I really wanted this book to be amazing but it was just ok. It had great potential and I do the story is there but the pacing and dialogue that needed refining and some more guidance and maybe it would work. The jumping from past to present was confusing at times and I had to go back to reread and check what time frame we were in. The characters were well developed and of course everyone is sleeping with everyone it seems or did at some point in the past and this became confusing. The lack of memory was written too much on this story without enough meat - like we get it she lost her memory and doesn't know what happen.

I wish Grandma was written in more and helped tell the story because she was very entertaining. It got tiring hearing all the gaslighting by each character for the same thing. Repetition of certain phrases and actions also stands out like a sore thumb - sweat down her back - it is Texas but other parts sweat too and the word smug is way over used.

I did like with the audiobook the format with the podcast and how it was used in the book. I did like the snarky way Lucy spoke and how Savvy was around in her head. I didn't like how she thought how she would kill each person she interact with and thought this was distracting and confusing making me think she was the killer or at least mental illness.

I really wanted this to be good and really kept thinking it would get there but didn't make it for me.

Thank you to Celadon Books, NetGalley and author Amy Tintera for the digital ARC and Macmillan Audio for the ALC to honestly review. This will be published on March 5, 2024. Keep Reading and finding your next adventure in black and white.

Lucy, the main character in Listen for the Lie, is so refreshing and relatable (sarcastic and snarky with a dry sense of humor). I liked her from the very first page.

The chapters in this book alternate between Lucy in present day, Lucy five years earlier (in and around the time the murder took place), and present day episodes of a true crime podcast (focused on the aforementioned murder). The various narratives propel the story forward in an intriguing way that keeps you interested throughout and guessing until the very end.

NOTE: January Lavoy did an excellent job narrating the main character. However she also narrates a delusional voice in the main character’s head - sort of an imaginary friend. And the voice she used for this was so incredibly annoying and cringeworthy that I almost had to stop listening. I eventually got used to it and I’m glad I stuck it out because I really enjoyed this book.

I would have given this book 4.5 stars but due to the narration issue mentioned above, I landed on 4. I definitely recommend reading this book vs listening to it. I enjoyed it nonetheless and highly recommend.

Thanks to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio and Amy Tintera for allowing me early access to this audiobook. Release date: March 5, 2024.

A fast paced and fun mystery! I played this one just about from start to finish. Is Lucy a murderer? Did she get away with murdering her best friend? I found her so likable with the perfect sense of humor, you can’t help but root for her. I could just picture Ben’s character in my head. This charming podcaster wanting to come in and solve the mystery. The only character better than these two would be Lucy’s sassy grandmother. Perfect for anyone who enjoys hilarious and thrilling murder mysteries!

I couldn’t stop listening to this compelling tale. The narrators were both brilliant. The heroine was conflicted but funny. A very different murder tale

This was such a fun, quick read. The narrator was awesome and the podcast element was a cool point of view. All of the characters were fantastic, but Beverly is perhaps my new favorite character of all time!

5/5 stars

This book has it all. Murder, mystery, romance, friendship, betrayal. It gripped me from the very first chapter.

The main premise of the book is that the main character (Lucy) returns home to her small town because a podcaster (Ben) is covering the murder of her best friend and Lucy is the main suspect in the murder. Lucy, who can’t remember any details of the night due to a head injury, finally cracks and starts to work with Ben to try to piece together the events of that night. Through their investigation, they begin to uncover the secrets of the town and begin to realize everyone could be a suspect.

I love myself a good murder mystery. When you throw in the investigative podcast element, I am S-O-L-D! The narration of the book was amazing. I loved how the podcast was introduced with its own music and had a different voice actor - it really made it seem like you were listening to an actual podcast.

The characters were SO well written. There were a bunch of gossipy small town women, the outwardly charming husband, the sneaky best friend, the over bearing mom, the snarky and imperfect daughter. Each character fit their role absolutely perfectly.

This book made me laugh out loud and had me thinking “Nooooo!” when the twist was revealed. It kept me guessing until the end and I loved the ending. I can’t wait to read more from this author!

