I can't wait to recommend this audiobook to patrons. It pulled me in right away and was great right through the end. I normally don't like any sound effects in audiobooks, but the music that started/ended the podcast segments was helpful for distinguishing between the different sections. This audiobook was great!

Holy Moly y’all! If you’re a podcast fan you have to check out Listen for the Lie!

What if you thought you murdered your best friend? And if everyone else thought so too? And what if the truth doesn't matter?

First of all any book set in Texas has my heart. 🤠 Although this book is written from the POV of Lucy (accused BFF murderer) the podcast format gives us the entire town’s POV. Spoiler alert: I loved it. Lucy’s grandma by far stole the show with her witty humor. This book has it all: laughs, swoons, sadness, thrills and WTF moments. I highly recommend you check out Listen for the Lie when it comes out 3/5/24!

Thank you @celadonbooks for gifting #anovelbunchbookstaclub with complimentary copies. I also recommend the audiobook from @macmillan.audio it has superb narration and read like a full cast.

4.5 stars rounded to 5! I loved this book on Audio. It was so well done. Like listening to a true crime podcast and book at the same time.

Lucy and Beverly were my favorite characters. So many times I was listening to this and said "WTF" while laughing. Beverly was hilarious. Such great characters! This book was so much more than a thriller/suspense. It was laugh out loud funny, full of family dysfunction and small town drama, friendship, crap relationships, etc. It was a good story and I couldn't stop listening.

I was surprised by how entertaining and invested I was by this book. It had such fun characters (hello Lucy’s grandma). I loved the small town Texas atmosphere as well as the podcast that was giving us background and insight into each character involved. It helped give all the characters point of view even though we were mostly getting the story from Lucy. I liked that she was also kind of an unreliable narrator because of her inability to remember anything of that night.

My favorite things about this book were the romance & that ending! Such a page turner!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to review an ARC of this novel.

“The truth doesn’t matter…the truth is whatever you say it is.” A number of the characters repeat these “truths,” as they go about untangling secrets and lies.

Lucy Chase lives with her erstwhile boyfriend, Nathan, in LA, where she works a dull day job in a publishing firm and writes mildly successful erotic romance novels under a pseudonym. She is not happy, but she is surviving, despite the life-changing trauma of five years earlier.

Lucy had been found wandering on an isolated road near her hometown of Plumpton, Texas, dazed, bruised and bloodied. Close by, the body of her closest friend, Savvy Walker, was also discovered. They had been seen leaving a friend’s wedding together 24 hours earlier. No doubt hastened by her own serious head wound, as well as the trauma of Savvy’s murder, Lucy’s mind locked out the memory of what happened that night. She was never charged. But she was judged and found guilty. If no one could prove she did it, no one could prove she didn’t. She could do little herself, given her amnesia, but deny that she killed Savvy.

Savvy was much loved in town; Lucy, always unafraid to speak out and even to throw a punch or two, was not. Everyone was quick to believe she had done it. Even her husband and her parents failed to stand up for her. Only her grandma Beverly never gave up on her, because, as she reassures Lucy many times, “i know you.” Her marriage over, her relationship with her parents frayed, her former friends and neighbours in vindictive mode, she leaves that history behind, vowing never to revisit it.

But histories are not easily left to the past. Lucy is plagued by Savvy’s voice and occasional visions of her in her bloodied pink party dress. Savvy urges her to kill everyone who annoys her, from strangers in supermarkets to her hapless and largely oblivious boyfriend. She shuts out the voices and hallucinations, and thereby any memories that try to push through. Is the truth too much? Did she actually kill her best friend?

Then Ben Cross suddenly shatters this “equilibrium “ that is anything but. He directs and stars in a very popular podcast, “Listen for the Lie,” that unearths unresolved murders, largely through provocative live interviews with anyone remotely connected to victim and perpetrator. When he announces that he is going to Plumpton to take up the Walker case, Lucy loses her job, her boyfriend breaks up with her, and Savvy’s voice and image nag her ever more constantly. Despite her avowal never to go back, she has nothing to stay left for. She gives in to her beloved grandma’s pleas to return for the big birthday party she wants, and walks straight into the podcaster’s orbit. She concedes that she needs to know the truth. And to take revenge.

