Narration notes ~ fine job, but wish I could've sped it up some more without it skipping. Her voice was a little slow and I really wish there were 2 different narrators or some distinction between characters. I'm wondering if I would've enjoyed it a tad more if I read it rather than listened. Poor writing. If this tried to be a read-it-again-for-a-different-story type of book, it failed. Mood setting is lousy. And I never appreciated the inner dialogues that just keeps on going in circles which only serves to make the characters look dumber but I get it, it does help fill the word count. For once, if the floor creaks I'd want someone to actually investigate and not be like 'it be like that sometimes', 'that's just how it be' or not dismiss it with 'maybe that's just — ', 'i guess it's —', if not, you best believe I'll be rooting for your character to dies first. Don’t let him manipulate you,” Ethan says. “He isn’t a good person. He killed [spoiler]. He killed one of the people closest to him. What kind of person does that?”

Never Lie Summary and Study Guide | SuperSummary Never Lie Summary and Study Guide | SuperSummary

Very good book. There’s lots of murder. Made me glad I am not a therapist or psychologist, because you have the potential to see very unstable people. This book's saving grace is that these two dysfunctional human beings ended up together, saving the world from their chaos. Well done, they deserve each other. exhibit B: showing of a real estate property that's not been cleaned or staged yet has food in store ... like that's not weird at all Anytime someone goes house shopping and set their eyes on the people-may-or-may-not-have-died-here-but-you-can-get-it-for-a-low-low-price-of-uhmm-say-your-eternal-soul it's a plot hole for sure.Newlyweds Tricia and Ethan are snowed in during their viewing at the creepy, dusty, secluded mcmansion once owned by Dr. Adrienne Hale, who mysteriously disappeared without a trace four years ago. When Tricia finds her secret tapes of her sessions, she starts listening to get to the bottom of the doctor's disappearance. It’s so hard to concentrate on anything with the juvenile-esque writing style. It would be different if any of the characters were interesting or had a personality, but we don’t have that here either. Unless you count the female MC being utterly vapid as having a personality. Not my jam. I’ve given two books a shot now and am not even a little impressed.

Never Lie by Freida McFadden | Goodreads Never Lie by Freida McFadden | Goodreads

Ethan is fascinated and desperately wants this home. On the other side of the coin, Tricia says, (to herself) over her dead body will she ever agree to live here! But when they visit the remote manor that once belonged to Dr. Adrienne Hale, a renowned psychiatrist who vanished without a trace four years earlier, a violent winter storm traps them at the estate… with no chance of escape until the blizzard comes to an end.

Tricia and Ethan decided to stay in the house until the snow let up. They explored the house. Ethan was sure this was the house for them. It was perfect! Tricia wasn’t so sure. Ethan made himself right at home. He discovered fresh cold cuts and other items in the fridge and proceeded to make lunch for both Tricia and himself. This made Tricia even more nervous that someone else was in the house with them. Ethan even took a shower and helped himself to clothes that he found in the master bedroom. While Ethan showered, Tricia found a bookcase by the staircase. She decided to take one of the books to read. To her surprise, the bookcase moved and revealed a hidden room with recorded tapes of all Dr. Hale’s sessions with her patients. Tricia could not resist. She went to Dr. Hale’s office and over the course of the next few days and nights, she listened to all the tapes. More evidence started to materialize that made Tricia even more convinced that her and Ethan were not alone in the house. Were her suspicions correct? What would she learn from the tapes? A book that could’ve been so so good, if the author wasn’t desperate to throw in a twist that absolutely nobody could guess. Where to start, where to start? Ok let's do the writing. I truly believe there are sixth graders who can write more compelling sentences. Here's an excerpt that nearly gave me an aneurysm:

Never Lie, a review by Kristin – The Book Review Crew Never Lie, a review by Kristin – The Book Review Crew

