"Three Little Lies"

“Three Little Lies”

Written by Laura Marshall

Reviewed by Diana Iozzia

I was a bit surprised by “Three Little Lies”, in good ways and ways that I did not like so much. I felt there to be little to no suspense, but I enjoyed reading about each character and learning more. Unfortunately, this book did not really stand out to me. Although I enjoyed the experience of reading the book, in the long run, I do not feel like this was that great of a thriller. I usually expect more.

I enjoyed the initial premise: Sasha, Karina, and Ellen are friends who love to hate each other, whose friendship is ruined by one party. Karina was raped at the party, held at the house of the Monktons, a nice family who took Sasha in after she was taken away from her drug-addicted mother. The Monktons consist of Olivia and Tony, the parents, and Daniel and Nicholas, the sons. Both hold a candle for Sasha, but Karina holds a candle for the boys. When Karina is raped at the party, she accuses Daniel with evidence of assault. Years later, we also see these characters and how they have been affected. Sasha has gone missing, and it seems that Ellen is the only one looking.

This story had a great beginning, but it began to falter when nothing seemed to be occurring, other than the reveal of information. Ellen speaks to many different characters, hoping to find out why Sasha has fled. We eventually are clued into why, and the climatic reveal was surprising but not completely unexpected.

I enjoyed reading this book and diving in, but I felt that if I hadn’t read it all in two sittings, I would have become a bit disinterested. A story that only progresses with information revealed is not that brilliant for me. I felt that a lot of the plot was placed conveniently to create a longer story, but for large portions of the story, we just did not have much occurring. I felt that this book could easily blend into five others I’ve read this year.

I recommend this book if you do not read it in depth. To look at it complexly will give the right impression, but you might not enjoy it as much. This is one that should be read for pure fun, not because it’s a well-written and thought-out thriller. I will absolutely read this author’s other books, because I enjoyed the characterization, certain scenes, and general mysteries. Also, a small gripe: what are the three little lies? There are tons of lies, and I’m not quite sure how to determine which are mentioned in the title...

I recommend this book to those who enjoy thrillers that are based on toxic female friendships, which have been a favorite type of thriller recently. I recommend this book to fans of “If We Were Villains”, “Necessary People”, “Genuine Fraud”, “The Perfect Fraud”, and Liane Moriarty’s books.