An amazing adult debut! True crime podcast thrillers are certainly not new to the thriller genre, but I absolutely loved the dark humor in this, and how messy it was. Read this in only a couple of days because it kept me super interested. I hope there are more adult novels from this author in the future!

This is one of my favorite reads of the year so far. It pulled me in right away and kept me hooked through the end. I liked the true crime podcast connection. That trope might get overdone before long, but it worked really well here.

This book was incredible! Often times a book will be described as one thing and be another, but this was unique and had me rushing to get to the end. Love how different it felt, love the podcast feel, done correctly! Absolutely thrilling and almost perfect!!

Listen for the Lie was overall a fun one to read. I enjoyed the podcast format & getting to know all of the characters, especially Lucy and Savvy. At times it felt like more of a small town drama rather than a thriller. Some things I wasn’t sure fit into the story, like Nathan for example. Since it was set in a “small podunk town”, it started to feel more like a locked room mystery too. Like there’s only so many characters, so it’s gotta be one of you. Overall, an enjoyable read!

Thank you to Celadon Books and Macmillan Audio for the gifted ARC of LISTEN FOR THE LIE by Amy Tintera!

LISTEN FOR THE LIE follows Lucy, a young woman who has lived with the question of whether or not she murdered her best friend years ago. Everyone else is convinced she’s guilty, but Lucy has no memories of the night she is found covered in her best friend Savvy’s blood and no explanation for her own injuries that night.

Lucy has cut ties with her home town in the years that have passed since that tragic night, but a request from her grandmother, the one person that has stood by Lucy’s side all this time, has her heading back home. A hit true crime podcast of the same title as the novel is investigating Savvy’s murder and Lucy must decide if the time is right to participate and finally get answers.

I am really drawn to books with a podcast element and I really appreciate when that is incorporated well into a book. I am happy to say that the podcast was really well done here and I think that the audiobook was a fantastic way to consume this story. With multiple narrators and additional production elements, the audio takes full advantage of the mixed media format.

Lucy was a complicated character and had me really wondering what happened all those years ago. I didn’t always love her and there were times I definitely questioned her decisions, but she was very compelling to read about. This book takes on some serious subjects as well, so I do recommend checking out trigger warnings if those may be a concern.

I started this book on my flight to Thailand and it instantly had me hooked. I had to put it down for a while as I didn’t get much reading done after my initial flight, but I kept wanting to get back into the story and I binged the last 70% on my flight home.

I really enjoyed this story and would definitely recommend!

This book was so twisty and suspenseful. I abolutely loced the audiobook narration paired with reading this book. It was very much like listening to a true crime podcast and I though the storytelling was amazing. The ending was wild and this book is one of my new favorite thrillers. 5/5 highly recommend and a special thank you to NetGalley and Amy Tintera, and MacMillan for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this one! Sometimes the podcast aspect of thrillers seems played out but I like how this one tied into the story. There were a lot of characters to keep track of especially when I had to remember who was connected to who. I was invested the whole way through and couldn’t wait to see how it ended. I would definitely this author’s future books.

I would definitely recommend this book. I truly enjoyed reading this authors style of writing, where the podcast lets us find out each persons version of what they know of the murder of Lucy's best friend Savvy. Of course we aren't sure if it was Lucy herself, considering she can't remember that night and she keeps having visions of killing people. The characters are complicated people with their own motives of keeping secrets, which gives the story many different options of who did it. I guessed wrong a couple of times with the greatest twist at the end bringing it all together. Read this book, you won't be disappointed.

This book was very interesting. The book was about a girl who was wrongly accused of her friend's murder. It kind of reminded me of a movie that I saw.

Loved the premise of this book! As someone obsessed with podcasts, the format and style of this book drew me in. I also did not predict the final twists, and was surprised. The only part I was not a fan of was having Savvie communicating with the main character. That plot device just did not work for me, personally

I really liked this read! It was just what I needed after reading some heavy crime novels. This podcast thriller was a lighter thriller with the same mystery but some humor to up the mood. Absolutely loved the podcast aspect of it. It gave the story more depth and a look into different views on Lucy & Savvy’s life.