The only thing that bothered me and took this down from a 5 star is that the very surprising twist didn’t make complete sense. It bothers me when authors have a narrator who is telling the story from their point of view and then suddenly, everything from their point of view is a lie, because that doesn’t really make sense logically. If it’s their internal thoughts, how could it all be lies suddenly unless they have like a split personality which was not the case. I was willing to overlook it this time only because this book was so captivating and there was so much going on and so many surprises. A remote manor miles away from anywhere captivated newly-weds, Tricia and Ethan while on a househunting. The castle-like estate once belonged to a renowned psychiatrist Dr. Adrienne Hale who vanished years ago. What they will find inside the mysterious abode is far more than the dream house they are looking for. Never Lie" is a captivating story that centers on the lives of Tricia and Ethan, a couple deeply immersed in the honeymoon phase of their relationship, as they embark on the exciting journey of finding their ideal home. Their plans take an unexpected turn when they find themselves stranded in the midst of a relentless snowstorm, compelling them to seek refuge in the seemingly deserted home of Adrienne Hale, a psychologist who mysteriously vanished without a trace. Tricia and Ethan are a newly-wed couple looking for a home to one day start a family, but Tricia is keeping a secret from her husband.. She is already pregnant!

In search of a book to keep her entertained until the snow abates, Tricia happens upon a secret room. One that contains audio transcripts from every single patient Dr. Hale has ever interviewed. As Tricia listens to the cassette tapes, she learns about the terrifying chain of events leading up to Dr. Hale’s mysterious disappearance. It's dark-lite. Not exactly addictive. It's a psychological thriller by virtue of it being sensational. Popcorn thriller for sure. Never Lie by Freida McFadden was a creepy and suspenseful psychological thriller. It kept my interest for the most part but parts of it were so over the top and almost predictable. I also never developed a real connection with any of the characters and some of the things certain characters did or said made me roll my eyes more often than I would have liked to admit. The chapters were rather short and I did listen to the audiobook in its entirety. I should have figured out the ending way before I did. It was so obvious once I did figure it out. Overall, I didn’t hate it but it was clearly not one of my favorites by Freida McFadden. The audiobook was narrated by Leslie Howard. Sometimes it was hard to distinguish between the different characters but overall the performance was good. Never Lie by Freida McFadden was told from different points of view. Tricia represented the “now” and Dr. Adrienne Hale represented the “ before”. There were many inconsistencies throughout the book. It left me scratching my head and wondering. The ending was quite unexpected and yet based on the rest of the book, it fit. My feelings about this book were in the middle. It was not my favorite but I did not hate it entirely. Some parts just bothered me a lot. I look forward to reading her next book. Lastly, tell me how Tricia can get away with murdering nearly ten people that are all intimately known to her. So her grammy and fiance and besties all die and no one bats an eye? Even Detective Pikachu could make the connections. Cmon now.

Never Lie by Freida McFadden | Waterstones Never Lie by Freida McFadden | Waterstones

Told in the now by Trisha and in the before by Adrienne with some transcripts thrown in for fun. This approach was a good call to build up the suspense. Also, in this economy I can totally understand the urgency to close on a real estate property on a steal price and 100% get on board with living in a mcmansion in the middle of nowhere even if it's with dead corpses. Then we have the aggressive spoon-feeding. I felt like I was being choked to death with the flashing neon sign foreshadowing that Freida deployed. Here's a sample: I don't know about you but when I read psychological thrillers I crave for my brain to be challenged! I want it to be engrossing enough that I analyze everything and actually care about what happens next. The problem I have with this book is that it's dishonest. If you reread it from the beginning, it doesn't make any sense. The MC is the killer and very familiar with the house, yet when reading from HER perspective in her own thoughts, she acts like she has never seen the house before and it's her first time inside it. Even though she gifted the painting to the psychiatrist, in her own head she acts like she's never seen it before. In her thoughts, she pretends to be suspicious of her own husband even though she knows his past and she also knows that she herself is the killer?I finished this last night and there's a reason I try not to read thrillers late at night- they give me nightmares. I couldn't stop reading last night though, so I have myself to blame for the messed-up, crazy nightmare I had. Finally, Tricia and Ethan are ready to buy their first home together. They’ve found a remote house with an extensive but disturbing history. The previous owner mysteriously vanished and is presumed to have been murdered. I never completely meshed with this story. So much of it was over-the-top unrealistic. I think we all want to feel that we could walk in the shoes of the characters we read about even if only for a moment. (Or a chapter). But it just wasn’t possible here. Or the ludicrous twists that may have worked if this book had been written in third person, but in first person are utterly absurd?