Dennis Reviews: 12/04/17

Book Title: Sometimes I Lie
Author: Alice Feeney
Series: Sometimes I Lie #1
Genres: Psychological Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Crime Fiction
Goodreads
Pub Date: 03/13/18
4.5 STARS

My name is Amber Reynolds. There are three things you should know about me:
1. I’m in a coma.
2. My husband doesn’t love me anymore.
3. Sometimes I lie.

Amber wakes up in a hospital. She can’t move. She can’t speak. She can’t open her eyes. She can hear everyone around her, but they have no idea. Amber doesn’t remember what happened, but she has a suspicion her husband had something to do with it. Alternating between her paralyzed present, the week before her accident, and a series of childhood diaries from twenty years ago, this brilliant psychological thriller asks: Is something really a lie if you believe it’s the truth?

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Hold up, let me pick my jaw up from the floor please. Wow.

Alice Feeney’s Sometimes I Lie is a prime example of how unreliable narrators should be! We start the story with Amber Reynolds in a coma fighting for her life and confused as to how she got there. Her sister Claire and husband Paul are both extremely worried for her and can’t provide any additional information on how Amber ended up in the hospital. The points of view for Sometimes I Lie balance between current day comatose state Amber, the events leading up to how she ended up in the hospital, and a series of diary entries from the early 1990s. Together, each storyline compiles together to provide you with a robust, deeply rooted, and engaging narrative.

I really can’t go into the plot more than I already have and trust me, you’ll thank me for that later. One of the best unreliable narrators that has ever been provided to me is in this story. There were moments where I was completely shocked, confused, and engaged—all because this story is just one big puzzle, slowly giving you puzzle pieces as the story moves on. I enjoyed trying to follow the story, while being given a new sliver of information along the way. Sometimes I Lie started a little slow and disjointed for me which is why I cannot give this a full 5 star rating, but once the story began to unfold I was hooked! Sometimes I Lie can provide you all the similar characteristics that you’ve come to love about a psychological thriller, but without all the unnecessary secondary plot lines that are regurgitated from past novels to elongate the narrative. It’s a quick read, but also very enchantingly dark.

Thank you Netgalley and Flatiron Books for this advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Book Title: Bad Girls With Perfect Faces
Author: Lynn Weingarten
Series: None
Genres: Young Adult, Mystery, Thriller
Goodreads
Pub Date: 10/31/17
5 STARS

When Sasha’s best friend Xavier gets back together with his cheating ex, Ivy, Sasha knows she needs to protect him. So she poses as a guy online to lure Ivy away.

But Sasha’s plan goes sickeningly wrong. And she soon learns to be careful of who you pretend to be because you might be surprised by who you become…

Told in multiple points of view, Bad Girls with Perfect Faces is sexy and twisted with shocks at every turn.

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I really didn’t think I’d find a YA novel before the new year to give 5 stars to, but I’m pleasantly surprised! Lynn Weingarten’s Bad Girls with Perfect Faces is the perfect YA quick-read to pick up this year. Main character, high school student Sasha, has a platonic friendship with fellow student Xavier, but dreams to one day make the next step towards having a romantic relationship with him. Sasha sets the perfect night to reveal her true feelings for Xavier—his birthday celebration. Sasha and Xavier have a low key celebration, partying at the local dive bar, and everything is set in motion, until Xavier’s ex-girlfriend Ivy shows up. Ivy is a manipulative, impulsive, and a somewhat sociopathic foil to Sasha’s plans. Xavier and Ivy end up rekindling their romance that night—spiraling Sasha to the point of no return.

Sasha arrives back at her place and plots her revenge. To prove Ivy’s disloyal behavior, Sasha poses as a guy on Instagram and sets up the account perfectly. She plans on catfishing Ivy and showing Xavier exactly what kind of person he is dealing with. That is, until something horribly goes wrong.

Guys and gals, it’s happened. I fell in love with a YA novel. Bad Girls with Perfect Faces is campy, dark, dramatic, and the ending is CHILLING. Honestly no tea/no shade, but this is everything that There’s Someone Inside Your House tried to be and failed. Sure, the level of campiness here may not be suitable for everyone, but it really is a contemporary piece of a dramatic love story that is not only raw, but captivating (who knew?).

I really enjoyed that this book didn’t carry on for longer than it needed to. At less than 300 pages, Ms. Weingarten covers the entire story, throwing twists that you will not see coming along the way. I was happy that this could be finished in either one or two sittings easily. Now what’s my next read by Lynn Weingarten?