Monday 24 September 2018

#BookReview Three Little Lies by Laura Marshall @GrandCentralPub

Three Little Lies by Laura Marshall
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

When Sasha disappears, Ellen fears the worst. Then long-buried secrets resurface, Ellen realizes she may not know Sasha -- or what she's capable of -- at all.

2005: 17 year old Ellen falls under the spell of glamorous newcomer, Sasha. As Ellen is welcomed into Sasha's family, she doesn't see the darkness that lies beneath their musical, bohemian lifestyle. At a New Year's Eve party, events come to a dramatic head, resulting in a court case (in which Ellen is a key witness) that means family life at the Corner House will never be the same again.

2018: Now 30, Ellen and Sasha are still entwined in each other's lives and sharing a flat in London. When Sasha disappears, Ellen fears the worst. She has gone missing like this before and the police won't take it seriously, but long-buried events in their shared past mean that Ellen has good reason to be frightened - not only for Sasha, but also for herself. Finding out the truth about what really happened on New Year's Eve twelve years ago puts Ellen in terrible danger, and forces her to confront not only the past, but how well she really knows her best frien
d.

**********

I read FREIND REQUEST by Laura Marshall last year and it was a smashing thriller. Would Marshall be able to repeat this achievement? Is THREE LITTLE LIES just as good? To be frank, not quite. It's still a good book. However, storywise didn't it capture my interest in the same way and the ending felt a bit too expected.

Still, the writing is good, there is a flow to the story that I love and the story never bores me. The change between different characters was a great move especially since I found Ellen to be a bit too naive for my taste. The story is set both in 2005 (and forward) and 2017 (the blurb says 2018, but the book says 2017). However, Ellen never felt like a grown-up to me in 2017. Like she never truly grew up. Also, that she was so blind when it came to Sasha made me a bit annoyed. They even lived together and still, she seemed so clueless.

What I found most interesting with the story was just the mystery of what really happened in 2006. I wanted to know the truth. And, even though I never truly felt connected to Ellen and the rest of the characters so did I feel that my curiosity kept me going. I just wished the ending had been a bit more of a surprise. It felt a bit flat, to be honest. Too predictable.

THREE LITTLE LIES is a book that just didn't rock my socks. It fails to be truly thrilling, however, the writing is good. It's the story that just fails to grab me, which is a bummer because I really liked FRIEND REQUEST. I hope the next Laura Marshall book will appeal more to me.

I want to thank Grant Central Publishing for providing me with a free copy for an honest review!

Three Little Lies by Laura Marshall

2 comments:

  1. I love books where secrets are exposed. They rarely stay buried and when they come to light it's usually a bad thing.
    sherry @ fundinmental

    ReplyDelete
  2. I can't enter as I am UK, I have Friend Request to read & like the sound of this, thanks xxx

    Lainy http://www.alwaysreading.net

    ReplyDelete