What follows is a rollercoaster of suspense and emotion, high and low, as the young podcaster, invariably described as “smug,” goes about digging up that truth. As a mystery-thriller, the book is tautly written and structured, one of those “can’t stop reading” edge of seat novels populated by a wide cast of nonetheless memorable characters. But it’s also hilarious. Lucy is a master of irony. Her reputation for not being “a nice girl” is about her unwillingness to “play nice” and her indifference to public opinion. Nice-girl Savvy really wasn’t, in the conventional sense, either in life or after. Her ghost, contrary to her appearance and her imaginative ideas about ways to kill, is not frightening but funny, supportive, perceptive, and irreverent about both murder and sex. Ben is pushy and obnoxious but, very much like Lucy, smart and witty and really does want to see justice done. The townspeople, including Lucy’s parents, her ex-husband, and their high school friends, are masters at hiding their own secrets but easily manipulated to reveal more than they’d intended, on the podcast and off. And everyone should have a grandma Beverley, unwavering in support but also down to earth and determined to go out in a blaze of alcohol and sex.

The story develops in chapters alternating the present with Lucy’s unfolding memories, sometimes false, and also with Ben’s podcast. I was sorry when the audiobook ended. The podcast chapters even start and end with the cheesy music associated with podcasts. The narrators are the wonderful January LaVoy and Will Damron. Brilliant!

Listen for the lie is a popular podcast in this book. I listened to the audiobook version of this title. With it being a true crime podcast and an audiobook the story really came together listening to some of the podcast.
It is a really good mystery. I couldn’t predict any of it.
A who done it mystery. Well developed characters.
The story was easy to Follow and hard to put down.

Years after her best friend's murder went unsolved, Lucy (the prime suspect) becomes the subject of a true crime podcast. Returning home to the scene of the crime, Lucy works with podcast host Ben to try and uncover the truth.

This was a fantastic read. It is told from Lucy's perspective, but also includes episodes of the podcast with Ben and many different people in the town giving their stories and opinions. The audio is fantastic, particularly the podcast piece, and the narrator was great. It was so entertaining learning all the different characters and having it all unfold to the conclusion. The characters were excellent, particularly Lucy, who's quick wit and sarcasm made me laugh out loud many times, and her grandmother. The podcast episodes reminded me of another popular thriller I've read recently, but I must say I preferred this one. This was a perfectly-paced entertaining read that you won't want to put down.

4.25/5⭐

Man, I loved reading this book! This event of YA authors writing adult books has been going pretty darned well, I would say! I love her YA books, an this adult mystery sounded really great, and I loved reading it!

I would say about roughly 80% of the story was Lucy, as she's dealing with the new information that the podcast has uncovered and trying to recover her memories of that night. The other 20% is the podcast, so we could see what the characters were reacting to, which I really enjoyed!

Lucy is bitter, angry, and sarcastic. She truly doesn't know if she killed Savvy or not, she doesn't remember. But the town firmly believes that she did it, even if there wasn't enough evidence to charge. And she keeps questioning, is this how an innocent, or guilty person, would act?

The mystery was so great, because there are things that weren't previously known, like who her husband was having an affair with, who the guy that Savvy was "dating" was with, and what Lucy and Savvy were doing. I totally didn't catch where it was going, that was so unexpected!

This was so great, and I can't wait for whatever Amy Tintera has out next!

One of the best experiences I’ve had listening to an audiobook! It felt very immersive with the way the podcast was handled. Felt like we got to listen to an actual one. Add the fact that it’s a really fun and twisty book, and you’ll have a great time listening to this!

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance audiobook. This one was dee-li-cious. What a great concept. A woman suspected of murdering her best friend but never formally charged goes back to her Texas hometown at the same time that a podcaster is interviewing everyone about the case, and digging up a ton of small town dirt in the process. The audiobook has a talented cast, and the excerpts from the very realistic podcast are interspersed throughout. The chapters are short and the entire story moves very quickly. I dare you to finish it in more than 48 hours.

