The Best Lies by Sarah Lyu Pages: 352
Published by Simon Pulse on July 2, 2019
Genres: Young Adult, Thrillers & Suspense, Psychological Thriller
Source: ARC from Publisher
Remy Tsai used to know how her story would turn out. But now, she doesn’t even know what tomorrow will look like.
She was happy once. Remy had her boyfriend Jack, and Elise, her best friend—her soulmate—who understood her better than anyone else in the world.
But now Jack is dead, shot through the chest—
And it was Elise who pulled the trigger.
Was it self-defense? Or something deeper, darker than anything Remy could have imagined? As the police investigate, Remy does the same, sifting through her own memories, looking for a scrap of truth that could save the friendship that means everything to her.
Told in alternating timelines, Thelma and Louise meets Gone Girl in this twisted psychological thriller about the dark side of obsessive friendship.
The Best Lies is a young adult psychological thriller by authro Sarah Lyu. In fact, it is Sarah Lyu’s debut novel. I have been on a big true crime kick for about a year now, with youtube, and podcasts and documentaries on netflix, but I have not read too many crime thrillers. After reading The Best Lies by Sarah Lyu, I am thinking that is something I will need to rectify soon. I really enjoyed The Best Lies.
The Best Lies starts out at a crime scene. Right off the bat, we know Jack is killed and that Elise and Remy were with him that night. But the best Lies really explores the why of the killing. This story is told in two timelines- present day and the year leading up to the present day. I really appreciated that even though we were alternating between present and past, that the past timeline was not too far back in the past. We saw the last year of Remy and Elise’s life, leading up to the aftermath of Jack’s death.
Some parts of The Best Lies were a bit predictable, but I still really enjoyed the ride. I loved the psychological aspect of the story. Remy, Elise and Jack all came from broken homes, in some way or another. Remy and Jack were dating and Remy and Elise were best friends. The Best Lies explores the dark side of those relationships, and some of the more unhealthy aspects. I thought it was a refreshing change of pace to see the dark side coming from the friendship and not the romantic relationship. In fact, Jack was my favorite character in the whole book. (yes, I know that is a kind of a bummer…) Remy and Elise are both complex characters, but I kind of wish we got to see a different facet of who Elise was.
If you are a fan of psychological thrillers and crime novels, I think you will really enjoy Sarah Lyu’s debut novel. The best lies is a character driven story that is fast paced and gripping. I sped through this in a short few hours and I loved the whole thing. I can’t wait to see what is next from author Sarah Lyu.
About Sarah Lyu
Hi, I’m Sarah, a Young Adult Fiction author. The Best Lies is my debut novel and I’m hard at work on another thrilling story!
sounds like a good one. thanks for sharing the great review
sherry @ fundinmental