I liked the 2 pov and the back and forth between them, but the stories were too dark for me to enjoy. Life at Princeton. Just not a story that I could enjoy.

Society of Lies by Lauren Ling Brown - Reese Book Club pick October 2024

Everything was going well for Maya. A ten year reunion at her alma mater of Princeton and also her kid sister, Naomi's graduation also at Princeton. She had followed in her sister's footsteps, it was going to be great. Then everything came crashing down as Naomi was killed. When Maya started searching for answers, she realized that she knew little about the extracurricular activities Naomi was into. She was in the secret society - The Sterling Club. This was undoubtably hard to get into and the most ranked club at Princeton. The more she search into what really happened to her sister, the memories and thoughts of what happened to her raced back and this might have something to do with her. Did Maya's past catch up with her? Did her sister have to die or could she have been saved. 4 stars - recommend

Thank NetGalley, the author Lauren Ling Brown, and Bantam Books (Imprint of Penguin Random House). for advanced copy for honest review.

This book had a strong premise and kept me intrigued, especially with its elite college setting and themes of dark secrets within exclusive social clubs. (It gave me The Last Housewife vibes!) Maya’s journey to uncover the truth about her sister’s death was compelling, and I found myself invested in figuring out what really happened. However, some parts felt repetitive, and the pacing was REALLY slow, especially in the second half of the book — and I kept getting confused on where we were in time/which sister.

While I enjoyed the suspense, the final reveal didn’t fully deliver the impact I was hoping for. Overall, it was a decent read, but it lacked that extra spark to make it truly memorable.

This book had me fully invested in Princeton campus life. I was living for the secret society’s, the cunning and the lies.
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When Maya returns to Princeton for her 10 year reunion she’s both excited and a bit skeptical. Her younger sister Naomi is currently a student. What should have been a fun weekend quickly turns to tragedy when Maya finds out that her sister is dead. Struck with grief but little to no answers about the cause of her death, Maya starts her investigation and quickly realizes that Naomi’s death may be related to some incidents that occurred during Maya’s time in campus.
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Told through multiple POVs and past/present timelines I loved how the author told the story. I was very intrigued by the secret societies and what it’s like to go to a prestigious school like Princeton.
Overall I really enjoyed this one and loved that it was picked up by Reese’s Book Club.

Thank you @netgalley and @bantam books for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked this book, it was a constant back and forth between sisters and timelines with a great mystery in between. I really like the well-developed non-cookie cutter characters, it was great.

Intriguing, haunting, dark, compelling, heartbreaking and secrets are just some of the words to describe this book! In Brown's debut novel, she set the bar high for her future novels because this one was well written and thoughtfully put together and I couldn't put it down! The character development alone is masterminded!
Our story begins when Maya is told her younger sister Naomi hasn't contacted her for a few days, and this is out of character for Naomi and Maya begins to worry for her younger sister. While trying to talk herself down and breathe she receives devastating news that will change her future forever. Naomie is found dead. While handling the death of her younger sister she decides to figure out what her sister was doing the months and time before she passed away and Maya is convinced that Naomi was murdered. Looking into what Naomi was doing and whom she was talking to she realizes that Naomi was trying to figure out what happened all those years ago when Maya was at Princeton when she was a student and another student died on a trip. Bringing back secrets that Maya would rather have left in the past she must dive into Naomi's hunt for information to find out who murdered her and what else they were hiding! I enjoyed the two POVs of Maya and Naomie then the past and the present helped piece the whole situation together along with the serious nature of everything going on and worked very well for this novel! If you are looking for a good thriller full of secrets, murder, secret societies, and how staying silent when you know information and how it's so easy to get sucked into silence then you should pick up this book! I recommend it and you will be on the edge of your seat mentally taking notes so you can figure out whodunit!
Thank you Netgalley and Ballantine/Random House Publishing for the extraordinary opportunity to read and review this one! Such a treat and a thrill for the spooky season!

Premise was alright. The dual pov was written in a way that was hard to navigate making it kinda boring.

