Listen for the Lie is Amy Tintera's adult debut novel.
I was drawn to the red cover, the sinuous tape and the blurbs from some of my favorite authors.

It's no secret that I absolutely adore epistolary storytelling. Much of Listen for the Lie book is told as chapters and interviews of a true crime podcast.

And now you're wondering what that crime might be, aren't you?

Five years ago Lucy fled her small town. Why? Pretty much all of the residents believe she had murdered her best friend. She was never prosecuted for the killing - and she never went back home. Until now.

Lucy is completely different than I had expected. I appreciated something different and unexpected to catch my attention. she's got a dark sense of humor and she freely jokes that she just might be the killer. Is she a killer? Innocent? Her inner voice is loud - and very dark. It's more than a little concerning. Her behaviour just seems to purposely rile up those who loved the victim.

There is a wealth of supporting characters who provide their thoughts, memories and actions to the host of the podcast. I have to say that my favorite character was Beverly - Lucy's Grandmother. You'll see why.

Now, I mentioned the epistolary style. It's absolutely the perfect way to hide the clues. Who is lying? Who changes their narrative? Will you put the pieces together before the last page? I'm happy to say that I didn't! And again, it's nice to not know the ending.

This was a fun read and I hope that Tintera tackles another adult book.

Review: “Listen for the lie” by Amy Tintera was so much fun! 4.5⭐️’s (rounded up on Goodreads). This was so fast paced with short chapters I devoured this book!

5 years ago, Lucy is accused of killing her best friend Savvy. A true crime podcaster Ben Owens is in town to bring up the past to find out the truth. If Lucy didn’t do it, then who? The characters in this were so witty and fun it made this book so hard to put down. I enjoyed this book so much, must read for thriller fans!

https://www.instagram.com/michellereadsthrillers/

Really good thriller. I definitely knew who did it pretty early on, but I still enjoyed everyone else's secrets being uncovered. I hated some people most of the way through but then at the end I felt like I at least understood them a little bit. I didn't love the main character, Lucy but that's okay.

Thank you Netgalley & publisher for this e-arc of Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera.

This is a mystery-thriller novel. 4.5+*; one unique aspect of this novel is the prime suspect doesn't know if she did it or not either.

Synopsis:
In "Listen for the Lie," Lucy finds herself at the center of a gripping mystery when she is accused of murdering her best friend, Savvy. Despite her inability to recall the events of that fateful night, Lucy is plagued by suspicions and rumors circulating in their small Texas town. Now, years later, a true crime podcast, "Listen for the Lie," reignites interest in the case, compelling Lucy to confront her past and uncover the truth about Savvy's death. With the help of the charismatic podcast host, Ben Owens, Lucy embarks on a journey to unravel the mystery surrounding her friend's murder, even if it means facing the possibility that she may be the culprit.

Things I liked:
• Readers may be drawn to the character of Lucy for her complexity and relatability. As the protagonist of "Listen for the Lie," Lucy grapples with the weight of suspicion and uncertainty surrounding her best friend's murder, making her journey of self-discovery and redemption a compelling and emotionally resonant narrative.
• The unique aspect of Lucy's inability to recall the events of the murder night adds an intriguing layer of mystery to the story. This narrative device keeps readers guessing as they join Lucy in piecing together fragmented memories and uncovering hidden truths, creating a suspenseful and engaging reading experience.
• Lucy's internal dialogue, characterized by a twisted sense of humor and dark wit, provides a refreshing and unconventional perspective on the events unfolding around her. Through her internal monologue, readers gain insight into Lucy's psyche, as she grapples with guilt, doubt, and the absurdity of her situation, adding depth and complexity to her character and the overall narrative.

Things one might dislike (if you can call it that; I liked pretty much everything):
• Some readers might find Lucy's character too intricate, as her internal struggles and emotional depth might require closer attention. However, this complexity ultimately adds layers to the story, making it more immersive and rewarding for those who enjoy delving into nuanced character development.
• The unresolved mystery surrounding Lucy's memory loss and potential involvement in her friend's murder may leave some readers feeling uncertain or frustrated. Nevertheless, this ambiguity serves to maintain suspense and intrigue throughout the novel, keeping readers engaged as they navigate the twists and turns of the plot.
• The dark humor and twisted perspective presented through Lucy's internal dialogue may not resonate with every reader's taste. However, this unique narrative voice offers a fresh and unconventional take on the psychological thriller genre, appealing to those who appreciate inventive storytelling and complex character dynamics.