The characters you either loved or hated (mostly hate, especially you Matt). I loved Lucy and Grandma Beverly. Their attitude and wit made me laugh and enjoy the story even more. I did like Ben & his quest to find out what really happened that night. Didn’t expect the twist at the end, was really shocked at it. Such a great twisty novel!!

Definitely recommend this one if you like the whole podcast trope and want a thriller that isn’t too dark!

Listen for the Lie may go down as one of my favorite thrillers of the year, and it's only February! This fast-paced story follows Lucy, who everyone believes murdered her best friend five years prior. She now lives in L.A. and has no plans to return to her hometown in Texas, until her grandmother calls and essentially begs her to come back for her 80th birthday party. However, Lucy quickly realizes that her grandmother partially lured her back to speak with Ben, who runs the hit "Listen for the Lie" podcast as he is investigating Savannah's murder and trying to find out who solved it.

This was a great blend of mystery, comedy, and drama. Trigger warning: domestic abuse and alcoholism play a key role in the store too. I liked Lucy's grandmother and found at times she offered some comedic relief.

Listen for the Lie will keep you turning the pages and hopefully, you'll be as surprised by the ending as I was.

Thank you, Celadon Books and NetGalley for the eARC!

4.25⭐️

I had the audiobook read by January LaVoy and Will Damron. Both are great. The voice of the podcaster is silky smooth

It’s listed as mystery & thriller and women’s fiction. It fits well as a mystery, but more suspense than thriller for me.

The story is told from Lucy’s POV who was accused of k*lling her friend after initially being thought of as a second victim, but wasn’t charged. Ben with a podcast called Listen for the lie is investigating the crime provides a second POV.

Lucy’s first person point of view shows her as young and trendy, bluntly spoken, chatty to the reader with her observations and internal dialogue/voice in her head but I found that aspect irritating, no it was more than irritating I was losing the will! But I think either the level of that decreased in the second half of the book, or I just got used to it allowing me to settle into enjoying it. Initially I didn’t find Lucy likeable, she grow on me by the end. Oh my Ben is as smooth as butter! Which in itself instantly made me suspicious of him. Grandma (Beverley) was my favourite character, she is funny and hip.

There’s some good plot developments and reveals with plenty going on throughout. Once I got over my irritation with the internal dialogue I really loved this book, it’s just I could really have done with that aspect being dialled right down. This could so easily have been a 5⭐️ for me.

The podcast sections are very short, concise, and work well.

If you loved Sweetpea C J Skuse I think you’ll enjoy this one.

Rating: 4.5/5

Imagine being suspected for the murder of your best friend and having zero memory of the night she died…now imagine you’ve finally moved away and got on with your life after not being charged with said murder but 5 years later your world is turned upside down. A famous true crime podcast decides to cover the murder of your friend casting you back into the spotlight and you are tricked into visiting home where this podcaster is interviewing people that are saying nasty things about you. Not only do you have to defend your innocence (you think) again, but you also have to deal with the fact that maybe you did kill your best friend. That’s exactly what Lucy deals with throughout Listen for the Lie. Will the podcaster help her reclaim any memories and find shes innocent? Or will her memories betray her and put her behind bars for the murder of Savvy?

This book was 🤌🏼. I was looking for a quick thriller read to pull me out of my reading slump and this did the trick because I did not want to put it down. As soon as I learned this had a true crime podcast element to it I was all in. I enjoy throughout the book that the podcast dialogue is included so you know exactly what the characters in the book are hearing when they say they are listening to it. The end of this book had me 😨😥😳😡🤯. I thought I had the twist figured out but I was completely wrong. I would totally suggest checking this book out when you are able to get your hands on it!