I think I like my dark academia best with a bit of magic…

Thanks to netgalley and random house for an eARC

I liked the premise of this book- secret societies in elite schools are always a fun goldmine of drama and intrigue. The dual timeline narratives of Maya and Naomi were interesting at first, building together to show how the sisters ended up where they are in present day, but after a while it was hard to be patient with the pace and semi-repetitive nature of the voices. I love getting to visit this academic setting form the point of view of non-white characters but wish that the pacing had been better.

Society of Lies is a dark academia which started out really strong for me. There came a point when there was so much going on, with the jump between past and present, and a lot of pieces that I felt could have been left out from a story perspective. It did finish strong in the last 1/4 though and it had me gripping my seat in anticipation of what was going to happen. Just when I thought I had it all figured out, I was wrong!!

Overall it was a good book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for this arc in return for my honest review.

Pub Date: 01 October 2024

Society of Lies was a perfectly fine thriller and would be a great pick if you're looking for something quick, familiar, and easy to read. It tells the story of a woman whose sister dies suspiciously at Princeton... a decade after the same thing happened to her friend while they were at the same university together.

It follows three different POVs – the older sister in the past, the older sister in the recent past to present, and the younger sister in the recent past. Set across the Princeton campus, mountains in the northeast, and New York City, the books' settings were immersive and interesting, giving dark academia vibes. The characters were surface level and the plot was fairly predictable, so don't expect to be shocked by any kind of twist, but it was still an interesting enough story that hooked me quickly at the beginning.

There were 3-4 different timelines in the book, and the tenses kept switching between past and present (even for events that were all in the past), which I found frustrating to read. The time jumps were also confusing at times and it took a while to orient myself in each new chapter because they mostly involved the same characters and location, just at varying times.

What a wild ride! I really enjoyed this book. I loved the alternating viewpoints between sisters, but sometimes got confused between past Maya and current Naomi, as their experiences were similar relating to Princeton and the secret societies. Overall, I thought this was a solid read.

Thank you to netGalley and Random House Group Ballantine for the eARC

This book started out so strong, I felt so hooked. But as I continued to read I just found that it slowed down, it was a bit underwhelming and just wasn't what I wanted it to be. Not bad, but not great.

Loved this book! The flashbacks between sisters and the twists and turns were gripping. It was initially hard to keep track of all of the characters for essentially two worlds but they did eventually merge which made it easier. While I did guess who the culprit was, I only did in the last moments before the reveal. Definitely recommend!

📖: Society of Lies-a standalone

✍️ By: Lauren Ling Brown- debut author

📃 Page Count: 366 eBook

🗓️ Publication Date: 10-1- 24 | Read 10-21-24

🙏🏾Thanks to NetGalley, Random House Publishing - Ballantine | Bantam, and Lauren Ling Brown for this ARC❤️! I voluntarily give my honest review, and all opinions expressed are my own.

🌎Setting: Princeton, NJ

Genre: Women's Psychological Fic, Mystery, New Adult, Multicultural Interests

Tropes: secret society, sisterhood, wealthy, dark academia, interracial relationships

☝🏾POV: dual 1st person, switches from past to present each chapter

⚠️TW: murder, physical abuse, racism, child neglect, blackmail, grooming

💭Summary: Maya is in town for her sister Naomi's graduation from her alum mater Princeton. They are also members of an elite "eating club" aka secret society called the Sterling Club (SC). When Naomi is found drowned to death, Maya goes back in time when another girl died under similar circumstances both members of the SC.

🚺 Heroine: Maya Banks (28) had a Chinese mother and AA father (both deceased)-was a SC member, in Princeton for sister's graduation. Married to Nate (AA) and has a 5-year-old daughter Dany.

🚺 Heroine: Naomi Mason (18) - had a Chinese mother and AA father (both deceased). At 14, was sent to live with Aunt Ella but was neglected & CPS got involved. She became a ward of Maragaret St. Clair-a wealthy family with ties to SC.

