Honestly, I saw everyone posting about Listen For The Lie and basically, I had FOMO, then saw it as a “read now” option on NetGalley.
I am so glad I picked it up, because I certainly couldn’t put it down! This was fast paced and full of (horrible) side characters - all of whom should have been on Lucy’s side. I loved the podcast episodes which brought to light some secrets that said side characters had been hiding. The only side characters I liked were Beverly (truly what I aspire to be when I’m 80), and Ben (who while trying to solve a cold case, I’m pretty sure just loved to cause chaos).
I loved Lucy, her humour was dark and so perfect ill timed, more than that though, I’m
impressed with the fact that she just wanted Savvy’s murder solved, even if she was at fault or not.
Honestly, my theory on who the killer was changed every podcast episode and the secrets that were exposed kept me so invested!

This small town Texas mystery thriller is full of dark evil people, drama, best friends, old friends, and a podcast turning it all up. Oh, we also get one meddling grandma! Lucy is that sarcastic - sticks up for people- hits back women.
This book I think made me want to start my Thriller Era again! Love it. I couldn’t put it down! Loved the people, the drama, trying to figure out who it was, the podcast story line, and loved Lucy! I can’t wait for more of Amy’s work!

I really enjoyed Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera. This was the first book of hers I have read and I will definitely be reading more.

What happens if you don't know if you killed your best friend and everyone in your hometown, including your parents and ex-husband thing that you did. This was an addicting thriller that kept me wondering who did it. Lucy heads back to her hometown for her grandma's birthday party. She has been away for 5 years, after her best friend was murdered. Her grandma plans this party so Lucy has to meet Ben, who has a podcast about the murder. Lucy does not remember what happened that night and Ben is trying to get her to remember. I really enjoyed the podcast format of the book and how it was entwined with Lucy's chapters from current and 5 years ago. This book is full of red herrings and kept me on my toes.

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for an ARC of Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera for an honest review.

Book: Listen For The Lie
Author: Amy Tintera
Publisher: Celadon Books
Pub Date: March 5, 2024

This is a fast-paced, hang-on-to-your-seat-who-done-it. I loved this story and I loved Lucy. Actually I really liked all of the characters even the bad ones. The author used just the right amount of dark humor to make this story very real and convincing and not to heavy. The podcast transcripts were a great addition and it was a podcast I would listen to. Lucy is funny and witty and you’re in her corner rooting for her. Or at least I was. Any one of the characters could have killed Savvy including Lucy so getting to the end was what I loved about this mystery. I love a book full of sarcasm and this is it. This is the epitome of binge-worthy. Be sure and listen to my podcast Dig The Plot to hear my funny story about the first line of the book.

Thank you Celadon Books and NetGalley for this sneak peak! Publication date is March 5, 2024.

I have been really struggling with thrillers lately, but Listen for the Lie is the exception to the rule. This was the most fun I’ve had reading a thriller in a long while.

Lucy is accused of killing her best friend, however this was never actually proven. She flees her hometown for years, only to be summoned back by her grandma to help plan her birthday party. Coincidentally, a podcaster has come to town to solve the cold case of her best friend Savvy. Did Lucy do it? She doesn’t remember.

I love mixed format books, and this one has podcast episodes sprinkled throughout. What could be a pretty standard thriller is knocked out of the park by the author’s writing and the biting humor. I laughed out loud multiple times. I felt that the resolution was great and I didn’t have to suspend disbelief or deal with the whole mental illness narrative which seems way too prominent in thrillers of late. This was realistic, clever, and an ode to women and their worth.

**Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for my digital and physical advanced review copy of this title!**

I absolutely crushed through this thriller and stayed up late one night to read it in one sitting. I adored the mixed media format with the podcast episodes revealing just a little bit more each time.

The idea of following along with the subject of the podcast as the episodes were released was awesome as well. Watching someone learn more about an experience that they had but couldn't remember alongside the rest of the public - is horrifying to me lol.

I really loved the MC's grandma, Beverly, so much. Ben was okay, as was the FMC but I wasn't obsessed with them or anything. The rest of the characters in this book were just awful - which was by design, but still.

