Deceit, Adult
e-Audio, 11:16:42
Narrated by: Karissa Vacker
Release Date: January 17, 2023
Published by: Macmillan Audio
Read from: January 12-13, 2023
Stand-alone
Source: Netgalley (I received a copy of this audiobook from Netgalley and the Publisher in exchange for a just and honest review. This did nothing to influence my review.)
TW: Death, Romance, Gaslighting, Suicide attempt, suicide, Murder, Gun Violence
For Readers Interested In: Thrillers, Mysteries, Contemporary, Lies andThey were eleven when they sent a killer to prison . . .
They were heroes . . . but they were liars.
Naomi Shaw used to believe in magic. Twenty-two years ago, she and her two best friends, Cassidy and Olivia, spent the summer roaming the woods, imagining a world of ceremony and wonder. They called it the Goddess Game. The summer ended suddenly when Naomi was attacked. Miraculously, she survived her seventeen stab wounds and lived to identify the man who had hurt her. The girls’ testimony put away a serial killer, wanted for murdering six women. They were heroes.
And they were liars.
For decades, the friends have kept a secret worth killing for. But now Olivia wants to tell, and Naomi sets out to find out what really happened in the woods—no matter how dangerous the truth turns out to be.
*MY THOUGHTS*
I don’t know what I enjoyed more… Reading this book, or trying to figure out a way to write this review without spoilers. When I tell you I wanted to talk about EVERYTHING dealing with this book! I know there’s some things I won’t be able to say and it’s killing me! But I guess I’ll do my best. Because this deserves the hype that people have been giving it!
Ok so first off let’s talk about the plot. I LOVED that they told us right away what they lied about. I hate those thrillers that will give you half the details in the hopes of keeping you from guessing who the killer is. In this one we learn pretty early on what happened and they start to answer why they did it instead. I also liked the way the rest of the clues were doled out. Because listen, I was questioning literally everyone lol I was even thinking maybe it WAS who they said it was even though they admitted lying! It was so good.
Which is why I feel so foolish for worrying. Ok so I was not a fan of one of Marshall’s MG books. Idk I just couldn’t get into it. I tried reading one of her YA books and I did like that one, so now I have to re-examine what happened. Because when I tell you I couldn’t put this down! I had to stop at like 80% because the work day was over and I usually only listen to audiobooks when I’m working. But I couldn’t stop this one. I ended up doing household chores just so I could have an excuse to do something and still listen. I just couldn’t stop.
The predictability is another thing I wanted to talk about. When I read thrillers or mysteries, I ALWAYS try to guess the culprit before the main characters. After all the books I’ve read, I’m usually pretty good about it. But this one stumped me. I guessed one part of it, but there was still a lot of stuff that I was missing. And usually this comes because the author withholds certain details until the last minute and that annoys me. But Marshall didn’t do this and it made me love this even more. She gave us all the facts and the info and I still was only able to guess one part of the mystery correctly.
The characters were cool too. I couldn’t trust any of them lol And I mean that. It sounds weird because you shouldn’t trust anyone in a thriller anyway, but I didn’t trust anyone from the very beginning. Even the main character admitted to lying lol And I LOVED that they weren’t told as drunks or drug addicts to be unreliable. I’m so glad we’re moving away from that era. I’m over it. There are other ways to make someone unreliable and this author did a great job at it. However, since everyone had a sob story, it made it a little hard to remember who everyone was. The authors throws reminders out, so you don’t forget completely, but sometimes they might be few and far between.
This thriller was fast paced and hella interesting. It really made me think. I hate to say it that way, but I don’t know the last time I was THAT into a thriller where I actually had to actively try and figure it out. This was fun and I really hope Marshalls dives even further into the adult thriller genre. I can’t wait to see what she does with it.
Overall, I give this
