Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Listen For The Lie by Amy Tintera

175 reviews

allioop's review against another edition

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dark funny medium-paced

5.0

This is the kind of thriller I LOVE! And Lucy’s humor was awesome

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vereadsbooks's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I'm a sucker for books with true crime podcasts. I jumped right in as soon as I knew this was that kind of book. 

Five years ago, someone found Lucy wandering the streets, covered in her best friend's blood. Lucy couldn't remember what happened that night and couldn't explain why her bruises matched Savvy's. So, everybody in her small town concluded she murdered her best friend, Savvy. Even though there wasn't enough evidence to charge her with the crime.

Now, thanks to the huge hit true-crime podcast "Listen for the Lie" and its beautiful host, Ben Owens, Lucy is forced to face the past and help find out who murdered Savvy, even if that means finding out that she did it.
 
Listen for the Lie is a fast-paced and gripping mystery-thriller. Although the plot can be predictable, the story is compelling. The book combines Lucy's perspective with the podcast entries. Lucy is snarky and funny. Her internal monologue makes me laugh out loud. I wasn't expecting the humor in this, and I love it. 

Also, her grandmother Beverly is hilarious. Their relationship is lovely. Beverly is the only person who doesn't judge Lucy and cares about her. She believes in her granddaughter's innocence, and she is the reason why Ben Owens, the host of the podcast, starts to investigate the murder of Savvy. 

The book touches on topics such as domestic abuse, PTSD, obsession, and how people perceive women.
People perceive Lucy as someone unfriendly and cold. Lucy doesn't fit the narrative of the perfect victim, so she must deserve the mess she is into, while Savvy and Nina fit into that narrative. Both are nice girls who don't deserve bad things to happen to them. Also, people perceive Lucy as a woman with a bad temper and a tendency toward violence. While other characters, especially men, are identified as sweet and kind. For example, Lucy's ex-husband is described as kind and nice and has to put up with his wife's violent outbursts. While he is the one who manipulates, abuses, and gaslights her. 

The romance plot bothers me. I didn't expect a romantic relationship between Lucy and Ben. I prefer a nonromantic partnership between them, especially since we must navigate Lucy's marriage and old flames. 
 

The audiobook is exquisite.  


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wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No

2.5

Okay..  I'll be honest.  I guessed whodunnit pretty early on and as I made my way through the story, it was predominantly to ensure that I guessed correctly.

Rating was lowered because I didn't find it all that captivating and there was an odd focus on sweat that really took me out of it.

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thackerleah's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective tense
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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victoriastarkid's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0


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dsnyjunky24's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0


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tegan_watts's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0


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chronic_listener's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0


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geezchloe's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

It was alright. I guessed the ending pretty early in.
Emmet did it. He was the guy Lucy remembers kissing at the wedding after she walked away from Matt. Emmet followed Lucy and Savvy onto the back roads during the wedding, has an incel freak out, and then kills Savvy with a hammer he had in his car.
The constant voice in Lucy’s head got annoying (I think it was particularly the way the narrator read it that bugged me).
It was Savvy’s voice. The “let’s kill” dialogue was from a conversation Lucy and Savvy had about murdering Matt. Her and Lucy had planned to kill Matt after he abused Lucy pretty badly. Savvy had already killed a guy in college after he tried to hit her. She wasn’t a psychopath, just took the most extreme measures when a man gets abusive. It was never explored why. In the end they don’t go through with it, just plan to move to California together but then Emmet finds them.
But I liked the podcast parts. And the cast of characters in the town were fun. 

Was it the greatest murder mystery I’ve ever read? No. Will I be adding this book to my library? Probably not. Will I probably forget that I read this book at the end of the year? Yeah, I think so. 
Do I understand why people seem to love this book? Yeah. It’s quick, easy to get lost in, the writing’s not bad, and it’s interesting enough to make you want to finish it. 

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syellico's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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