Title: The Lying Game
Author: Ruth Ware
Number of Pages: 370 pages
Publisher: Scout Press
Publication Date: July 25, 2017
Purchase: Thriftbooks//Amazon//Book Depository
My Rating: 2.5/5 stars
Synopsis from Goodreads:
From the instant New York Times bestselling author of blockbuster thrillers In a Dark, Dark Wood and The Woman in Cabin 10 comes Ruth Ware’s chilling new novel.
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 Isabel—receive the text they had always hoped would NEVER come, from the fourth in their formerly inseparable clique, Kate, that says only, “I need you.”
The four girls were best friends at Salten, a second rate boarding school set near the cliffs of the English Channel. Each different in their own way, the four became inseparable and were notorious for playing the Lying Game, telling lies at every turn to both fellow boarders and faculty, with varying states of serious and flippant nature that were disturbing enough to ensure that everyone steered clear of them. The myriad and complicated rules of the game are strict: no lying to each other—ever. Bail on the lie when it becomes clear it is about to be found out. But their little game had consequences, and the girls were all expelled in their final year of school under mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of the school’s eccentric art teacher, Ambrose (who also happens to be Kate’s father).
Atmospheric, twisty, and with just the right amount of chill that will keep you wrong-footed—which has now become Ruth Ware’s signature style—The Lying Game is sure to be her next big bestseller. Another unputdownable thriller from the Agatha Christie of our time.
My Thoughts:
I feel like I have a very love-hate relationship with Ruth Ware’s books. Most of the time, I feel very meh towards her books but I still keep coming back to them.
She does really good with writing slow burn, psychological thrillers. I’ll never ding her on that aspect but her twist becomes predictable about halfway through the story. Her main character is also very bland sometimes or really annoying, they can fall on either side of the spectrum.
This book in particular was a VERY slow burn to the point it got annoying at times. It dragged on so much that I almost started skipping pages to see if it would pick up again. I felt like we hit a wall a quarter of the way through and I wanted to give up. This reminded me of how slow The Woman in Cabin 10 was.
The four friends were so bland and uninteresting. It seemed that none of them had any personality whatsoever, except Thea, I was really interested in hearing what happened to Thea after she left the school. Isa was not an interesting narrator, I really wanted nothing to do with her. I hated how she treated her husband because he was trying to care but she didn’t seem to care about his feelings. That is something I noticed in her other book as well, the main character only cares about themselves.
The mystery itself was flimsy at best and by the time the ‘big’ reveal happened, you really did not care about it. The whole book in general was too long and filled with useless things that did not add anything to the mystery or even the book. I felt like the plot got lost a multiple points and never fully picked back up again.
The only book I have liked so far from her is In a Dark, Dark Wood. That really bums me out because I thought she would become one of my favorite authors. I’m hoping The Turn of the Key is going to be good. I’ll find that out hopefully soon.
Have you read this book? If so, what are your thoughts?
What books are you trying to read this month? Any recommendations?
Life in Books 