I love a good dark academia and this one did not disappoint! Maya has returned to her alumni, Princeton, to attend her younger sister’s graduation. But instead she is catapulted into the unexpected, tragic, and mysterious death of Naomi. This story is twisty and heartbreaking in all the best ways. It explores friendship, sisterhood and racial issues which propelled the plot line and made this story intricate and complex. This was a solid debut and Lauren Ling Brown is definitely an author to watch! Thank you Netgalley, Random House Publishing-Ballantine, and the author for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be available for purchase on August 13, 2024

I really enjoyed this. The relationship between the sisters was real, but strained and relatable. The murder and relationhip with them was not too unrealistic. I enjoyed the back and forth within the time and the solutin within the novel.

I’m saying it now—2024 reads have so far been my overall best year since I’ve started my bookstagram! Lauren Ling Brown’s debut, SOCIETY OF LIES, immediately captured my interest with this stunning cover. Thank you @randomhouse for this gifted copy! The story is centered around Princeton alumni Maya and her investigation into the mysterious death of her sister Naomi. Naomi was supposed to graduate Princeton and Maya was looking forward to reconnecting back to her college days, but Maya is stunned to find out that her sister joined the Sterling Club, the mysterious and exclusive social club on campus. Maya warned her about the Sterling Club since she had joined back in her college days. Maya can’t help but think this club has something to do with Naomi’s death.⁣

This book gave me In My Dreams I Hold a Knife vibes! I really had a blast reading this one. This book touches on race and privilege while in college which I felt was a compelling aspect of the book that also helped form the mystery in ways I didn’t expect. This book moved rather quickly and left for many different scenarios for the reader to keep on guessing. I don’t always love dark academia stories, but SOCIETY OF LIES was very compelling. I highly recommend putting this book on your TBR and picking it up once it releases later this summer! STARS: 4, PUB: 8/13

WOWOWOWOOW, this was such a killer mystery from beginning to end! I thought I knew who was behind all of it...and then I was proven wrong. Repeatedly. Never have I read such a twisted mystery that entraps you completely and takes you on a crazy ride. I really enjoyed this and would love to see what else this author has in in the works!!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, especially the alternating perspectives between Naomi and Maya in each chapter. The structure instantly drew me in, compelling me to keep reading to unravel the mysteries surrounding the two murders. While I felt the resolution took some time to reach, I found the overall experience enjoyable and would definitely recommend it to others. Many thanks to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for the advanced copy!

On SOCIETY OF LIES we follow Maya, an adult woman whose younger sister Naomi is found dead by drowning on her college campus in Princeton, the same university Maya attented to. Maya simply cannot believe her sister drowned as an accident, so she goes after Naomi's circle of friends (and ex boyfriends) to find out what truly happened to her sister. She initially and immediately gets shook by the fact that her sister was entangled in the same secret society that she was part of when she was at the university. And Maya knows some dark secrets behind that secret society that makes her suspicions about her sister's death even more gruesome.
We follow two POVs: Maya in two different timelines - in the past when she was at Princeton, and the current days when she gets the tragic news on her sister's death; and Naomi - up to 7 months defore her death.
The chapters go back and forth while we learn Maya's past in the secret society, and also what led Naomi to the same society.

I'll admit I requested this ARC for 2 main reasons (or 3, really - being the art cover the most shallow reason): I've liked a lot of dark academia books I read in the past, and also because I like to give new authors a change with their debut novels.
However, what I didn't know and honestly didn't expect was that this book would read so much like a YA novel. To me, this book is at least 70% YA with all that typical teen drama (parties, drugs, sex, boyfriends/girlfriends - who's hooking up with whom, who's cheating who and all that silly teenage stuff), which TO ME was a problem, since I strongly dislike anything YA-related. It's not because it's dark academia, full of 20-year olds characters that the story must read YA-like. And that bothered me here.
Way before half of this book I wasn't caring for the teenage Maya and Naomi characters anymore. Everything that seemed cool about the secret society was kind of overshadowed by the so many teenage drama/talking.
All I wanted was to be in the present days, with the fully grown up Maya sleuthing her way into finding out the truth about her sister.
And frankly? The conclusion didn't annoy me, but didn't satisfy me, either.
The writing was decent and enganging enough to keep my attention, also the social race commentaries.

I'm pretty sure readers who don't mind, and especially like to read, YA-like novels with academia settings with secret societies and mystery will mostly enjoy this book better than I did.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher Random House, for allowing me a free eARC copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

This 384-page book by Lauren Ling Brown comes out on August 13th, 2024. A mystery/thriller (heavy on the thriller aspect), this book has so many twists and turns that in the end it gets a little confusing.

Older sister Maya is back at Princeton for her younger sister, Naomi’s graduation from the alma mater that they share. It turns out that they were also in the same secret society, but Maya didn’t know about Naomi’s membership. What should be a fantastic day, turns dark when Naomi turns up dead.

This book is a dual POV between the two sisters with Maya’s chapters tracing forward from her sister’s death, and Naomi’s chapters moving forward up to her murder. Everyone is a suspect, and I do mean everyone. With unreliable narrators and unreliable secondary characters, this book is full of twists and turns.

The ending is a little confusing, but ultimately satisfying.

4 Stars

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The video review will be available on YouTube on 6/27/24 at noon Central time

I always love a thriller with an academic setting, but unfortunately Society of Lies was a miss for me and I ended up not finishing it. The story was too slow for my liking with thrillers. I would be interested in other books by this author in the future.