I absolutely devoured this book!! I loved the crime podcast aspect & definitely recommend the audio version because of that production with feeling like you are listening to podcast episodes AND hearing character POVs between. This book is a top mystery read for me!

Thank you Celadon Books for this ARC

Ohhh my gosh this was suchhhh a fun book to listen to on audio! Both of the narrators did a fantastic job! Their tone, inflection, and ability to tell a compelling story immediately had my attention. I couldn’t stop listening to it. The story follows Lucy, who is accused of her bestfriend’s murder, but cannot remember the events of that night. Ben Owens, is a local podcaster and he’s determined to find out what really happened. The book is told from Lucy’s POV with episodes from the podcast mixed in. The characters were well developed, snarky, pretty scandalous, and sarcastic. The book was full of drama, suspense, mystery, and several twists. I really enjoyed slowly seeing how all the pieces fit together.

Read if you like:
🎙️ Whodunnit books
🎙️True crime podcasts
🎙️Small town vibes
🎙️Witty characters

I have not had this much fun read a thriller/mystery in a long time! Such a fantastic book! I loved having the story and then the true crime podcast and trying to solve the mystery along with them. And the hilarious grandma and Lucy’s sarcasm…I laughed out loud multiple times. Everything was done so well in this book…the writing, pacing, plot, mystery, humor, hooking me from start to finish….SO good! The narrators did an excellent job at bringing this story to life and I can’t recommend the audiobook enough. This needs to be on everyones 2024 tbr!

If you are just as obsessed with true crime podcasts as I am, you have to check this one out! I loved the podcast episodes interspersed throughout and Lucy in general was a sarcastic and direct FMC in the best way possible. It was intriguing, seductive, full of unexpected twists and characters you can’t trust and I couldn’t put it down. I listened to the audiobook and January LaVoy was amazing- probably now one of my favorite narrators! Overall, a phenomenal thriller! 4.5⭐️

Everyone is convinced that Lucy killed her best friend, Savvy. Even though Lucy was never charged, she's unsure what happened since she has no memory of the night of the murder. When a popular true-crime podcast decides to investigate this cold case, Lucy finds herself lured back to her hometown to face her past and potentially find out the truth.

This was such a fun audiobook. The narrative switches between chapters told from Lucy's point of view and fully produced segments of the Listen for the Lie podcast. This hooked me from the very beginning, and I barely stopped listening until the end. For a thriller about such a grisly topic, this book is also very, very funny, and I loved Lucy's dry sense of humor. All the characters are extremely messy, which makes for some solidly fun twists and surprises. While the ending won't really blow any frequent mystery reader away, I still thoroughly enjoyed this book and felt it breathed some new life into the popular podcast theme found in many modern thrillers.

Overall, I would give the audiobook 5 stars, while the story is closer to 4. I highly, highly recommend this!

Many thanks to Macmillan audio and Netgalley for providing the ALC in exchange for my honest review.

5 years ago, Lucy was found walking down the road disoriented covered in her best friend Savannah, Savvy's, blood. Why would they not think that Lucy was the one who killed her? However, Lucy had zero memories of that night.

Present day, Lucy is living in LA with her boyfriend. She speaks with her grandma on the regular basis but has not been back to her Texas hometown since Savvy died. Beverly, Lucy's grandma, is having a big 80th birthday party and expects Lucy to be there. She even buys Lucy's plane ticket back home. When Lucy arrives back in Texas, she is receiving side-eyes from everyone as she suspected... they all still think she murdered her best friend, her parents too. Hell, even Lucy is convinced she did it at times. While waiting to pick up dinner at the local diner, Lucy runs into semi-famous Ben Owens, host of the "Listen for the Lie" podcast. As she soon finds out, her grandmother set all of this up. Ben wants to tell Lucy's story and get the truth out about Savvy's mother. In his first season, he solved a cold case and he thinks he can do the same for Lucy.

Lucy is reluctant at first, but after she listens to an episode or two, she agrees to give Ben an interview. She and Ben begin working together to try to piece together Lucy's missing memories of that night. Ben interviews everyone he can that was involved in or in the vicinity the night of Savvy's murder, and he does a damn good job of getting everyones stories. Lucy and Ben end up falling into a relationship which causes an interesting dynamic. Ben wants to believe Lucy is innocent, but part of him still doubts her.

