This book had the right ingredient for a summer thriller. It had suspense, unreliable narrators, dual narration, and dual timelines. I really enjoyed this one, but then again I usually enjoy Lucinda Berry’s books.

Lucinda has done it again! A definite must read! Her talent for giving us perspective of all characters without giving away the ending is pure genius! I found this story line to be a bit different than most of the other books of her I have read but it does not disappoint at all. The way she writes leaves you loving and hating the characters at the same time. Can't wait to see what she comes up with next.

This one kept me guessing ! A fast-paced story following a group of girls reunites 20 years after a note surfaced, reconnecting them after being sworn to secrecy following a murder .

This has all the twists and turns you would expect from Lucinda Berry. So many secrets and lies that will reveal themselves in time. I love the dual timeline, giving the reader a picture of the past as well as current day. Each of the female characters had trauma and/or secrets influencing their actions and there will be repercussions even years after their shared teen camp experiences. I would definitely recommend for fans of the psychological suspense genre.

Camp Pendleton was an exciting summer camp for years for this group of girls….until the last summer. After that final summer, the girls swore each other to secrecy. But now it appears someone knows their secret. This was a good read with some good twists!

This book is giving me trust issues. Whoa Nelly, the twists at the end, hold my hat! There was SO much going on in this book, I really think there could have been 2. So you’ve essentially 2 timelines with multiple POV’s that in the beginning I had no idea how they were going to fit together, but they do. There were a lot of characters, and I almost had to take notes to keep it all straight. There’s a lot of “plot”, lots of talking (both outward and internal), you’ve got the angsty teenager talking, and the adult talking … it’s a bit to take in, but when you get rolling you don’t want to stop.

Think summer camp, but for smart misfits, a place where the weirdos are cool (and the “cool” people from school are not). Mix in hormones, senior year, BAD choices … your pod of 4 campers leave camp that year, with a bad something looming over you, you agree to never speak of the incident, or really to each other again, BFFs with a secret so big you can never be friends again …. Until … present day. Blakey needs her “friends” she’s in a spot, and she desperately needs help, the only kind of help the pod of 4 can handle. They get together and things get heated … I can tell you no more, just know everything you think is wrong.

Naturally I didn’t see that ending coming. I had a couple thoughts but I was wrong. I love the quick chapters and the multiple points of view. Lucinda’s books keep me coming back every time.

Thank you Lucinda, NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for an ARC

3.5 stars. In all candor, this is my first Lucinda Berry book. I liked the narrative voices. The story was told from multiple perspectives which I enjoyed, though I wish it was clearer sooner who was talking. I liked that not all the narrators were reliable. I also enjoyed the basic storyline about a secret four girls had at summer camp that threatens to disrupt their lives 20 years later. I also enjoyed the dual timeline and it was clearly marked which storyline we were in at any given time. I also enjoyed the plot twist at the end.
I think that this would have been a solid four stars for me if I had been a bit more invested in the characters emotionally and a little less confused about who was talking when.
I will definitely check out other books of hers in the future.
Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

LUCINDAAAAAAA! *shakes fist*
Okay, now that I've got that out of my system, let's dive into this honest, NON-spoiler review! Special thanks to @NetGalley and the publishers for an electronic ARC. This was a treat!

Four girls--Blakely, Grace, Meg, and Thera--have spent every summer together at Camp Pendleton, and now that they're seniors, this is going to be the best year yet... that is until the camp becomes a crime scene. Worse, they're the only true witnesses to the crime, but they have vowed to keep everything a secret. 26 years later, each of them receive a letter in the mail: someone knows what they did.

IYTAL is a wild story about lies and the power of manipulation. In true Berry fashion, it is a wild ride that will keep you on the edge of your seat, each chapter revealing more depth and detail to the story that has your mind twisted.

I personally love the dual timeline and the multiple POVS. When you dive into a psychological thriller, you always suspect that someone is unreliable, so having the different perspectives always gives that perfect hindsight to make the story even more well-rounded.

The characters are VERY well-developed; however, I wish they all held a purpose to the plot of the story. There was a ton of backstory for everyone--which I normally love--but it became a little disjointed and confusing as the story narrowed in for the plot. Some may argue that this is a "red herring," and maybe so. I felt it was a lot of unnecessary information that was distracting from the shock value of the twists.

One thing I love about Berry's writing is her ability of developing different worlds in one book, and somehow stitching them together to really blow your mind for an incredible climax. Unfortunately for this novel, I felt it was a miss. Again, there was a lot of information--maybe the plot was a little too overworked--and it took away from the shock (at least for me). I love bizarre things, but some of the resolutions seemed a little too far-fetched.

The prologue: grabbed my attention like WHOA! But...I had to re-read it after I finished the book because, well, I don't know how belongs to this book.

This might not be my favorite Lucinda Berry book, but I am still a fan! This novel kept my interest, kept me guessing, and hey! I found it to be very entertaining. I think that's somewhat of a win.

🚩 As always, please check TW. 🚩

⭐- 3.25/3.5

Thank you to @netgalley #ThomasAndMercer and @lucindaberryauthor for my e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!
In standard Berry fashion, we have a fast paced, twisty turn-y thriller with some very heavy topics. And also in standard Berry fashion, we have characters that will make you feel some intense emotions—primarily mistrust, this time. Give me an unreliable narrator and I’m a happy girl, but this time we had 5 to choose from, so I’m a very happy girl. We also had a dual timeline, another one of my favorite things. It can be hard to do well, but this one was done perfectly, and really enhanced the theme of mistrust. I love a book that can keep me guessing til the end, and while I had a feeling about a few things, there were still some moments that got me up until the end!
This is the perfect summer thriller if you’re looking for something to crush your spirit just a bit, like I always am.

