What I especially enjoyed was the little reveal about 10% into the story, that I was not expecting at all. It had me even more excited to read it, and we get to re-live it, throughout the book (past and present) with the heroine. It’s a nightmare situation (at least, to me it is) and totally my book catnip. I am hooked on books with this trope. You’ll see. 😉
So what’s it about?
Rainy is Grant’s fairly new-ish girlfriend and her man wants her to hang out with his friends and get to know the girls in his group.
“Grant, I’m not super into having relationships outside of my partner. It’s hard for me to trust people, and you know that.”
“I do, but I’ve known some of these people since high school. I trust them, and I want you to trust them, too.”
Reluctantly (VERY reluctantly) she agrees to go on a Vegas girls trip without the guys (and of course, without him).
We’re inviting you on our girls’ trip…to Vegas!”
At first, Rainy’s relief was immense; a girls’ trip was kind, inclusive. And then she processed the word: Vegas.
…
… It was a nice gesture, one she never intended to accept. But she couldn’t tell them why.
But here’s the thing… with Vegas, comes her past.
No matter where she went, no matter who she was with—
One day, Taured would come for her.
With this trip, comes friendships that seem to be forging well, and the rebuffs of a certain few that have a total “mean girl” feel. The longer they hang out, the more inconsistencies she sees amongst the group, feeling like one of them (or all of them?) might actually be plotting something. Maybe even against her?
My favorite part?
I couldn’t help but mention it on my blog while I was reading it…
Maryse: I am almost finished Tarryn Fisher’s latest (An Honest Lie) and enjoying it. There’s an aspect about it that hooked me immediately, that I didn’t expect, considering the blurb.
Had it been hinted at or included altogether in the blurb it would have made given me an even bigger blurb jolt. I always love this trope!!!
Okay so…
Not really a spoiler, since we learn about this in the first quarter of the book but…
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*spoiler alert*Main character lived in/raised in a cult during her younger years (as a preteen/teen) – so lots of flashbacks to that time of her life – back and forth and I have NO IDEA where this is going. I’m scared!! 😀 😬
Cult stuff! It’s totally my thing. In books!! Always and only in books!! 😉 I was scared and delighted!! I enjoyed experiencing her childhood/teenage years when her down-on-her-luck mom met and fell in love with a man that welcomed them into his “community”. I especially loved it when her enamored mom, lost that shine… realizing that something wasn’t right.
“This place isn’t right. He’s different than I remember. I don’t trust anyone here and you aren’t to, either, do you hear me?” Summer nodded, her eyebrows lifting on their own.
“But they paid all of your credit cards. I thought you said—”
“We’re going to be foreigners in their land—do you know what that means?”
“Um, no,” Summer said.
“We live here, we eat their food, we heal up and wait, but we are not to think like them. Their ways are not our ways.” Summer smiled. She only cared about the food, anyway.
“How long can we stay?”
“I don’t know yet. I’m trying to decide if I should call your grandparents.”
“You hate them. You said living with them was a nightmare,” Summer reminded her. It wasn’t fair! Her mother couldn’t just drag her around the country, could she? She had to go to school and have stability. Her mother used to yell that at her dad when they fought. “Summer needs stability!” And she was about to bring that up when her mother said something that made her shut her trap.
“Some nightmares are worse than others.”
And Rainy (then… her name was “Summer”) learning the ins-and-outs of being the “favorite” of the cult leader (life there being happy with a sense of belonging), and then being the center of his unwanted attention:
None of these people thought this was strange: a grown man using his power to bully a girl. And if they did, they didn’t let on. Everyone here seemed to enjoy it when someone was being humiliated, so long as it wasn’t them.
F*ck you all, f*ck you all,
I was also really into the “mean girl” feel of her current group. Feeling accepted by some (and even getting close) and feeling ostracized by others. Trying to navigate a friendship with a group that seems to already be tight knit, with jealousy thrown into the mix (especially at her).
There was a club within a club when it came to these women; the original group had a secret language and traded private jokes as easily as siblings.
She’s trying to fit in, while having never really wanted to. Considering how she was raised, considering her personal, more reclusive choices in life, she’s trying to for the sake of her relationship. Suspicious, yet again in her life that something wasn’t quite right…
Love was exhausting. It felt like a sore muscle…or a healing wound.
Okay now… skip this part below until you’ve read the book. I don’t spoil it per se but I give you my ending reaction so… just don’t read it yet, okay? 🙃
The ending? It’s pure craziness. All hell breaks loose, and it’s just a free for all. While I normally LOVE Tarryn’s clever twists and crazy intense endings, this one was just too chaotic and too… out there for me.
4 stars <— (4.5 stars for the main portion of the book, and 3 stars for the last quarter or so).
I enjoyed it almost the whole way through (many things, I could personally relate to, and those parts were my favorite), but the ending was not as surprising and extraordinary as I was expecting. I was hoping for something sly. Sneakier, making my heart rev up with anxiety and excitement, shock and awe. One of the nefarious dealings turns out to be somewhat… lackluster. From the reveal of the villain… and then another villain… and then another and her attempts at foiling them, the ending seemed less brilliant and more berserk.
P.S. Thank you to the author/publisher for sending me a review copy!!
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