🎭Side cast:

• Margaret St. Clair-Naomi's guardian since she was 14, introduced by Cecily-Maya's college friend

• Matthew DuPont- was a behavioral economics professor @ Princeton 10 years ago, mentors the Sterling Club

• Sara Vail -Matthew's fiancée

• Marta-a maid who cleans at Sterling Club, was sponsored and employed by the St. Clair family

• Ben Wong-Asian, a Sterling Club member/treasurer, hooks up with Naomi

• Liam-Naomi's ex-boyfriend, an alcoholic and drug addict in the SC

•Lila Jones-from Maya's college time, part of Sterling Club, died 10 years ago

• Amy and Zalikah-Naomi's roommates

•Daisy, Cecily, and Kai-Maya's college friends from SC

🤔My Thoughts: This was a great story of history repeating itself. Both Naomi and Lila were part of the SC and died suspiciously. This made me think of the movie Skulls with Joshua Jackson. SC was under secret investigation, and its members did everything to make it all go away. The book addressed sisterhood with Maya trying to protect Naomi by leaving her with the St. Clair family for a better life. Racial undertones were addressed with biracial heroines in a wealthy, white man's world. This was a tale of privilege-what you do to get it and keep it, and can you live with what you've done?

Range of emotions: 😬🤔🙄
🌶️: Spice 3/5
😭: Emotion 5/5
❤️: Couple n/a
⭐️: Rating 5/5

I went down an internet rabbit hole looking at secret societies and eating clubs at Princeton. So that was fun. I appreciate the multiracial rep in the main characters. I also enjoyed the two points of view of both sisters. The thriller aspect had some nice twists all the way to the ending.

This book is about two very different sisters, each Black and Chinese, making their way through the dark and twisty world of secret societies at Princeton and trying to get ahead among those already born with privilege.

I loved a lot of things about this book. I liked the exploration of multiracial identities at an elite Ivy League school, the complicated relationship between sisters Maya and Naomi, the twisty dark academia vibe. The mystery fell flat to me though and I struggled with the writing style.

I found it confusing how each chapter hopped in time from Maya in the past to Maya in the present to Naomi in the past, all in first person with similar voices between the characters. Their personalities and interests were different but they sounded alike in first person.

I found their relationships with the men in their lives to be frustrating; both fell too hard for men I never felt like I really knew or trusted, and they forgave them too easily. Naomi was far too gullible for someone so smart. The ending left me feeling unsatisfied with unanswered questions, but at least it wasn't as predictable as I feared... just predictable enough. Even Maya's female friendships felt shallow, like there was no one she could ever truly trust, and that was frustrating.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Really enjoyed this book. Told in alternating time lines it follows 2 sisters and their time at Harvard. Both are dealing with external pressures related to a club they both belong to. As the story goes along we learn their 2 problems are interlinked and questions abound. Fast paced and kept me reading to find out the whole story

The first half of the book was captivating and fun, especially switching between 2 povs in 2 different settings. The mystery aspect and the characters made it fun to read and the unsettling vibe I got from everything kept me interested. The pacing was a little too slow for the story they were trying to convey. The second half of the book also started to lose itself making the whole experience fall flat.

Wow! I requested this book from NetGalley and was approved before it was chosen as a Reece Witherspoon Book Club pick and I was so excited to read it! It had all the elements that I love in a book and it did not disappoint. After a strong beginning it did falter a bit in the middle but picked back up in the end. The characters were well rounded and they all made me visualize being on the Princeton's campus right long beside them! I thought I had it figured out several times but I was always wrong. These are the best books…the ones that keep you guessing!!! Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC which I thoroughly enjoyed!!!

I was hooked on this book right away. I was looking for a new thriller to read this month, this book understood the assignment. Maya’s sister is found in a lake the day before her graduation. She knows it wasn’t an accident. She’s determined to find out how this happened. In order to do that she needs to dive back into the secret society she belonged to at Princeton. So many possible suspects, who can she truly trust.
Dual POV, past and present made the story thrilling. Definitely recommend this if you are a fan of suspense.