ugh- i had this one on my TBR list for a while. was so excited to read it. unfortunately it fell SO flat for me. i got about halfway through before resigning myself to the fact that i didn’t care much about any of the characters and wasn’t invested in the story. i was merely turning the pages to turn them. i DNFed a little more than halfway through. too many cliches, flat characters and minimal movement for me.

This book is about a survivor of rape, but I think is structured in a really great way such that:
*that is not her primary, defining characteristic but ALSO
*it doesn't discount the effect of this event on her life.
*it is at least as much about female friendship

My mother got this from a Little Free Library near her house, and those things kind of annoy me, and also once she really wanted me to read/watch "The Help" so I was skeptical. Again, the book's structure draws you into a story about a female friendship, and because there are important family relationships and how the story is told in flashback (but not random jumpy flashback, just college-present-college next year-present) you are invested in the characters before you are confronted with any sexual violence and the fact that they fall on either side, in the early aughts, of "believing all women," and perhaps that is why I find it effective, more effective than news stories that place the crime front and center, then the woman as victim, and nothing about her really beyond that.
RIYL if you like The Sex Lives of College Girls on HBO

A few years ago, I had the pleasure of reading THE MOURNING HOURS by Paula Treick DeBoard and I absolutely fell in love with her writing style. When her release, THE DROWNING GIRLS came out, I had to buy it immediately and have been kicking myself for not reading it sooner...and then came HERE WE LIE. When I first came across HERE WE LIE, I knew I had to reach out for a copy and I am so glad I did. Reading a Paula Treick DeBoard novel is like visiting with an old friend. There's familiarity in her writing no matter how different the plots are, the characters are people you meet and immediately want to befriend, and her writing style is the comfort of home.

The plot to this one is not necessarily as suspenseful or thrilling as her previous work, but it does start off with quite an interesting and ominous chapter and then quickly barrels backwards fifteen years to meet our two main characters, Megan and Lauren. I really enjoyed how well written and creative the author was in writing these characters. This novel for me gave off a feel of just going through fifteen years of laughter, pain, and a horrific night that ultimately changed these two women forever. I loved how this one had mild suspense but was high with psychological intensity. This is not a novel that focuses on the what, where, or the why, but focuses on the who. I quickly found myself eating up pages and comparing the chapters from Megan's perspective to how Lauren viewed certain situations and vice versa. This read is not only one you completely get lost in, but something that I found myself craving when I wasn't ferociously eating up each and every word. I loved how efficient and honest this ending was and the epilogue was something that was well deserved for not only the reader, but these two amazing women that I got a chance to know.

A character-driven psychological suspense with heart and an intriguing and addictive writing style, HERE WE LIE is the perfect literary read for fans of Paula Treick DeBoard and is also the kind of novel that will turn you into a huge fan of her writing if this is your first novel. Circling back to the beginning of this review, I don't think it will take me long to devour THE DROWNING GIRLS and eagerly await more work from Paula in the future.

*Special thanks to Park Row for sending me this copy in exchange for my honest review.

Fantastic book and an enjoyable read. I loved DeBoard's literary landscaping and flawed characters. It felt incredibly realistic. I read it nearly entirely in one sitting.