Lucy, the MC and suspected murdereress, is understandably a hot mess because even her own family thinks she did it, and she has amnesia regarding the night in question. The Southern small town characters and biases are very realistic, and their interviews are the highlight of the book. Lucy is an extremely unreliable narrator and a vivid character who masks vulnerability with toughness. I like her a lot. The ending kind of became apparent 70% of the way through but the journey was the fun part here.

I absolutely adored this audiobook! It had everything that I love about listening to books, two great narrators and a story that was engaging and hard to forget. I already know that this will end up being one of my favorite reads of the year.

The two narrators, January Lavoy and Will Damron do an amazing job with this book. They bring both of the two main characters, Lucy and Ben, to life as well as many of the other characters in the book. At one point I started to think that this was a full on cast performance with many people taking on the roles, but checked and it is just these two. They both have a range of voices and accents that really make all of the characters come alive. I especially loved the podcast, with its music intro and the interviews. It sounded like a real podcast, which made the story so much better.

Lucy is such a great main character. She is an unapologetic, self proclaimed asshole and can be brutally honest with her comments. I just adored her and found her hilarious. I really enjoyed her inner monologue and all of her murderous thoughts as she encountered all of the people she used to call her friends, and her family. Ben is also a really interesting character. We don’t get to know him as well as Lucy, but I really enjoyed him and his honesty (for the most part) when dealing with Lucy.

There are so many great secondary characters in this story. Lucy’s grandmother was probably my favorite as she was closest to Lucy in personality. Her ex husband was such an ass, that you just have to love to hate him. Some of Lucy’s friends were nice, but there was always a question as to what they really knew about the night Savvy was killed.

I loved the dual nature of the narrative, the use of the podcast to tell what happened before the murder was brilliant. There are lots of clues embedded in the story to help you figure out what really happened that night, but it isn’t until Lucy starts to remember the night that everything comes together. The pacing is well done, but the ending did feel a bit rushed, but I think that sort of fit with the story too. I was sure that I knew who had committed the murder and why, but was way off in the end, but I was ok with that. I like to be wrong sometimes. it keeps me on my toes.

Amy Tintera is mostly known for her YA fantasy books, but I certainly hope that she continues to branch out into adult mysteries. This was a fantastic look at a small town murder mystery that I really enjoyed. I cannot recommend this audiobook enough. It really is addictive and the two narrators do such an excellent job of bringing all of the characters to life.

I don’t give out my 5 stars so easily. This is undeniably one of the best novels I’ve enjoyed. I already know, I’m going to be recommending this one to anyone addicted to great dark comedy and thrillers. I’’m definitely going to be reading more works by Amy Tintera!

2-2.5 stars

Ehh... I'm going to be an outlier with this one here- seeing lots of rave reviews and it was just alright for me.

Let's start with what I did like -

The quick pace, short chapters and the grandmother.

What I didn't like -

The whole podcast murder mystery premise is really trending right now and I guess I'm not really a fan.

I didn't find anything about the book to be very original, kinda a cookie cutter standard mid 'thriller'. Pretty predictable.

Her dead bff voice in her head all the time 'kill him' 'kill him' was a little weird and overdone.

I'm sure many people will enjoy this but it unfortunately didn't impress me much. Meh. 🤷‍♀️






Many thanks to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and Amy Tintera for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Obsessed. This was so so good. Wasn’t familiar with the author going into it but the podcast element plus thriller got me. LOVE the format with the chapters and podcast transcripts. I could not read fast enough. I really love Lucy and was rooting for her the whole time and my god the inner voice commentary was hilarious. The touch of comedy mixed in and the sarcasm was perfect. Highly highly recommend!! Thank you NetGalley so much for this ARC! I thoroughly enjoyed it.

