The Girl Who Lied: The bestselling psychological drama

I very much enjoyed the characters in this book. I definitely had an idea of exactly who they were and even what they looked like. I even caught myself thinking quite a bit about Kerry, and thinking he was a real person. It was a delightful story.

I read this book because it was put on the list Kindle said I would like. I ended up reading it because I did. I even went so far as to hooking it up to the Bluetooth in my car and having it read to me while driving. I was given a gift while reading the book. It was something I had put to the wayside in a fast-paced, hard and overwhelming time for me. It reminded me of what for the majority of my life was lived for, Family. Sue Fortin, the author, has woven a story of how deep a love a mother has for her children and how far she would go to make them happy. She tells how the diverse ways of love each parent has at a particular time can change the course of a life. In the end, it all comes back to the Love of Family that makes the sense of Life. I was left, after finishing the book, with questions about my own life and how I had let part of me and what I believed in be pushed deep into a place inside so I could just exist. I didn't think about anything else except getting through a very rough time in my life by shutting out the people who I should have leaned on and loved deeply, my Family. This book will mean many different things to each of you that read it. Mostly because, we as humans are all different. In the end, as the author shows us, it all comes back to Love and Family. Thank you Ms. Fortin for writing this book and reminding me I taught my children from the day they were born Family and Love is the most important thing in life. I had forgotten that myself. I am happy to say, I am on my way back to being the person my parents raised that way and the beautiful family my husband and I raised the same. Thank you again....

I confess that I cannot understand the praise for this book. It is sort of entertaining and moves along at a good pace, but other than that...Have we not moved beyond life altering shame over a teenage pregnancy? Have we not come to understand that giving a child up for adoption can be an act of boundless love and not abandonment? I hate that a contemporary book can offer such hateful themes and narratives. And since when is it ok to kidnap a child out of malice and suffer no consequences - not even public exposure or apology? I simply don't understand the themes and narratives here. Character development is weak. People veer between distaste and cruelty to love and lust in moments. Anger is white hot and spills out at the least provocation. Everyone seems to need therapy and anger management. And, her 10 year old seems as intelligent as most 5 year olds today. Bad portrayal. Finally, I can't end without commenting yet again on the lack of editing/proofreading in the book. It really cheapens the product when it is full of grammar and spelling errors. They are quite frequent and really cheapen the product. I realize that it's an ebook, but still... I expect more.

Secrets, secrets, secrets, the damage they can do. Erin and Roisin were close friends until a fatal accident altered both their lives. The book starts with Erin receiving an email from Roisin claiming that she knows the secret Erin has been hiding for all these years. Erin keeps ignoring Roisin but when her father falls ill she has to return home to Ireland and in doing so, see Roisin. Roisin on the other hand does not give up. I found Roisin to be a really horrible character, there was nothing about her that drew you in to her and nothing to like. Erin on the other hand I was drawn too, she is strong and had a depth of humanity that Roisin lacked. As the story progresses and we learn more about what happened I found myself totally enthralled in the story. Family is a dominate theme in this book and there are several more characters we get to know in this process. This was very cleverly written work, full of suspence and tension and also had quite a few surprises. Highly recommended.

Spoilers Ahead.... but not really, because I might be saving you the time and annoyance that I didn't save myself.If you are perusing the listings, looking for a book with a bunch of unlikeable half wits for characters that take deranged ideas, run with them and then never endure any consequences... well you have found your book my friend!The cast of characters include:The pairing of Erin and Kerry.-Erin is a guarded woman with a troubled past and terrible taste in men... sounds great huh!? (look forward to many apologies from this one that make you want to just shake her and be like "stick up for yourself already!")-Kerry- the love interest who is not only super judgmental and overstepping, but has mommy issues to boot! Sexy right?-Marie and Jim-Jim is in a comma... which results in him being less annoying than pretty much any other character-Marie- well just your average super loving mother that handles problem by trying to kill people... totally forgivable-Roison- bleck! Who cares....and a whole slew of others not even worth mentioning.I gave this a three because the first half of it was easy to read, though I fell into a pit of platitudes, indigestible dialogue and huge plot holes somewhere thereafter.

I'm not entirely sure I would call it a psychological thriller, but it was an easy read book I couldn't put down with identifiable characters - they always make for a good story. Halfway through you can work out the 'twist' in the story, surprises are few and far between but I enjoyed wiling away a few hours reading it.The writers descriptions of people and places are extremely good and you are able to build a mental image of both easily; that's a nice ability to have, being able to transport the reader to the place you can envisage in your own head. I particularly like Kerry although I'm not entirely sure if someone like him would exist in the real world - I am aware it's a work of fiction but I do like to think of the characters in a book as being real :)The only 2 gripes I really had were the excessive overuse of the characters names when they were chatting - something so many new authors seem to do these days; if there are 2 people in a room and one starts a conversation we don't need to be told after every single sentence which one has said what. It's quite easy to know who is speaking. The other gripe is ending each sentence with she said, he said, said he, said she. There are only so many "saids" on a page a person can cope with. The repetition did make me consider not reading further than the first few pages.

