Title: Tell Me Lies
Author: Carola Lovering
Pages: 384
Publishing: Atria Books (June 12, 2018)
Synopsis:
Everyone remembers the one. No, not that one. The other one. The one you couldn’t let go of. The one you’ll never forget.
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 psychological insight and biting wit, this keenly intelligent and staggeringly resonant novel chronicles the yearning ambitions, desires, and dilemmas of young adulthood, and the difficulty of letting go, even when you know you should.
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 psychological insight and biting wit, this keenly intelligent and staggeringly resonant novel chronicles the yearning ambitions, desires, and dilemmas of young adulthood, and the difficulty of letting go, even when you know you should.
Review:
I've never read anything by Lovering before so I didn't really know quite what to expect. I thought the writing style was unique and it was interesting how the story jumped back and forth between Stephen and Lucy's viewpoints. There were times when I thought it was overly repetitive, but it was easy to skim over the repeats until you reached new information. The story was fast paced at times, but other times I really wished the pages would turn a little faster. In my opinion, I think the novel could have been about 100 pages shorter.
The characters were all extremely interesting and I loved that Lovering didn't shy away from tough topics. A lot of kids go through some really hard things in college and I appreciated that this wasn't just some fluffy college romance novel. It really talked about some deep things and I think Lovering did a great job discussing such heavy topics. Even though Stephen was not my favorite character, he was so incredibly complex and I loved getting to know his inner thoughts (as horrible as they were). I also really enjoyed Lucy's character. She was so honest with herself and I was really happy to see her grow as a character.
All in all, Tell Me Lies was a captivating story about how college can make and/or break you, how it can help you find out who you really are as a person, and how it can lead you to lifelong friends and partners. I thought this was an intriguing read and I would definitely recommend it! Thank you to Atria, Booksparks, and NetGalley for sending this novel in exchange for an honest review.
Rating 3.5/5
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