“I try not to smile. I swear to god, I try not to be the asshole that I am, but I utterly fail.” 🤷🏼‍♀️🤣🙌🏻

Ok so ya ya this book is about a murder mystery. But these women. THESE WOMEN. They are my soul sisters. They are laugh out loud funny, brutally honest, and self proclaimed assholes. Same ladies, same. I frequently found myself smiling at their banter. Grandma is a particular fav! These are my people. But I digress…

This 👏🏻 audiobook 👏🏻 is 👏🏻 absolute 👏🏻 gold 👏🏻. Gold I tell ya! I usually listen on 2x speed but I slowed this one down to savor its deviousness. The narration? Perfection 🤌🏻 (I mean one of the narrators IS January Lavoy, after all)! The production? Fire 🔥! I don’t normally listen to podcasts but the podcast portions of the book are done in what I believe a podcast would sound like, with musical scores and a proper introduction. I loved that aspect. This is just an all around 10/10 must listen! The murder mystery keeps you guessing until the end. I can imagine this will be in my top audiobooks of 2024.

THANK YOU to Netgalley, Celadon Books, Macmillan Audio, and the author for the ARC and ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you #NetGalley and #Macmillan Audio for granting me access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

Disclosure: Unfortunately, I am not one of those reviewers who lay out the whole book. When I look at the review, I want it simple and one that will allow me to decide if I want to dive into it. And that is what I am giving here.

If you like a book with mystery, a small amount of spice, and suspense, this book is for you. I love books that capture you at the moment and it makes you "see" what is going on right in front of your face. Amy Tintera did an incredible job all around with this story. This was the perfect balance of crazy, mystery, hate, spice, best friends, and crazy family!

I just couldn’t wait to get my hands on this book! I may have screeched when I got that beautiful email from NetGalley, approving my request! This book had me guessing right to the very end! Even though Lucy may or may not have killed her best friend…. I didn’t care… I just loved her! Even more so…her grandma is AMAZING and fiercely had her granddaughters back when let’s be honest NOONE else did. I need book 2 maybe about Lucy and Ben!!!?

It is only January and i already know that this is going to be in my top 5 favorite books of 2024.

story:
This is pretty much a whodunnit but not in the typical way. It utilizes the god awful amnesia trope 🤮 but in a way that is not annoying. There are a lot of characters, a lot of suspects and the drama 🤌🏽!! It had me in a chokehold!

Throughout the story, we have Ben's podcast interviews with the townspeople, some flashbacks from the day the incident occurred, and Lucy is just trying to unravel the events of that fatal night and how much she was involved in it.

writing:
This is so well-paced, everything is consistent—the humor, the main character's personality and the witty dialogue. The writing just flows. It's easy to get caught up in and binge in one sitting.

characters: (I'm only mentioning a few)
Lucy's personality is top tier. She has this morbid, dark humor that is very entertaining. Her intrusive thoughts are wild! I absolutely adore Ben, the very charming, and he knows it, podcaster. Grandmom is the best! She seems like a ball to be around and so funny.

"Interview and stay?😏" Is that like Netflix and chill?

podcast element:
I love the format of first being introduced to the other characters in the story by listening to their interviews on Ben's podcast and THEN actually running into them. I don't know, being able to form an idea of who they are and then actually meeting them just added something extra to the story. I loved the podcast interviews.

I can't stress how much I loved this book. I really enjoyed piecing the clues together in this mystery and the underlying commentary on morals/ethics and the influence of a True Crime podcast was interesting.

Although a rare occurrence, there are times when I actually like the fmc in a book. Times when the fmc isn't whiney and annoying. This is one of those times. So if you like characters who are fluent in sarcasm, wit and dark humor you too will probably get a kick out of Lucy.

*thanks Celadon Books for this gifted ARC*

I absolutely loved this audio version of this book. The narrator was fantastic as well as the audio production! I loved that the podcast sections sounded just like the podcast. I was hooked from the beginning and had no idea where it was headed. I loved the ending and thought everything was tied up with a bow. Highly recommend this one!

I absolutely devoured this. I loved the narration and it was a perfect book to listen to on audio. I also read it with my eyes and enjoyed both formats. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to enjoy this book.