Back in the summer of 1994 Camp Pendleton was the place where rich spoiled kids spent six weeks of their school break. Thera, Meg, Grace, and Blakely spent every summer together since they were eight. Now they were sixteen and spending their last summer together at camp. It was supposed to be an epic last hurrah before college except something happened at camp that changed the course of their lives. Even though, it started with Blakely they each promised not to contact each other or talk about it with any one. When the letters arrived with a warning Blakely had them meet at her house.
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Thera attended camp after her mother passed away from cancer as a means to find friendship something she didn’t have at home. Losing her mother caused her to spiral socially. Bonding with Blakely who also lost her mother helped her cope with her grief. Blakely was the leader of their group doling out orders. Meg clung to Blakely basically hiding behind her overpowering personality. Grace battled with her weight causing her to become insecure. Camp was a place for her to someone else away from the kids who body shammed her.
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If You Tell A Lie is about the friendship four eight year old girls established every year at summer camp. They looked forward to summer where they got to spend time with each other. This year was different. They were sixteen and Blakely was boy crazy. She had her sights in the new tennis coach. When Blakely wants something she doesn’t take no for an answer. With her minions at her beck and call Blakely got more than she bargained for.
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Lucinda Berry puts her talent to good use. I’m impressed with her writing style and skills to keep writing these brilliant concepts and executing them perfectly. This was a shockingly good read. The psychological trauma of these characters played like putter in the hands of a talented manipulator.

If Lucinda Berry wrote it, it's getting five stars.
This was giving Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants + Murder and I was here for it.
As much as I love her deep and disturbing reads, the domestic thrillers are also such a wild ride.
You'll leave this story wanting more, per usual, but she's also the Queen of cliffhangers, so that's to be expected.
Multiple POV and timelines, done flawlessly. You'll hate some characters and love others.
Can't wait for the next!

Thank you Netgalley, Thomas and Mercer, and author Lucinda Berry, for the ARC of this novel.

In Lucinda Berry's new thriller, four friends have a pact to never share the events of the fateful summer of their senior year at camp. However, the truth threatens to surface years later.

The book is told from alternating perspectives, in past and present time. I am really not a big fan of this style of writing. I found the characters somehow very lacking and not likeable. I almost didn't finish the book, but did complete it. Not up to the standard of previous books written by this author, in my opinion.
2.5 out of 5 ⭐️

This one was ok for me. When you think you have it figured out it takes a turn! I always enjoy the turns and twists of a Lucinda book!

This is another of those stories where teenage girls follow their ‘leader’s’ terrible decisions because they have no mind of their own. And these girls are supposed to be gifted (which is barely touched on in the story) so I guess they are all brains and no common sense or street smarts. The characters are pretty cliché and unlikable so there’s no one I rooted for throughout. Blakely is the spoiled rich girl they follow blindly even though she’s terrible. Thera is the closest to a main narrator that we have, there’s nothing remarkable about her – she’s closest to Blakely because both of their mothers died. Meg is great at tennis and Grace is the fat one. Seriously, they categorize themselves this way. So Blakely does ‘something’ dumb, none of her friends stop her, and there are terrible far-reaching consequences that lead them to form a pact to never tell anyone their secret and never talk to each other again.

Fast forward to the other narrative, which is now 26 or so years later, when they receive messages from someone who knows their secret and threatens to tell all. They hurry to reconvene together and decide how to proceed. And then things get more outlandish from there, when they all convert to their teenage selves, right back into their old patterns. Which (surprise!) leads to more terrible decisions and behavior. There’s a twist that I saw coming and so would anyone except these women, apparently, because even when one pulls away from the group, she’s still surprised by what happens at the end.

It's not that I didn’t enjoy reading the story and I’m not trying to criticize the author because I know girls like this exist. And sure, hive mentality and all of that, but it makes you believe most teenage girls are just destined to behave this way, and they aren’t. How about someone write a story where girls have non-destructive friendships without the queen bee hierarchy? But I guess that wouldn’t make for good storytelling. I suppose this one would work as a worst-case scenario, except that as they aged, the characters didn’t experience any real growth. Except for Grace, and I’m sorry, but I don’t find her new life changes as empowering, just sad and unrealistic.

I love this author and I’m sure readers will love this story, especially if they relate to the characters. And the fact that I react like this shows the passion that her writing inspires. But unlike the girls in this story, once you read it, form your own opinion!

𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐𝒙𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒇𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒄𝒌 𝒐𝒖𝒕. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒅 𝒕𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒕? 𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒍, 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒅𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒊𝒕.

