Title: The Lie
Author: C. L.
Taylor
Genre: Suspense,
Thriller
Time: 4.7 hours
Rating: 9.5 out
of 10
If you want a book description, you can check out on goodreads.
This book threw me for a loop. I didn’t read the book description so I had
no idea what to expect. First two or
three chapters was kinda meh and I
contemplated on finding another book but then it got interesting, so
interesting, I couldn’t put it down that I ended up missing a half day’s
work.
I knew from the start that something bad happened in Jane/Emma’s past and I’ll find out what it is by the end of the book, sorta like TheLuckiest Girl Alive. Both books had the
same vibes. This book was written the
same way as Beatriz Williams’ books where it goes back and forth between 2 time
periods. I’m not a big fan of this way
of writing coz I don’t like the feeling of being violently yanked away from a
certain train of thought, one where I’ve gotten used to the momentum of, and
suddenly transported into another time and possibly another set of characters
that I have to follow. Authors usually
end with a cliffhanger before switching time periods. I can’t handle that that kind of stress, so
what I usually do is pick a time period, read it straight and then go back to
the other time period and read that one.
I know, I know, the author probably had some artsy, fartsy literary
whatever reason for structuring their book in such a way but if I read it as
is, I’d go nuts!
So anyways, as I’ve said, from the start I knew something
bad happened to the four girls. I
thought it would be like some sort of like a Locked Up Abroad episode that maybe had something to do with drugs…
or sold in sex trafficking.. or maybe being captured by some reclusive tribe in
Nepal where they end up being cannibalized.. and then in the middle of the
book, Daisy killed a gecko and it was hinted about Daisy possibly killing her sister, so I thought, was Daisy some sort of serial killer in the making and would she suddenly snap and kill all of them? welp,
none of those were correct. Who would
have thought it would be a BDSM-ish, murdering cult up in the mountains? And I did not see that half-brother
connection between Leanne and Issac coming.. or that Isaac would turn out to be
a psychopath… double whammy on Leanne surviving and turning out to be crazy and
trying to kill Jane/Emma.
This book should probably be rated with a 10 but I’m holding
off on a perfect score coz usually with books this good, I tend find and read
right away whatever other books the author has.
I have her other book, The
Accident, but I’m not roaring to go on reading that one yet. Maybe I need time to recover from this one? Or maybe because it sounds like it’s a copy
and paste version of this one?
Okay, so at the end of this book, there are like questions
listed that are usually used as a guide for Book Clubs as discussion
points. Not all books have this but when
it does, I usually read those questions to see if I missed out things that the
author thought was a significant thing.
And usually, I try to answer those questions but since I’m not part of any
book clubs, I kept them to myself. I
thought I’d share my answers here… so here goes…
1) One of the themes of the book is whether your past
defines your future. At the end of the
book Emma says that it doesn’t if you surround yourself with people who love
and care for you. Do you agree?
I disagree, because
whatever happened in the past, it shapes who you are. You are you because of you past experiences
and encounters. She chose to change her
name, where she lived and changed careers because of what happened to her. All our decisions (which always affects our future seeing as time only goes forward) are assessed based on past experiences (or
lack thereof), from past hurts or triumphs, etc. etc. etc., that is why our
past will always define or impact our future because you can never undo or forget your
past (unless you get amnesia). However,
how you choose to learn from or move on from your past will have a big influence on whether
you’ll have a better future or not.
2) What did you think of the character, Al? Was she sympathetic or unsympathetic?
I dunno… are we talking
about current Al or past Al? If it’s
past Al, she was probably terrified and confused as to who to trust. I mean, even Emma didn’t know who to
trust. With all the misinformation
deliberately shared, I get how Al would be hesitant to be all buddy2x with
Emma (or anyone for that matter). If it’s current Al, I think she
behaved perfectly normal given the what she endured. I mean, anyone would be somehow fucked up if
you went through what she did.
3) Emma tried to rescue Leanne from the fire. Would you do the same?
Dunno.. It’s easy to
say, yup, I’d save her… but I wouldn’t know how what she went through would affect
me unless it actually does happen to me (knock on wood)… would I become vindictive? Would I rise above it? I don’t know.
4) After Emma has told Will about who she really is she
tells him she’d rather he still called her Jane. Why do you think she did that?
Prolly for the same
reason why she changed her name. Maybe
she wanted to forget her past? Maybe for
her, the person Emma once was no longer exists?
She didn’t change her name for security reasons like in the Witness
Protection Program, she did it coz she didn’t want to be associated with “being
Emma” anymore. She wants to move on,
part of that is calling herself Jane.
5) At what point in the story do you think Daisy’s death
could have been prevented?
Uh, bu not going to Nepal?? If they went to Ibiza, the murderous cult
wouldn’t have gotten to them. I mean, it’s not easy to leave anytime the
cult’s “retreat place” (I totally forgot the name) seeing as it’s way, way up
in the mountain during monsoon season.. so once they were there, they were
basically trapped… it was either become one of them or die trying to escape..
6) When Emma reads Leanne’s emails she finds out Leanne
thinks she’s a pessimistic person who uses what happened to her in the past for
her own gain. Do you agree with this?
Not enough info to go
with for me to have an opinion on this. I only heard Emma’s point of view, so it’s a biased point of view. I mean if you’re the one telling the story, you
wouldn’t openly point out your shortcomings. But you are quick to if it’s about
others.
7) How do you think Emma changes over the course of the book
(both as Emma and as Jane)?
As Emma.. She started
to speak out/stand up/ for herself, like in Ruth’s cremation… But I dunno if it
was more of a change of self or more of a fight or flight reaction to a
dangerous situation.. As Jane… couldn’t really tell.. the character didn’t
really evolve that much during the duration of the book.. You could say she
began to trust other people more by telling Will and her boss (forgot the name)
the truth or it could just be because she had no choice but to tell them…
8) What did you think of the ending? Should it have ended differently?
Ending was fine.. if
it was anymore “they all live happily ever after,” then it wouldn’t have been
realistic. I was sad for the animals
that died, though (but as dog person, I’m glad no dogs died in the fire)..
9) The book explores female friendships and the fact that
some friendships have undercurrents of jealousy, competitiveness and resentment
running through them. Is this true of
any of your friendships.
No friendships are
perfect, especially in big groups. In
one point in time, one friend would annoy you, feel jealous of, etc., etc.
etc. I believe in the adage of “everything
is okay—in moderation.” So it’s normal
for friendships to have, at one point in time, jealousy, competitiveness and
resentment as well as support, love, care, warmth, etc., etc., etc. But when the levels of jealousy,
competitiveness and resentment extremely high, then it becomes toxic and it is
better to walk away from that friendship.
10) What other similar books would you recommend to people
who enjoyed The Lie?
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