A very solid and creative thriller. I have seen the podcast angle executed poorly or clumsily in the past, but it is used well here. This is a clever, fun, and suspenseful romp that is also plenty sexy.

4.5 stars

Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera was the kind of thriller that took me off guard. When I first started it I was casually into reading it, and didn’t have particularly strong feelings about it either way, and then I got going with the book and was shocked when I realized I was already around the halfway mark. This is that kind of book. You don’t realize how deeply immersed in it you are until you clue into how much of it you’ve actually flown through in no time at all. It hooks you into the plot before you even notice and then you’re a goner because you need to find the answers the characters are seeking, while trying to put things together for yourself.

One of the things that really sucked me into this book was the podcast aspect to it. Not only does it center around a podcaster trying to solve this real life crime by coming to the town where it happened and interviewing the people that were there the night of the incident, but it also features snippets of the episodes of said podcast at the end of a number of chapters. Having this different style of the story being told, which presented a number of revelations in a different format was really immersive and one of the many reasons I found myself flying through chapter after chapter. It also served to throw me right into the plot because I feel like this was the aspect of the story that had me trying to put things together to figure out what happened the night of the murder, and who the murderer was, the most. It kind of threw me into the podcast and brought out that solving a true crime drive as a result.

Savvy, loved by all and lauded as a sweet, giving person, was murdered one night after a wedding and no one knows why or who did it. Although the entire town thinks it was her best friend Lucy, who stumbled out around the same place Savvy’s body was found with no memory of the events that took place that night. Without enough evidence Lucy is let go without charge, but the entire town believes her to be the killer regardless. Now, years later Lucy returns to her hometown for her grandmother’s birthday, when a podcaster by the name of Ben just happens to be to uncover the events of that night and find out who really killed Savvy and why.

Listen for the Lie is definitely a thriller to pick up, because when I say you get completely sucked into the mystery of what happened and uncovering clues and startling revelations due to the podcast, boy do I mean. I completely blasted through this book because I could not put it down as every little thing left me needing more, from the chaos, to the new information revealed that had me needing to read the next chapter, just to have more information exposed and resulting in a cycle of me not being able to stop at the end of any chapters.

The characters were exquisite in their realness and imperfections. The kind of imperfections you would expect from people either accused of murder (Lucy), or potentially brought up as suspects due to the podcast. Not to mention just people willing to believe the worst of someone just because they’re essentially told to. Lucy was a fantastic character to have the story told by as well, because she was unreliable in her inability to remember, as well as in her own shaky uncertainty in her own innocence and the effect this trauma has had on her mentality over the years. It all came together to form a book that had all the best parts of a thriller, with characters you actually were rooting for not being the culprit and so much tension with the uncertainty of it. Even Savvy. The townsfolk present this perfect image of who she was at her death, saintly and kind, when in reality her identity is so much more complicated and one only certain people choose to remember.

Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera gets a highly recommend from me for all of the thriller lovers out there. Don’t miss this one because it is such an immersive, impossible to stop until you finish kind of book.

The plotting within the pages of this book is riveting with the characters as the stars. The twists, red herrings, and ongoing suspense keep you fixated on the story. Amy is an amazing character with her unreliable memory and quick wit, as is charming podcaster Ben Owens, but my favorite has to be Amy's grandmother, Beverly, with her persuasive and charming personality and penchant for day drinking. This book is perfect for fans of whodunnits and small-town mysteries who like a good twist.

Oh my goodness, this was fantastic! I was craving a really satisfying thriller, and I love plots where a character has to go back and face their past to discover what really happened. And Listen For The Lie had all that and more! I loved the true crime aspect of it and the main character, Lucy, was fantastic. This story was gripping and hilarious and I loved every minute of it!

Thank you Celadon Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book. All opinions are my own.

For fans of true crime podcasts and unreliable narrators, this debut mystery will keep you asking what happened and does the truth even matter?

I really enjoyed the alternating narration/podcast interview style of this book. The pacing was consistent and strong throughout the story and kept me turning the page. This is definitely a bingeable book.

Our main character, Lucy, uses dark humor and sarcasm to protect herself, even 5 years after tragedy strikes her life. I loved her banter and found myself laughing even at the most inappropriate times. Red herrings left and right in this one leaving you guessing until the end who the real killer is. Honestly, the amount of drama swirling in this small Texas town will keep you on your toes. It’s hard to really like most of these characters, including the FMC at times but that just adds to the unreliable narration and makes this a crazy mystery to follow.

