Good Girls Lie

by J T Ellison

[Quirky Cat]

I received a copy of Good Girls Lie in exchange for a fair and honest review.

J.T. Ellison has come out with a brand new thriller to captivate their audience – Good Girls Lie. Though I’ll confess that it’s also the first novel I’ve read by them – so my review will not be making comparisons to their past work.
Good Girls Lie is a complex and disturbing novel, one that combines thriller elements with an in-depth study of human nature and the various extremes that come from the bonds of friendship.
The Goode School is one of the most prestigious all-girls schools in the country. Designed as a place to send the daughters of the influential, this is one of those stereotypical schools that only take the best of the best. And one has to continue to earn their place, once they’ve made it in.
Naturally, this is a highly competitive environment, with all of the girls seeking to go on to greater and bigger things. And that means they’re willing to do anything to get ahead – and create trouble in the process.
The Goode School has faced its fair share of scandal in the past. But they’re not prepared for the level of chaos that is about to be brought down on them. And it all starts with the death of a student. Though really, things were set in motion quite a while before that.

“If you spend your life apologizing, you’ll never gain any confidence.”

Warnings: Good Girls Lie is a classic thriller, in that it doesn’t shy away from some of the more graphic things human beings are capable of doing to one another. There are some graphic murders included, along with abuse, suicide, and scenes depicting hazing.

Good Girls Lie was a thrilling and intense tale of epic proportions. Have you ever picked up a book and found the web so tangled that you couldn’t look away? That is exactly the sort of story that’s taking place at the Goode School.
Honestly, it’s been a hot minute since I read a thriller that got to me as much as Good Girls Lie did. It had all of these brilliant – yet disturbing – elements in all of the right balances. I just couldn’t get it out of my head. Actually, it’s been a day since I finished reading it, and I still can’t get it out of my head.
What really impressed me about this novel was the level of detail that J.T. Ellison was able to weave into the story. Each scene felt so rich and alive, which certainly added to some of the more disturbing scenes.
Almost the entirety of the book is set at the Goode School, and yet the world was carefully thought out and expanded to its fullest. It’s almost hard to believe that this one school could contain so much intrigue and drama. Though I doubt that the Goode School would actually be proud of that fact…
There was a strong sense of mystery surrounding the thriller elements. This was not a clear cut story by any means. You couldn’t just pick up the book, read the first chapter, and know who did what. There were hints dropped along the way, of course, but nothing was clear. And that made plenty of room for shocking twists.
I loved every minute I spent reading Good Girls Lie. I almost wish that I could go back and read it again for the first time. But I can’t. On the bright side, I now have a new author (well, new to me) to go and read through their backlog. And that sounds like a win to me.

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