My biggest complaint with this book was how casual and chill everyone was with the infidelity. MULTIPLE people cheating on their spouses with other people's spouses?! I know stuff like this happens IRL but there must be something in the water down in Texas. Truly it seemed that anytime a new character was introduced - it was because they were cheating on (or with) a character that the reader had already been introduced to. Not my cup of tea but that's okay.

Overall, this book would have been a 5 star for me but ended up at 4.5 stars rounded down for excessive cheating! Check this one out if you like true crime, podcasts, murder mysterys, thrillers, and unreliable narrators!

Lucy can't remember what happened the night her best friend was murdered, and everyone in her small town has come to the conclusion that she did it. Five years later, Lucy's back in town and a popular podcast sets out to find the truth. What really happened to Savvy?

Listen For the Lie alternates between Lucy's narrative and podcast episodes, slowly piecing together what happened that night. I read a digital copy, but the format would probably make for a good audio listen. The character development was very well done, and grandma Beverly was amazing. While I sometimes found Lucy a bit too snarky at times, overall the tone was a good mix of humor and suspense that kept the story moving. There were some well done twists and the ending was not what I expected. Overall a well done, entertaining read.

CW: murder, domestic violence, alcoholism

Thanks to NetGalley and Celadon Books for an advance review copy of this book.

Five years ago Lucy’s best friend Savvy is murdered and Lucy is found wandering in the woods with a traumatic head injury and her friend’s blood all over her. After the incident, Lucy cannot remember anything, but the whole town has painted her guilty, even her own family. Without enough evidence to proceed, Lucy leaves her marriage and her home town for LA. Ben Owen’s, a popular true crime podcaster has chosen Savvy’s murder for the second season of “Listen For The Lie”. Lucy has avoided anything to do with Savvy’s murder, not wanting to know the truth, but when her Grandmother calls and asks her to come home for her 80th birthday, Lucy goes. Once in Plumpton, Lucy is immediately caught up in the podcast and joining forces with Ben, decides it’s time to find out what really happened that night, even if she is the killer. Told in Lucy’s voice and alternating with the true crime podcast, this was a completely riveting psychological suspense debut by Amy Tintera that will have you guessing until the very end. This was a dual read/listen for me and if you get the chance, pick up the audio on this one! It was wonderfully narrated by January LaVoy and Will Damron! Thank you Celadon Books, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for an ARC and ALC of this book.

FANTASTIC! This book had me hooked right from the beginning and I absolutely devoured it! The writing was fresh and unexpectedly funny. I was going back and forth the entire book as to who did it and the actual who caught me by complete surprise!

Really enjoyed this one.. There have been many thrillers lately with podcasters in the mix. This one stands out as one of the better ones. Very smart and entertaining.

Shew what a book! I could not put this one down and it has me guessing until the end. I Loved Lucy! I need more of Beverly and I want another book about Savvy before please

My thoughts- thank you @celadonbooks for the advanced copy of this beauty! This is in my opinion the perfect thriller 😍it takes a lot for me to say that as the self appointed thriller queen but this one has it all!! Intense story ✅ dynamic characters✅ podcast format✅ and so much more ! I loved everything about this book, I read it in a day and when I wasn’t reading I was obsessing over this book! Highly, highly recommend this one. It’s available where books are sold today !
*

Oh this book was AMAZING! It was one of those thrillers where you just can’t put it down!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This book follows Lucy who is found wandering the streets, covered in her best friend Savvy’s blood and everyone, including her husband and parents, thinks she is the murderer.
Years after that horrible night, which Lucy can’t remember anything about, a huge hit true crime podcast “Listen for the Lie” has decided to investigate Savvy’s murder.

I was GLUED to this book with wanting to know who did it, was it Lucy? Along with the sarcasm and humor, this one was absolutely perfection. If youre a true crime podcast fan, then I can’t recommend this one enough!

Release date : March 5th. (TODAY!)

Thank you celadon books and netgalley for the gifted ARC e-book in exchange for my honest review!

