This Is Why We Lie by Gabriella Lepore
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Thank you to the publisher, Inkyard Press, for providing me with an ARC of This Is Why We Lie in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
The Gist
This Is Why We Lie started out very promising. Late summer early fall setting, a town by the Pacific; perfect setting for a mood-driven murder to unfold.
Well, unfortunately, it didn’t quite hit the mark for me. Let me explain.
The Details
We jump right in. Someone has been murdered and her body is found. This happens on page one.
No big secret. Ok, so let’s follow the protagonists as they figure out who killed the high school student.
Seems pretty straight forward and sure to guarantee a page-turning reading experience. But instead, we are left with a lot of half-finished flashbacks that do not answer any questions or provide enough information to keep my interest, at least.
It started to really grate on my nerves that a lot of the chapters were mostly flashbacks that teasingly hinted at some form of coherent story.
I didn’t quite understand why most of the important scenes were told in flashback form. It created unnecessary distance between the reader and the story. I mean, we were thrown right into the middle of it with the discovery of the body. Why not hold on to the reader’s attention by formatting those flashbacks into whole chapters that are dedicated to the past?
In between those unfinished flashbacks and incomplete scenes set in the present there are chapters dedicated to police transcripts and text message exchanges. They felt disjointed and pulled me out of the story, which I tried hard to get into.
Because of the incomplete storytelling format, both protagonists came across as sketchy and not very interesting. I stopped caring. And I got a little frustrated with all the suspicious, shifty side glances and secret keeping.
I wanted to shout out “Just spit it out already!!”
Needless to say, the structure and choice of narrative wasn’t for me.
The Verdict
Overall, This Is Why We Lie was a bit of a letdown. I had hoped for more and maybe that’s because I wasn’t in the right mood or headspace for this story.
I would probably suggest it.
About the Author
Gabriella Lepore is a YA author from South Wales in the United Kingdom. She lives in the countryside with her husband James and daughter Sophia. When she isn’t reading or writing, she can usually be found exploring the coastline. She enjoys cups of tea, bookstore coffee shops, stormy beaches, and autumn days.
