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A review by madlereads
The Lies We Steal by Monty Jay
dark
emotional
funny
medium-paced
4.5
😈 bully romance
🖤 dark college romance
😱 revenge, suspense, murder mystery
🔪 bad boy x bad girl
🥺 found family
🏃♀️ primal
What a fabulous start to this series! I'm hooked.
Alistair and his 3 best friends, aka The Hollow Boys, were supposed to leave their affluent town. But tragedy struck when Silas's girlfriend turned up dead and the investigation was really suspicious. So they take matters into their own hands to get revenge on who's responsible and get down to the bottom of things.
In comes Briar, a former thief, aiming to make a fresh start in a new town. Being the new girl (who's also not rich) gets her all the attention and worst of all, Alistair's. It only gets even worse when she and her best friend Lyra witness the Hollow Boys committing a crime one night.
So Alistair has to make sure Briar keeps her mouth shut 😈
Such a thrilling ride! The first half is actually more plot heavy with it building up the world and the mystery/suspense behind the murder. The romance in the second half really picks up. But I ate up the banter all the way through. Alistair may have stalked and bullied Briar to keep her quiet, but she wasn't going to lay low in this fight 🤣
Their banners and quips were so heated, I was cackling and feeling a little hot under the collar 🥵 Really the banter between all the characters was GOLD. They were unhinged. I seriously love how deep the friendship bonds are too. Even between Lyra and Briar who just met. 🥺
I lovveedd the sexy suspense of Alistair messing with her (and so did Briar.) The obsession and deranged behavior just grew with time. (You bet the spice was spicing.) And I'm glad Briar was just as feral. They were an amazing couple. Alistair not only challenged her and brought her into the darkness where she truly thrives, but she challenged him to want the best of things for himself cause he does deserve them. To be her man, not a *better* man, no. But a man she could love 🥺
The character backgrounds were so well written. I got emotional so many times. With Alistair's and the snippets Slias's stories especially. How Alistair had no choice but to become cruel to survive his awful family. How Silas lost someone so dear to him. 🥺 Briar growing up poor yet being rich in familial love but still being a loner til she found fellow loner friends in Lyra and eventually the Hollow Boys.
The plot had me on the edge of my seat! The suspense of the murder plot had me guessing whodunit. I can't wait to read the rest of the books to see how it all plays out cause they've certainly opened a can of worms with their revenge. The death of their friend is connected to something much bigger.
One thing I will note though, is the glaring amounts of typos and grammatical errors. I understand books having a few but this was quite a bit throughout the book. Perhaps it needed another round of edits? 🙈 I don't think it really affected my enjoyment of the book much, but I did backtrack a few times cause something was waayy off.
I am excited for Thatcher and Lyra though and I think they'll be my favorites just going off their little interactions in this book. 🤭
🖤 dark college romance
😱 revenge, suspense, murder mystery
🔪 bad boy x bad girl
🥺 found family
🏃♀️ primal
What a fabulous start to this series! I'm hooked.
Alistair and his 3 best friends, aka The Hollow Boys, were supposed to leave their affluent town. But tragedy struck when Silas's girlfriend turned up dead and the investigation was really suspicious. So they take matters into their own hands to get revenge on who's responsible and get down to the bottom of things.
In comes Briar, a former thief, aiming to make a fresh start in a new town. Being the new girl (who's also not rich) gets her all the attention and worst of all, Alistair's. It only gets even worse when she and her best friend Lyra witness the Hollow Boys committing a crime one night.
So Alistair has to make sure Briar keeps her mouth shut 😈
Such a thrilling ride! The first half is actually more plot heavy with it building up the world and the mystery/suspense behind the murder. The romance in the second half really picks up. But I ate up the banter all the way through. Alistair may have stalked and bullied Briar to keep her quiet, but she wasn't going to lay low in this fight 🤣
Their banners and quips were so heated, I was cackling and feeling a little hot under the collar 🥵 Really the banter between all the characters was GOLD. They were unhinged. I seriously love how deep the friendship bonds are too. Even between Lyra and Briar who just met. 🥺
I lovveedd the sexy suspense of Alistair messing with her (and so did Briar.) The obsession and deranged behavior just grew with time. (You bet the spice was spicing.) And I'm glad Briar was just as feral. They were an amazing couple. Alistair not only challenged her and brought her into the darkness where she truly thrives, but she challenged him to want the best of things for himself cause he does deserve them. To be her man, not a *better* man, no. But a man she could love 🥺
The character backgrounds were so well written. I got emotional so many times. With Alistair's and the snippets Slias's stories especially. How Alistair had no choice but to become cruel to survive his awful family. How Silas lost someone so dear to him. 🥺 Briar growing up poor yet being rich in familial love but still being a loner til she found fellow loner friends in Lyra and eventually the Hollow Boys.
The plot had me on the edge of my seat! The suspense of the murder plot had me guessing whodunit. I can't wait to read the rest of the books to see how it all plays out cause they've certainly opened a can of worms with their revenge. The death of their friend is connected to something much bigger.
One thing I will note though, is the glaring amounts of typos and grammatical errors. I understand books having a few but this was quite a bit throughout the book. Perhaps it needed another round of edits? 🙈 I don't think it really affected my enjoyment of the book much, but I did backtrack a few times cause something was waayy off.
I am excited for Thatcher and Lyra though and I think they'll be my favorites just going off their little interactions in this book. 🤭
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence, Stalking, and Murder
Moderate: Trafficking
Minor: Suicidal thoughts