Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera is a captivating psychological thriller that skillfully blends suspense with deep character exploration. The story follows a young woman, Josie, who is caught in a dangerous game of secrets and manipulation after she begins to unravel the mystery of a missing person—one that ties back to her past. Tintera excels at creating a tense, atmospheric narrative, and I loved how she kept me questioning every character’s intentions while gradually peeling back layers of deception. The plot twists are cleverly executed, and the emotional depth adds a layer of complexity to the story that makes it more than just a typical thriller. I found myself racing through the pages, invested not just in solving the mystery but in understanding the complicated dynamics between the characters. Listen for the Lie is a dark, riveting read that kept me on the edge of my seat, and I’m definitely looking forward to more from Tintera.

Fast paced thriller, and I loved the mixed format with the podcast scenes. Loved the sarcasm and humor mixed in, the romance aspect wasnt really necessary and didn't fit. Thank you netgalley for the ARC.

The hype on this one is real! Podcaster off to solve a crime in a small town and friends of the victim get involved. I loved the format of this book and the way it was presented. It was such a great story and I bet the audiobook is fantastic. I can’t wait to read more from Amy Tintera in the future!

Compulsively readable but a little overdone in this moment. True crime podcast. Who Did it? Mix in some romance. I read several similar books and this review may reflect just timing of the genre and my own reading habits.

Amy Tintera is a wonderful author and young adult writer. Listen for the Lie is another great novel from her. It is a thriller that will have you wondering who is telling the truth and who is being deceptive.

Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera is a tense and captivating mystery that keeps readers guessing until the very end. Tintera's sharp writing and well-drawn characters create an immersive experience, making this novel a standout for fans of psychological thrillers.

Amazing! Where do I start??

I absolutely loved this book and devoured it. The characters were diverse and multifaceted. I absolutely loved Grannys character. The story line is intriguing and made even more interesting by the “podcast type” chapters inserted throughout. The writing is clever, witty, and engaging with twists and turns throughout and an ending I did not expect. A true Whodunnit. Listen for the Lie was a truly unique and wonderful reading experience and easily captures the spirit of true friendship and sisterhood. Five easy stars and one of my favorite reads of 2024!

I hope to see another Lucy and Ben book because the two make an amazing duo.

My profuse thanks to Netgalley, Celadon, and the author for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Celadon Books for providing me with an advance e-galley of this book in exchange for an honest review. Look for it in your local and online bookstores and libraries on March 5, 2024.

This is Amy Tintera’s adult debut novel. I haven’t read any of her YA novels, but I did enjoy this one. It was fun to read, mostly due to the characters’ acerbic humor. The story was good, too.

I first read this a year ago as an ARC from NetGalley, wrote my review, and thought I submitted it to booksellers. Just finished a reread and submitting it now.
In brief, this is the story of Lucy, A young woman running from repressed memories of having possibly killed her best friend 5 years prior to those story. It is tangentially the story of Ben who runs a true crime podcast, Listen For The Lie. Lucy reluctantly returns to her hometown in Texas for her grandma's 80th birthday party. This is a party grandma planned to bring Lucy to meet with Ben who is doing a podcast of the murder hoping to solve the murder.
Even the second time around I'm not sure why Lucy agrees to help Ben with the podcast but she does. The book alternates between Lucy's POV, the podcast, and the retrieval of Lucy's repressed memories.
They eventually resurface with a vengeance, answering Lucy's questions about her involvement.
My final rating is a 4.5 primarily because I had little memory of reading it before, although I enjoyed it enough to find pleasure in rereading it.
The best I can say about Listen For The Lie, this is superlative, is that it's a compelling story, well written, with a timeline that is faultless. Best of all, it's fun.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing this ARC, mea culpa for having to redo the review.