Since you see the novel from Lucy's perspective, you come to know that she hears a voice inside her head telling her to "kill" at many times throughout the novel. Lucy will fantasize about killing people around her, looking at objects in the area and envisioning using them to bludgeon the surrounding unsuspecting people. Later in the novel, you come to find out that the voice inside her head is none other than Savvy herself. Lucy also sees Savvy at times, frequently wearing the bloody dress she was wearing when she died. Because of this, you come to doubt Lucy's reliability as the narrator which makes the story that much more intriguing.

You meet many characters throughout the novel including Matt, Lucy's abusive ex-husband, Emmett, Lucy's childhood best friend who has had a crush on her for a long time, Nina, Lucy's friend from high school who she doesn't quite get along with now, and many other minor characters who play important roles in the whole experience.

Overall, I found this novel impossible to put down! The narrators were incredible and created an immersive experience. I was captivated from the very beginning. I will absolutely be looking up previous works by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

Did Lucy kill her best friend? This audiobook unfolds brilliantly combining the narrative with the ‘Listen for the Lie’ podcast by Ben Owen. Lucy is called back to her hometown by her grandmother to where the murder occurred. Full of twists and turns and a few lies the answer that has haunted Lucy finally surfaces.
#Netgalley #Goodreads #MacmillanAudio #mystery

What a nice change, to actually enjoy a thriller/murder mystery from beginning to end without feeling annoyed at any time!

Lucy has returned to her hometown for her grandma’s birthday party, but she’s not too excited about it, considering the entire town thinks she murdered her best friend Savannah. Lucy doesn’t think she did, but she’s not…100% sure. Due to a whack on the head that night, she has no memory of the event. To make matters worse, the podcast Listen for the Lie has just launched and members of the town are being interviewed and spilling all the dirty details of that awful event. Luckily, it seems like Ben, the host of the podcast, isn’t taking a side just yet and seems to just want to find out the truth. Together, he and Lucy work to recover her memories and figure out what really happened to Savannah.

I was hooked on this book from start to finish, which was a delight! To be honest, I’ve been really bored with thrillers lately. I’m constantly annoyed with domestic entanglements, unlikable characters, and twists that are so out of left field I refuse to believe they’re true.

Listen for the Lie was a fresh premise with a main character I really liked. She was sassy and snarky, without lacking a moral compass, and had a good head on her shoulders (though she could stand to keep it in her pants once in a while). She also has a sassy grandma who made me laugh and cry. She stole every chapter she was in and I LOVED her.

The ending wasn’t SUPER shocking, and that is fine with me because it was refreshingly within the realm of possibility.

The audiobook is particularly enjoyable because a male narrator reads the podcast sections, which makes it feel more like a separate thing from the narrated chapters.

Don’t miss this one, it’s an A+ from me!

Absolutely loved this book! Listen for the lie had me hooked instantly with the funny FMC, Lucy, true crime vibes, and a who-done-it podcast.

Imagine being found wandering around covered in your best friends blood, with no memory of what happened.
Although Lucy was never convicted, her small town insists she murdered her best friend,y6y Savvy. Lucy moved far away, but is back in town to celebrate her grandmothers birthday, conveniently a well known podcaster, Ben, is also in town, interviewing people on the murder.
Lucy agrees to talking on the podcast to try and clear her name. The more podcasts Ben releases, the closer he is to finding the true killer.

The narrators was PERFECT for this book! It felt like I was listening to a real podcast!!!

5 years ago, Lucy murdered her best friend, Savvy…. Or did she? She has no recollection of the events that occurred on the night Savvy died, but everyone thinks she did it. When the “Listen For The Lie” podcast starts investigating the cold case, new timelines and events and stories are brought to light. Will Ben solve the cold case and find out what happened to Savvy?