I'd read Lucinda Berry's grocery list! She twists and turns and keeps you holding on until the very last page.

Happy publication day to Lucinda Berry! I loved the camp backstory and the flip to modern day. It shows how far friends will go to keep a secret buried in the past.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #Thomas&Mercer for the book #IfYouTellALie by #LucindaBerry. This book is very interesting and devoured it in one sitting. A book about a group of friends that went to a gifted camp together for years. Their “Senior” year, one of the coaches gets murdered by his wife. The girls know more than they are saying and have promised to keep this a secret forever. Present day and one of the girls needs help, around the same time as the wife that murdered her husband gets out of jail. Is there something more going on?

Synopsis: Four friends are reunited twenty years after a murder at the summer camp they attended together.

Thoughts: I’m going to keep it short and sweet to avoid any spoilers. This book has all the ingredients for a summery thriller with a summer camp setting, dual timelines and multiple povs unraveling the story of secrets kept for decades, and twists that I didn’t guess. That being said, I wanted a lot more out of the characters and their motivations because the amount of disbelief I had to suspend was a little much for me.

Read this if you like:
🏕️ summer camp thrillers
🏕️ dual timelines
🏕️ multiple pov
🏕️ unreliable narrators

As anyone will tell you Lucinda Berry never disappoints. Lucinda drew me in from page one as usual. I loved the multiple POV's an Now and Then timelines. I thought the characters and the story were well written. As usual there were a few twists I didn't see coming but it wouldn't be a Lucinda Berry book if that didn't happen. She's one of those authors that I have yet to know what's going to happen in one of her books. I love that about her writing. You go in thinking maybe this time I will figure it out but NOPE she total spins you around. I always find myself at the edge of my seat by the end of her books and this one was no different. As with most of her books please check trigger warnings. I would highly recommend this book and any of her other books!

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for allowing me to read this ARC for my honest opinion.

Thank you to the publisher for the ARC.

An actual text I sent to my friends while reading this: "It started off so promising, and now its got horrible pacing, its weirdly religious at the moment, its completely abandoned the plot for something else." And I sent that 75% into the book. It did not get better. At all. This felt like the author had so many plot ideas in her head and couldn't hold onto a single one throughout the whole book. There's twists in a book and then there's u-turns. I'm always so nervous about Lucinda's books because there's been some I loved (The Best of Friends and Saving Noah) and some I absolutely despised (Off the Deep End). This, unfortunately, fell into the despised category for me.

If You Tell A Lie
Lucinda Berry

This is a thrilling exploration of the devastating consequences of secrets and lies and is the perfect read for psychological thriller readers.

Four friends sworn to secrecy over the events of one fateful summer camp. 27 years later they each receive a note saying;
‘I KNOW WHAT YOU DID THAT SUMMER AND I’M GOING TO MAKE YOU PAY.’

‘My job was to be the one that showed them. Introduced them to life with consequences. Where you pay for your actions. Where you’re punished when you hurt other people.’

This unfolds in a dual timeline, then and now, and is a disturbing journey into the dangerous and sometimes deadly consequences of peer pressure.

‘We did a terrible thing and eventually you have to pay for something like that. You just couldn’t get away with it. It was too big. Things that bad didn’t go unpunished.’

Blakely always got her way and the other girls followed her lead, blindly, even when they knew it was dead wrong. That last summer camp totally annihilated Regina’s life.

‘This was why I hated lying. You couldn’t just tell one lie. One lie led to another and another, like an alcoholic who couldn’t have just one drink.’

You didn’t want to just end someone’s life - you wanted to destroy it.

Ok my thoughts; I found the start a little lacklustre but knew this was setting the tone, backstory and groundwork for the manipulation to unfold later on. The ending most definitely picked up to the point that you just had to shake your head and give it to; that was well played. I most definitely did enjoy reading this although it didn’t blow me out of the water, but the ending was fun and maybe just maybe too tidy.

If You Tell A Lie is released today! @lucindaberryauthor @thomasmerceruk thank you for the ARC.

‘I was always watching them. Studying. Observing. Taking notes. They didn’t know I was always watching. It’s because rich kids are just like their rich parents.
Totally self-absorbed. And without regard for anyone else. Especially people outside their inner circle.’

So this might be my most favorite Lucinda Berry book ever! I love how she took a summer camp vibe and added on the psychological thriller aspect to it. This book had more of an actual thriller aspect than her other books. Like I was on the edge of my seat and kind of scared to read this one at night. lol. I totally thought I had the plot figured out and was so sure I beat it this time (normally I think I have her plots figured out and I never do) and I was wrong again. Whatever your thinking, it's wrong!! The twists were so good and I never saw any of them coming. Please Lucinda don't ever stop writing!!!!

Thank you Netgalley, Lucinda Berry and Thomas & Mercer for the ebook! This was a dark and twisty tale that had my mouth hanging open most the time!! You'll have to read it to believe it.

If You Tell a Lie by Lucinda Berry is an utterly gripping story.
This book was fantastic. So twisty, it kept me guessing throughout.
I absolutely love Lucinda Berry! I have absolutely enjoyed all the books I’ve read! This one is definitely no exception!

Thank You NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!