Preso in biblioteca, preso d'impulso, mi attendevo grandi cose. L'inizio è interessante, l'idea di base buona anche se non particolarmente originale, ma i personaggi sono terribili. Quella rappresentata non è amicizia, ma un gruppo di persone che si detestano - il che andrebbe benissimo se non fosse per il fatto che vengono descritte tutte come amiche del cuore-baciobacio. Non è nemmeno un caso di narratore non attendibile, è proprio un libro che ha poco senso. Anche Emma stessa passa per stupida spesso e volentieri (come fai ad essere così ingenua con la nuova volontaria? Eddai) e non capisco perchè.

Restituito senza rimpianti. ( )

4.5 stars.

Weaving seamlessly between past and present, The Lie by C.L. Taylor is a riveting mystery about a vacation gone horribly wrong.

Five years earlier, Emma Woolfe, Daisy Hamilton, Al Gideon and Leanne Cooper go on an extended in Nepal. The four women have been friends for years and although there is some tension between them, their friendship seems to be fairly solid. Hoping to take Al's mind off her recent breakup, Leanne proposes the women spend three weeks in Nepal and they soon set off on their journey. Initially, the trip goes off without a hitch; however, once they arrive at the Ekanta Yatra mountain top retreat, tension builds as jealousy and lies take their toll on their friendship. As their vacation takes a dark and sinister turn, Emma does not know who to trust and after a series of harrowing events, only two of the four women return home.

While the four friends initially enjoy some aspects of the retreat, Emma and Al are not as enthralled by Ekanta Yatra as Leanne and Daisy. Isaac, the charismatic leader, is charming and sexy. The first cracks in the women's friendship appear after Daisy makes it very clear that she interested in Isaac and she becomes jealous when he pays attention to her friends. The friends are soon divided and Emma is essentially ostracized as Leanne, Daisy and Al close ranks. As the situation worsens at the retreat, she uncovers some very unsettling secrets about one of her friends. After one of her frenemies begins a concerted campaign to turn everyone against her, Emma begins to fear for her life. Conditions at the retreat continue to deteriorate but her loyalty to her friends soon puts her in grave danger.

In the present, Emma, having changed her name to Jane Hughes, is living a peaceful life in Wales where she works at an animal rescue. Having recently entered into a relationship with Will Smart, she has finally achieved a measure of peace that is shattered once she begins receiving eerie messages that make it very clear someone knows who she is. Jane is also very troubled by the realization this person has inside information about what happened at Ekanta Yatra. Shaken and frightened, Jane/Emma grows increasingly alarmed as the situation escalates and once again, she does not know who to trust.

With the chapters alternating between past and present, the horrifying events from Nepal are slowly revealed as Jane tries to figure out who could be stalking her. The tension slowly mounts as Jane reflects back on the events that occurred at Ekanta Yatra as her stalker continues sending her threatening messages. Knowing she must turn to someone for help, Jane takes Will into her confidence but his reaction to her story is unnerving. With every passing day, she grows more and more fearful until finally, she is forced to go to the police, who eventually uncover stunning information that shocks and terrifies Jane.

Full of deceit and treachery, The Lie is an intriguing thriller that will keep readers on the edge of their seats from beginning to end. C.L. Taylor does an absolutely brilliant job building the suspense as the events from Nepal are slowly revealed while the situation in the present gradually becomes more dangerous. A dark and gritty tale about a toxic friendship that goes horribly wrong, I highly recommend this spellbinding mystery to anyone fans of the genre.
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Full review to come! ( )

Present day and Jane Hughes is happy working in an animal sanctuary and living in Wales. She has a new boyfriend and things are going well until she starts to get unsettling messages. Five years ago four friends, Emma, Al, Leanne and Daisy go on a holiday to Nepal and stay at an isolated retreat. The holiday of a life time becomes the holiday from Hell.

The premise of this book sounded really good and the story did draw me in. Told in past and present the reader follows Emma and Jane as their stories unfold. For the majority of the book I was totally engrossed and enjoyed it.

Both timelines did have a sense of dread and not knowing what was going to happen next. I found myself ploughing through the book very quickly as I wanted to know what was going on. The past sections especially I enjoyed as I think I can say the retreat was like a cult which I always find interesting.

The actual friendship between the four girls does ask the question to how strong it really was. With the envy and competition between the girls it did add something to the story.

For me however I felt the big reveal let the story down. I was expecting a big twist and it didn't really happen. The whys and hows did make sense and didn't spoil but just didn't have the wow.

I enjoyed the book overall and would recommend and read more by the author. ( )

Another reading group book crashes and burns. I disliked the characters from the beginning and after the first chapter in Nepal I skim read those sections. I found the present day sections more readable but this was a really boring book which I couldn't wait to finish. ( )