In Amy Tintera's suspenseful novel, "Listen for the Lie," Lucy finds herself at the center of a chilling mystery after being accused of murdering her best friend, Savvy. Despite years passing since the gruesome incident, Lucy's memory remains blank, leaving her haunted by doubts and uncertainty. Now, as a popular true crime podcast delves into Savvy's murder, Lucy is drawn back to her hometown, forced to confront painful truths and unravel the secrets hidden beneath the surface. With the stakes higher than ever and the truth elusive, Lucy must navigate a web of deception and suspicion to uncover what really happened that fateful night.

Amy Tintera crafts a gripping narrative that hooks readers from the outset. I found myself devouring the pages, unable to put the book down until I reached its satisfying conclusion. The intricate storyline, filled with unexpected twists and turns, kept me guessing until the very end. Tintera expertly navigates the complexity of Lucy's predicament, leaving readers questioning the truth alongside her. While Lucy's sharp wit and sarcasm made her an endearing protagonist, I found Ben, the podcast host, lacking depth. He felt like he was missing something throughout the novel. Despite this, Tintera skillfully captures the essence of small-town life, making Lucy's experiences feel relatable and authentic.

Overall, "Listen for the Lie" is a compelling thriller that grips you from page one and doesn't let go until the final sentence. I eagerly anticipate Tintera's next literary venture, confident that it will be just as captivating as this one.

This is EXACTLY my kind of book. A riveting mystery-thriller filled to the brim with dark humor, sarcasm, suspense, and fast-paced drama.

Lucy is found bruised, broken, and covered in her best friend's blood. Being the only person in the area at the time, she quickly goes from fellow victim to number one suspect in the murder. With little to convict her on, she's free, but not free from judgment as everyone believes she did it. That everyone includes one podcast called Listen for the Lie which brings her story back to the forefront of people's memories 5 years later. Lucy has no way of defending herself from any claims due to having no recollection of the events from that night. And when she's called back to her hometown for her grandmother's birthday party she has to face her fears and attempt to search for what actually happened that night.

Listen for the Lie had me consuming each page with reckless abandon, attempting to take the story with me no matter where I went or what I did. This was an unputdownable read that had me captivated from the first sentence, "A podcaster has decided to ruin my life, so I'm buying a chicken".

Special thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest rate and review.

Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera is a smashing thriller by a great new voice in adult murder-mystery novels! The characters and plotting are engaging and encourage binge reading! The writing is so clever and bright! And the twists? Let’s just say the book’s subtitle should be, in the words of Lucy, “The truth doesn’t matter.”
Lucy Chase, 30ish and living in LA, is lured back to her hometown of Plumpton, Texas, by favorite grandma Beverly, to attend her 80th birthday celebration. For Lucy, this is a return to a terrible time, five years before, when her best friend Savvy was found murdered in the woods, and Lucy was covered in Savvy’s blood. The murderer was never found, and Lucy has been eyed with suspicion by the town’s local residents every since. To complicate the visit for Lucy, now a true-crime podcaster has reopened a deep dive into the case. Lucy opines, “A podcaster has decided to ruin my life, so I’m buying a chicken,” an apology chicken for her LA boyfriend, who is dropping her like a hot potato when he hears she is a murder suspect.
This is just a taste of the sly, witty contemporary writing style of this book that is fresh, engaging and plot perfect all the way.
While there is certainly plenty of action in the present-day investigation and in flashbacks to the night of the murder, I enjoyed this as a character driven story.
Lucy, the protagonist, is sassy and defensive to the world as she tries to cover up her insecurities and frustrations with her unsupportive family. The podcaster trope may be common, but Ben Owen gives the role a fresh voice and depth. And the “voice” in Lucy’s head is an entertaining, mysterious, devious character revealed at the halfway mark (unless you have read reviews that reveal the identity—I had a guess, but was happy to wait until the author’s chosen point of revelation.) There is also a chorus of locals, whose characters were developed nicely as the story went on.
This is such a fun, fresh murder mystery—highly readable and believable. Ms. Tintera is known for her previous YA novels, but I really hope she will continue writing more intelligent, witty thrillers for adult readers!

Thank you to Celadon Books and NetGalley for the ARC. This is my honest review.

