Book Review: Never Lie

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Genre: Thriller

*4.5

Wow. Simply wow. How does one come up with such plot twists? I did not see that coming at all! This is now my second favorite thriller after the silent patient. A must read from Frieda’s books for sure!

Continue reading for more details.

Synopsis:

Newlyweds Tricia and Ethan are searching for the house of their dreams.

But when they visit the remote manor that once belonged to Dr. Adrienne Hale, a renowned psychiatrist who vanished without a trace four years earlier, a violent winter storm traps them at the estate… with no chance of escape until the blizzard comes to an end.

In search of a book to keep her entertained until the snow abates, Tricia happens upon a secret room. One that contains audio transcripts from every single patient Dr. Hale has ever interviewed. As Tricia listens to the cassette tapes, she learns about the terrifying chain of events leading up to Dr. Hale’s mysterious disappearance.

Tricia plays the tapes one by one, late into the night. With each one, another shocking piece of the puzzle falls into place, and Dr. Adrienne Hale’s web of lies slowly unravels.

And then Tricia reaches the final cassette.

The one that reveals the entire horrifying truth.

Review:

Tricia and Ethan seem quite different from each other. Ethan was a good husband, but a scary guy who can get irritated and angry very easily. Tricia, on the other hand, seemed quite fragile and soft. I felt like these two’s relationship in the long term would be difficult. Though, this is not about their relationship, but their differences made this book more intriguing. Was Ethan in denial or was Tricia delusional? It really made me put myself in Tricia’s shoes to see what I would've thought in that situation.

“How are you? The three most useless words in the universe of communication. Nobody who asks that question wants to know the answer. And nobody who answers ever tells the truth.”

Frieda has multiple twists and turns, especially towards the end of the book! The mini twists I see coming, but that's because Frieda gives us hints that could allow us to figure those out if we were paying attention to the details. Her bigger, main twists, on the other hand, are totally something else! Never can you see them coming and when they show up, I can't believe they happened. They are unique and tie well into the story, it doesn't seem out of place. I do say that people could frown upon the fact that there are no visible hints to the bigger plot twists, but I don't necessarily think they make no sense.

“I believe that any human being is capable of terrible things if you push them hard enough.”

I did find a bit of the book, while the couple was in the house, felt a little slow and just like nothing significant was happening. The recordings of the sessions were interesting to read about and the past too because that had a different storyline focused on Dr. Adrianna Hale which felt wayy more high stakes. Though the present storyline was still intriguing. I love how both the past and present storylines end up connecting and we're not left confused about what was the purpose of either.

“Apparently, asking him to commit murder was a deal breaker.”

***MINI-SPOILER***

Everyone is crazy/mentally unstable

***MINI-SPOILER**

Overall,

Recommended for Lovers Of: