My name is Amber Reynolds. There are three things you should know about me:
1. I’m in a coma.
2. My husband doesn’t love me anymore.
3. Sometimes I lie.
2. My husband doesn’t love me anymore.
3. Sometimes I lie.
Publisher: Flatiron Books; First Edition (March 13, 2018)
Publication: March 13, 2018
Pages: 272
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1250144841
ISBN-13: 978-1250144843
ASIN: B074ZR3ZLM
Jacket design by Steve Attardo
Jacket photography © Klaus Vedfelt / Getty Images
Author photographer: Brian Grant
Author photographer: Brian Grant
4 Stars
This book fell off my TBR pile onto my lap and screamed, "READ ME!"
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| Alice Feeny |
First and foremost when I read the blurb for this tale, she's in a coma and she lies? Became a 'had to read' and I loved it!
Alice Feeny is a New York Times best-selling author of Sometimes I Lie, I Know Who You Are, His & Hers: A Novel and soon she is among many authors of an up and coming historical YA psychological mystery that is yet to be titled.
Sometimes I Lie is narrated by the main character Amber Reynolds and is told
in alternating time frames: Now (in a coma), Then (a week before the coma), and Before (Diary entries when she was a little girl ten years of age). The tale opens with Amber awakening in a coma in the hospital and can hear everyone around her, yet, they don't know. She can't speak, see, or able to move. What is being said Amber cannot believe nor can she remember how she got into this state.
Though she does have an inclination her husband, Paul, had something to do with it because she heard the doctor ask him why his hand is bandaged and how did Amber get those bruises and markings that were not from the accident? His demeanor was restrained on purpose I felt. Yes, it made me do the "Hmm".
Folks, Amber is trying to remember if her husband is having an affair with her sister Claire. Claire is married to David. What kind of accident was she in? Was it an accident or...? Why and what happened at work? Her boss, Madeline—her terrible terrible boss what is up with her? Who in the hell is this person who keeps visiting her while she is in the hospital? Whispering in her ear. Touching her. Who is this person?!
The plot was astounding because it kept getting thicker as the tale went along. Then about 80% in the plot was so thick it really did get confusing—even for the most erudite readers mankind has to offer. Character name changes and twists coming to visit 'left-field' I was intrigued to the point of a grin and a shake of my head on every page. Every page folks ~ until the end, then, my jaw dropped.
I had so many questions rolling around in my head and had no answers being answered. Twisted. So, I kept reading...
Now remember folks, she is a self-proclaimed liar. But, is something really a lie if you believe it's the truth? Nothing is what it seems. And, as you read, you'll find out you have no idea who to trust and who not to trust. I have a feeling as you read along and you start to build trust in one of your characters, well, be prepared.
The atmosphere during the Before chapters had me going/rooting for Amber when she was young. What I thought was a trademark, when Amber wrote in her diary, she had always numbered three things to surmise her thoughts. Made me think to myself and kept in the back of my mind, "there are always three things". Another, "Hmm". Did it help me try to figure out this tale? Hmm.
The settings were very imaginable, two thumbs up.
The character development stayed linear and I thought that was intentional. Especially for Amber since she portrayed obsessive-compulsive disorder and the secondary characters were nothing more than one-dimensional. Again, thinking that was intentional. Then there is Amber's close friend Jo—she has depth. She's deep.
This read is a mystery that will work your brain and maybe in the end you might want to go back a few chapters to reread them to satisfy the 'What?!' that will hit you. I know a few folks like the simple closure of all the unanswered questions to a mystery in the end, but, this one I enjoyed immensely because it made me think. It made me pause.
There are a few parts in this tale that were not explained, so, I accepted the most logical answer for my brain as the story unfolded. For example, a house was burned to the point of it being uninhabitable, yet, later in the tale, a person was living in that same house. Okay, the house was rebuilt. Right? Well, of course, Jeff, because a person is living in it and the staircase is there! There were some questions of Amber's ex-boyfriend, Edward, and his tanning bed and that's all I'm going to say on that note for the simple reason authors work hard for twists.
This is a tightly woven compelling twisted read with a couple of unexplained holes folks. The holes were not all that detrimental to the tale as a whole, just to let you know. Hell, just put two and two together. It is a debut and I am not an editor. I'm a reader. The end is left open for a sequel and I wonder if there will be one? If there is, it'll be another smash hit for Ms. Feeny.
Some scenes are sexually graphic so a warning goes out there for you folks that don't care for those scenes in your read. I would suggest skimming those parts for this is a really good mystery not to pass up.
Recommend? Hell, it would be great for discussion that would go 'round & 'round at your Book Club meetings!
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Here's where you can get your fingers on Sometimes I Lie:
Amazon ~ Hardback $7.00 ~ Paperback $7.99 ~ Kindle $9.99 ~ USD
Barnes & Noble ~ Hardback $26.99 ~ Paperback $14.99 ~ NOOK $9.99 ~ USD
IndieBound ~ Support your local book stores
About the author:
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| Alice Feeny with her new 2020 release His & Hers |
Connect with Alice
Alice Feeney is a writer and journalist. She spent fifteen years at the BBC, where she worked as a reporter, news editor, arts and entertainment producer, and One O’clock News Producer.
Her debut novel, Sometimes I Lie, was a New York Times and international bestseller. It has been translated into over twenty languages and is being made into a TV series by Ellen DeGeneres and Warner Bros. starring Sarah Michelle Gellar.
Alice has lived in London and Sydney and has now settled in the Surrey countryside. She writes in her shed with her dog; a giant black Labrador who is scared of feathers.
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Readers, keep your eyes peeled for this:
The following synopsis is yet to be titled ~
Crime reporter Britt Montero gets more than she bargained for when a serial killer picks her as his confidante in the tenth book of an acclaimed mystery series from Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edna Buchanan.
Five years ago, a newly reunited family a Marine, his loving wife, and their baby girl set out on a road trip only to vanish. Their bodies were found two weeks later, gruesomely murdered. Their unrepentant killer was put behind bars and sentenced to death. Shortly before his execution, he reaches out to the only reporter he ever allowed an interview Miami News reporter Britt Montero.
Britt is no longer with the paper and tells the murderer she wants nothing to do with him. But when a book editor from New York asks her to write a book about her crime reporting, Britt mentions her recent correspondence, and the editor persuades her to visit him on Death Row.
Reluctantly pulled back into the fray, Britt is horrified to learn the killer has a few revelations: He had a female partner on the murders. She was never caught, and she remains dangerous, armed, and on the loose. From an author who is a master of her craft, Dead Man's Daughter is an exciting new installment in the Britt Montero mystery series.
Authors include:
(To be confirmed)
Karen M. McManus · Alice Feeney · Alex Michaelides · Genevieve Cogman · Stuart Woods · Claire Douglas · Laura E. Weymouth · Joan He · Charlie Donlea · Robert Bryndza · Megan Miranda · Holly Jackson · A. J. Finn · Meredith Tate · Catherine Steadman
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