This was deliciously twisted and witty. The characters were sarcastic and lovable, especially Beverly, the grandmother I would love to have. The writing was superb and it kept pointing the finger at so many different people, I honestly didn’t know who was at fault until the very end. When I tell you I couldn’t put this book down, I MEAN IT! I was reading every free minute I had. It was dark and daunting but humorous at the same time. The storyline was well thought out and the character development was great. This was my first book by Amy Tintera but it definitely won’t be my last. One of the best books I’ve read to date!

Thank you for the ARC ! This book was so good I could not put it down. I definitely did not see any of the twists coming at all. Story was well written and flowed really well!!

Wow! This is probably the best thriller that I have read this year! I was glued to the edge of my seat because I had to know who did it!!!
Lucy is in a tough spot one night her best friend is found murdered and to make things worse she is found covered in her blood and cannot remember anything about that night. When they did not have enough evidence to charge her with her friend's murder, the whole town firmly believed that she had killed Savvy and she had gotten away with murder. Knowing her whole hometown hated her she moved to another state and attempted to start a new life and leave the past behind her. That was until two things happened: One she had to return to her hometown for her grandmother's birthday and two there was a podcaster doing a podcast about Savvy's murder and was determined to find the truth. Reluctantly she returned home and started helping the podcaster with the show because she honestly wanted to know what happened to her friend. Slowly things and secrets started to unravel and everything was not as cut and dry as the community once thought. Will all the secrets and lies come out, will Lucy and Ben (the podcaster) figure out what happened that fatal night or did Lucy kill Savvy? Check out this book for a thrilling ride full of secrets, lies, and deception as Lucy tries to piece together her memory for that night! Thank you Celadon Books and Netgalley for the extraordinary opportunity to read and review this one! It was a delightfully suspenseful afternoon glued to the book!

I like how this book is constructed, intercalating Lucy’s life with the podcast episodes. Lucy is from a small town and was accused of killing her best friend. She can’t remember anything from that night. Five years later a true crime podcaster decides to investigate the case and turns her life upside down.

Listen for the Lie was a masterpiece of a contemporary thriller, and I was surprised to learn this was the author’s adult debut. I loved the spin on the unreliable main character having constant visions of how she would murder anyone she interacted with, accompanied by a voice urging her to take those actions.

While Lucy is made out to be a despised FMC that already wasn’t well liked even before she was suspected of murdering her best friend, I found Lucy to be hilarious. Her dry humor and dark sarcasm had me laughing out loud throughout the whole book. I also loved her relationship with her grandmother, and her grandmother herself.

The pace of the book never seemed to wane as little plot twists popped up multiple times, making it very hard to put the book down. I won’t say if I guessed the ending, but it definitely kept me on my toes the whole time.

If you like thrillers and whodunnits, this was a super fun and unique one to read. It was absolutely delightful 😈.

Thanks to @NetGalley and @CeladonBooks for the eARC of this book! #gifted

🥳Happy Pub Day!!! 🥳

I can't believe this was the authors debut adult novel . Kudos 👏
It's amazingly gripping

This entire book is like that Netflix show you just need to binge . It sucks you into all the drama ! & There's soooo much of it ! The podcast angle imo was a nice pace to the book . Added an extra element that I personally enjoyed.
I love a book that surprises me & this book delivered !!!!
It was also hilarious. I know I know it was about a murder but between Beverly who btw was easily my favorite character , Ben, & Lucy I was busting up . Lucy's mom has some pretty good one liners but I wasn't a huge fan of her character.
Overall I 100% recommend this book. Something here for everyone I think. 🖤

#ListenForTheLie #NetGalley
Thanks a bunch for the #Arc

✨book review✨
4.5⭐️
Thanks so much @celadonbooks for the gifted copy!

genre: thriller
pages: 352
published: 3/5 (happy pub day!!)

Read if you enjoy:
-unreliable narrators
-murder podcasts
-dark humor
-small town settings
-a little bit of romance thrown into a thriller
-short chapters
-a binge in one sitting read

Thoughts:
I can see why this one got so many raving early reviews!! I was shocked when I realized this is the author’s adult debut. The story was quick paced and very bingeable. I read it in one sitting! There are a lot of characters, but I didn’t find them hard to keep up with. The main character, Lucy, was your classic unreliable narrator, which I love. Her dark humor made her unique, & I found her easy to root for. Even if a little suspicious🤪 Side characters were entertaining, especially grandma. I went back and forth on who I thought was the killer. By the end I guessed it, but it didn’t take away from the fun of the story. I loved the theme of society’s judgements on who people deem trustworthy and the issues with these stereotypes!

