The Lying Game: A Novel

It seems every summer I read a novel by Ruth Ware! I’m thrilled that she keeps writing these incredible books. She is definitely one of my top five authors. Awesome descriptions that bring such a vivid picture to your mind. I really loved this book.

The Lying Game is an evocative and page turning novel that will leave an imprint on the psych of those who read it. What's better: Lying to protect those you love? Or telling the truth and ultimately hurting those who need you the most? This is the forefront of the story. Ruth Ware does a phenomenal job at slowing bringing her readers into the story and then smacking them with the cold hard truth. She turns ordinary characters into real human beings who are unable to tell right and wrong, but making them likable anyway. And, she turns a story that we read about everyday in the news into a haunting and disturbing read that will make anyone question their own morals. This is a great book. It's a bit dark, and the setting sets the mood up for this perfectly. It's a bit sad- finally understanding what was really going on is sure to turn the coldest hearts soft. And it's an overall powerful read that had me hooked all the way through...I have read all three of Ruth Ware's books and I have to say, this one is my favorite. I liked In a Dark Dark Wood a LOT and thought The Woman in Cabin 10 was just an okay read. But this one... It's utterly brilliant. The use of flashbacks to get to know these characters from the beginning of their little game worked perfectly. Although admittedly, will make some readers despise them. The dark and foreboding atmosphere sits perfectly where everything it set, in a cold and dark place that is crumbling around these ladies like all of the lies they told. And that twist? Yikes! Ware had me fooled. I can't wait for more by the author because she has certainly written some fantastically dark novels like this one.

I’m not going to lie. I’m ambivalent about NY Times bestselling author Ruth Ware’s third novel. There are no spoilers aheadIn THE LYING GAME, British writer Ruth Ware flashes between the current lives of four thirty-something young women and their shared past at a second-rate boarding school where something bad happened.Isa, Fatima and Thea receive a text message from former schoolmate Kate saying, “I need you.”Dropping everything (and that means for new mother, Isa, dragging infant Freya along) the three women and baby Freya arrive at Kate’s mysterious, run-down home, The Mill.Set mostly in the coastal village of Salten, The Mill is set by a tidal estuary. The boarding school is not too far away from Kate’s home. The rest of Salten is certainly no Martha’s Vineyard. More like a creepy town out of a Stephen King novel.And what’s a creepy story without a decomposing body washing up on the beach?I loved the Gothic elements of the story–it’s what attracted me to plunking down the clams for this book. But I found the Isa’s story-line in London to be a bit tedious.And speaking of tedious, baby Freya was either attached to Isa’s nipple, asleep, soiled, or in mortal danger. I could have done without her and would have enjoyed more character development between foursome Kate, Isa, Thea, and Fatima.And don’t even get me started on Kate’s enigmatic step-brother, Luc. He changed from Jane Eyre’s Mr. Rochester into the madwoman in the attic, with a little Hotty McBody and Lester the Molester thrown in for good measure.As far as pacing goes, this reader was not really sure what that BAD thing really was until about halfway through the book. (I later checked out some Amazon reviews and found I wasn’t alone.)Of course, by then, even when I started to figure out the dead man’s secrets, I was so bogged down by the tedious lives of the women’s thirty-something counterpart-characters that I didn’t really care.This book took me awhile to finish. And that’s not my normal reading M.O.Toward the end, the book picked up steam and I started to enjoy it more, but Isa’s repetitive travels home to London and back to Salten slowed the narrative.If you’ve read Ruth Ware’s other acclaimed titles THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10 and IN A DARK, DARK WOOD, then you may totally love her latest.As for me, THE LYING GAME didn’t deliver as compelling a story as I had hoped.Kate should have been better developed (as well as her family dynamic with Luc and her father.)Thea was a tiresome, wooden drunk.Baby Freya was about as fun as dragging a screaming baby along–well, anywhere.Isa’s relationship with her Baby Daddy didn’t ring true for me.And there was a lot more potential for an engaging narrative with the Salten Boarding School flashback story-line than the writer delivered.All in all, I give this story a Three Star Rating. Not exactly a memorable read, but not a waste of time and money either. (This review will also be published on foxywriterchick.com on November 13, 2017.)

A bit more difficult to stick with at times, but keep reading! It really is worth it. There are some sub plots that I think could have either been teased out further or eliminated entirely, because I was really just left wanting to understand them better. But, I found many of the characters to be easy to connect with, or at least easy to imagine. And there are a few potent lessons and elements once you’ve grasped the real story. Ruth Ware hasn’t let me down yet!!

The book kept my interest, was absorbing and suspenseful. BUT (may contain spoilers) the plot was disturbingly implausible and the characters unappealing. First off, Kate’s demanding her friends to disrupt their lives to visit her when in fact she was lying to them and essentially wasting their time. Secondly, Isa’s arrogance walking off to visit Kate two times with her baby irregardless of the needs of her husband and father of the baby. Thirdly, the unrealistic well adjusted behavior of a baby being put through such changes. Fourth, questions left unanswered after such an insane ending: what happens to the dog Shadow after he loses his home and his owner? Who adopts him? How did the girls even get home after their possessions were burned in the fire? The book sustained my interest due to its good writing, action and unexpected twists. For this reason I gave it 4 stars, as it was a worthwhile reading experience despite weaknesses in the storyline and characterizations.

I adore all of Ruth Ware’s books. Her prose is the perfect mash for my reading preferences. I love how all of her books are different. A few things you can count on in any Ware book you read are her signature fair and tight plotting, engaging prose that makes it impossible for you to put the book down, and relatable, well-drawn, multidimensional characters. The Lying Game is no exception. All her characters in the book had their own unique and strong voice, especially the four main characters. Not only did I feel like I was part of their group and knew them, their relationship felt like a character in itself. If I am a bit picky, I wish I had seen more of the academic setting and the game at play.How Thea, Isabel, Fatima, and Isabel’s bond remained strong despite their distance is something that I could one hundred percent relate to. I moved away many years ago, and even when I don’t talk to my best friends for ages, we pick up from where we left. Our friendship never wavered. If any of them sent a message saying they needed me, I would also drop everything and go - no questions asked. I bet my life they would do the same. The relationship between the four women was my favourite thing in the book and portraited accurately.

Very good condition and I used it to read

It's Ruth Ware!!! What's left to say. Buy. Enjoy!

Me topé con el primer libro de Ruth Ware en un aeropuerto. Lo compré por impulso, y me encantó, así que seguí buscando sus libros, sin embargo The Lying Game es posiblemente el mejor hasta ahorita. Te mantienen en suspenso continuo, te cambia el juego en varias ocasiones, y no es hasta las últimas páginas donde entiendes lo que realmente ocurrió. Prepárense a no estar disponibles los días siguientes a que lo empiecen.

Col fiato sospeso fino all'ultima pagina. La storia di una forte amicizia e di un crimine irrisolto.