📚BOOK REVIEW📚

“Listen for the Lie” by Amy Tintera
Published March 5, 2024

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A twisted, witty story told from Lucy’s point of view. Found wandering the streets confused and covered in blood, Lucy was never convicted but the whole town believed she killed her best friend Savvy.
And with no memory of the entire night leading up to the murder Lucy believes she may have actually done it. Lucy moved back to her small TX hometown after marrying a guy she met in college. Life was good. Savvy was super social, easy going and working at the local town bar until she figures out her next step in life. That one night still haunts Lucy and the rumors still continue years later when Lucy comes back to town for her grandmother’s birthday celebration. Ben Owens had a great first season on his hit true crime podcast "Listen for the Lie," and now he is doing season two on Savvy’s murder. He knows he can figure out the truth of what really happened. 

An easy read with great writing and even better characters. So many times I actually laughed out loud at how sarcastic and real the characters were.

*Thank you to @NetGalley and @CeladonBooks for this ebook ARC*

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Fun and fast paced book. I enjoyed the podcast point of view. It moved the plot along in an interesting way. Entertained by Lucy’s sarcastic sense of humor but I loved the characters of Savvy and the grandmother. I wished they were featured even more in the book.

So good!!! I was hooked immediately.
Lucy, the maybe murderer—she can’t remember if she killed her best friend—is brought back to her hometown once a podcast about the case starts recording 5 years after the event.
I loved seeing Lucy’s candid thoughts, and I really liked how other POVs were shown through the podcast. I didn’t see the ending coming at all which I love!

Thank you NetGalley and Celadon Books for the digital ARC.

Publishing March 5, 2024

Thank you very much to NetGalley and Celadon books for this advance copy of Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera in exchange for this honest review.

This one was WILD. I love a good mixed media/podcast element in a book, and this one was so fast paced, and it made it really hard for me to put down! I absolutely loved Lucy’s arc, and I also really liked the head trauma/lost memories aspect, because it had me guessing the whole book if we could trust Lucy, or if she was a cold blooded killer. I did eventually figure out the mystery, but this still kept me entertained nonetheless - Savannah (Savvy) talks to Lucy frequently throughout the book, so I didn’t know if it was going to take a weird ghost story twist, but I’m glad they left her a part of Lucy’s imagination and didn’t make it into a supernatural thing, that would’ve felt weird for this story.

Thank you again to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for this review. This one is a BOTM selection and can be purchased now!

This is a brilliantly written and twisted suspense/mystery with the protagonist being a sympathetic character, even if she is suspected of murdering her best friend. Lucy has returned to her hometown for her grandmother’s birthday party and there has to confront the demons from her past. Since Savvy’s murderer was never caught, an air of suspicion follows Lucy wherever she goes. When a well known podcaster shows up in town to interview everyone and try to solve the case himself, Lucy is put into the unenviable position of trying to solve the murder and take herself off the hot seat. This book is a fast-paced, intricately woven mystery with plenty of twists. I was captivated from beginning to end and really enjoyed getting to know Lucy as she went through the horrors of her past in her quest to absolve herself of the crime. I really enjoyed the style of writing (fast and furious), the quirky characters (especially the grandmother) and the mystery itself was intriguing. This is one of the best mysteries I have read in a long time, so I highly recommend it for the sheer pleasure of following the clues and enjoying the entertainment.
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review, and all opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16th CFR, Part 255, “Guidelines Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”

Thank to the publisher and NetGalley for this digital ARC. This was a fun roller coaster of ups and downs and twists and turns as Lucy Chase returns to her hometown where everyone thinks she is the killer of her best friend. . I think the author does a good job of leading the reader into thinking one thing and then turning that on its head. It is hard to write too much without spoilers but I would recommend this one for people that enjoy a thriller with a hint of comedy.

Lucy and Savvy are best friends, sharing everything; the good, bad and ugly. After a wedding they attended, Savvy is dead and Lucy is wandering around with no memory, covered in Savvy’s blood. With suspicion mounting but no hard evidence, newly single Lucy flees to LA. Five years later shes back home in Texas and so is a podcaster who is revisiting this unsolved case and is determined to figure out the killer.

This was a totally addicting and fast paced binge read for me! I enjoyed the friendship of Lucy and Savvy, the small town mentality, and the slow unraveling of the night in question. Some characters were a little snarky (which I loved), some were not all lovable or even likable, but realistic. The addition of the podcast in the writing was fun.

This is one I wish I would have had as an audiobook! I’ve never read this author before, but she’s now on my radar! I can’t wait for her next read!

Thanks to NetGalley and Celadon Books for this ARC. This is my honest opinion

Wow. This is the book that got me out of my reading rut. It was familiar as far as the theme of a podcaster but still so unique to thrillers these days. Can there be a spinoff with the grandma because she was the star for me. Love her

The truth really doesn’t matter. This was a fun engaging popcorn read. Thank you NetGally for the ARC

This is the first five-star rating I’ve given a book in over a year. As someone who reads almost exclusively mystery/thriller, it is hard to surprise me, but this book not only surprised me with its witty characters and whodunnit plot, it genuinely made me laugh out loud. Amy Tintera absolutely delighted, and shocked, me with the dark humor and sarcastic wit of Lucy Chase. I found myself genuinely laughing at Lucy’s barbs and sick sense of humor, while also deeply empathizing with the wall Lucy has so clearly built up around herself.

Listen For The Lie is one of those rare novels that immediately had me wishing I could read it again for the first time. I devoured this novel in one sitting and was thoroughly impressed with Tintera’s ability to make every character look suspicious. Toggling between wanting to guess how it would end just so I could figure it out first, and being thrown for a loop with every new development, I could not put it down.

