BLOG TOUR} This is Why We Lie by. Gabriella Lepore | ARC Review

Welcome to the blog tour for This is Why We Lie by. Gabriella Lepore!

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Title: This is Why We Lie

Author: Gabriella Lepore

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 320

Publication Date: 9/21/21

Publisher: Inkyard Press

Categories: Murder Mystery, Young Adult, Romance

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Inkyard Press for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Riverdale meets One of Us Is Lying in This Is Why We Lie by Gabriella Lepore, a standalone thriller following two teens who discover a body off the coast of their seaside town. As they search for the killer, they will learn the students of both the local prep school and the nearby reform school will do anything to protect their secrets.

Everyone in Gardiners Bay has a secret.

When Jenna Dallas and Adam Cole find Colleen O’Dell’s body floating off the shore of their coastal town, the community of Gardiners Bay is shaken. But even more shocking is the fact that her drowning was no accident.

Once Jenna’s best friend becomes a key suspect, Jenna starts to look for answers on her own. As she uncovers scandals inside Preston Prep School leading back to Rookwood reform school, she knows she needs Adam on her side.

As a student at Rookwood, Adam is used to getting judgmental looks, but now his friends are being investigated by the police. Adam will do whatever he can to keep them safe, even if that means trusting Jenna.

As lies unravel, the truth starts to blur. Only one thing is certain: somebody must take the fall.

This one starts off right away with a dead body and throughout the rest of the book we try to figure out how Colleen died – was it suicide? Was it murder? We uncover secrets with Jenna and Adam who are the narrators of this story. Jenna went to school with Colleen and hung out in the same circle. Adam is from Rookwood reform school where the Preston Prep girls liked to party. Both Jenna and Adam are trying to protect someone they care about, but what really happened the night Colleen died?

The story is told in the present but with past flashbacks, in that way we get to know how these girls meet this Rook boys and how much time Colleen was spending with them.

Jenna is the girl who stayed out of the drama between the girls and not much of a partier. Her best friend Hollie is implicated in the murder of Colleen but she knows her friend couldn’t have done something like that so she tries to find out what happened the night of the murder. Jenna is also friends with Serena, who is the queen bee of Preston Prep School, but they aren’t as close as before so Jenna wasn’t always at these Rook parties. Jenna tries to piece together information and gathers things she’s missing so she can help Hollie.

Adam’s friend Max, who seems to be the leader of their little clique is dating Serena. But at the parties, Max seems a little flirty with Colleen. Adam doesn’t know what really happened to Colleen that night she died but he is going to do his best to protect himself and his friends – he is already on his “second” chance by attending this reform school and he can’t afford to get into deeper trouble.

The other players in this story all have a roll to play and I did figure out who the murderer was halfway through the story, but I did enjoy trying to piece things together.

Triggers: drinking, drug use, death

This is a quick read and I did sort of get confused when the story jumped to the past and showed how Adam and Jenna met before but when they meet again it doesn’t seem like she knows him at all. I guess in a way it adds more suspicion to the story but it made me pause a bit.

I kind of wished there was more to the ending, it was a little rushed.

Why you should read it:

prep school girl/reform school boy trope
quick read
entertaining trying to figure out what really happened

Why you might not want to read it:

lacking character development
rushed ending
past/present timeline

My Thoughts:

This was a very quick read and I enjoyed trying to find out what was going on. I do wish there was more character development and the ending wasn’t so rushed but I think if you just take this story as is, it’s quick, entertaining and if you like the rich girl/bad boy tropes you will enjoy this one.

📚~Yolanda

About the Author:

Gabriella Lepore is a YA author from South Wales in the United Kingdom. She lives in the countryside with her husband James and daughter Sophia. When she isn’t reading or writing, she can usually be found exploring the coastline. She enjoys cups of tea, bookstore coffee shops, stormy beaches, and autumn days.

Twitter: @GabriellaBooks

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