The Life & Times of a Book Addict: Tell Me Lies by Carola Lovering Blog Tour

Publication: June 12, 2018

Publisher: Atria Books

Source: Publisher

A thrilling, sexy coming-of-age story exploring toxic love, ruthless ambition, and shocking betrayal, Tell Me Lies is about that one person who still haunts you—the other one. The wrong one. The one you couldn’t let go of. The one you’ll never forget.

Lucy Albright is far from her Long Island upbringing when she arrives on the campus of her small California college, and happy to be hundreds of miles from her mother, whom she’s never forgiven for an act of betrayal in her early teen years. Quickly grasping at her fresh start, Lucy embraces college life and all it has to offer—new friends, wild parties, stimulating classes. And then she meets Stephen DeMarco. Charming. Attractive. Complicated. Devastating.

Confident and cocksure, Stephen sees something in Lucy that no one else has, and she’s quickly seduced by this vision of herself, and the sense of possibility that his attention brings her. Meanwhile, Stephen is determined to forget an incident buried in his past that, if exposed, could ruin him, and his single-minded drive for success extends to winning, and keeping, Lucy’s heart.

Alternating between Lucy’s and Stephen’s voices, Tell Me Lies follows their connection through college and post-college life in New York City. Deep down, Lucy knows she has to acknowledge the truth about Stephen. But before she can free herself from this addicting entanglement, she must confront and heal her relationship with her mother—or risk losing herself in a delusion about what it truly means to love.

With the psychological insight and biting wit of Luckiest Girl Alive, and the yearning ambitions and desires of Sweetbitter, this keenly intelligent and staggeringly resonant novel chronicles the exhilaration and dilemmas of young adulthood, and the difficulty of letting go, even when you know you should.

Told from the alternating POV’S of Stephen and Lucy, Tell Me Lies is story that quickly pulled me in. Stephen and Lucy meet while in college together. Lucy is bright with a great group of friends just looking for a fun experience. Enter Stephen, a world class jerk who thinks he can get away with anything.

It doesn’t take that long for these two to start dating. They end up developing a toxic on-again, off-again relationship filled with lies and cheating.Even though Stephen is definitely not good for Lucy, she can’t seem to understand that. At least not right away. Lucy has blinders on because she thinks she is in love with him. And even if Stephen is flawed, it’s hard to sever ties with someone who gives you butterflies or makes you feel special whenever they are around. I felt that Stephen was just using Lucy. He didn’t really want her, but he didn’t want anyone else to have her either.

Stephen and Lucy are not really lovable characters. But I think that’s the point. The author created these characters that you may not necessarily want to root for, but you can’t stop from wanting to know what is going to happen next. It’s like watching a car accident happen. You know there is going to be some damage and it won’t be pretty, but you can’t make yourself look away from it. And I enjoyed every page. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good contemporary story filled with deceit, drama, and a side of un-healthy codependency.

RATING: 3 out of 5.

About the Author

Photograph by Kacey Klonsky

Carola Lovering attended Colorado College, and her work has appeared in W Magazine, National Geographic, Outside, and Yoga Journal, among other publications. Tell Me Lies is her first novel. She currently lives in Brooklyn.

TELL ME LIES by Carola Lovering

Atria Books | ISBN: 9781501169649 | On sale: June 12, 2018 | 384 pages | $26.00

eBook: Atria | ISBN: 9781501169663 | On sale: June 12, 2018 | 384 pages | $13.99

Find Carola Lovering Online

Website: www.carolalovering.com

Twitter: @carolatlovering

Instagram: @carolatlovering

BUY THE BOOK: