Reviews with content warning for Vomit - Listen For The Lie

I found Lucy to be a refreshingly unique female main character, and relished that her personality — and how others perceived it and her — is what drove much of the story. I also enjoyed and related to Lucy and Savvy’s friendship — as a late-twenties woman, I’ve had similar friendships myself through my life.
I think my favorite thing, though, was Tintera’s use of casual, embedded misogyny and its microaggressions (from both men and women) throughout the book.

From people singing Matt’s praises for no reason, to everyone believing him and Emmett because they’re men who made statements, to using Lucy’s actions and personality against her in opposite ways they would if she were a man, to Ben’s realizing that it was his word that would exonerate Lucy and using his platform to do so,

Listen for the Lie uses patriarchy and misogyny in realistic ways in addition to their functions as story catalysts.
I also deeply appreciated the way Tintera presented people’s treatment of those with trauma and/or brain injuries.

She toes the line between sympathy and understanding for other, also suffering characters and disgust with their treatment of Lucy, especially given she was gravely injured and had lost her best friend.

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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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abbiebonnyman's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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orla_h's review

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dark funny mysterious fast-paced

4.5

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mj_86's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.75

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reghan_32's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

This was the perfect mystery to keep me on my toes, and the drama had me hooked during every chapter!!

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20sidedbi's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional 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

SO BRILLIANT AND EMOTIONAL

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oxfordcommas91's review against another edition

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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

4.5

I was hooked from the very first page. I’m admittedly someone who loves a first person murder mystery and/or thriller type book, but this one had all the right pacing, character development and plot twists to keep me guessing. I liked that the plot twists weren’t so outlandish - it all felt very realistic and you could easily picture this being the plot of a real life true crime podcast. There have been a few books in this genre (true crime pod) that I’ve read lately and I think this is among the best. It’s fast paced, doesn’t get overly loaded down in irrelevant details or red herrings, yet still provides you with a fleshed out story and plenty of classic whodunnit moments.

I really liked all the characters - not in the sense that I liked who they were as people, but they were intriguing and complex and imperfect in a way that was satisfying to read. It makes me want to continue uncovering the details chapter after chapter.

Also, side note: this book really drives home the wisdom between women of never trusting the “nice guy.”

TL;DR I devoured this book in a little over 24 hours and it only took me that long because apparently you have to sleep and eat and show up to other life obligations. I strongly recommend if you need a fast paced twisty thriller that isn’t so scary it won’t keep you up long after reading. It would be fantastic to pull someone out of a slump!

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