Two Truths and a Lie
Erratic
Unpredictable
Repetitive

Two Truths and a Lie

April Henry2022
A group of teens are trapped in an old motel with a murderer in this chilling YA mystery by New York Times bestselling author April Henry. Nell has always wanted to be an actor, but doubts her ability. As a member of her school's theater program, she prefers working backstage. On the way to a contest, an unexpected blizzard strands her acting troupe in a creepy motel. Soon they meet a group of strangers from another high school--including the mysterious and handsome Knox, who insists they play the game Two Truths and a Lie. When it's Nell's turn, she draws a slip of paper inked in unfamiliar handwriting: I like to watch people die. I've lost count of how many people I've killed. Suddenly a night of harmless fun turns into a matter of life and death. As guests go missing, it becomes clear that a murderer is hiding in their midst ready to strike again. In a room full of liars and performers, the truth is never quite what it seems. Nell is going to have to act like her life depends on it--because it does.
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Reviews

Photo of Geoffrey Froggatt
Geoffrey Froggatt@geofroggatt
2 stars
Nov 29, 2023

Nell has always wanted to be an actor, but doubts her ability. As a member of her school’s theater program, she prefers working backstage. On the way to a contest, an unexpected blizzard strands her acting troupe in a creepy motel. Soon they meet a group of strangers from another high school… including the mysterious and handsome Knox, who insists they play the game Two Truths and a Lie. When it’s Nell’s turn, she draws a slip of paper inked in unfamiliar handwriting: “I like to watch people die. I’ve lost count of how many people I’ve killed.” Suddenly a night of harmless fun turns into a matter of life and death. As guests go missing, it becomes clear that a murderer is hiding in their midst ready to strike again. In a room full of liars and performers, the truth is never quite what it seems. Nell is going to have to act like her life depends on it, because it does. I immediately liked the premise of this book and imagined how I would navigate a situation like this. Snowed in at a creepy motel with the knowledge that someone among a group of trained actors and liars is a killer. I usually prefer adult novels to young adult ones, but this premise sounded like a great premise for a teen slasher movie. While there were many characters introduced right away, I never felt like it was overstuffed or hard to follow. Even during times where I forgot who was who, the story easily tells itself in a way that the reader feels like they can keep up despite not having all the pieces together right away. I liked the diverse cast and how all these characters felt like characters and not caricatures, which is rare from a young adult horror novel. I did have criticisms about this book concerning the mixing of brief supernatural elements in a “natural” horror setting, but that was more of a personal preference than a genuine gripe; I’ve never been a huge fan of mixing supernatural elements in a previously “natural” horror setting, much like when Pretty Little Liars mixed in some supernatural elements in its fourth season. I much prefer when a story is either supernatural since the beginning or completely set in the natural world from beginning to end. While I do think the premise of this book makes for an excellent story, I do feel the execution wasn’t as impactful as it should have been. While I did like the fast pacing, I do feel like we sped through the deaths and plot twists and jumped towards the climax in the last 30 minutes. While I do prefer fast-paced horror/thriller stories, I felt like this one would have done better with a slightly slower pacing and a more stretched out climax. Ultimately, I wasn’t effected by any of the plot twists and I felt disconnected from the characters by the end. Some of the character motivations felt contrived. I do feel like this story would have worked better in a movie format. This book had a decent start and initial concept, but I do feel like it fell apart towards the end, leaving me feeling like this was just another young adult horror novel that missed the mark for me.

Photo of Holly
Holly@hollyck
1.5 stars
Aug 12, 2022

The number of times two truths and a lie was explained was criminal. The second half wasn't too terrible, but overall it was not compelling or entertaining.

+4
Photo of Seher Mohsin
Seher Mohsin@bookstagramofmine
4 stars
May 24, 2022

"This all feels eerily familiar. And then I know why. “This is getting to be like a bad movie or book,” I say. “A group of strangers, trapped at night in a creepy old motel during a blizzard. And then you add a killer, picking them off one by one” That’s a pretty good summary of the book! Only they’re teenagers, and everyone except their teacher and Travis is unhinged. Even the other team are weirdos, mostly because of Knox. You’ll get plenty of horror movie tropes in this book! I’m adding them in the next para so I don’t spoil this for you! *** All the horror movie tropes in Two Truths and a Lie *** The bus breaks down, no electricity, no signals, a group of strangers, a love interest, the murder took place here all these years ago with the killer never being caught, Ouija board moving on its own, newspaper clippings, diverse group of teenagers. *** End of all the horror tropes *** I read Two Truths and a Lie at 3 am! It was a very quick read, but it wasn’t a deep read. I didn’t pick up on any hints that the author may have given. I thought it was a light fun read, in case you want to read something in the night with the AC on and a light chill in the room! This isn’t a mind blowing, change your life, make you seek out different sort of books kinda read. This is book just to entertain, and that’s perfect! I have listed a lot of tropes, but honestly, the tropes are what make it fun! I also loved the Ouija board, and the thing with shadows! It adds a nice supernatural element to it; even though we’ll never know if we were being warned or not. At some point I though we’d end on a cliffhanger because the author couldn’t possibly wrap up so quickly! But there was a nice neat ending which I liked, although I could have used more about Knox!

This review contains a spoiler
+1
Photo of Ariel
Ariel@achn
2 stars
Apr 2, 2023
Photo of alexandra
alexandra@alesbooks7
5 stars
Jan 25, 2023