Member Reviews
I loved this book. I will be recommending it for our next book club pick. I loved the podcast aspect of the book and thought the main character was super fun.
I’ve never actually listened to a true crime podcast, but I like reading about them!
I loved the small town- everyone is in everyone’s business and everyone knows something they shouldn’t. And everyone is fishy.
And I loved the grandma! She was such a funny character. I need more of her.
I also definitely did not see the end coming and was convinced it was someone else the whole time.
Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to review this!
I'm torn on this book. I really liked the MC but then again, I didn't. There were one too many cliches in this book that are in every thriller. It did hold my attention though, so that's a good thing.
Couldn’t read this book fast enough. Like the characters in this page turner, I couldn’t wait to uncover the real truth and it was what I least expected. Lucy, said to be murderer, was a lovable, strong willed character who returns to the scene of her best friends murder where Lucy was a main suspect years back. After years away from the crime scene, can Lucy salvage her reputation that has followed her all these years?
I read this in 2 sittings it was such an easy read! Great for those who loved Good Girls Guide to Murder. Only reason for 4 stars rather than 5 was I feel like the ending was rushed.
This was an amazing thriller. I was completely hooked and I think it might be the best thriller I’ve read in a long time. I loved the podcast element to the story and the characters were great. I would definitely recommend this book. I loved every minute of it and I will be looking forward to the next book this author writes.
Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for the ARC
Thank you, Netgalley and Celadon, for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.
I devoured this book in less than 24 hours, i binged it, and was just what I needed from a thriller. I love the dark humor and the FMC, Lucy.
It had great pacing, and I enjoyed the podcast format element as well. Overall, it is a five-star thriller that has made it to my favorite list!
Books about and containing Podcasts have been around for a while ... I'm thinking back on 2018's "Sadie" by Courtney Summers as my first introduction to the form, but Amy Tintera has taken that idea and truly run with it.
From the very beginning "Listen for the Lie" sets up not only a novel mystery on its own but uses the podcast format within to pull characters together in unique ways while also delving into the mystery from new/different angles. Tintera takes a character that, honestly, would typically not be someone I like or even root for and turns her into someone I'd love to have a drink with. The small town setting with everyone knowing everyone's business but not being able to actually tell truth from fiction in their own lives adds layers of intrigue.
Lucy's relationships with her family, former friends, and podcast host Ben show, to a person, just how one story or accusation told from the wrong perspective can drastically alter the course of a life.
Tintera's writing highlights so many issues still facing women to this day ... the main one being that a whisper from a man is more likely to be heard believed than a shout from a woman. People didn't or don't believe she has no memory of the night. She knows they wouldn't believe her if she told them the truth about her marriage to the town golden boy. The issue of belief and having trust and faith in someone comes up so many times that all I wanted to do was reach in and smack some townies and hug Lucy.
I loved this story and hope many others find their way to it as it is a shining example of how to use the podcast trope to tell a story within a story.
And really ... is it possible to not be hooked by a story starting out with "A podcaster has decided to ruin my life, so I'm buying a chicken" ?
Lucy was found wandering the streets covered in her best friend's blood with no memory of what happened, leading everyone to believe she was responsible. Five years later, Lucy returns to her hometown at her grandmother's request and soon learns that the death of her best friend, Savvy, is being reexamined by a podcast called Listen for the Lie. After Ben, the creator and investigator of the podcast starts to dive into Lucy's past, Lucy is determined to find out the truth about her friend's murder-even if that means confronting her own possible murderous actions.
This fast-paced thriller was so consuming in the best way possible. When I wasn't reading this book, I was thinking about it. Amy Tintera's use of the unreliable narrator trope really helped leave the reader questioning what really happened as Lucy also sets out to find the truth.
I definitely recommend this book for fans of thrillers, but would encourage potential readers to check trigger warnings as there are some elements that might be difficult for some readers. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and cannot wait to see what's next from this author!
Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for providing an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
While this book came out a couple days ago, I was able to “read now” via NetGalley. I don’t typically read this genre, but I’ve been hearing lots of great things about this thriller so decided to give it a try.
I LOVED the format of this book and at no point did I have any idea what was going on (in a good way). I binged this in two days! If you like:
✨ unreliable (yet likeable) narrators
✨ a sprinkle of romance in your thrillers
✨ true crime podcasts
✨ incredibly bingeable books
Then I would definitely recommend this one! I feel like all thrillers have triggers (that’s kind of the point right?) and it’s hard to share what they are without spoiling so just keep that in mind if you read!
Thank you to NetGalley & Celadon books for the opportunity to read. I’ll definitely be recommending this one!
*posting instagram review tomorrow, will edit review and link once it’s up*
Have y’all heard about this book yet? It’s not all over social media or anything 😂 but really, this is a buzzy book and so many people are talking about it for good reason! I found the mystery interesting, our main character was sometimes likeable, sometimes questionable, and the story was compelling. It’s definitely a fun book to get sucked into and find yourself bingeing, so if you’re looking for a book like that pick this one up!
This book is one of my new favorite thrillers! I couldn't put it down and I loved the dual timelines and the podcast elements. This was a new to me author, but I can't wait for more!
Thank you so much to @macmillan.audio @celadonbooks and @netgalley for the ALC/ARC!