Thank you to Lauren Ling Brown and NetGalley for the advanced reader's copy of "Society of Lies". I had mixed opinions about this book and struggled to settle on a rating, but ultimately it lies within the 2.5-3 range for me. The premise of the story was really captivating and the beginning of the book started out super strong, but began to fall flat around the middle portion. I'm not a huge fan of dual/multiple timelines because it is easy to get confused if they are not distinctly distinguished apart from one another, and that is exactly what happened for me with Naomi and Maya. I caught myself getting events mixed up and that really affected my reading experience. I think what made the timelines and characters mush together for me is the character's "voices" sounded like the same exact person to me. I really enjoyed the secret society concept, though.

WOW !! What a great book ! I could not put it down. I flew through it so fast. I loved the dark academia vibes and the mystery surrounding the secret societies at Princeton. I did not see the twist at the end coming. I highly recommend giving this one a read.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine for the digital arc in exchange for my honest review.

Wanted to like this book and really tried but thought it fell short on continuity, plot lines being developed, uniqueness and intrigue. Was very difficult changing between the POVs for some reason. As another reviewer mentioned, I had to go back several times to make sure I knew which character was speaking. The voices didn’t change enough to be distinctive.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballentine for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I liked the story overall but struggled with the POV blending together. I would get confused often and kept having to stop mid chapter to make sure I was reading correctly. I didn’t find any of the characters likable at all but I still gave it 3 stars because the story was unique and I did stay intrigued enough to want to see it through to the end!

A Society of Lies by Lauren Ling Brown is a thriller that takes place at Princeton and revolves around Maya, a Princeton Graduate, and her younger sister Naomi. by 10 years who presently attends Princeton. They both belonged to exclusive social clubs that included secret societies.
Maya is excited to attend her sister’s graduation when she receives the news that Naomi is dead. The story goes back and forth between Maya and Naomi’s college lives and clues as to how Naomi died.
I enjoyed parts of this story although it was a bit slow. Thank you to NetGalley and Bantam for the ARC.

Thank you to Net Galley and Random House for the ARC. This was a slow paced read, there are two murders and three timelines. It was difficult to care about the characters. The plot is very predictable.

Thank you so much for this ARC!

Very enjoyable! Dark academia, secret societies, sibling relationships, TWO murders - what's not to like? So many elements for a great read and it did not disappoint. I loved the different timelines and trying to put the together the pieces from past and current. Matthew DuPont was an interesting character and I was intrigued by how he fit into the lives of both sisters. A little slow burn at times but held my interest throughout. Also, very thought provoking re. the upper echelons of the world! Not sure I *loved* the sisters as individuals, a bit naive for two Princeton students, however, it worked!

With this premise and plot line this should have been an edge of your seat thriller. Instead, it plodded along with two dimensional characters who over reacted melodramatically to everything that happened to them. Told from the point of view of two sisters over three timelines, the writing lacked distinct voices for each sister and I had to keep checking which one was narrating. By the time the ending came, I really didn't care who did it. This one wasn't for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bantam for an advanced reader copy.

the description of a book about secret societies piqued my interest as i am fascinated by secret societies. The first half of hte book was slow paced but it picked up in the second half. there were times that the vocies sounded familair and had to keep reminding myself when i was in past/present. overall an okay book

“Society of Lies” is a thriller by Lauren Ling Brown. This book should have worked for me - its got a college, it has a murder, it has a secret society, it has dual timelines … but for some reason it didn’t. While I found the three timelines interesting (and sometimes a bit difficult to keep track), I was okay with it - except that the pacing was uneven. Additionally, there wasn’t a lot of “voice” difference between the two sisters, so when I was skimming the more slow sections (I know, my fault) I’d get confused as to who was speaking - and when. There are a number of minor/supporting characters - and I wish that some of their stories had not been left loose at the end. This wasn’t a bad book - and for a debut novel it was a great idea - but it just didn’t always work. A huge plus was the short chapters - very convenient to read a few chapters, put it down to do something, and then return. I’d give this author another try as I see the potential. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

Society of Lies have all the makings of a good thriller. I admit I found Part 1 dull. The plot does pick up, but unfortunately it felt like an effort to get through the book. There were so many characters to keep track of and the multiple POVs and timelines made it confusing to keep track of. Its difficult to keep track of which chapters are Maya and which are Naomi as they were written so similar. Theres a lot of repetition and it would be better if it was shortened. I never became invested in any of the characters.

Society of Lies
Written by Lauren Ling Brown
Published by Random House Publishing Group/Ballantine
Release Date August 13,, 2024

How far would you go to belong?

Princeton University has a special place in Maya’s heart and she is returning to the school for two reasons. It has been a decade since she stepped foot on the campus and now it is her reunion. Maya is excited to return and see her old friends and possibly make new ones. Her sister, Naomi, is also graduating. Naomi has always followed in Maya’s footsteps. Even when Maya tells her not to. But Maya will get news that will shatter her world. Naomi was found dead. The story that Maya is told about her sister’s death just doesn’t make sense. As Maya investigates, she learns that Naomi was a member of The Sterling Club.
Maya is familiar with the exclusive club because she too was a member. She also has hid a secret from everyone for a very long time and as she looks deeper into the death of her sister she learns that her past and her secret could be the reason Naomi turned up dead. But can she figure out what happened before it’s too late?

I was somewhat disappointed in this book. The premise was great and the publishers blurb really made it sound awesome but there were parts that were just unbelievable. Overall it did have some twists that kept me reading to figure out why Naomi was dead.The characters were well developed and the way the author told the background was excellent. While the book was not totally what I expected, I really did find the ending to be a surprise. It certainly was not what I expected.


4 stars