This may be Tintera’s debut adult novel, but I hope it will not be the last. Not only will I be buying this book, but Tintera earned herself a spot on my must-read author list

Great read. I wasn't sure if I'd love the format of having the podcast go along with the story and character development, but it definitely enhanced the reader experience. It'd be interesting to see Lucy & Ben team up for a third season of the podcast. Possibly explore what happened with Savvy and Troy.

Thank you to Celadon Books and Amy for an advance copy of Listen for the Lie.

Years have passed since Lucy’s best friend Savvy was brutally murdered and the case has never been solved. No one, including Lucy who was found covered in Savvy’s blood, knows what happened that night but the whole town has their suspicions which is the reason that Lucy fled to begin with. Now, Lucy is returning home for her grandmother’s birthday to face the town she left behind and the night she can’t remember that has haunted her since it happened. Unfortunately, hit cold case podcast Listen for the Lie is also in town…investigating what really happened to Savvy. This time, instead of running Lucy decides to stay and cooperate with podcast host Ben…even if it means the town is right and Lucy was responsible for her best friend’s death.

This was a fun twist on the amnesia trope. I know a lot of people were kind of over it as it was super trendy a few years back, and while I never really tired of it, there’s also just only so much you can do with it. I feel like Amy found a fresh way to explore an MC with amnesia by using a podcast spin.

Lucy was the kind of character that was hard to root for because you could tell she just did not even care to root for herself…and for good reason. Clearly life and everyone in it beat her down til she was just like ‘fuck it, I am what you all say I am’ and why shouldn’t she have that attitude? Everyone was kind of an asshole, except for her Grandma. Lord, I could go on about Grandma all day. I only wish I’m half as cool as her when I’m older.

I say it in every review it pertains to, but I love when podcasts or social media is part of the story, it breaks up the ‘monotony’ of traditional storytelling and offers a different voice or style that I enjoy. I wish we’d gotten a tiny bit more on the town, I feel like we were given very standard surface level “small town vibes” and we met characters from the town who solidified that vibe, but as far as being able to picture the town, I just couldn’t because we weren’t really given too much info.

Overall I really enjoyed this book, it’s right up my alley in terms of tropes: unreliable narrator, return home, past secrets, toxic relationships…all the good things required of a thriller. I’ll definitely be on the lookout for future releases from Amy.

I thoroughly enjoyed Listen for the Lie! I read it in 2 sittings and didn’t want to stop! I loved Lucy’s wit & sarcasm as well as her relationship with Ben & her grandmother. I can’t wait to read more than Amy writes! The ending seemed a little rushed and some parts seemed a little far fetched, but I was entertained the whole book!

I was intrigued the whole time! I really enjoyed the switching from Lucy to the podcast episodes. Overall an enjoyable thriller!

Really well done, I loved how snarky Lucy was. She seemed like someone I would be friends with. In the end, it seemed a little cliche to have the one guy who is supposed to be good, surrounded by bad people, be the killer, but not bad.

4.5 ⭐️. This book was fun! A murder mystery with a main character who was funny and sarcastic and kind of just living with the fact that her entire hometown thought she murdered her best friend. I loved the way she interacted with her grandmother and the romance that kind of popped up through the course of the books was done well. I didn’t know how it would end because there were a few options to choose from in terms of the who and why. I also enjoyed the alternating chapters of Lucy and the podcast.

What if you couldn't remember killing your best friend, but the whole world, including your family and friends, are telling you that you did it? And what if a true crime podcaster that you think just wants to prove your guilt could possibly help you find the whole truth?

The writing style was both emotionally engaging and humorous, as well as full of mystery and suspense.

I have definitely found a new favorite author! I really enjoyed this adult thriller debut from Amy Tintera.

As always, I would like to thank Netgalley and Celadon publishing for allowing me to have an advanced ebook and physical book copy of this book!

5 ⭐️

This was definitely a thriller that kept me guessing! Thank you @celadonbooks for my early copy, the audiobook I switched between and my extra copy for a Little Free Library drop today!

If you like thrillers with a podcast theme, quirky twists and 🤨 moments, this will keep you flipping the pages as fast as you can.

Lucy is found wandering the streets with her friends' blood on her clothes, yet she doesn’t remember what happens, and those that should support her don’t. I can’t imagine what this felt like for her!

A popular podcaster comes to town to try and solve Savvy’s murder with Lucy’s help of course, even though most of the town thinks she did it.

Told in a fast paced storyline of mixed media, interviews, stream of consciousness, and plot development, this is a solid thriller in my opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for this ARC of “Listen for the Lie” by Amy Tintera. I cannot believe this was a debut book- I loved it! Writing from the POV of Lucy (past and present), commentary from Savvy, and podcast episodes combined to make for a great story. I definitely look forward to reading more books by Amy Tintera!

4.5/5 rounded up
This was a great read!
I liked the mixed media format between Lucy’s POV and podcast episodes. I think it would make the audiobook version extra fun!
I’m a fan of true crime podcasts so it worked for me. I thought the podcast helped keep the story moving along and was a great segue into Lucy’s POV since we’re “listening” to the podcast along with her.
I didn’t see the ending coming so that was an interesting twist.
At first I didn’t like Lucy’s sarcasm because it felt a bit over the top and forced, but that quickly went away and I ended up really liking her. And Beverly.

Overall it’s a really entertaining book. It’s fast paced, I loved the narrator’s sarcasm/banter, it’s got drama, lots of twists. I definitely recommend it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon books for the copy of this eARC!