Review:
I can easily see this as being my favorite book of 2024 and it’s only February that’s how good this book is!
I love Lucy, I love Ben I LOVE savvy, I love grandma.
I wanted to jump into this book and live this story with them!
Lucy is funny, Lucy is witty, Lucy is sarcastic but did Lucy kill her best friend? 🤫🤫🤫🤫
I could not put this book down and I truly didn’t want to even go to work this morning I just wanted to read this book 🙈🙈 this book has every single thing you want in a thriller. Murder mystery? It’s got it. Family secrets? It has it. Bad marriage? It’s there. A podcast? You got it. THIS BOOK IS EVERYTHING!! I can not wait for this author to write more books!!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you @netgalley and @caledonbooks for the ARC. Also, thank you @kells.books for reading this book and posting about it!!

Lucy has been living with blame of her best friends murder for the past 5 years. Having no recollection of what actually happened she can only assume that she is at fault. When her grandmother invites her back to her home town for a birthday party Lucy quickly figured out her grandmother was setting her up to talk to the true crime podcaster, Ben, who is doing a podcast on her best friends murder. Hoping Ben can help to uncover what actually happened Lucy helps him with his investigation. Soon Lucy starts remembering the night her friend was killed but will it be too late?

This was the first adult novel by this author and she did such an amazing job with Lucy’s character and with building the story, even to the very end. I was immediately drawn in and even though Lucy presents herself as an unlikable character I found myself routing for her from the start. I can’t wait to see what this author comes out with next and I thank Netgalley and the Macmillian publishers for allowing me to read this advanced copy.

This was such a fun one! I really enjoyed the snark/sarcasm from our main character, Lucy. She was cracking me up and I couldn’t help but root for her. I’m not a huge fan of the amnesia trope but I do think it worked here, and I loved how she started to piece things together.

I kept changing my mind about what happened that night and who killed Savvy. I think I suspected everyone BUT the actual killer.

Definitely looking forward to reading more from this author!

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

AMAZING! This book is for sure making my top 10 list for 2024! A deliciously addicting read that I could not put down! It had suspense, mystery, dark humor, drama, secrets and oh my so much more! I LOVE cold cases/unsolved murder mysteries/true crime podcasts-which is exactly what this book was about! But to make it better, the main characters, Lucy and Ben, were so memorable. Lucy was straightforward, sarcastic, and didn’t give a care in the world what people thought of her (everyone thought she murdered her BFF). Ben was a great host and was on mission to find out the truth. And to top things off…The ending I didn’t see coming!! I was shocked!

Add this to your TBR immediately! Out March 5th!

This was Amy Tintera’s first adult novel- going to read everything she writes from here on out!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Celadon Books for this ARC ebook in exchange for my honest review!

Absolutely loved this book. It was a page turner. I couldn't put it down over the weekend I can't wait for it to come out so my daughter can read it, and we can discuss it! I will definitely be buying this book when it comes out! Well to be honest I will probably buy myself a copy for my top reads bookshelf, and then a copy for my daughter!

So, I was stuck in a reading rut and I am so glad I picked this book as my next read! Cured my reading rut..but I think I am back in it after finishing this book. Totally worth it though!

Lucy has tried to move on from her best friend dying five years ago. She moved out of her small town and established a life in LA. A city where no one knows her past or who she is. But that all changes when Ben Owen's starts a podcast on the mystery of Lucy's best friend, Savvy's death. Five years ago Lucy was found wondering the streets covered in Savvy's blood and she had no memory of what happened. Did she actually kill her best friend? Lucy has tried to block out any memories of that night of what could have happened. But now Ben is stirring around and investigating the mystery behind the murder. Lucy is now back in her small hometown with her past slowly creeping back to her. Did she really do it?

What I loved:
- this book was SO well written and intriguing from the get go. I loved the pacing and it kept me interested the whole time.
- Lucy, I actually loved her even though she could be the murderer. Her sarcasm was some of my favorite parts. I definitely had a soft spot for her the more we uncovered about her past
- Going between Licy's narrative and the podcast narrative gave us a well rounded view what was going down. I enjoyed seeing the interviews between all the town folks and their theories
- Ahhh, the final twist! I didn't see that one coming. This was a twisty read that kept me guessing


Overall, what an awesome debut novel by this author! I absolutely read future books by this author. I absolutely enjoyed this book. 4 stars out of 5. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!