Ruth Ware | The Lying Game
What a delay with posting my review! I finished THE LYING GAME by Ruth Ware on Tuesday night and really enjoyed it! I love her style of writing, it's so reminiscent of Agatha Christie and just wonderfully enjoyable. My review is below!
Plot:
On a cool June morning, a woman is walking her dog in the idyllic coastal village of Salten along a tidal estuary known as the Reach. Before she can stop him, the dog charges into the water to retrieve what first appears to be a wayward stick, but to her horror, turns out to be something much more sinister…
The next morning, three women in and around London — Fatima, Thea, and Isa — receive a text. It says only, “I need you.”
At school, Isa and her friends used to play the Lying Game, telling lies at every turn to both fellow boarders and faculty. But their little game had consequences, and the girls were all expelled in their final year of school.
Now, almost two decades on, Isa and her friends have been summoned back to Salten. But this is no cosy reunion. Seventeen years of secrets lie behind them, and it’s time for the women to get their story straight…
Review:
I want to preface this review with noting that this novel is really different from Wares previous two novels, but I really enjoyed the unique direction her writing took.
While this mystery blends the past and the present, I was really amazed at how the questions and the mystery took a backseat to these four amazing women who were fantastically written. There's also a fifth character who we unfortunately only get to know from flashbacks and the conversations when the four friends reminisce. How this is written is not only beautifully sad, but to make a character not present in the novel so much on the forefront is really spectacular.
I haven't read a thriller written like this ever. It's so unique and dark and twisty, but the main focus is really how these women became who they are after hiding a crime and telling so many lies that it's almost all they know and they've all coped in different ways. Having one character be a lawyer was especially interesting to me because you really get a feel for how much is at risk.
In regards to the pacing, this one is a lot slower and more psychological than Wares previous novels and I really enjoyed how she took on this rather creepy and dark tale and spun it into a slow-burning old fashioned mystery. Even the cover compares this tale to Agatha Christie and I couldn't agree more. But, don't get me wrong. The suspense is timid but always at the neck of the reader as the novel is split into almost five parts each related to a rule of The Lying Game. This causes the revelations to not only be spread out equally and in a manner that is easy to understand for the reader, but it also keeps you wanting more and more and you're left satisfied at the conclusion of each portion of this novel.
All hell really breaks loose during the last quarter of this with high tension and good old fashioned twists and turns. I almost had whiplash from how much erupted leading up to the fiery finale of this one! To top it off, it ends with a rather beautifully cinematic short chapter that leaves you feeling like a huge weight has been lifted.
I would say this is a darker, realistic, and more adult version of PRETTY LITTLE LIARS with a dash of I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER. A really enjoyable read that I will be recommending to fans of Ruth Ware and avid thriller readers alike when it is released on July 25!
4/5
Plot:
On a cool June morning, a woman is walking her dog in the idyllic coastal village of Salten along a tidal estuary known as the Reach. Before she can stop him, the dog charges into the water to retrieve what first appears to be a wayward stick, but to her horror, turns out to be something much more sinister…
The next morning, three women in and around London — Fatima, Thea, and Isa — receive a text. It says only, “I need you.”
At school, Isa and her friends used to play the Lying Game, telling lies at every turn to both fellow boarders and faculty. But their little game had consequences, and the girls were all expelled in their final year of school.
Now, almost two decades on, Isa and her friends have been summoned back to Salten. But this is no cosy reunion. Seventeen years of secrets lie behind them, and it’s time for the women to get their story straight…
Review:
I want to preface this review with noting that this novel is really different from Wares previous two novels, but I really enjoyed the unique direction her writing took.
While this mystery blends the past and the present, I was really amazed at how the questions and the mystery took a backseat to these four amazing women who were fantastically written. There's also a fifth character who we unfortunately only get to know from flashbacks and the conversations when the four friends reminisce. How this is written is not only beautifully sad, but to make a character not present in the novel so much on the forefront is really spectacular.
I haven't read a thriller written like this ever. It's so unique and dark and twisty, but the main focus is really how these women became who they are after hiding a crime and telling so many lies that it's almost all they know and they've all coped in different ways. Having one character be a lawyer was especially interesting to me because you really get a feel for how much is at risk.
In regards to the pacing, this one is a lot slower and more psychological than Wares previous novels and I really enjoyed how she took on this rather creepy and dark tale and spun it into a slow-burning old fashioned mystery. Even the cover compares this tale to Agatha Christie and I couldn't agree more. But, don't get me wrong. The suspense is timid but always at the neck of the reader as the novel is split into almost five parts each related to a rule of The Lying Game. This causes the revelations to not only be spread out equally and in a manner that is easy to understand for the reader, but it also keeps you wanting more and more and you're left satisfied at the conclusion of each portion of this novel.
All hell really breaks loose during the last quarter of this with high tension and good old fashioned twists and turns. I almost had whiplash from how much erupted leading up to the fiery finale of this one! To top it off, it ends with a rather beautifully cinematic short chapter that leaves you feeling like a huge weight has been lifted.
I would say this is a darker, realistic, and more adult version of PRETTY LITTLE LIARS with a dash of I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER. A really enjoyable read that I will be recommending to fans of Ruth Ware and avid thriller readers alike when it is released on July 25!
4/5
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