The premise of the book was so original. Camp Pendleton is a special camp for gifted kids, and it quickly becomes their haven. All of their insecurities, quirks, and oddities are celebrated here. A regular school may put athletes on a pedestal, but at Camp Pendleton, the top entertainment of a night could be a Chemistry Trivia Bowl.

Anyone who has ever been a teenage girl or has worked with teen girls definitely knows how mercurial they can be. There is always a social hierarchy in a group, and one girl will always reign supreme as the leader. At the camp, Blakely holds that title, and Grace, Meg, and Thera always followed her lead, even when they knew it was wrong.

The girls are excited about their senior summer. They know they will rule the camp, play the best pranks, and perhaps even lose their virginity. But when Blakely sets her sights on Mr. Crosby, the new handsome tennis coach, what started as a prank escalates into a lie that caused a bloodbath that would rival Clytemnestra slaying Agamemnon.

Lucinda Berry always creates such epically flawed characters that should cause absolute revulsion in a reader. Instead, I found myself understanding the terrible actions of these girls and how easy it is to get swept up in a lie, especially when someone else is controlling the narrative. The dual timelines and alternating points of view served this story well, and the ending will live rent-free in my head for quite a while. Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for this chilling early copy. This book will release July 23, 2024.

Well it's been a while since I've hated a book the way I hate this one.
The plot is pretty simple at first, four girls at camp do something terrible and agree to keep it a secret, 26 years later the secret might be out. Basic and done a lot but if it's well done it can work. The problem here is that it's done with a trope that I can't believe we still use in this day and age : the girl lying about abuse. I'm not against a risky trope when it's well done, but that's not the case in this book. A girl and then the same one as a woman lies about abuse. Several times, accusing several people. That's the kind of thing anti feminist are saying all women do, it's not something you use to make your plot move along. Making your female character a villain using that? That's lazy writing.

If you’re looking for a happy ending this is not the book for you!
I honestly got so confused trying to keep up with all the different POV and the alternating timeline from then to now. It felt a bit chaotic. I finally started keeping notes. For its length, this book took longer than anticipated to read because of that.
The characters are all fairly messed up. Blakey is Uber manipulative. Grace was honestly the only character I liked.
If you like unlikeable characters and unhappy endings then this is for you!
TW: Child sexual abuse, murder, attempted murder of a child, dismemberment, emotional abuse, death of a parent, eating disorder, pet death

I received his book for free and am leaving this review voluntarily.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I am a HUGE fan of Lucinda Berry's work but unfortunately this book didn't hit me the same way as all of the others. The dual storyline sounded exciting and promising and drew me in but I found myself wanting more as the plot unfolded and I found all of the characters extremely unlikeable people in the past and in the present.

This will not stop me from reading anything that this author writes and being among my favorite authors but this one was sadly a miss for me.

I’m not exactly sure how to rate this… it was good, but could have been a lot better. The story was rushed, and the ending was especially rushed.

If you love thrillers with multiple POV’s, dual timelines and suspicious characters (like me!) this book is absolutely for you! If You Tell a Lie by Lucinda Berry was exactly what I was hoping for. It followed four friends at summer camp and the secrets that they keep 20+ years later, making this the perfect summer read for this year. A fast passed thriller with characters that will make you cringe and choose sides but keep you guessing. Picture a Mean Girls crossover with Pretty Little Liars?? I couldn’t put this book down and can’t stop thinking about the wild ride it was!

I had to go back a bit to remember who was who because of some similar personality traits between characters. With the dual timeline and 5 character POV’s it was a little confusing at times but it didn’t take away from the book at all.

Thank you Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for the ARC. Also thanks to Lucinda Berry for coming through with an amazing book as usual!

If I Tell You is the 2nd Lucinda Berry book, I’ve read.

The storyline, although fast-paced, seems rushed and also falls flat. I liked the concept, and the story was interesting; plus, there were some good plot twists, but this book is repetitive.

There are four character viewpoints; maybe that’s where the repetition happens. You get everyone's point of view at one point or another. Well, there are 5 viewpoints if you count Regina…

I loved the random social issues that were brought up. Bonus points for throwing in the submarine incident that happened last year, too. The ending wasn't great.

It wasn’t a bad book, but I did enjoy her other book more.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for this ARC.

Four friends who met at summer camp reunite twenty years later when a secret they would prefer stay buried resurfaces. Will the finally be forced to repent for their sins from that final summer?

Blakely, Meg, Thera, and Grace loved their summers at Camp Pendleton; misfits in their normal lives, camp was a place where they could feel accepted. Of course, that all changed the summer when their tennis coach ended up brutally murdered by his wife. The foursome has always been able to downplay their role in his death, but now the past is catching up and newer secrets are coming to the surface.