This. Book. Oh my gosh! Tintera breathed new life into this genre for me with this story. It was original and unique in its set up. While I’m sure it would be a great physical read as well, I highly highly recommend this as an audio. The BEST audio I’ve ever listened to, as the story weaved between Lucy’s story, and Ben’s podcast series. I was hooked from the first chapter and I loved how much dark humor and sarcasm was weaved into the story throughout. I found myself cackling several times, was on the edge of my seat for more, and my mind was blown at the end. I wish I could give this audio more than 5 stars!

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for my ALC in exchange for my honest feedback. This one’s a winner!

I can only say that this book exceeded my expectations! I was so excited to read it due to the early buzz it was getting, but it absolutely floored me! It will easily end up in my Top 10 reads of 2024!

I love true crime podcasts, so when a book hints at including that subject, it goes onto my “to be read” list. But when I started this audiobook, I was very happy to hear Ben’s chapters set up like mini episodes of his podcast. I loved the interviews, and how he would weave the narrative he was creating through Lucy’s story. The format of this book was made to be an audiobook.

Lucy’s story was original, intriguing, and maddening at times. It is hard for me to put this into words without spoilers. Her thoughts throughout this book were complicated and fascinating. She has spent 5 years wondering what happened the night her best friend Savannah died, and living with the blame. The other players in this story have secrets of their own. This story made me so angry at times, shocked at others, and has an ending that will leave you stunned. This book is perfect for book clubs. I want to talk about it with everyone!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for giving me one of the best audiobook listening experiences I have ever had! January LaVoy and Will Damron put on an audiobook narration master class in this one. I will be purchasing a hard copy of this one as well. This book releases on March 5th - preorder it now! You will not want to miss this one!

What a treat!! Fresh, fun, dark, twisted, and deliciously entertaining. Our MC Lucy is sardonic and sarcastic with witty dry humor that reminds me a bit of Vesper from Black Sheep. I couldn't stop listening! This is the kind of book that was made for audio. January Lavoy and Will Damron deliver epic performances - giving us not just dual narration, but co-narration (often appearing together in the same scene). Both Lavoy and Damron perform large casts, giving each character a unique voice. Just outstanding! There were also podcast sound effects, which I LOVE! If you liked Night Swim on audio, you'll love this one!

Thank you Macmillan Audio for my gifted copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Listen for the Lie was a fun, quirky little thriller about Lucy, who returns to a small town in Texas to celebrate her grandmother's birthday years after her divorce and perhaps most importantly, the accusation that she murdered her best friend. The worst part is that Lucy has no memory whether she killed her friend or not. However, being surrounded with the same people in addition to a true crime podcaster eager to unlock new facts is slowly but surely bringing some memories back to the surface.

My favorite part of this book was Lucy, who, unlike many protagonists in thrillers, had a backbone and dark, sarcastic sense of humor. She wasn't afraid to make people feel uncomfortable, and her no-nonsense attitude made her an enjoyable character to read. The narrator did a fantastic job conveying this spirit throughout the audiobook. Her grandmother was also a riot.

I was less wild about the mystery itself and didn't find it super groundbreaking from other books I read. I was still curious to find out how events played out and found the ending fairly satisfying. It was a little baffling that basically every character slept with so many other characters in the book, but maybe that's just how life is in small-town Texas. Kidding aside, I'm sure others will flock to this book and will certainly enjoy its unique charms.

There is so much hype about this book and I can see why. It was a dark thriller, with plenty of humour, twists and turns and not at all predictable which is always good. Once you start reading this book you will not want to put it down so be warned.

Lucy Chase doesn’t remember killing her best friend Savvy, but everyone says she did so she believes it. She hasn’t been back to her hometown since that night but now she is heading back for her grandmothers birthday party. A new podcast has started up and is getting a lot of attention. The Listen For The Lie Podcast is delving into the night of the murder, and all the possible suspects. It turns out there are many. Ben from the podcast is in town and Lucy decides to work with him to finally learn the truth.

I do love a podcast element in a book and it worked so well in this one. We are fed information and posts of view throughout the story and the reader can start to put the pieces together. It was very clever and fun to listen to. January LaVoy and Will Damron were brilliant as always, really bringing the story and podcast to life

Thanks so much to Macmillan Audio for my advanced copy to read. Published on March 14th and well worth a read.