2024 the best lies review
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(as of Nov 03, 2024 20:21:10 UTC - Details)
“A gripping story of love, obsession, and the space in between.” —Kirkus Reviews
Gone Girl meets Suicide Notes from Beautiful Girls in this mesmerizing debut novel about a toxic friendship that turns deadly.
Remy Tsai used to know how her story would turn out. But now, she doesn’t even know what tomorrow will look like.
She was happy once. Remy had her boyfriend Jack, and Elise, her best friend—her soulmate—who understood her better than anyone else in the world.
But now Jack is dead, shot through the chest…
And it was Elise who pulled the trigger.
Was it self-defense? Or something darker than anything Remy could imagine? As the police investigate, Remy does the same, sifting through her own memories, looking for a scrap of truth that could save the friendship that means everything to her.
Told in alternating timelines, this twisted psychological thriller explores the dark side of obsessive friendship.
Publisher : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers; Reprint edition (July 28, 2020)
Language : English
Paperback : 352 pages
ISBN-10 : 1481498843
ISBN-13 : 978-1481498845
Reading age : 14 years and up
Grade level : 9 - 12
Item Weight : 2.31 pounds
Dimensions : 5.5 x 1 x 8.25 inches
Reviewer: Isaac712
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Riveting. Plain and simple.
Review: Sarah Lyu kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time, anticipating, breathless, what was going to happen between Elise and Remy. I watched as things devolved, tensions escalated, lies were told, and overall, exploded in the fireworks Elise tends to favor. This is my FAVORITE kind of thriller: fast-paced with enough internal monologue to help you understand the emotion, and a wild, desperate longing for a sense of justice. This is a YA KILL BILL, and it kept me glued to the pages until the very last second.
Reviewer: Michelle@Book Briefs
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: the best lies
Review: 3.5/5 starsThe Best Lies is a young adult psychological thriller by authro Sarah Lyu. In fact, it is Sarah Lyuâs debut novel. I have been on a big true crime kick for about a year now, with youtube, and podcasts and documentaries on netflix, but I have not read too many crime thrillers. After reading The Best Lies by Sarah Lyu, I am thinking that is something I will need to rectify soon. I really enjoyed The Best Lies.The Best Lies starts out at a crime scene. Right off the bat, we know Jack is killed and that Elise and Remy were with him that night. But the best Lies really explores the why of the killing. This story is told in two timelines- present day and the year leading up to the present day. I really appreciated that even though we were alternating between present and past, that the past timeline was not too far back in the past. We saw the last year of Remy and Eliseâs life, leading up to the aftermath of Jackâs death.Some parts of The Best Lies were a bit predictable, but I still really enjoyed the ride. I loved the psychological aspect of the story. Remy, Elise and Jack all came from broken homes, in some way or another. Remy and Jack were dating and Remy and Elise were best friends. The Best Lies explores the dark side of those relationships, and some of the more unhealthy aspects. I thought it was a refreshing change of pace to see the dark side coming from the friendship and not the romantic relationship. In fact, Jack was my favorite character in the whole book. (yes, I know that is a kind of a bummerâ¦) Remy and Elise are both complex characters, but I kind of wish we got to see a different facet of who Elise was.If you are a fan of psychological thrillers and crime novels, I think you will really enjoy Sarah Lyuâs debut novel. The best lies is a character driven story that is fast paced and gripping. I sped through this in a short few hours and I loved the whole thing. I canât wait to see what is next from author Sarah Lyu.*Disclaimer- I was sent a complimentary copy of this book. I was not compensated for my review and all thoughts are my own.
Reviewer: Jennifer Gunson
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Wanted to love it but too boring
Review: I love reading thrillers but this one was just boring. I didn't like any of the characters and in the end it was so boring I couldn't even finish it.