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for this early and free copy of Listen for the Lie.
This book…omg. I literally could not put it down. I haven’t read a book this fast or a book I’ve loved this much in a long time.
The writing was witty and hilarious and I loved how the story unfolded.
The twist genuinely shocked me. The whole time I didn’t have a clue as to “whodunnit”.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves thrillers or just entertaining books in general!
Love love loved this book!

Wow wow wow! Thank you Netgalley, Amy Tintera, and Celadon books for this ebook! I honestly enjoyed every minute of this book and it probably took me longer to read because I didn't want to miss a thing. I was so wrapped into Lucy's story. This was so well written. I couldn't recommend it more! One of the best books of the year for me!!!

Warning: You will not be able to put this book down once you start reading it.
What a great mystery! I absolutely loved the set up…small town murder mystery story told in two POVs - Lucy, who is accused of murdering her friend but doesn’t remember what really happened, and Ben – true crime podcaster who is determine to uncover the truth of who the true killer was. There are so many twists and turns that you can’t get those pages turned quickly enough to find what really happened.
Grandma was my favorite character and I loved how she stood behind her granddaughter - Lucy when everyone else turned their back on her.

I highly recommend this book to anyone that likes a fast paced mystery with a touch of humor.

Thank you NetGalley, Celadon Books and the author for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book took me a little bit to get into the snarky voice and first person narration, but once I was in it I was IN IT. This is a great thriller/murder mystery where our main character is the main suspect because she has no memory of the night her best friend was murdered, and she was discovered covered in her best friend’s blood. The whole book has a cinematic quality with Lucy being haunted by a vision of her murdered best friend, who encourages her to kill others constantly. It was a little unsettling to picture in my mind and I loved that!

Also, I thought for sure I had this book figured out about halfway in, and I was so wrong! I loved how this whole plot played out. It was a book I couldn’t put down!

This was better than I expected. I was completely blown away but it’s worth the five stars.
This is a story to sit down and enjoy. It’s a great whodunnit.

Quotes that stuck out to me:
People don’t believe women who fight back. When men lash out, people say he lost control of his temper or made a terrible mistake. When a woman does it she’s a psychopath.

Eternal Gratitude.

Some people will never believe you no matter how hard you explain yourself. Trust me there’s no pleasing people. If they’re determined to think the worst of you, they will.

Thank you netgalley for this opportunity.

✨Happy Pub Day!✨

“A podcaster has decided to ruin my life, so I’m buying a chicken…..It’s an apology chicken, for my boyfriend. It’s like that engagement chicken. The one women make to persuade their boyfriends to propose? Except this is a ‘sorry I didn’t tell you I’m the prime suspect in my friend’s murder’ chicken. Apology chicken, for short.”

Thus, the reader is introduced to Lucy Chase, the anti-hero(ine) in Listen for the Lie, YA author, Amy Tintera’s adult novel debut. Five years ago, Lucy was found wandering the streets, covered in her best friend, Savvy’s, blood, with no memory of what happened. Now, she’s the subject of a true crime podcast, and she returns to the hometown from which she fled five years ago to face the proverbial music.

The story alternates between Lucy’s point-of-view and transcripts from the podcast episodes. Whip-smart, sarcastic, and hilarious, Lucy constantly imagines murdering whoever is standing in front of her - her ex-husband, Matt; her cousin, Ashley; her dad. As Lucy tries to fill in the gaps of her memory, she gets close to the podcaster (who may or may not be cuter than Chris Evans), eventually agreeing to an interview. All of this happens against the backdrop of a small Texas town in the Hill Country, which Amy Tintera, a former Austin resident, nails.

The supporting cast of characters and the well-written podcast episodes make this thriller a standout. Everyone from Lucy’s parents and Savvy’s younger sister to the guy Lucy was cheating on her ex-husband with and her sassy 80-year old grandma has a theory about what happened the night of the murder, and they’re more than happy to spill the tea on the podcast. The show’s episodes are essential to understanding the characters’ motivations, filling in the murder timeline, and propagating theories about why Lucy (may have) killed her best friend.

I loved this dark, twisty, irreverent black comedy and would read it again, something I rarely do. Actually, I would listen to the audiobook because I’ve heard it’s fantastic.

Thanks to NetGalley and Celadon for the digital ARC in exchange for my review.