Check trigger warnings for this one, particularly concerning DV.

Overall an impressive debut adult piece from an author who has only written YA.

I absolutely ate this book up!If you are looking for a page turner that will keep you guessing, then this is the book for you. Clear your calendars on March 5,24, you will want to be doing nothing but reading this book. This story is about Lucy whom everyone in her small town believes murdered her best friend Savvy after a wedding. Savvy’s body is found and Lucy is found walking hurt and battered herself with no recollection of what happened.
This is a top tiered classic “who done it?”. So many questions and people in the town that had their own reasons for wanting Savvy out of the picture. I really had a few people narrowed down, but I wasn’t correct in the end.
Ben a podcaster has taken up the mystery and visits the town and interviews everyone that had anything to do with these two women, and attended the wedding reception. Lucy finally agrees to cooperate with Ben as she tries her best to deal with this nightmare once and for all.
The story has you engaged from the very first chapter. The storytelling style is fabulous, Lucy has a dark sense of humour, very sarcastic type of personality which I loved. The chapters are short, and I had a hard time putting this one down. Although the podcast style type book seems to be very popular lately, this author does it the best I have seen yet. Absolutely 5 🌟 I cannot wait for Amy Tintera’ s next book. I will be first in line.
Thank you SO much to Celadon books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this advanced copy.

✨Book Review✨

Listen for the Lie
Amy Tintera @amytintera
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Release Date: March 5, 2024

A special thank you to @celadonbooks for #gifted copy of this book. As well as a thank you to @netgalley & @macmillan.audio for an audio copy.

This book absolutely kept me guessing. As an avid lover of true crime podcasts this book was perfect.

This story was so unique and captured my interest immediately. It was one that I didn’t want to put down once I got started. Lucy’s inner monologue was one of my favorite parts of this book. She embraced her unfortunate role in her friend’s murder and played it off with witty comments and sarcastic remarks. Lucy’s family dynamic broke my heart but I’m so happy she had the love and support of her grandmother. Her character was probably my favorite in the book! 🤣

Quote: “Sugar is my main weakness, unless you count my inability to stop murdering people in my head.”

I enjoyed the twists and whodunnit vibes. I definitely was a little creeped out at times as well! I absolutely recommend this one to everyone who enjoys a twisty thriller!

3.5 stars... Finished this in one sitting. I found Lucy to be completely insufferable and she drove me nuts. "The truth doesn't matter" like girl, stick up for yourself! She was so lost in all aspects of life and seemed to refuse to grow at all. She just let things happen to her and it infuriated me. I was hoping at a certain point she'd actually try to redeem herself.. which I guess she kind of did? It mostly felt as if she'd accept her fate had her memory not come back. She just let Ben do all the work to find the truth and didn't seem to care about what happened to her.

spoilers ahead... but the fact that she just kept sleeping around with whoever would give her attention made me feel like she had just given up entirely. That instead of clearing her name, she accepted the comfort or "acceptance" of men who didn't care about her. I think I would've liked the story more had Lucy fought, at all. I also found the whole side plot between her and Savvy wanting to kill Matt to be interesting but then.. fell flat, like nothing came of that beyond Savvy's voice in her head which to me didn't make any sense? Was that just a red herring to lead us to believe Lucy really did do it? I just didn't really understand what the point of that aspect was.

5 ⭐️s. I received this book from NetGalley. Lucy is found roaming with her best friend’s Savvy’s blood all over her. Everyone in her Texas hometown thinks she killed her friend Savvy. Lucy claims to have no memory of the night and has made new life for herself in LA. That is until a podcaster decides to find the truth. Or does the truth matter? Lucy returns home five years later and all the secrets unfold. . Did Lucy kill Savvy and block it out?

This is a rollercoaster ride thriller you don’t want to miss! There are lots of twists and unexpected surprises! I could not put this book down! Put this on your TBR list!

Thanks to Netgalley and Celadon books for this eARC.

This was a unputdownable story, and I was able to read it in the course of two days. It is a pick for you if you like mystery/suspense and if you listen to true crime podcasts. I thought this was a great breakout for Amy Tintera in adult novels from her YA career.

What would you do if you couldn't remember one of the most significant and horrible events of your life? When popular true crime podcaster takes interest in the worst day of Lucy's life, she is forced to relive and remember the horrible day her best friend Savvy was murdered. Lucy knows two things: she was there when her friend died and she was found injured and walking on the side of the road the next morning with no idea how she got there.