Reviewer: Always Reading
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Truth and lies swirl together into a dynamic debut
Review: With a supercharged plot set up from page one, Sarah Lyu does not disappoint with her debut, The Best Lies. Main characters are superbly fleshed out. Remy is the perfect protagonist - vulnerable and a bit needy - as opposed to her manipulative, jaded friend, Elise. Remyâs boyfriend Jack is a genuine, nice guy. Caught between the two, Remy has to come to terms with her own choices and with the fact that even small decisions we make affect the lives of everyone around us.
Reviewer: Carolyn K.
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Suspenseful, twisty thriller!
Review: A deliciously twisty psychological thriller about an intense friendship between two teens, Remy and Elise, who bond over their past (and present) trauma but have very different ways of dealing with it. I love the format of this story, which begins with Remyâs boyfriendâs death, and we follow her as she tries to remember exactly what happened and to decide which parts to tell police. It was so suspenseful, and I couldnât stop reading! I canât wait to read more by this author!
Reviewer: Amazon Customer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Love & Friendship
Review: The Best Lies captivated me by its title and description. A story of obsessive friendship and how far one will go to protect those they love. The story starts near the end and switches back and forth between present day and the past as it outlines how the narrator got to where she is now. An excellent read for both young adults and adults.
Reviewer: Nikki (Take Me Away...)
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: The Best Lies by Sarah Lyu
Review: This wasn't too high on my TBR, but I was intrigued by the cover so I started it. (Side note, the lollipop has nothing to do with the story lol) So I decided to read the first chapter.... And then I couldn't stop reading. This read was very intense and made me stay up late way too many nights. When Remy met Elise she was at a very low point. Elise helped her feel better and they became such good friends. But then, Jack, Remy's boyfriend dies and it's at the hands of Elise. Was it self-defense? Or something else. Remy can't remember because her mind has purposely blocked out everything in her mind to keep Elise safe. But is she protecting Elise when she shouldn't be? There was nothing in this book that was really a surprise. There's really no huge plot twists, but that will not stop you from reading this non-stop. I did not want to put this down! It wasn't the characters or anything like that, it was just the writing style and the need to have all the answers. And the way the story is told, like the jumps between the present and Remy looking back at the past, helped alot too. It wasn't a new way to tell the story, but it worked really well with this one. As for the characters, I didn't really care for any of them. That's a testament to how much I enjoyed the plot. Normally I am a very character driven reader, but this time the plot was enough for me to keep plowing through. And when I say I didn't care for the characters, its not that I didn't like them, its the fact that I didn't trust them. They all had something to gain (well except Jack) and I didn't trust them at all. The only reason I didn't give this 5 stars was although it was good, it did get kind of repetitive. From the minute Elise and her "ideas" were introduced, they kept doing them. I wanted something different. It just seemed a tiny bit excessive over time. This was very predictable, but enjoyable thriller. There's nothing that will really surprise you, but it will most definitely have you shocked when you turn the last couple pages. This debut is one you don't want to miss.
Reviewer: Ffiona and Stella
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I've heard it said there are 2 ways to build suspense: 1. We don't know what's going to happen, so we're anxious to found out. 2. We know what's going to happen but we want to find out how. Lyu deftly employs the second tactic. The end is clear from the first pages, but we follow the journey of her central character as she sorts her memories and leads us up to the big event. At its heart, this is a well-drawn portrait of a toxic friendship, built around hero worship and naive understanding about revenge, anger, love, need, and pain. As teenagers, how many of us thought someone was almost supernaturally amazing, set apart by tragedy, confidence, or talent? And how badly did we want to be wanted, or even needed? Lyu critiques these behaviors, as well as the messages we receive through media and parental role models, showing us how easily our choices can get derailed if we can't sort truth from fiction. For me, this read less like a suspense story than it did a psychological study of a friendship that builds to a breaking point, and I appreciated Lyu's methodical voice throughout. She paints a dark world, with very few moments of empathy and true care, but when those moments hit, they resonate all the more for the chaos that surrounds them.
Reviewer: Amy
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I really enjoyed this, there were some slow parts but overall it was a great read.
Reviewer: Cheryl
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: The writing style is easy to follow. Overall a quick, enjoyable read but definitely targeting a younger demographic.