Book Review: Listen of the Lie
Original post made 3/22/24
Title: Listen for the Lie
Author: Amy Tintera
Read by: January LaVoy and Will Damron
Audiobook Length: 9hr. 17 min.
What's it about?
Lucy Chase is content surrounding herself with people who prefer to talk about themselves rather then others.
This way, she's less likely to have to talk about the worst night of her life, the night her best friend was murdered and everyone in her small hometown thought she did it, even the people closest to her. So when she is tricked into going back home for her grandmother's birthday at the same time that a popular podcast starts to investigate the murder she was accused of, she's not thrilled. But she has no memory of what happened that night and how she ended up on the side of the road the next morning with her best friend's blood all over her and it doesn't matter how many times people ask, she can't summon the memory to give any answers, not even the podcast host digging around her town in search of answers. And while she doesn't love the idea, he might just be her last chance to finding out what really happened that night.
Favorites:
Favorite Character: Lucy's grandmother. I mean, yea, she was manipulative at times and I didn't love that, but I loved how fiercely she was willing to fight for those she loved, and she did fight fiercely even if not obviously. Her grandmother was sassy and smart and loving while being funny and interesting.
Least Favorite Character: Matt, Lucy's ex and her current boyfriend both. They were both just inconsiderate, selfish jerks. Especially Matt. I just wanted to hit them both! Ugh!
Favorite Part: I think her grandmother's birthday party, though there were many times when her grandmother was involved that I really enjoyed. The birthday party, though was filled with so much drama and I couldn't help but to think that her grandmother enjoyed every second of it.
Least Favorite Part: The beginning. This time less because it's slow and just not as interesting as delving into the who-done-it and more becuase I didn't like Lucy at the beginning. I was not only not impressed but annoyed and already losing respect for her with her choice of current partner and I hated the way she handled the relationship as a whole. And, in general, my first impression of her was not great.
Other Thoughts:
One of the first things that I really liked was that in the audiobook, Lucy tells the story from her side but she also listens to the podcast as it's posted. At the points when she listens to the podcast, not only is it scripted like the podcast, complete with introductions and all, but they also have theme music for the introduction, too. It's a little thing, but I appreciated it.
I also really appreciated that at some point or another, everyone thought that Lucy had been the murderer, even her (with one exception). And, even though she didn't know if she was to blame or not, she still sought out answers and was willing to accept it if it had been her. While, generally speaking, that's what we would want from a good and likeable main character, it would be an easy choice for the author to make to have her seek out answers in order to prove she didn't do it and manipulate the situations and clues to point away from her in an attempt to protect herself but she didn't. She took it as it came and did with it what she could to find the truth, even if it would hurt her.
I would have liked to know more about what happened after they got their answers. I felt like there were a lot of people I would have liked to know what happened to them and who, if anyone, they ended up with. I would have loved to have seen some of the characters confronted and called out on their crap. And, I'd even read another book where Ben Owens checks out another case.
Over all, I really liked the book and found myself not wanting to stop listening even when I had to. There wasn't a lot of gore so it's probably closer to a cozy mystery (and I liked it! Surprised?) but there are some triggers such as portrayals and talk of abuse, so you might want to keep that in mind. But I'd totally recommend this book to someone looking for a lore gore mystery told by an unreliable narrator and the twists and turns come more from the revealing of the character's actual selves and secrets then from actions people take.
I rate this book a
6
out of
10 microphones
But that's just me. Have you read this book? Did you love it or hate it? Did you hate the grandmother and favor someone else? Let us know in the comments.
