A review by yvo_about_books
A Game of Lies by Clare Mackintosh

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

3.5

Finished reading: April 11th 2024


"The show's all about exposing the contestants' lies. But you should know: Miles is the biggest liar of them all."

*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***

I confess that I've been a bit worried about this one... I wasn't exactly a fan of The Last Party and I hadn't realized that A Game Of Lies was actually the second book of that series when I requested a copy. Still, I usually do love a good reality TV angle in thrillers, so I decided to just dive in and see how things would go. Thankfully this sequel somehow ended up working a lot better for me in the end! I'm still not a fan of the main character Ffion, but the reality TV element made for an excellent distraction along the way.

It's actually kind of funny how much I'm drawn to thrillers with a reality TV element considering the fact that I would NEVER watch this kind of contest on TV. I guess knowing that most shows are complete trainwrecks is more fun for me to read about than watch Anyhow, Exposure without doubt fits the bill of bad reality TV that people can't help but watch. Is it fun for the contestants? Absolutely not. But the promise of secrets, drama and ruined lives makes it very easy to believe that the show would be a big hit. And this makes the plot so much more plausible...

Like I said, I'm still not a fan of Ffion at all. I didn't like her in the first book, and she doesn't exactly redeem herself in this sequel. The constant tension between her and Leo as well as the whole love triangle vibe doesn't help either, and having to spend time with both characters was probably my least favorite part of the story. I did love her dog Dave though, and the role he played in the plot. As for the rest of the cast... The Exposure contestants and other people involved aren't exactly likeable either, but somehow this bothered me less as I wasn't expecting them to be. I was more intrigued by what they were trying to hide, and what they could offer as potential suspects... Proof that sometimes unlikeable characters don't have to be a bad thing.


A Game Of Lies uses a multiple POV structure, and there are a lot of different characters and POVs to keep track of. It might take a little time to keep them apart, but I think the multiple POV structure actually worked in the story's favor this time around. It ment spending less time with each unlikeable character, and the focus was more on the plot instead of a thorough character development. There are also some jumps between past and present that will need your full attention; you will have to keep track of the dates mentioned or you might get confused otherwise.

I don't want to give away too much of the plot to avoid spoilers, but A Game Of Lies has plenty of action, secrets and lies for you in store. And yes, you will even get a dose of murder and a LOT of potential suspects along the way... If you don't mind unlikeable characters and are intrigued by a reality TV element, this sequel might just be the book for you. It can even quite easily be read as a stand-alone without missing out on too much other than some character background. 
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