Won copy through Goodread's giveaway.

This is the first book I read by Paula Treick DeBoard. I really liked this book. I liked how the book ends. I like how it's not really a happy ending or sad ending. It's ending that could happen in real life. Not all friends you make in college you keep in touch with for the rest of your lives. But the book also shows that these friends can reconnect and become friends again.

Will be reading DeBoard's other books

Novel ini membahas tentang persahabatan antarperempuan, pelecehan seksual, dan skandal politik. Dua orang perempuan yang memiliki latar belakang berbeda, Lauren dari keluarga konglomerat yang merupakan anak dari senator di Connecticut dan Megan yang merupakan anak dari keluarga biasa-biasa saja yang berasal dari Kansas. Keduanya bertemu di Kampus, memiliki hubungan yang sangat rumit dan sekaligus intens. Lauren yang hanya menginginkan kelaurga yang biasa sedangkan Megan menginginkan kehidupan yang memiliki privilege seperti Lauren.

Aku suka bagaimana tokoh utama bisa percaya diri dan berani untuk menyuarakan apa yang menimpanya 14 tahun yang lalu, tentang kekerasan seksual yang diterimanya. Tapi karena alurnya maju mundur, lumayan sulit juga untuk memposisikan diri waktu membacanya, terlebih banyak tokoh yang ada di dalam novel ini. Saranku buat yang mau membaca novel ini, please jangan lupa liat trigger warningnya, soalnya pasti bakal buat ngak nyaman waktu bacanya kalau kalian ngak research dulu.

I started this book late last night and finished it less than 24 hours later - that is how amazing Here We Lie is. I did not want to put it down. The book focuses on friendship and on the things that strengthen and ruin friendships. The two main characters are so relatable and dynamic that I could easily picture both of them - in fact, this book played like a movie in my head while I was reading it. A+++++!

4.5 stars.

A close college friendship and the circumstances surrounding its abrupt end lie at the heart of Paula Treick DeBoard's newest release, Here We Lie. Weaving back and forth in time, this incredibly fast-paced novel is an intriguing mystery with a socially relevant storyline.

Megan Mazeros and Lauren Mabrey form an unlikely and exceptionally close friendship when they become roommates at an exclusive all girls college. Megan is from a small town in Kansas where she worked as waitress while helping care for her father as he was dying from cancer. The youngest child of a US Senator, Lauren's attempts to break free of her family's expectations are met with disdain and derision from her rather cold mother. With enough money to pay for her four year degree, Megan carefully counts every penny and works hard to get good grades.  Despite her family's disapproval, Lauren has a generous allowance and she maintains her careless attitude toward her education although she excels in her newfound love of photography. Despite all of their differences, the women forge a close friendship yet they each keep secrets, tell some rather elaborate lies and jealousy and anger occasionally come between them. However, their bond remains unbreakable until a shocking act and family loyalty rip them apart.

Megan and Lauren are very well-developed characters with all too human strengths and weaknesses. Megan is surprisingly comfortable at school despite the fact that most of her schoolmates are wealthy and privileged. She is slightly uncomfortable with Lauren's generosity when they first begin spending time together, but their easy friendship soon eclipses her reservations. Lauren's desire to be her own person, make her choices and experience life on her own terms is understandable yet she is quick to rely on her family's money and connections to ease her way.

The novel begins with a press conference in the present then quickly flashes back in time to before Lauren and Megan meet. The story is written in first person and alternates between Lauren and Megan's points of view.  They each have very distinct personalities and each of the perspective shifts are clearly marked but it is sometimes difficult to keep up which women is the currently narrating the story.

Most of the novel takes place during Megan and Lauren's college years but there are brief glimpses of their lives in the present. Both women are in relationships but only one of them has children. How they arrived at this point in their lives is a bit of an unknown but a brief recap eventually provides answers.  What truly drives the story is the circumstances surrounding the mysterious press conference and the flashbacks of Megan and Lauren's friendship gradually leads up to the horrific act that destroys their friendship.

Here We Lie is an absolutely entrancing novel that explores the bonds of friendship.  While not a conventional mystery, Paula Treick DeBoard does an excellent job building and maintaining suspense about the incident that ends Megan and Lauren's friendship. With a storyline that could very well be ripped from today's headlines, readers won't have too much difficulty guessing what happened, whereas figuring out the who will be much more difficult.  This riveting novel comes to a heartwarming conclusion that is quite touching.

Recommended by Cindy.

Check our catalog: https://encore.cooklib.org/iii/encore/search/C__Shere%20we%20lie%20deboard__Orightresult__U?lang=eng&suite=gold

cukupp seruu ceritanyaa walaupun emang lambat alur di awal tapi di akhir makin seru dan aku suka ngambil cerita yg nyinggung soal keluarga politik dan pelecehan seksual, tapi kek tiba2 aneh ke pelecehan seksual ;V

I’m an Indigo Employee, and I received an advanced reading copy of this book, in exchange for my honest feedback.

This was a really enjoyable read. I liked the way the story moved back and forth through time, and I thought the storytelling was very compelling. The author does a great job of creating nuanced, and multi-layered characters, and of telling a thoughtful, painful story. This book really dives into the complexities of friendship, family, class, and loyalty. I could not put it down!