Listen for the Lie is incredibly well-written and hooked me from the start. I love how the author slowly unravels Lucy's memories from the past and how no one is what they seem. The author made sure this book isn't like anything I had read before and kept me guessing until the end. I thought I had the story figured out up until the very end and was very, very wrong. I devoured this story over the course of a single day because I could not put it down. The twists and revelations kept me on my toes and wanting to learn more about the characters' relationships.

I would absolutely recommend this book to those who love suspense and thrillers, but need something less formulaic as this story is a breath of fresh air into the genre.

Thank you Celadon for my advance copy via NetGalley. My opinions are my own.

MY REVIEW:
Lucy is unemployed and her boyfriend is about to break up with her. And all because true crime podcaster Ben Owens has decided to rake up her past and try to solve the murder of Lucy's best friend, Savvy. Lucy hoped that by running away to LA she could escape the suspicion that she was the one who did it, but now she has to go back for Grandma's birthday and face it all again. Will being back help her shake some memories loose? And if she does remember, will she like what she learns?

I was absolutely sucked in! Lucy is so messed up. And we slowly learn how messed up so many people around her were and are. I loved how approachable the story was because of Lucy's humor. The dialogue and internal monologue are fantastic! I also appreciated how I could vividly see the story playing out in front of me, and at just the right pace. This book covers some pretty dark themes, including trauma and a trickly memory, but they are handled in such a way that I felt safe exploring them despite my sensitivity to darkness. Had I known in advance that this was a psychological thriller I would likely have stayed away, but I'm so glad that I didn't! There are hopeful themes too: protection and knowing which voices and stories to trust.

Trigger warnings: I don't want to spoil it but there are several types of violence and abuse, gaslighting

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for the gifted early copy.
It's been a while since I've loved thriller as much as I loved this book! This book had a great story, interesting plot, engaging chapters, and the desire to continue reading. I loved the main character and her sass, she made me laugh so much!
The ending wrapped up in such a smart way. I did not see it coming, but it was not out of nowhere, the hints were there all along.
I highly recommend it to anyone and am so excited to read more of this author.

This was a fun one! Impressive for her first adult novel.
Five years ago, Lucy is found wandering the morning after a wedding with her best friend's blood all over her. Everyone in town, including her family and husband thinks she is guilty of murdering her best friend, Savvy. Now-a popular podcast is digging up the dirt and revisiting the case.

Positives:
Engrossing from start to finish
Despite being labeled a murderer, I truly routed for the main character and her dark humor
The minor characters were also so enjoyable and well-characterized: Lucy's 80th grandmother, Beverly; Ben the podcaster, the voice over from her dead best friend Savvy, even her parents (genuinely dislikable people) were well-written characters.
The writing style was engaging and in-between the chapters, the podcast was enjoyable and entertaining
mutiple timelines well done

Negatives:
The last 10% was a bit confusing, but I just had to slow down and read very carefully. Just lost a bit of flow here.


I can't wait to read more by this author and will recommend this one to others!

Smart and fun thriller with a unique voice! I thoroughly enjoyed reading and listening to this book. It was such a quick and fun read.

Thank you for the advanced copy!

Your best friend has been murdered. You were the last to see her. You're found wandering the streets with her blood on your clothes. And you have no memory of that night. What do you do? Let your grandmother convince you to return home 5 years later and speak to a true crime podcast host with the hope of clearing your name. Obviously!

This book was amazing; I read it in one day it was that good! The plot instantly grabbed my attention and the fact that it's based in Texas only further convinced me to read it.

You get a lively cast of characters, no one is as they seem at first. Each unraveling as secrets get exposed in service of uncovering the truth. While the book is from Lucy's perspective, you get to hear from other people via the transcript of the podcast. It balances out and adds to the mystery while offering up many different conclusions as the story unfolds.

I'll be honest, I couldn't predict who'd done it. That's all I ask of a mystery book and this one delivered.

Thank you NetGalley & Celadon Books for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

𝑴𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒖𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅. 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒔 𝑰 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒊𝒕.

Savvy is dead. Lucy’s entire hometown of Plumpton, Texas believes she did it. Lucy cannot remember a single thing from that night. Her husband throws her out, her parents are ‘a-holes,’ and she’s left with not only a dead best friend but no memory of what happened.