Told mostly from the viewpoints of all four main characters, the plot has promise. It is interesting to see the way each character grows (or fails to), and how quickly they revert back to their adolescent selves. There are also some intriguing twists and turns throughout, keeping the reader guessing.

While the book has potential, the characters are profoundly unlikable (even the nice one isn’t actually very nice) and it is hard to root for any of them. They also blend together, which could be due to their voices being written in the same style. Every single chapter contains excessive amounts of fragments. This is probably intended to convey something like rushed thoughts or anxiety, but it makes for choppy reading.

With a solid premise, this could be a fun beach read for fans of mysteries with unreliable narrators.

Blakely, Grace, Meg and Thera became fast friends from their first day at Camp Pendleton, a camp for gifted children, where those who never fit in do fine. They spend nine summers together. Then, during their senior summer, Mr. Crosby, their tennis coach is making reared and the girls swear themselves to secrecy about what they know and promise never to speak again.

And they never do, and that’s that.

I kid, I kid. Of COURSE they cannot keep that vow. Now it is twenty-six years later and the women get a threat in the mail…someone knows their secret. They are drawn back together and it appears Blakely is calling the shots just as she did before…or is she?

The book is told in a dual timeline with each of the girls narrating chapters, along with Regina, the tennis coach’s wife who was convicted of his murder. So, the “then” was a little typical, a little not, the “now” was partially completely unbelievable and part of what made me like the book as much as I did. An odd little read!

This is a twisted tale of lies and manipulation with some absolutely and utterly evil and unredeemable characters taking central stage.

If you tell a lie is a well-written thriller that will keep you guessing till the very end. It is also a very hard-to-put-down read and if I had no responsibilities, I would’ve finished it in one-sitting just because I was so invested in where this wild story was going.

Having 5 POVs swinging between two timelines was a tad confusing at first but once the story got going and I got used to the five characters, things got a bit more easier to follow.

I also felt that some parts of the story were a bit slow and repetitive and the story would’ve flowed better, had those parts been cut off. Moreover, the ending felt a bit rushed compared to the rest of the book.

In a nutshell, I would recommend this book to lovers of psychological thrillers!

If You Tell a Lie by Lucinda Berry was a slow-burn read. It did read like a teen movie.

During four friends' senior summer, Mr. Crosby, the handsome tennis coach, wound up murdered after a reckless lie. Blakely, Grace, Meg, and Thera swore themselves to secrecy. And never spoke to each other again. Now, twenty years later, a sinister note claiming to know what they did brings them back together.

The story is told in dual timelines and shows how peer pressure can have dire consequences.

The story was slow in parts and not as action-packed as other Lucinda Berry books. The ending was a bit disappointing and not a real twist.

I am normally a Lucinda Berry fan, but this one fell a bit flat for me. I would recommend other books by this author and will read more, but this one is a "leave on the shelf" read for me.

#IfYouTellaLie #NetGalley @AmazonPub

I absolutely loved this book! The first part to play at my heart when Lansing MI was mentioned. I am from MI and that gave me a part of home. The twists and turns of this book left you wondering what would happen next. The shocking surprise at the end made you almost believe it didn’t really happen.

I have never read a book by Lucinda Berry that didn’t deserve 5 stars & this is no different. It was aggravating though! Each chapter told you just enough that you HAVE to consume the next…past, present, multiple POV’s…she weaves it together so masterfully that you feel you’re close to seeing the entire picture & certainly the next chapter will allow you to see the entire dynamic. Nah!! Hold on to your boots & you’ll have to wait for the ending like I did. So rare for an author to consistently give me a 5 star read but L.B. hasn’t disappointed me yet 😛

just enough twist and turns to make this a compelling thriller without it being too hokey or unbelievable. I read this essentially in one sitting because it was that good

I adore Lucinda Berry’s writing and this was another great one!

Blakey, Thera, Meg and Grace all meet at Camp Pendleton as kids. A camp where they can be themselves and not worry about social status and appearances constantly. Their senior year at camp is supposed to be the most exciting until horrific accusations and one horrific act, tears one of the counselor’s family apart.

26 years later, the girls have all gone their separate ways, vowing to never be in contact again that last year at camp. Then their past comes back to haunt them as each girl receives a letter from someone claiming to know what happened that summer. They all reunite at Blakely’s home and there, even more secrets are revealed. Secrets that change everything. Will their friendship be as strong as it once was? Will each girl honor the promises they made when they became blood sisters at camp?

This read was addicting and I couldn’t get to the next page fast enough!