4.5 - What a fantastic thriller/mystery this was!! Listen for the Lie is a thriller, following Lucy after the death of her best friend Savvy. Everyone in Lucy's hometown believes that Lucy killed Savvy, because the circumstances in which Lucy was found and her amnesia over how Savvy died.

I thought this thriller was so well done because of the modern concept of the podcast, and following along with Ben, as he interviews all the major players in the murder of Savvy to try and determine who actually killed her. I loved how the title, "Listen for the Lie" was the overarching theme of the book, where the reader has to read each interview and conversation with all the major people in Lucy and Savvy's life, and try to determine who knows what, and who is lying about what happened the night of Savvy's murder. This book kept me on my toes, constantly second-guessing whether Lucy killed Savvy or not, and the end caught me completely off guard!

Listen for the Lie had me hooked from the start and I truly enjoyed it so much. I think it is such a fantastic thriller/murder mystery and I can't recommend it enough! Thank you so much to NetGalley and Celadon for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Lucy was found stumbling in the woods covered in her best friend Savvy’s blood. Her best friend who had just been brutally murdered. Did she do it? Lucy doesn’t remember. But everyone in her small Texas town seems to think so. No charges stick, so Lucy is free to start a new life in LA. 5 years later, she returns to her town for her beloved Grandma’s birthday, and who happens to be there but famous podcaster Ben Owens who has a knack for solving cold cases….

This book is entertaining, dark, funny, and twisty. Lucy’s inner monologue is enough to convince anyone that she is indeed the killer. She’s not especially likable but she is honest. The development of Lucy’s friendship with Savvy and her marriage with Matt are in interesting juxtaposition as to who the real Lucy is. The use of the podcast to drop juicy tidbits into the story made Listen for the Lie such a unique reading experience.

Even knowing the outcome, the scenes of Savvy’s attack and then death are absolutely brutal. I finished right before bed a few nights ago and I do not recommend others to do the same if you value a good night’s sleep. I did guess the culprit, but it in no way altered my enjoyment of Tintera’s storytelling. Listen for the Lie gripped me from start to finish- this is one you won’t want to miss!

Listen For the Lie by Amy Tintera
Pages: 352
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

HAPPY PUB DAY TO AMY TINTERA!

WOW! This book is amazing!!! I want to thank Amy & Celadon for an ARC copy. I fell in love with the cover and I knew it was a thriller but other than that, I was clueless as to what I was getting myself into! Not only was this book thrilling and captivating.. I was laughing so hard at the dark humor.

I was seriously laughing my 🍑 off in the first 3 minutes of reading. I IMMEDIATELY fell in love with the main character Lucy. She is the witty banter, dark humor, badass that we all desire to be. Her jokes are so dark and disturbing that your grandmother would be clutching her pearls. (Not Lucy’s Grandma Beverly though, who is also a badass. Does everyone have a feisty grandma named Beverly? Because Lucy & I have that in common…)

The one downside to Lucy’s personality… she might be a murderer. Lucy comes from the small town of Plumpton Texas, we’re small town gossip is exactly how you would imagine. Lucy’s best friend Savvy ends up dead and the whole town thinks Lucy did it. A smug podcaster named Ben is determined to dig up the past of Plumpton to figure out if Lucy killed her friend.

To Quote Lucy “I’m riveted. Can’t wait to find out if I did it.” 😂😂

Here are some of my favorite quotes from Listen for the lie:

“A podcaster has decided to ruin my life, so I’m buying a chicken.”

“Now I’m just staring at recipes on my phone, dreaming about sticking lemons up a chicken’s butt. It’s an apology chicken, for my boyfriend.”

And last but not least

“We do a book club sometimes, but not today. We just did a book last week.” “Which one?” “Oh, I don’t know. I never read them. Who has the patience for reading anymore?”

😂😂😂

Y’all may die laughing at this one. This may be one of my top reads for 2024.

