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Tuesday, March 13, 2018

#CJSReads REVIEW: Sometimes I Lie by Alice Feeney @flatironbooks @alicewriterland

Sometimes I Lie
by Alice Feeney

Thank you to Flatiron Books for these copies!
#CJSReads collectively give this 5 FULL STARS!

HAPPY PUBLISHING DAY!


Publisher:  Flatiron Books
Publishing:  March 13, 2018
258 pages
Hardcover
Standalone
Genre:  Psychological Thriller

Goodreads Synopsis:

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?

Jessica's Review:

So this is one of those upcoming releases that has generated a lot of buzz around it. You try not to get too carried away in it and then have your expectations not be met, but let me tell you, I was not disappointed!

"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"

I'm already intrigued to start. The book starts with Amber discovering she's in a coma. How did she get there? What happened to her? Why is her husband not with her? So many questions! We go back and forth between the present, in the comas, and the past leading up to the accident.

This book needs to be gone into spoiler free and with minimal information. You will be guessing until the very end. What's the truth and what's the lie? Which characters can we trust? Alice Feeney has an incredible debut here and I can't wait for more from her. Make sure you clear out some time before you start, at just around 250 pages, you won't want to stop!

I give this 5/5 stars!


Sam's Review:

Sometimes I Lie, the debut novel by Alice Feeney, was a book that I was virtually bombarded with last year when it was released in the UK.  I watched in jealously as all my book blogger friends abroad devoured this psychological thriller and I patiently waited the North American release.  Now that it is here, I am pleased to report that Sometimes I Lie was worth the wait!

The novel opens with the introduction of Amber who is in a coma and unable to communicate with the world around her.  All she knows for sure is that she is, indeed, in a coma, her husband does not love her anymore and that sometimes she lies.  From the first pages, I was pretty much hooked.  I appreciated Fenney’s slow release of information and I was eagerly awaiting more clues so I could try and figure out the wrongful parties.  How did Amber end up in a coma?  Was her husband involved? Maybe her sister?  Perhaps her co-worker nemesis?   I loved how Feeney kept me on edge and slowly drew me in. 

Told mainly through the perspective of Amber, partially in the present as Amber listens to those around her in the hospital and in the past, in the events leading up to the “incident” that put her in a coma, I enjoyed that Feeney was able to keep things fairly chronological and that I didn’t have to do a lot of guesswork to when things happened or read past pages to reorient myself.  Her writing style is pretty straight forward and to the point.  Aside from a few diary entries from Amber’s youth,  I appreciated that it took place all in the present.  This was a change from the past few psychological thrillers I have read in which we go further into the past and then shoot back to the present continuously.   I also love myself a good, ol’ unreliable narrator. 

I have read a few reviews that claim the story is filled with too many of the classic thriller clichés but I personally did not mind this.  Was there a lot going on?  Sure.  Did it work for me?  Absolutely.  I liked having a little bit of everything thrown in! And I loved the final twist.

Overall, I was impressed with this debut and I will absolutely read more from this author!!

5/5 stars.

My Review:

I LOVE it when a debut thriller comes out and just hits the right spot.  At under 300 pages, this shorter novel packs a punch.  Right away I wasn't sure what was going on or where it was going to go.  While I had my suspicions, I was mostly wrong and I really love it when that happens.

I can see where this may be a bit of a divisive book among the thriller community.  You're either going to love or hate this book.  Personally, if you couldn't tell already, I am ecstatic with how this book came together.  Filled to the brim with twists and turns, you may get a bit of whiplash.  At one point, I had to stop and consider WHAT THE HELL AM I READING?  Weirdly, it's not a throat punchy kind of read, but the things that are revealed did give me some head spinning moments.

I'm still uncertain what is the lie and what is the truth and who the real bad person may be in this story line.  Maybe they all are? Maybe the truths are lies and the lies are truths.  I JUST DON'T KNOW.  The only thing that became a little irritating was the constant self depreciation the narrator had.... it could become a bit cumbersome.  However, by the time I got to the end, it really added to the character.  

I really don't want to say too much as this is one you just need to step into blindly.  Throw your hands out and see if you can figure out where you are or what's around you.  But don't be surprised if it's nothing like what you thought.

I'm feening for some more Feeney.

★★★★★

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