Listen for the Lie: A Gripping Thriller Review

Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera has sat on my shelf for a few months now. When I did finally pick it up over my winter holidays it took me less than 24 hours to finish it. By this, I literally mean I picked it up Sunday night before bed and finished Monday afternoon! Honestly, it sat for a bit because I was getting kind of bored of the whole thriller/podcast with it being a very popular avenue now. I enjoy thrillers more than any other genre, but when you read a lot of them you see similar themes, twists, and endings, so it’s hard for me to be surprised by them. This book though was similar in ways but was a fresher story with harder to guess twists. Lucy is our main character, she lives in Los Angeles, CA and has just been fired from her job because of a podcast. This may not seem fair, but the podcast is about Lucy’s best friend’s, Savvy, murder and how she is the main suspect. One night after a wedding Lucy was found walking on the road looking a mess with Savvy’s blood on her. She doesn’t remember anything of the events that night that led up to that. In a small town in Texas, Lucy and Savvy grew up around each other, attending the same schools, but not until after college did, they become friends. Once they were friends though, they were inseparable. Savvy was known to be a fun, happy, outgoing, and kind person, or so the people on the podcast say. With no job, no love life, and no apartment, Lucy is persuaded by her grandmother to return to Texas for her birthday party. Lucy has avoided this for a long time because everyone in the town thinks she killed Savvy. When she gets to Texas, she finds out her grandmother had a different plan all along and Lucy is finally ready to confront her past and try to find out if she really did kill her best friend. I found Lucy’s character refreshing, mostly because I think she reminded me of myself a lot, with the heavy sarcasm and bluntness. She is not the most likable character, and you see why people could get a bad taste in their mouth from her. I really appreciated all the characters created in this story and how they all play a role in each other’s lives in different ways, it really showed the small-town vibe. Overall, this is definitely a great thriller to pick up.

Favorite Quotes: “Some people will never believe you no matter how hard you explain yourself. Trust me, there’s no pleasing people. If they’re determined to think the worst of you, they will.”

“You don’t owe anyone your whole story.”

“And people hate that quality in a young woman, don’t they? They don’t know what to do with a girl who isn’t looking for their approval. They feel like they have to bring her down a peg.”

“It’s better to be interesting than likable.”

“Men don’t protect us, not really. They only protect themselves, or each other. The only thing men ever protected me from was happiness.”