Title: The Lying GameBy: Ruth Ware
My Copy: Library
The BookWhisperer's Rating:
On a cool June morning, a woman is walking her dog in the idyllic coastal village of Salten along a tidal estuary known as the Reach. Before she can stop him, the dog charges into the water to retrieve what first appears to be a wayward stick, but to her horror, turns out to be something much more sinister...
The next morning, three women in and around London—Fatima, Thea, and Isabel—receive the text they had always hoped would NEVER come, from the fourth in their formerly inseparable clique, Kate, that says only, “I need you.”The four girls were best friends at Salten, a second rate boarding school set near the cliffs of the English Channel. Each different in their own way, the four became inseparable and were notorious for playing the Lying Game, telling lies at every turn to both fellow boarders and faculty, with varying states of serious and flippant nature that were disturbing enough to ensure that everyone steered clear of them. The myriad and complicated rules of the game are strict: no lying to each other—ever. Bail on the lie when it becomes clear it is about to be found out. But their little game had consequences, and the girls were all expelled in their final year of school under mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of the school’s eccentric art teacher, Ambrose (who also happens to be Kate’s father).
The next morning, three women in and around London—Fatima, Thea, and Isabel—receive the text they had always hoped would NEVER come, from the fourth in their formerly inseparable clique, Kate, that says only, “I need you.”The four girls were best friends at Salten, a second rate boarding school set near the cliffs of the English Channel. Each different in their own way, the four became inseparable and were notorious for playing the Lying Game, telling lies at every turn to both fellow boarders and faculty, with varying states of serious and flippant nature that were disturbing enough to ensure that everyone steered clear of them. The myriad and complicated rules of the game are strict: no lying to each other—ever. Bail on the lie when it becomes clear it is about to be found out. But their little game had consequences, and the girls were all expelled in their final year of school under mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of the school’s eccentric art teacher, Ambrose (who also happens to be Kate’s father).
I first fell in love with Ruth Ware’s writing after reading The Woman in Cabin 10. There is something suspenseful in Ware’s writing that keeps you drawn into the plot but not terrified at night when you lay your head down to sleep. The Lying Gamedoes just that.
I found myself quickly captivated by Isa’s life. A woman who is a partner, a mother, and a lawyer but also apart of an inseparable group of four women whose childhood game encompassed weaving together lies.
With one text message, Isa, Thea, and Fatima come running back to their childhood stomping grounds to find that a body has been found and their secret may be uncovered. While their reunion brings back happy memories of their teenage years, we also get a peek into their troubling past and how they escaped such troubles by passing the time at the Mill.
The more I read the pages, the more I found myself unable to put the pieces of the puzzle together. I so badly wanted to be right when guessing the real motive behind all of the lying and betrayal however, I was left guessing until the moment I flipped the page and read the words. Basically, Ware kept me guessing up until the reveal and I must say that I was shocked. What a wonderful thriller!
