Book Review: Lies, Lies, Lies by Adele Parks

Lies, Lies, Lies (Kindle Edition)
by Adele Parks 

LIES LIES LIES (MIRA Trade Paperback; August 4, 2020; $17.99) centers on the story of Simon and Daisy Barnes. To the outside world, Simon and Daisy look like they have a perfect life. They have jobs they love, an angelic, talented daughter, a tight group of friends… and they have secrets too. Secrets that will find their way to the light, one way or the other.

Daisy and Simon spent almost a decade hoping for the child that fate cruelly seemed to keep from them. It wasn’t until, with their marriage nearly in shambles and Daisy driven to desperation, little Millie was born. Perfect in every way, healing the Barnes family into a happy unit of three. Ever indulgent Simon hopes for one more miracle, one more baby. But his doctor’s visit shatters the illusion of the family he holds so dear.

Now, Simon has turned to the bottle to deal with his revelation and Daisy is trying to keep both of their secrets from spilling outside of their home. But Daisy’s silence and Simon’s habit begin to build until they set off a catastrophic chain of events that will destroy life as they know it.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

… she’s had bouts of terrible hallucinations and intense paranoia. She threw things at me when I went into her room, she thought I was an undertaker and had come to measure her up.

 

Born in a different era, Connie would most likely have been one of the women knitting by the guillotines during the French revolution, she had the stomach for it. She always put curiosity before sentimentality. She collected experiences.

 

The cell smelt stale. Simon had always had a keen sense of smell. It was one of the least useful… He wore glasses, his hearing was average, and he couldn’t remember anyone ever saying he was a total king in the sack. So, out of smell, taste, sight, hearing and touch, it was his luck to get an A* in smell. Leon had been openly farting all evening… Simon longed for fresh air and a breeze.

 

Not blackouts Daisy, time travel. I’m like Doctor Who. My Tardis is a whisky bottle. I punch through the mundane rules of time and space that you mere mortals must live with.

 

I don’t need to worry about identity theft. No one wants to be me.

My Review:

 

This author is a wily minx! I adored and despised her as I read and adored and despised her tragic and tensely emotive and prickly storylines, which were populated with curiously compelling characters who were rather awful human beings. I thought they were appallingly weak and horrible people until about 80% into the book and it broke my heart when I realized how wrong I had been. The tale was steeped in angst, which is one of my least favorite things in the world, yet my brain was itching to know every little thing. I couldn’t put it down and wanted to hiss at every interruption to my perusal.

I was on edge, tense, nibbling my cuticles, biting my lips, my shoulders up in my ears, the knots in my neck and shoulders had additional knots of their own. I was confounded by my investment and attraction to these devastating storylines full of woe. The writing was haunting, insightfully observant, cunningly evocative, and poignant with oddly alluring intrigue and bewitching word voodoo that kept me tethered to my Kindle as I navigated this maddeningly paced, taut, and complex tale with a level of tension that continued to build exponentially. Even during those unavoidable periods when I was forced to put my Kindle down, also known as adulting and sleep, I found myself ruminating about the characters.   I had five pages of marked quotes.   There were multiple layers to this tale as well as to the complicated cast, in addition to a series of heart-clenching and unexpected twists. It was tragic, heartbreaking, and in the end – rather brilliant.

About the Author

Adele Parks was born in Teesside, North-East England. Her first novel, Playing Away, was published in 2000 and since then she’s had seventeen international bestsellers, translated into twenty-six languages, including I Invited Her In. She’s been an Ambassador for The Reading Agency and a judge for the Costa. She’s lived in Italy, Botswana, and London, and is now settled in Guildford, Surrey, with her husband, teenage son, and cat.

10 Replies to “Book Review: Lies, Lies, Lies by Adele Parks”

  1. The cover and synopsis intrigued me and your glowing review is what sold it. 💜

    1. There was a bit of blood and gore, but maybe not enough to sate your blood lust or anywhere near your typical breakfast read of murder. 😉

  2. I’ve never read her work (we’ve got some reviews on the blog but others reviewers have read them). I think she is an author I really must read though. Great review.

  3. I didn’t read your review as I have this coming up for a blog tour and I don’t like to read reviews before I read the book.

  4. I love this!! I usually enjoy books that you can love and hate at the same time. Sounds like a decent batch of characters, too 🙂 Great review, as always!

  5. Great review. I haven’t read her myself but have seen alot of rave reviews for her work. I need to add her to my TBR.

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