The Lying Game: A Novel Hardcover – July 25, 2017

So many twists and turns....when you think you figure it out you are not even close! Wasn't interested in some gossipy girls romance thriller, and this is the furthest thing from that! Nail biting, on the edge of your seat good! I recommend to all thrill seeker readers.Love Ruth Ware books. Already starting the next!

The book kept my interest, was absorbing and suspenseful. BUT (may contain spoilers) the plot was disturbingly implausible and the characters unappealing. First off, Kate’s demanding her friends to disrupt their lives to visit her when in fact she was lying to them and essentially wasting their time. Secondly, Isa’s arrogance walking off to visit Kate two times with her baby irregardless of the needs of her husband and father of the baby. Thirdly, the unrealistic well adjusted behavior of a baby being put through such changes. Fourth, questions left unanswered after such an insane ending: what happens to the dog Shadow after he loses his home and his owner? Who adopts him? How did the girls even get home after their possessions were burned in the fire? The book sustained my interest due to its good writing, action and unexpected twists. For this reason I gave it 4 stars, as it was a worthwhile reading experience despite weaknesses in the storyline and characterizations.

I'm a serious fan of Ware but truth is, her Woman in Cabin 10 is her best novel.DO NOT READ PAST THIS IF YOU DON'T WANT THE SPOILERWe have four women, Kate, Isa, Thea and Fatima, who spent their girlhood at a boarding school whereby they bond together and form a game the excludes outsides called The Lying Game. There are rules to this game that have consequences then and 17 years later. During their school period, they meet the father of Kate and he's an eccentric ex-heroine addict and artist. The lives they form with him are innocent enough as he acts as a father figure for the most part. Along the way, there's the introduction of Luc, Kate's step-brother. As the story begins to unfold from present to past through the eyes of Isa, the feeling I kept having was how her six month old daughter, Freya, was truly the only demon Isa was facing. Freya is a needy, screaming, clutching child that demands attention to the point of excruciating annoyance to the reader. I couldn't help but wish Isa would just stop responding at every demand. But this is digression.The "real" story isn't so terrible as it turns out. There's no real awfulness in what takes place. Luc murders his father and we're sort of led to believe that maybe Kate did it as her father was supposedly sending her away because he found out she was sleeping with Luc. The truth turns out to be the opposite in that her father was sending Luc away and he couldn't face the life he'd come from which had been with a heroine addicted mother. There's no shocking twist in t his and just a long lead up to what you figure is the conclusion.Ware had the opportunity to turn this into something truly devastating but she didn't use her own material to do so. A better ending would've been that the father was sleeping with Kate and she got pregnant. But that wasn't the case.Overall, it was still a good read in that there is a lot of odd situations and drama but it's just not up to par with what Ware can produce.

This is a definite page turner! You might think that you have it figured out, but that's only ½ of the story. There are so many twists that your head feels like it's on a swivel! I really enjoyed this book (my first by Ruth Ware...definitely not my last)!

On a cool June morning, a woman is walking her dog in the idyllic coastal village of Salten along a tidal estuary known as the Reach. Before she can stop him, the dog charges into the water to retrieve what first appears to be a wayward stick, but to her horror, turns out to be something much more sinister… The next morning, three women in and around London—Fatima, Thea, and Isabel—receive the text they had always hoped would NEVER come, from the fourth in their formerly inseparable clique, Kate, that says only, “I need you.” The four girls were best friends at Salten, a second rate boarding school set near the cliffs of the English Channel. Each different in their own way, the four became inseparable and were notorious for playing the Lying Game, telling lies at every turn to both fellow boarders and faculty, with varying states of serious and flippant nature that were disturbing enough to ensure that everyone steered clear of them. The myriad and complicated rules of the game are strict: no lying to each other—ever. Bail on the lie when it becomes clear it is about to be found out. But their little game had consequences, and the girls were all expelled in their final year of school under mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of the school’s eccentric art teacher, Ambrose (who also happens to be Kate’s father).My Thoughts: There is something disturbing about a group of young girls, drawn together by circumstances, who find amusement in a game that involves lying. Especially when the goal of the lying is to hurt others, to put them in their place.They must know that the practice of lying will come back to bite them, if not now, later in life. Or perhaps, in their immaturity, they do not care.Kate is really at the heart of the lying game, in my opinion, and as much as I could see her need to control her friends through this game, since she has had much sadness in her life, I wished that the girls could have found a way to tell her no.Isa, whose narrative voice draws us into  The Lying Game: A Novel , has a lot to lose by going along with Kate’s games…and so does Fatima.Perhaps they did not foresee the consequences when they started the game. But surely they could have stopped at some point, before it all turned dangerous and horrific. Why is Kate able to crook her little finger and bring them all to her side? Ultimately, why does she have so much control over them, and what is she keeping from them? Is she breaking their one rule not to lie to each other?I thought I knew how the story would unfold, so there were some stunning surprises that I realize, in retrospect, were hiding out in dark corners, waiting to be revealed in the most tragic way possible. 4.5 stars.

I adore all of Ruth Ware’s books. Her prose is the perfect mash for my reading preferences. I love how all of her books are different. A few things you can count on in any Ware book you read are her signature fair and tight plotting, engaging prose that makes it impossible for you to put the book down, and relatable, well-drawn, multidimensional characters. The Lying Game is no exception. All her characters in the book had their own unique and strong voice, especially the four main characters. Not only did I feel like I was part of their group and knew them, their relationship felt like a character in itself. If I am a bit picky, I wish I had seen more of the academic setting and the game at play.How Thea, Isabel, Fatima, and Isabel’s bond remained strong despite their distance is something that I could one hundred percent relate to. I moved away many years ago, and even when I don’t talk to my best friends for ages, we pick up from where we left. Our friendship never wavered. If any of them sent a message saying they needed me, I would also drop everything and go - no questions asked. I bet my life they would do the same. The relationship between the four women was my favourite thing in the book and portraited accurately.

Very good condition and I used it to read

It's Ruth Ware!!! What's left to say. Buy. Enjoy!

Me topé con el primer libro de Ruth Ware en un aeropuerto. Lo compré por impulso, y me encantó, así que seguí buscando sus libros, sin embargo The Lying Game es posiblemente el mejor hasta ahorita. Te mantienen en suspenso continuo, te cambia el juego en varias ocasiones, y no es hasta las últimas páginas donde entiendes lo que realmente ocurrió. Prepárense a no estar disponibles los días siguientes a que lo empiecen.

Col fiato sospeso fino all'ultima pagina. La storia di una forte amicizia e di un crimine irrisolto.