#readingreviews #reviews #books #read #booknerd #bookstagram #bookgoal #100books #listenforthelie #pubday #netgalley #celadonbooks #thrillers

Five years ago, twenty-four-year-old Lucy Chase was found injured and barely coherent, wandering on a highway covered in her best friend's blood. Her friend Savannah “Savvy” Harper was found dead and despite her traumatized state, Lucy was deemed the prime suspect though no solid evidence was discovered to prove her guilt. Almost everyone who knew her including her parents, believed that Lucy was responsible for Savvy’s death. Subsequently, her marriage ended and she left her hometown Plumpton, Texas for Los Angeles. Lucy still doesn’t remember what transpired on that fateful night and the voices in her head do not let her forget that she might be guilty. Lucy is drawn back to Plumpton when popular podcaster Ben Owens decides to investigate the case for his true-crime podcast, Listen for the Lie. As Ben embarks on a deep dive into Lucy’s life and the events from five years ago, Lucy decides to cooperate with him hoping that the facts uncovered in the process will help her recover her memories from that night and find the killer.

Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera is a well-crafted, engaging mystery. Consistently paced, the narrative is presented from the perspective of Lucy with segments from the podcast interviews interspersed throughout the narrative. The author has deftly woven issues such as domestic abuse, psychological trauma, and infidelity, among others, into the narrative. I liked Lucy and was rooting for her. I liked how the author portrays small-town dynamics and the cast of an interesting cast of characters (mostly unlikable with a few exceptions) with more than a few secrets to hide made for an interesting read. Few characters were above suspicion and I had fun trying to guess the identity of the killer. I enjoyed the suspenseful build-up, the surprises along the way and the dry humor injected into the narrative (with several laugh-out-loud moments).
I should mention that the plot relies on several overused tropes and the final reveal isn’t completely unpredictable, but the overall skillful execution renders this novel an entertaining read.

This was my first time reading this author and I would be interested to read more from her in the future.

Many thanks to Celadon Books for the digital review copy via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

3.75/5

Holy moly. What a ride. I absolutely LOVED this podcast thriller. Listen for the Lie follows Lucy as she's 5 years past a traumatic date....the apparent murder of her best friend. And spoiler, she did it... or she is at least blamed for it in her small Texan town. After the death of her best friend, Lucy has amnesia and cannot remember details of that night. But Ben, Host for Listen for the Lie podcast has picked up her case and digs up details that weren't found before. This is an extremely bingeable read. So, make sure you give yourself a little chunk of time because you won't want to put it down. Lucy was such a well done, but extremely unique character in the fact that she has a voice in her head. The formatting of the book was great with podcast transcripts woven throughout, and a couple of flashback chapters. I was just really impressed with this one and cannot recommend it enough. A huge thank you to Netgalley and Celadon Books for an advanced e-copy!

Five years ago, Lucy was found walking down the road looking dazed and covered in her best friend’s blood. Her best friend, Savannah “Savvy” was brutally murdered and Lucy sustained a terrible brain injury that wiped away her memory of that dreadful night.

For five years she’s been accused of killing her best friend, and who knows, she probably committed the crime but the lack of evidence and witnesses has kept her out of prison.

Lucy’s Grandma convinces her to come back to her home town for her 80th birthday party. The same town where a famous podcaster, Ben Owens, is currently staying to figure out what happened between Lucy and Savvy that night. Being back in town has brought Lucy’s long forgotten memories back to life. Who killed Savvy?

This book was fun, I’m a sucker for murder mysteries set in a small town with a bit of humor and drama. I think I would’ve enjoyed this book more on audio since it has the podcast aspect to it, but overall, I enjoyed the storyline and the suspense. The only criticism I have is the voice that was in her head throughout the book, I didn’t quite understand the importance of “let’s kill…” and why she was having these intrusive thoughts inside her mind.

What would you do if you were accused of your best friend’s murder, but couldn’t remember any of it? Go on a true crime podcast of course! Lucy was accused of murdering Savvy, her best friend. But in the 5 years since the crime, none of her memories of that night have surfaced. Now, she’s heading back to her hometown where it all began to meet up with Ben, a true crime podcaster itching to get to the bottom of the story. And maybe find out who is lying after all.

This book was EXCELLENT! Quirky and funny with the perfect mixture of crazy twists! Thank you to Celadon books and NetGalley for this ARC!