Objectively, The Girl Who Lied is not a dire novel, but when approached expecting the “gripping psychological thriller” that it is billed as, it certainly proves a sore disappointment. In reality the novel is a mediocre family drama with thin characterisation and a romance befitting a young adult audience. From the off much of the story is predictable, the “secrets” glaring obvious, and with the major disclosure explicitly revealed at approximately 20% of the way through, the novel doesn’t offer too much food for thought. In fact, it is the very definition of lightweight, switch-off reading, albeit with some mixed messages about motherhood, one or two stereotypical characters and an on/off romance that goes from meeting to being madly in love within the course of a week. Yet for all my criticisms the book kept me relatively engaged with enough moments of perceptive insight to ensure I never tuned out or put it aside.Living and working in London for the past ten-years, Erin Hurley’s childhood in the small village of Rossway on the Irish coast is a distant memory and one she wishes to leave firmly in the past. Having reinvented herself as a beauty therapist and employed by her pompous toff boyfriend and boss, Ed Hamilton, who runs his own London spa, the arrival of several emails from her former frenemy back home, Roisin Marshall, reawakens everything she has tried so desperately to leave behind. Claiming to have something of interest to Erin and alluding to her lies of a decade ago when she dated Roisin’s older brother, Niall, a vengeful Roisin threatens to stir up the heartbreak of the past with the potential to destroy Erin’s family. Yet before Erin can even decide how to respond to Roisin’s missives, her father has a fall, bangs his head and is rushed into intensive care. Apprehensive to return to Rossway given an already strained relationship with her father, Jim, the forthcoming confrontation with Roisin means an anxious Erin plans for a very fleeting visit.Pretty soon after arriving back in Rossway however, Roisin’s allegations surrounding the circumstances of Erin’s rushed departure a decade ago get decidedly warmer as she broaches the fatal car crash that ended her brother’s life. Threatening to drop a bombshell and disclose some home truths to the Hurley family, the arrival of Hooray Henry boyfriend, Ed, making lots of jokes about the yokels and Jim’s slow recovery add to Erin’s turmoil. Already holding the fort at the family cafe with the help of her older sister and mother of two, Fiona, in the absence of their parents, a burgeoning romance with a local bike mechanic, Kerry, with a troubled past and his own demons keeps Erin decidedly busy. But for selfish Roisin who has always blamed Erin for the car crash death of her brother when the pair eloped, and her functioning alcoholic mother who gave up on life when Niall died, she is determined to resurrect old history...Although the principal mystery is made clear very early on in the story, the rest of the novel is not without intrigue and it is undoubtedly interesting to see the further undisclosed secrets, lies and animosity that have emanated from this initial secret and gone on to cause no end of family strife and acrimony. Most of the revelations that follow are admittedly heavily signposted well in advance of being unveiled but one or two do surprise. This story is as much about the value of overcoming the past and airing secrets in order to become a closer family unit as it is about handling the disclosures in such a way that they cause minimal harm and upset for all parties involved. Fortin’s story does, however, overstep the mark with its attitude to abortion, adoption and a mother’s primary responsibility, with characters such as Kerry, with his own chequered family history proving a little too holier-than-thou. Thank goodness therefore that the corny romance with Erin, complete with lover’s tiffs and on/off melodrama occupies most of his thoughts!I did find the narrative rather jumpy in the sense that sequential chapters were often written from differing perspectives and although I did not necessarily expect this to be overtly stated, I personally felt that the story did not always follow intuitively. Flashbacks into Erin’s life prior to her departure from Rossway at the age of sixteen are drip-fed throughout and add more clarity to the events which have gone before.The central theme of The Girl Who Lied is the damaging effects of family secrets and a mother’s responsibility to her child. Weak characterisation, and the archaic view of the role of a mother makes for an occasionally sanctimonious tone and the lack of character development means that what is a potentially divisive issue goes unexplored. Whilst there are moments of intrigue within the story, thrills and suspense are sadly lacking. A passable family drama with added romance that does not live long in the memory.

I read this novel on a 9 hour flight back from my brother’s wedding in November and found that it kept me thoroughly entertained for the entire journey!The novel is very easy to read and I really cared about what was happening. Even now, after reading several other books in between, I am able to recall the plot and the characters fairly clearly which is quite rare for me as often when you’ve read a number of books they can become quite hazy and begin to blur into one!The plot revolves around family life and the damage / destruction that secrets can bring about… I don’t know if I’d necessarily class it as a thriller but I enjoyed it all the same.There were a couple of bits of the novel that I found to be overly / unnecessarily cheesy such as the stereotypical characters involved in the romance part of the novel. But at the same time these did also feel quite familiar and comforting.I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for a novel to read while on holiday. It is very intriguing but it is also very easy to read which means that you don’t need to use too much brain power!

I found this novel intense and completely compelling. There was a sense of threat from the start that meant I was metaphorically looking over my shoulder the whole way through. The characters were very well drawn, each with complex motivations and experiences that made them who they were. It was fascinating trying to work them out based on partial information, and then understanding more as their background was gradually revealed. The central character, Erin’s, romantic relationships worked brilliantly as a counterpoint to the other elements of the plot, and the ending provided resolution and hope. Highly recommended.

I can't believe this is labelled a psychological thriller it is the most one dimensional boring book I've ever read! The characters are developed very amateurly and without giving any spoilers away nobody goes "missing" until over halfway through the book and even then calling her missing is a stretch!Painfully boring, absolutely wouldn't recommend