Book Review ♡ This Lie Will Kill You by Chelsea Pitcher

title ♡ this lie will kill you
author ♡ chelsea pitcher
genre ♡ young adult; mystery, thriller
pages ♡ 320
publisher ♡ simon & schuster
series ♡ none
release date ♡ 27 december, 2018
goodreads ♡ amazon UK

One year ago, there was a party.
At the party, someone died.
Five teens all played a part and up until now, no one has told the truth.

But tonight, the five survivors arrive at an isolated mansion in the hills, expecting to compete in a contest with a $50,000 grand prize. Of course…some things are too good to be true. They were each so desperate for the prize, they didn’t question the odd, rather exclusive invitation until it was too late.

Instead, they realize they’ve been lured together by a person bent on revenge who wants to finally unravel the truth about what actually happened that deadly night, one year ago.

Five arrived, but not all can leave. Will the truth set them free?
Or will their lies destroy them all?

From a very young age, I’ve always been obsessed with crime dramas. They are my weakness: something about the mystery and the intrigue just gets me. I am the cat most likely to be killed by her own damn curiosity. This Lie Will Kill You flew under my radar for a long time, but when I found this book earlier today, I just knew I’d have to give it a chance. And by some holy measure, it satisfied my thirst for young-adult fiction.

The book follows five teens: Juniper, Ruby, Gavin, Parker and Brett – as well as a mysterious girl who is setting up the sinister plot. Juniper was a character I liked. She cared about her family, had her ambitions and was quite remorseful for the whole ‘I know what you did last summer’ style mystery. Her loyalty and protectiveness over best-friend Ruby was respectable and relatable. I understood Juniper – I could sympathise with her character. Something I respected with this book was the sexual ambiguity. Pitcher doesn’t put her characters in any sort of boxes when it comes to their sexuality – and especially with Parker and Brett, it was interesting to see their relationship was a little more than friendly. Throughout the novel, it was apparent that a lot of the characters were living with their own personal demons and the development of their behaviour was quite excellently thought out.

They could transform a beautiful face, with moon-pale skin and startling blue eyes, into a candle of wax, dripping and contorting until none of the loveliness remained.

This Lie Will Kill You is absolutely oozing in mystery. From the second you begin reading, you a drawn in, desperate to discover who was in the car that exploded and just what were the circumstances surrounding the death. There are a lot of little, though inter-webbed, mysteries the characters deal with. Their conclusions were satisfying and a little surprising at moments. As I read a lot of mystery books, I’ll admit that I thought I had the plot completely sussed out after completing 35% of book: but Pitcher had thrown in a few unexpected twists and turns here and there. It was refreshing and it kept me on my toes.

To say I started reading the book around 3pm today, I was finished by 6pm. While I read books abnormally fast, I found the pacing of the story was quick and I could easily keep along with everything that was happen. I didn’t find any areas that felt rushed or out of the plot. There was just a generic flow to the story which made it a simple read. Reminiscent of books such as Ten by Gretchen McNeil, the book followed the similar ‘creepy house’ format you become accustomed to in horror fiction and movies.

That smoldering skeleton had once been a boy, and that boy had been loved.

Held.

Kissed.

Not anymore. The fire had transformed him into a creature of ashes and bone,

As well the whole murder-mystery theme, the book also focuses a light on domestic violence and child abuse. Pitcher is clear on shining a light on possessive and controlling behaviour in relationships – something I feel is incredibly important for young teenage girls to be reading and learning about. The book flags up a number of red flags you can spot this kind of behaviour with, and uses Shane to highlight that there will be people who can protect you and will respect your boundaries.

It’s been a while since I read anything I have enjoyed as much as this book. It was a great little read, full of murder, intrigue and scandal. If you want to pop on your Sherlock Holmes hat, then I would highly advise you to give this book a chance!

But don’t just take my word for it! Every one on the internet has an opinion, so please remember to check out a few others before you decide to buy or discard this book!

Jessica @ Jessica’s Book Blog says “Overall, this book has a really good foundation, it’s just that towards the end, the story line got more fuzzy.”

Moon @ Moon Kestrel Blog says “All in all, it was an enjoyable quick read.”

Angelica @ Angelica the Bookworm says “While there weren’t many aspects that I overly loved about this novel, there wasn’t much terribly wrong with it either.”

Chelsea Pitcher is a karaoke-singing, ocean-worshipping Oregonian with a penchant for twisty mysteries. She is the author of THE S-WORD, THE LAST CHANGELING & THE LAST FAERIE QUEEN.

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