Lucy leaves it all behind for LA, to try and escape the whole nightmare-ish ordeal.

Fast forward five years, a true-crime podcaster is rehashing the whole case to try and discover the truth. But, does the truth even matter?

The podcast reveals that Lucy may be a murderer and her LA life spirals from that. She loses her job, might be losing her boyfriend (who she doesn’t really care about anyway), and is forced to return to Plumpton for her Grandmother’s 80th birthday.

Back in Plumpton we meet all of the characters from Lucy’s past, her sassy pants Grandmother (my favorite!), and the smug yet very good-looking podcast host. Does Lucy get her memory back? Do we learn the truth of who killed Savvy? You’ll have to get yourself a copy to find out!

It was a thrilling, twisty, charming read that I devoured in two days! The characters are feisty and full of personality. Binge-worthy and absolute fun, I could not put this book down!

Thank you Celadon, NetGalley, and Amy Tintera for the early read!

A classic whodunit with a podcast intertwine and lots of dark, sarcastic humor. I don't think I've ever laughed this much reading any thriller! I love a book that stands out from the rest!

5 years ago, Lucy's best friend Savvy is murdered.
Everyone thinks Lucy killed her.
The problem is, Lucy simply can't remember a single detail of that night!

The events of the night attract true crime podcast host, Ben Owens. And thus, Lucy finds herself at the root of a true crime podcast. Lucy gets roped into trying to find out who killed Savvy, even if it means she finds out that she was actually the one who killed her. Ben uses his podcast to investigate the murder of Lucy's best friend, casting doubt on all of the characters. As Ben delves deeper into the case, he uncovers shocking secrets and hidden motives that point to a different culprit. The tension rises as Lucy's innocence hangs in the balance, making listeners question who they can trust.

Lucy's character is great! She's quirky, snarky, and sarcastic and she is just the type of girl I can see myself being friends with!

The podcast element provided a unique way to dig deeper into the characters' backstories and motivations, making the overall experience more immersive. Additionally, the alternating perspectives between the podcast and the main narrative kept the pacing engaging and suspenseful.

Listen for the Lie comes out on March 5, 2024. Thank you to Celadon Books, Macmillan Audio, and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this early!

5 years ago, Lucy Chase is found wandering the highway with her friend, Savvy’s, blood all over her. Lucy sustained a head injury and doesn’t remember who killed her friend. It’s either another person from her small town or her. Now, Lucy is living in Los Angeles, but she just lost her job and her boyfriend. She decides to return home to Plumpton, Texas for her grandmother’s birthday. Shortly after she arrives to her home town, she discovers that podcaster, Ben Owens, is there investigating Savvy’s murder. Lucy agrees to be interviewed and help Ben with his investigation. She misses her friend, Savvy, and just wants to find the murderer, even if it’s her. I thought this was a fun, fast-paced read. This book held my attention from the first chapter until the end. I think the short chapters really helped to speed this along. I also really loved Lucy’s grandmother, Beverly, who was vibrant and entertaining. She could have a whole book; and I would read it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon books for this ARC.

5 Stars!!
Listen for the Lie
By Amy Tintera

Thank you to #NetGalley, Macmillan Publishers and Celadon Books for the Advanced Ecopy for Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera. I am so happy to give this sensational book 5 stars!! What a success for Tintera, as this was her debut in Adult fiction! This funny, sarcastic, who-done-it thriller captured me from the first page and kept me glued until the surprising conclusion. Lucy, an unconvicted murderer of her best friend, must return to the hometown she fled 5 years ago to run from the terrible event. But she didn't leave to escape her memories, because she has no memories of the horrible night when her bestie "Savvy" was killed. She returns back to her hometown because the popular "Listen for the Lie" true crime podcast investigator is in search of answers regarding the murder of Savvy and Lucy's connection and Lucy is looking for the truth too.
Lucy is a bright, brave, tough woman with a snarky attitude toward life in general. Her wicked sense of humor is her defense mechanism against doubting herself and feeling guilty that she might have killed her best friend. Few are able to break through those defenses, but she would do anything for her grandmother, the smartest character in this story. The characters are developed beautifully and the suspense does not stop. I did think I had solved the mystery about 75% into the book, but I was totally wrong and so happy that was the case! If you need an enthralling thriller that will keep you mesmerized and distract you from the Winer Blues in 2024, ReadThis Book!!