to have problems in school, perhaps bullying, but instead of getting to the bottom of it she only thinks of how she can get him out of the car so she can get about her day.

There was a little bit of a thriller element and some romance with Joshua. I found the story easy to read and the setting was in South Africa which is different for me. I didn't feel a strong sense of place though.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Amazon UK.

I was lucky to receive an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review and opinion. This is the first Gail Schimmel book I've read and she definitely will be added to my list of must read authors. I felt that this was a very well written novel that will keep you wondering who the real victim is through out the entire book. I found myself up WAY too late into the night trying to finish it! Highly recommend!

Mother Otter! 😳

I cannot believe this novel! I kept going back and forth thinking I knew and what was happening and then agreeing with what was unraveling doing I'd change my mind but fluff sakes! I was wrong AGAIN! Absolutely crazy. I really enjoyed this novel. So flippin good! I suggest going in with NO expectations and don't trust your mind. Sheesh! What a mind ride.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC.
Release date: November 29, 2021

This book tackles the hard topic of abuse and pathological lying. It is a tough topic and a deep read. I would recommend this read to anyone. I received a copy from NetGalley and the publisher. This is my honest review.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Mary is a single widow with a 12 year old son. She reluctantly goes to her class reunion with her best friend. She meets up with an old classmate and the story takes off. They have a whirlwind friendship with dark secrets that reveal themselves. At the same time Mary has discovered her childhood is not what she believed it to be. She was raised by a single father, when her mother died.. or so she thought.

One thing I found a little weird was how Mary talked about her 12 year old son. It was like she was talking about a small child, but when he spoke he sounded very grown. The twists were good. They were well-thought out. I was hoping there would be a twist involving her husband's death.

The writing was so great. The way she describes her characters really painted a picture of them. Some characters were charming and drew you in. Some were deceitful. One part of the book gave me chills. Absolutely recommend!

Thank you, Netgalley for the eARC of this book. I really enjoyed it. This book comes out at the end of November.

This book was not very interesting to me at all. Sorry I just couldn't finish it. Thanks net galley.