elderwoodreads's review against another edition
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I wasn't sure how I felt about this book for most of it. I feel like I enjoy this as extended character study but the story was weird and disjointed. As others have said the ending is incredibly abrupt and out of nowhere. Ultimately I really enjoyed Stephen's chapters and inner world even if I vehemently disagree with it. I think if you like the show it's worth a shot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Fatphobia, Toxic relationship, Eating disorder, Alcohol, and Car accident
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, and Misogyny
Minor: Blood, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Ableism, Vomit, and Violence
jennabeck13's review against another edition
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Tell Me Lies by Carola Lovering
⭐️ (1/5)
Genre: Romance
About 370 pages
Lucy is searching for who she wants to be when she arrives at Baird’s campus in California. She is young and naive which is how she falls into Stephen’s trap. The two start an on-again, off-again romance as they can’t resist each other despite knowing they aren’t good for one another. Tell Me Lies tells the story of their relationship during college, their transition to the professional world, and beyond.
Keeping this brief… I did not like this book. It felt like it was promoting toxic relationships and in my opinion, there were no “positive” moments in Lucy and Stephen’s relationship. GoodReads promotes this as a “coming of age” story and a romance, but I think it was the opposite. While I think addressing themes like those in this book is important, I don’t think it was done properly here.
Favorite Quote: “Love—real love—isn’t something you construct or hope or imagine or plan for the future. Love is something you live and feel in real-time, in every single moment, big or small. It’s reciprocal and often unglamorous. But we bank on it because it’s what gives life meaning.”
Content Warnings
Moderate: Car accident, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Gaslighting, and Toxic relationship
afroheaux's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I'm in between 3.5 and 3.75 for this book because I enjoyed the writing style, and it kept me engaged throughout, but I didn't like it. Throughout the book, I was just waiting for something that just didn't happen. The author is an incredible writer. I love the way she describes things. She clearly did a lot of good research for this because Stephen's tone and thought process is accurate to the mindset of a sociopath. The style is similar to the Luckiest Girl Alive, and I should've known after seeing a raving review from that author about this book that this wasn't going to be my favorite. However, Lucy, even though I did not like her much, was a bit more endearing to me than TifAni.
Stephen is a horrible person, but I do think it's important to write books about people like him to show people how they think and operate. I'm sure this book could be a great wake-up call to someone who's stuck in a relationship like this to break the delusions of what you think the other person feels for you. What I love the most about the way she wrote Stephen is that he was incredibly honest with many around him, but people didn't want to listen. They only heard what they wanted to hear from him. Everything else painted him as a creep, so they ignored it. As someone who has had their own toxic (somewhat) codependent relationship that wasn't a relationship, I can understand Lucy's thought process well, and yet even that didn't endear me to her. The eating disorder references were hard to get through. As someone who is recovering, it's hard to read through the mind of someone who has contempt for someone who looks like you.
Stephen is a horrible person, but I do think it's important to write books about people like him to show people how they think and operate. I'm sure this book could be a great wake-up call to someone who's stuck in a relationship like this to break the delusions of what you think the other person feels for you. What I love the most about the way she wrote Stephen is that he was incredibly honest with many around him, but people didn't want to listen. They only heard what they wanted to hear from him. Everything else painted him as a creep, so they ignored it. As someone who has had their own toxic (somewhat) codependent relationship that wasn't a relationship, I can understand Lucy's thought process well, and yet even that didn't endear me to her. The eating disorder references were hard to get through. As someone who is recovering, it's hard to read through the mind of someone who has contempt for someone who looks like you.
Spoiler
The "Unforgivable Thing" being her "canon event" and powers her decision-making throughout the detrimental relationship with Stephen just didn't make much sense to me, honestly. Lucy herself wasn't the best person, which she is honest about, and I wish that were focused on more rather than the fact that seeing her mom have sex with her childhood crush (who was almost a decade older than her) made her this awful person. What confounds me the most about the ending is how she saw bringing this event to light improved her relationships with her entire family, and they were able to heal. Why not air some of that truth for Macy as well? Why not give her family the peace of knowing the truth like you now know? Why allow Stephen to walk around and continue to do horrible things to other people, knowing he's a murderer? The ending was dissatisfying because even though Lucy has physically removed him from her life, she's still protecting him. I'm glad that she decided to remove herself from the toxic environment she created for herself, but there's much left to be desired by the ending.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Drug use, and Toxic relationship
shelbycundiff's review against another edition
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Alcohol, and Drug use
cbook1211's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
3.5
Addictive read at the start, and emotionally challenging. But the ending fell flat to me
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug use, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Car accident, and Cursing
mandarrr's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Misogyny, Eating disorder, Sexual content, Death, Drug use, and Emotional abuse
hollyfocht's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Eating disorder and Drug use
sleepswithbooks's review against another edition
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Just an incredibly frustrating read with obnoxious characters. The story is somewhat interesting and engaging, but every chapter is essentially the same with nothing new happening with the characters. Dumb kids making dumb choices. Ending was terrible.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Body shaming, Car accident, Drug use, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, and Infidelity
courtneys317's review against another edition
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship
Moderate: Car accident, Drug use, Eating disorder, Infidelity, and Sexual content
Minor: Mental illness
sprucewillow's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Drug use, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Sexual content, Mental illness, and Fatphobia
Minor: Vomit, Car accident, and Death