🎙️ 𝙈𝙮 𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 🎙️
𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙢𝙪𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙗𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙? 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙛 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙨𝙤 𝙩𝙤𝙤? 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙩𝙝 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨𝙣'𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧?
This book is highly rated for a reason!! It follows Lucy as she returns to her hometown 5 years after being accused of her best friend’s murder. Lucy has no memory of that night and now a true crime podcaster, Ben Owens, is looking into the case and digging up Lucy’s past.
I loved the true crime podcast element to this story… that is an immediate “yes” to me when looking at a books storyline! Lucy has been avoiding her hometown and past because even she doesn’t know what to make of what happened the night her best friend Savvy was murdered. Podcaster Ben is interviewing everyone around Lucy including her hilariously sassy grandma. I loved Lucy’s grandma! She’s so funny and straightforward. And she always had Lucy’s side! 🫶🏻
Lucy has a lot of dark thoughts and is very blunt, which rubs people the wrong way when it comes to this unsolved murder. I do love how Lucy stands on her own and says what she thinks, despite people stepping on eggshells around her.
I liked Ben as a podcaster too. He seems to want to give Lucy a fair chance and just find out the truth in this unsolved mystery, instead of going with the majority.
This will definitely be one of my top mystery books of the year, even though we are only in March!
🎧 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚:
🎙️ True Crime Podcasts
🎙️ Unsolved Murder Mysteries
🎙️ Dark Humor
🎙️ Whodunnit
🎙️ Family Drama
This book very well might make it onto my top 10 books of the year., it was so good. I had no idea what to expect going into it as I never read the synopsis of books but wow, I was blown away by this one. I'm having a hard time believing this is a debut novel because it was so good.
The main character Lucy is one of my favorite fictional characters of all time. She's getting accused of murdering her best friend but her dry wit and humor she had when making jokes about it seriously had me laughing and smiling so much while reading this. The character growth she had throughout this book was phenomenal and I absolutely loved her.
This book also had one of my favorite mixed medias in books, podcasts. I loved the podcaster Ben and reading his chapters added so much to the plot, I honestly can't think of a single bad thing to say about this book. The only complaint is I wish it were longer which is saying a lot for me.
Many thanks to Celadon Books for the gifted copy for my honest review!
Grab your popcorn and cuddle up under a blanket because you may devour this one in one sitting. This is one of those books that I was thinking about when I wasn't reading it and had me guessing right to the end.
I'll set the stage: A sassy and sarcastic MC has amnesia from the night her best friend was murdered and she's not sure if she did it?! Add in a podcast element, small town characters, unreliable narrator and a smidge of romance. Sign me up!
And I have to also mention that this thriller made me laugh - yes this is odd for this genre - but I found the main character, Lucy, so funny in a self-deprecating and blunt way. The narrator on the audiobook was fabulous!!
Highly recommend this one!
This is a really good book, very fast paced and I could not read it fast enough. Lucy Chase used to live in Plumpton, TX but left after she was found wandering near the site where her best friend was found dead. Savannah (or Savvy to almost everyone) and Lucy were the two most popular girls in town, friends since they were kids, they could tell each other anything. Lucy had blood and skin under her nails from Savvy leading most of the population of the town to conclude she was the one that killed her. But the police didn't have enough evidence and the case went cold. Lucy moved to LA, got a job and a boyfriend and things were good, until a popular podcast decided to investigate Savvy's death, in no time, Lucy lost her job, her BF and found herself in Plumpton (for her grandma's birthday) where the podcaster was. Ben Owens, the good looking podcaster, has started stirring up interest in the case by publishing snippets of what he has found, when Lucy returns most people are not nice, they think she got away with it. The goes back and forth between what was on the podcast, current day and what happened five years ago. Lucy had been hit on the head and remembered nothing of that night, she has visited the site, talked to people that would talk to her and eventually agreed to talk to Ben. Lucy had a husband, a not very nice one, he was abusive, part of the reason why she left for LA. The story ties together very nicely, I found that each podcast cast a different person as the bad person, and everyone in the town thought the same. Lucy's grandma is also one very cool grandma, laugh out loud kinda cool. Overall I would highly recommend. Thanks to #Netgalley and #Celadonbooks for the ARC.
Lucy is accused murdering her best friend but there's not enough evidence and she doesn't remember anything from that night. A few years later, a podcast starts investigating the cold case.
Lucy is pretty unlikable but also really funny. The podcast episodes sprinkled throughout the book are really well done. the Overall, it's a pretty typical mystery/thriller.
Podcast thrillers are a favorite of mine and I like how the reader is uncovering the mystery at the same time as the characters/podcast audience with a little insight into the suspected killer's mind. The story was interesting and a nice pace for a mystery. I wasn't sure what the end result would be!
Song pairing: No Body No Crime by Taylor Swift
If you want a different thriller, something different than all the rest. Than this one is for you. I love how it was written. The podcast was so different.
Looking for your next one-sitting read? Here it is.
I had so much fun with LISTEN FOR THE LIE. And yup - I listened to it in one fell swoop. Could not put it down.
Here's the thing: Just skip the synopsis. Return to a small town, mysterious death, podcast investigation - none of these elements are "new" to the genre. But author Amy Tintera uses them to craft such a great, compelling story. Dive in and enjoy.
I'd particularly recommend the audiobook. Narrators January LaVoy and Will Damron are superb.