Thank you so much Atria Books for my free copy – all opinions are my own.
Summary:
Lucy Albright is far from her Long Island upbringing when she arrives on the campus of her small California college, and happy to be hundreds of miles from her mother, whom she’s never forgiven for an act of betrayal in her early teen years. Quickly grasping at her fresh start, Lucy embraces college life and all it has to offer—new friends, wild parties, stimulating classes. And then she meets Stephen DeMarco. Charming. Attractive. Complicated. Devastating.
Confident and cocksure, Stephen sees something in Lucy that no one else has, and she’s quickly seduced by this vision of herself, and the sense of possibility that his attention brings her. Meanwhile, Stephen is determined to forget an incident buried in his past that, if exposed, could ruin him, and his single-minded drive for success extends to winning, and keeping, Lucy’s heart.
Lucy knows there’s something about Stephen that isn’t to be trusted. Stephen knows Lucy can’t tear herself away. And their addicting entanglement will have consequences they never could have imagined.
Alternating between Lucy’s and Stephen’s voices, TELL ME LIES follows their connection through college and post-college life in New York City. With the psychological insight and biting wit of Luckiest Girl Alive, and the yearning ambitions and desires of Sweetbitter, this keenly intelligent and staggeringly resonant novel chronicles the exhilaration and dilemmas of young adulthood, and the difficulty of letting go—even when you know you should.
Advance Praise for Tell Me Lies
“Passion, friendship, heartbreak, and forgiveness ring true in Lovering’s debut… a fast-paced ride through hookups, breakups, and infidelities fueled by alcohol and cocaine, and with oodles of sizzling sexual tension… There are unforgettable beauties in this very sexy story.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Tell Me Lies is as dark and daring as it is absorbing. I found myself immediately drawn into the desperation and misguided obsession of young love. Who hasn’t, at one point, fallen this hard and gotten this lost? Carola Lovering has created something unexpected and original, yet deeply familiar. —Taylor Jenkins Reid, author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
“Riveting. With Tell Me Lies, Carola Lovering has given us a keenly observed, no-holds-barred examination of the mistakes we make under the guise of love. If you’ve ever fallen for the wrong person—and let’s be honest, you probably have—this book is for you.” —Grant Ginder, author of The People We Hate at the Wedding
“Tell Me Lies is a daring coming of age tale from a fresh new voice. This unvarnished look at both sides of a toxic romance is as resonant as it is harrowing, with characters so finely drawn they’ll linger in the imaginations of readers long after the final page. This book is unflinching, unforgettable, and unputdownable.” —Andrea Dunlop, author of She Regrets Nothing
“Ever wondered what that bad boyfriend was really thinking? You’ll find out in Carola Lovering’s addictive debut. For fans of Jessica Knoll and Caroline Kepnes, Tell Me Lies is a devastatingly accurate portrayal of a toxic relationship. Once its hooks are in, you’ll have no choice but to tear through every page.” —Georgia Clark, author of The Regulars
My Review:
I could not put this book down! The story spans seven years of a very tumultuous, on again, off again, relationship between Lucy Albright and Stephen DeMarco. They meet in college in California, where Lucy is studying journalism to be a travel writer and Stephen, political science, to one day become a lawyer. The chapters alternate between the two, which makes for a compulsive read. This debut novel is all too realistic and will give you anxiety, but you won’t stop reading because IT’S THAT GOOD!
Lovering does a phenomenal job showing both perspectives of a very toxic relationship, in an all-consuming way. These are unsympathetic characters, but I found myself identifying with Lucy in some ways and I recognize that “Stephen personality” anywhere. This is not a sappy love story by any means, but an obsessive one. It’s an introspective, retrospective, addictive, and fascinating read filled with plenty of dysfunction. Being inside Stephen’s head was a trip; like being in the mind of a sociopath. TELL ME LIES has plenty of secrets, and betrayals to go around and I was completely engrossed in Lucy and Stephen’s story! I will definitely read anything Lovering comes out with next! This is one dark, realistic, unrelenting, detrimental, consumptive love story! Highly recommended!
My rating is 5 out of 5 stars!
About the Author:
Carola Lovering attended Colorado College, and her work has appeared in W Magazine, National Geographic, Outside, and Yoga Journal, among other publications. Tell Me Lies is her first novel. She currently lives in Brooklyn.
Find Carola Lovering Online
Website: www.carolalovering.com
Twitter: @carolatlovering
Instagram: @carolatlovering
Photo credit: Kacey Klonsky
TELL ME LIES by Carola Lovering
Atria Books | ISBN: 9781501169649 | On sale: June 12, 2018 | 384 pages | $26.00
eBook: Atria | ISBN: 9781501169663 | On sale: June 12, 2018 | 384 pages | $13.99
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