I heard great things about the audio version of this book, so while I was sent an ARC of the ebook, I waited to listen to the audio book copy from my library before reviewing. 5 stars for the audio book version! I did read the ebook and I have to say not only did the audio book narrators do a fantastic job bringing all of the characters to life, for me they made the voice and memories in Lucy's head much easier to distinguish. Plus the audio book had that true podcast sound and during those portions I totally forgot I wasn't listening to a real podcast. There was such a good 'let's sit down and have a conversation' feel to the podcast sections, and the minor characters of Plumpton brought a depth to the story that I thoroughly enjoyed (and wanted more of). The story started off a little slow, and admittedly I didn't really like Lucy until she arrived back home in Plumpton. There among her childhood home, relatives, and memories, I feel like she finally learned to speak up for herself and come to terms with what happened to her best friend. This story has a big cast of characters, some of which I very much disliked. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend the audio book if you plan to read it.

Thank you NetGalley and Henry Holt & Company for my copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I was hooked from chapter 1. This gave a good girls guide to murder-esque feeling, but definitely in a far more adult world. I enjoyed the internal commentary that Lucy has with herself throughout the book, and how close the author kept the real killer to her chest because I NEVER guessed who did it, until it was too late and Lucy was with him again. I enjoyed the interviews, and Lucy's self deprecating humor, probably because it was 100% relatable to my own humor. I truly enjoyed the book and I've already suggested it to a friend!

You’re going to love this one right from the start. Lucy is suspected of murdering her best friend years ago, but did she do it? Not even Lucy knows. When a podcaster decides to dive into the mystery, Lucy is forced to revisit her hometown, her past, and what really happened that night. You won’t want to put this down.

I would give this book 3.5 stars.

I enjoyed the way this book alternated between Lucy’s point of view and the podcast.

This book pulled me in right away. Like Ben, I wanted to know if Lucy really murdered her best friend.

I liked that nobody in this book was truly a good person. Everyone was a different shade of gray.

That being said, the twists were interesting and I didn’t suspect very many of them.

I kept going back and forth on whether or not I thought Lucy was the murderer. I had not figured it out when it was finally revealed.

Loved this! Such a fast read, kept me entertained the whole ride. Really enjoyed! Read this with a friend and neither figured it out early!

i had no idea this was going to be funny on purpose! a pleasant surprise. i have a mixed and complicated relationship with true crime and all its derivative meta commentary but this was suitably entertaining that it got through to me

Absolutely loved this story and the true crime podcast twist. I will be recommending as a great read for both summer and fall.

Well done. Characters were multidimensional, pace was solid, and it didn't just feel like another suspense story. It reminded me of when I first started reading suspense--I didn't know the whole story before the first half was over.
I've never read the author before, but will again.

My only regret is that I didn't read it sooner so I could have done a full review before release. But that's on me. A-

I really liked this one! I was surprised by the number of times it made me laugh. Most thrillers have zero humor in them. But don’t go into this thinking it is a comedy, it’s definitely dark with murder, spousal abuse, absolutely horrible parents and well, most everyone is horrible. But it’s a good read plus the audiobook is narrated by the fabulous January LaVoy and her real life husband Will Damron. So if given a choice I highly recommend the audiobook as you feel like you’re really listening to a podcast. I didn’t guess the killer fully either which is always a plus. I’ll definitely read the author’s next book.

Thanks to the author and publisher for the NetGalley copy I received but I also bought an Audible version as well.

There is absolutely nothing I didn't like about this story. Listen for the Lie is an amazing thriller with some unique twists AND twisted characters. Lucy is absolutely not a likable character, and soon, you'll realize there aren't many people you actually like throughout the book. But there IS something that has you pulling for Lucy, hoping that she is innocent even when all evidence says otherwise. The story is told in an amazing way, in my opinion, to keep you on the edge of your seat to the very end. The audio is an amazing way to listen to this story because the narrators really sell the story, and the insertion of the podcast format is rally well done.

Although some of this book was very predictable for me, I enjoyed it. The only character I liked was Beverly, Lucy's grandmother. She was a tough old bird. Although this story had a dark nature and plenty of sarcasm, there were also some funny moments. I was glad to know what really happened to Savvy the night she was killed. Although I guessed who killed her, I didn't know why. The writing style was interesting with the mix of podcast thrown in. I liked that style and felt it was a compact way to write what others said. Overall it was a tragic story. Never knew a small town could have so many who cheated on each other and abusive men...but that's not a big surprise in today's world.