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
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
Review-
Right off the bat, I knew I would have trouble liking the main heroine. She was way too vain and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t bring myself to like her. It seemed to me that the characters took a lot of pride in how thin a person was—that being skinny just meant you looked better automatically. As if beauty equates how thin you are.
“Bree’s prettiness was mostly accentuated by her thin figure. Skinny people just look better, I realized then.”
Um, okay. That statement is disgusting. But whatever, at this point I just want to get to the actual story and stop reading about assholes who only care about looks. Okay, I lied.
“Lucy is beautiful in the way that makes it hard to stop staring, in the way that the attractiveness becomes something you have to figure out. The best part is, she has no idea.”
Upon meeting our hero, that’s what he says about Lucy. Seeing as how vain Lucy is; I highly doubt she has no idea how “beautiful” she is. I think maybe if I wasn’t already annoyed at the shit Lucy has said, I wouldn’t be so pissed off at everything pertaining to looks. Again. I drudged on.
After reading about all of that, I was a bit more prepared. Now we have bigger problems. Wowza. The back and forth between Stephen and Lucy gave me emotional whiplash. I feel like a need a nice stiff drink and possibly a rom com with no angst whatsoever ever.
Bottom line is this; leave you ex where he belongs...in the past. You’ll never be able to break free unless you cut ties completely. I think a lot of us can relate to Lucy in that aspect. Having a crazy ex you know if all wrong for you, yet letting go is hard. Overall, I hated the characters and at times really hated the story. It was well written and definitely made me feel emotions—not good ones, but still made me feel all the same.
*Thank you to the publisher for providing a copy for an honest and unbiased review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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.
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