In A World Full Of Lies, How Do You Find Out The Truth

I recently finished reading The Lies We Told by Camilla Way. This is my book club's July book.

*POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT* Rating: 3/5 stars "The highly acclaimed author of "Watching Edie" returns with a new novel of dark psychological suspense that explores how those closest to us have the most to hide...

When Clara's boyfriend, Luke, disappears, everyone believes that he's left her, but Clara thinks she knows the truth. Recent evidence suggests that Luke had a stalker, and Clara worries that he's been kidnapped. Then Luke's older sister, Emma, who vanished twenty years ago, suddenly reappears.

Emma wants to help Clara with her search for Luke, but she refuses to talk about what happened--even though it nearly destroyed her family when she vanished. And the deeper Clara digs into Luke's mysterious disappearance, the more convinced she is that the two incidents are connected."

For those seeking a twisty thrill, The Lies We Told might prove to be a comprehensive test of your literary-honed detective skills or it just might fail to leave a lasting impression—easily blending into the background of what’s become a saturated genre. Any guesses about which door I walked through?

All of the components of a compulsive psychological thriller present—from the overly idyllic family setting to the budding young psychopath, missing boyfriend, and potential stalker—combined with a dual timeline structure that begs the reader to connect the dots, make for a promising story.

The hard-learned lesson here: no matter how forcefully that opening sentence grabs you by the throat and demands your attention, it’s not indicative of the entire experience you’re about to embark on. Not for this reader anyway. In fact, sometimes the difference between loving and simply liking a book comes down to execution and style, which we all know is tied to personal preference.

I hate to box myself into a corner and say all UK suspense doesn’t work for me, but it’s starting to look that way. There appears to be a clear pattern emerging for me: a dislike for the feel/pacing and the absence of an emotional connection on my part.

My biggest issue with this lie-littered novel is the overarching tone. Two words: exclamation point. The entire narrative structure is driven by an overwrought sense of urgency and a level of melodrama that feels entirely too frantic and inauthentic. I’m a girl that wants some believability and emotional response when it comes to plotting, not to flail about nonsensically—rushing from one staged scene to the next. In Way’s defense, she had to do something to drum up the anxiety and suspense level, but it all felt a bit much.

One of my biggest pet peeves in fiction, and I’m sure plenty of other readers would agree, is telling versus showing. Unfortunately, there’s quite a bit of that happening within these pages. I’ll never quite understand why some authors choose to have one character regurgitate happenings or give voice to big revelations, rather than allowing the reader to live through those pivotal scenes themselves. For me, this type of storytelling feels deflating—eradicating any type of emotional depth; allowing the novel to bob along on the surface instead.

While Way's sophomore offering was nowhere close to earning favorite status from me, it’s not one I would consider horrible either—more of a middle-of-the-road read, I guess? Keep your bullshit meter handy though, you're gonna need it with this cast; they’re quite deceitful.

Check out The Lies We Told, and take on the challenge of finding out the truth. Happy Reading :)