The Five Year Lie
Author: Sarina Bowen
Publication Date: May 7, 2024
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Fiction
Note: This review is for an ARC and is my unbiased opinion.
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Synopsis:
Bestselling romance author Sarina Bowen’s debut thriller, about one woman’s search for the truth after receiving a text from her deceased ex.
She thought it was love. Then he vanished.
On an ordinary Monday morning, Ariel Cafferty’s phone buzzes with a disturbing text message. Something’s happened. I need to see you. Meet me under the candelabra tree ASAP. The words would be jarring from anyone, but the sender is the only man she ever loved. And it’s been several years since she learned he died.
Seeing Drew’s name pop up is heart-stopping. Ariel’s gut says it can’t be real. But she goes to the tree anyway. She has to.
Nobody shows. But the text upends everything she thought she knew about the day he left her. The more questions she asks, the more sinister the answers get. Only two things are clear: everything she was told five years ago is wrong, and someone is still lying to her.
The truth has to be out there somewhere. To safeguard herself—and her son—she’ll have to find it before it finds her. And with it, the answer to what became of Drew.
For fans of Laura Dave and Julie Clark, but with a heart-stopping romance that only Sarina Bowen can execute, The Five Year Lie is a page-turning, spine-tingling thriller that will have you guessing until the very end.
Sarina Bowen is a favorite romance author of mine so I knew I loved her writing, but I had no idea how her talents would fit into a thriller. The answer: perfectly. I loved The Five Year Lie! It had my attention from the first page and kept me intrigued the entire length of the book. Bowen set this mystery up to play out in an entertaining and suspenseful way. Each new thing that Ariel learned or that I was given by other characters kept me wanting more. I loved how the timeline went back and forth between the present and 5 years prior to give us other pieces of the story as well. It feels weird to call a thriller fun, but I found The Five Year Lie to be exactly that.
What else can I say about this book? Not much. You wouldn’t want me to because I would be giving away way too much. What I will say is that if you enjoy mysteries and thrillers, this is a fun one to read. You will love the characters and want to know what happened just as much as they do.
Everything We Never Said
Author: Sloan Harlow
Publication Date: May 28, 2024
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
Genre: Young Adult, Thriller, Romance
Note: This review is for an ARC and is my unbiased opinion.
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Synopsis:
Dark romance, high stakes, and plot twists abound in this paperback original YA thriller that’s perfect for fans of Colleen Hoover.
What you don’t know can hurt you….
It’s been months since the accident that killed Ella’s best friend, Hayley, and Ella can’t stop blaming herself. Now Ella is back at school, and everywhere she looks are reminders of her best friend—including Sawyer, Hayley’s boyfriend. Little by little, they grow closer, until Ella realizes something horrifying . . .
She’s in love with her dead best friend’s boyfriend.
Racked with guilt, Ella turns to Hayley’s journal, hoping she’ll find something in the pages that will make her feel better about what’s happening. Instead, she discovers that Sawyer has secrets of his own and that his relationship with Hayley wasn’t as picture-perfect as it seemed.
Ella knows she should stay away but finds herself inextricably drawn to him—and scared of everything she never knew about him. Perhaps it’s his grief. Or maybe his desires, cut short by tragedy. Or could it be something twisted only Hayley knew about?
A dark, romantic thriller perfect for fans of Colleen Hoover and Laura Nowlin, Everything We Never Said explores the secrets in even the best of friendships and asks how well you ever know the ones you love.
Wow. I’m impressed. Everything We Never Said may be Sloan Harlow’s debut novel, but it didn’t feel like it. Harlow crafted a well written, dark, and twisty romance/thriller that I didn’t want to put down. The only reason I did at times was because I had to take a break from the suspense. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me start at the beginning.
Senior year is just beginning for Ella and the students of North Davis High. This year there is no excitement or happiness in the new year for Ella. She is consumed by the grief and despair of losing her best friend Hayley in a car accident last year. Ella blames herself for Hayley’s death and knows she’s not the only one who does. The only person who seems to understand what Ella is going through is Hayley’s boyfriend, Sawyer. When he unexpectedly steps in to help and comfort Ella, she can’t help but start to feel things for him she knows she shouldn’t. Now she has even more to feel guilty about. Ella becomes even more confused when she finds out Hayley didn’t tell her everything about her relationship with Sawyer.
Everything We Never Said was one of those books that felt like it was a living, breathing thing. All of Ella’s feelings were palpable. Her thoughts and feelings moved the story in a captivating way. Just when I thought life was improving for her, big things started happening and the intensity of the story grew. I was constantly on edge waiting for the next thing to surprise me. I felt constant concern and worry for Ella.
Ella wasn’t the only POV in this book. Sawyer also gave insight into what was going on. I liked some of his chapters more than others, but that is understandable if you have read this book. There are also chapters from Hayley’s diary that give insight into her thoughts and feelings prior to the accident. Both of these POVs add different aspects to the story that make the twists and turns even better than they would have been without them.
I can’t really say more without giving too much away. There were some things I guessed were coming, but I could never be 100% sure of anything and there were some big surprises. This story is a ride you will want to experience all on your own. I don’t know that I have been this impressed by a YA thriller debut since Karen M. McManus’s One of Us Is Lying.