Tell Me Lies – 5/5 ✩
Tell Me Lies is a raw and gripping story about Lucy Albright as she navigates life after meeting Stephen DeMarco early in her freshman year of college. Stephen is the definition of the Wrong One, but no matter how how hard she tries, Lucy has a hard time letting go of Stephen, even when she knows she should.
Initially, I had reservations about this book because of the toxicity in its characters, but this book genuinely took over my life after reading it. I truly cannot stop thinking about it and it’s easily become a 5 star read for me. I listened to the book and then almost immediately got a physical copy and dove right back in. I also watched the Hulu series, but that will be touched on in another post.
I loved this book so much that it sent me into the biggest reading slump I’ve ever experienced; I was reading a book every couple of days at the beginning of this year, and since I finished Tell Me Lies, I’ve only re-read a single book.
In a general sense, this book is an incredible read because of its characters. Lucy and Stephen, specifically, are so fleshed out and feel so dynamic and real on the page. This novel is so character driven, which makes the ending INCREDIBLY rewarding. I won’t spoil, but the scene where Lucy and Stephen talk at the wedding had be smiling so big and feeling so much pride for Lucy that it almost hurt.
I truly don’t think I’ve read a novel this rewarding in years – to be able to watch two characters go down such an deep journey, both together and separately, filled me with pride and I honestly wish I could read more and spend more time with these characters.
I also loved how the characters were so aware of each other’s body language (even if many times, they were presumptuous and wrong in their thinking). I can’t remember reading a book where the characters were so cognizant of others’ actions and body language.
Plot wise, I’m not quite sure what I was expecting when I picked this book, but I really enjoyed how deep this book was. I thought it was going to be something light and fun and this was not that. This book made me stop and think and really analyze the impact our actions and personalities have on each other. I also loved how this story wasn’t just the story of what happened between Lucy and Stephen, but also Lucy’s journey in forgiving her mother (and Stephen’s journey of self-destruction).
Something else I found so gripping about this work is that the novel has a tremendous amount of foreshadowing and Carola Lovering was able to wait for the perfect moments to let the story’s elements unfold (i.e. Macy, The Unforgivable Thing, and Marilyn’s role in Lucy and her mom’s lives).
The dedication of this novel also played a role in how powerful this book was for me. I didn’t pay attention to the dedication when I listened to it the first time around, but reading it the second time added an unforeseen depth to the story.
Lastly, from a strictly superficial perspective, this cover.is.stunning. It’s very easy to overlook the intricacies of this novel’s cover – it’s just words after all. But knowing Lucy and Stephen’s characters, but Lucy especially, this cover holds so much more meaning.
Anchored Musings 