Reviews with content warning for Sexual violence - Listen For The Lie

Lucy left her hometown, a small town in Texas, five years ago after being accused of killing her best friend, Savannah, aka Savvy. Unfortunately, Lucy doesn’t remember anything about what happened to Savvy.
She’s been living in LA and trying not to revisit the past. Ben, a podcaster, decides to investigate Savvy’s murder for the 2nd season of his podcast. When Lucy returns to her hometown to celebrate her grandmother’s birthday, she links up with Ben to uncover the truth.

MY THOUGHTS

I loved this one. Two POVs - Lucy’s and the podcast episodes - with alternating chapters. Fast-paced. Compelling. Satisfying ending.
Lucy also has dark humor, and I enjoyed her as a main character. Since the story covers some tough topics, the comedic relief was a nice balance.
I loved Beverly (Lucy’s grandmother), too! She was a fun character, and she truly loved Lucy
There were lots of twists and turns. I appreciated reading about a woman who doesn’t fit in with societal norms & no one listens to her or believes her. When a male podcaster comes along, it’s the only thing that may bolster Lucy's credibility, which is pretty realistic.

TL;DR: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️5 stars. Compelling writing. Satisfying ending.

Content Warnings

amfuglest's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

This book constantly kept me guessing. I’ve never laughed so much at small-town dynamics before, it really added to the character development and plot. I literally read this book cover to cover without putting it down, such a fun, dark read!

Content Warnings

daniparvu's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book had me on the edge of my seat from start to end. There are so many twists and turns... and, something that doesn't usually happen, I did NOT see the ending coming. Brilliant.

Content Warnings

aftereliza's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Content Warnings

herelieshenry's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

In the interest of full disclosure, this review is specifically regarding an ALC copy of the audiobook from Net Galley, so while I imagine this audiobook was pretty close to finalized, some details may have been changed between my copy and the official release.

I think this book would be perfect for people who like TV drama-thrillers and are looking for a book with that sort of quippy verve. I had the thought a few times that it would definitely be a solid option for a limited run series adaptation. In my opinion, the strongest aspect at play here is the social commentary on things like true crime

and domestic violence

. The weakest element is in the character work. The novel itself could be made a lot stronger with a few more rounds of editing and attention to character development. Whether I’d read another book by this author is up in the air. I wouldn’t rule it out, depending on the subject matter, but I don’t think I’d prioritize it, personally.

I think the narrative here was well-crafted, but it suffers on account of the aspects of the book that didn’t hit quite as well. Thematically, it’s pretty clear and has an understanding of the subjects it’s trying to discuss, but the communication of it (save for

the discussion of domestic violence

and a bit of the true crime discussion) isn’t always handled effectively. The cast, beyond Savvy and Grandma Beverly, feels kind of par the course for this sort of mystery thriller. Development isn’t really a big aspect of the characters here. Lucy’s arc is iffy to me on how present it really is

—nothing seems to make much of a difference to her character

. Ben’s arc

towards unreliability

was interesting, but he didn’t have a lot of depth.

When it comes to character, the relationship dynamics between the cast are by far the most interesting part. The complicated, weary family dynamics between Lucy and her family members, and her bond with her grandmother, feel very real, and the relationship between Ben and Lucy is definitely the most interesting part of Ben’s character. The friendship between Lucy and Savvy in the flashback scenes is incredibly strong (though it doesn’t echo through to the modern narrative in Lucy’s perspective to me, sadly).

The portrayal of abuse dynamics is relatively well-done; you can tell the author is incredibly informed on them and how complicated being an abuse survivor can be psychologically.

The writing style here was consistent, though at times narratively inappropriate or out of place. Syntax was coherent and pithy, and word choice was clear, but not always effective. Dialogue occasionally came off as a bit over the top, even dramatized. Visual and sensory description was mild, but generally well-employed when present. Exposition was decently concise with minimum info-dumping. The primary propellor of the narrative was conflict, making the pacing fast and natural.

The point of view and depth of perspective was consistent throughout, but it was sometimes hard to immerse myself in personally because the primary point of view character, Lucy, didn’t feel totally natural to me. This is less of a problem in her flashbacks

and the scenes reflecting on domestic violence

, where her internal dialogue is portrayed in a way that feels much more realistic. The flashback chapters, however, were implemented a bit too late into the novel to not feel jarring, and unglued the narrative a little bit (which is unfortunate, because they’re some of the strongest scenes). The usage of the podcast transcripts in the narrative structure actually felt quite solid and largely avoided issues with perspective and point of view inconsistency, as they reproduce the “feel” of a produced true crime podcast incredibly well.

Content Warnings

maggieparedesauthor's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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