The Lies That Bind
Audiobook

The Lies That Bind

In the irresistible new novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of All We Ever Wanted and Something Borrowed, a young woman falls hard for an impossibly perfect man before he disappears without a trace. . . . It's 2 A.M. on a Saturday night in the spring of 2001, and twenty-eight-year-old Cecily Gardner sits alone in a dive bar in New York's East Village, questioning her life. Feeling lonesome and homesick for the Midwest, she wonders if she'll ever make it as a reporter in the big city--and whether she made a terrible mistake in breaking up with her longtime boyfriend, Matthew. As Cecily reaches for the phone to call him, she hears a guy on the barstool next to her say, "Don't do it--you'll regret it." Something tells her to listen, and over the next several hours--and shots of tequila--the two forge an unlikely connection. That should be it, they both decide the next morning, as Cecily reminds herself of the perils of a rebound relationship. Moreover, their timing couldn't be worse--Grant is preparing to quit his job and move overseas. Yet despite all their obstacles, they can't seem to say goodbye, and for the first time in her carefully constructed life, Cecily follows her heart instead of her head. Then Grant disappears in the chaos of 9/11. Fearing the worst, Cecily spots his face on a missing-person poster, and realizes she is not the only one searching for him. Her investigative reporting instincts kick into action as she vows to discover the truth. But the questions pile up fast: How well did she really know Grant? Did he ever really love her? And is it possible to love a man who wasn't who he seemed to be? The Lies That Bind is a mesmerizing and emotionally resonant exploration of the never-ending search for love and truth--in our relationships, our careers, and deep within our own hearts.
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Reviews

Photo of Kristen Claiborn
Kristen Claiborn@kristenc
3 stars
Jan 7, 2023

I rarely run across a character I genuinely hate...but Grant is a character I genuinely hate.

Photo of Abby Byers
Abby Byers@librarianabby
1 star
Feb 25, 2022

I've never read a book with more unlikable characters.

Photo of Jordan Heustis
Jordan Heustis@mylifeasjordanreads
5 stars
Nov 27, 2021

I don’t give out a lot of 5s for contemporaries (especially romance) but I actually really enjoyed this book! I loved that it was set in NYC and there was more going on than just the love triangle. I highly recommend the book!

Photo of Amanda Furlan
Amanda Furlan@afurlan
3 stars
Oct 18, 2021

3.5/5. I enjoyed this book but wasn’t too too happy with how it ended.

Photo of Jacklyn O’Brien
Jacklyn O’Brien @judge_a_book_by_this_blog
4 stars
Oct 13, 2021

Wow, just wow. When I thought I knew what this book was about I was wrong. It started off sad, 9/11 going through grief. Then Cecily started getting obsessive, and then it all went off the rails. I'm not giving this book such a high rating on it's believability (because really?), I gave it 4 stars because it was a wild ride that had me emotionally invested.

Photo of Joleen
Joleen@starlightbooktales
1 star
Aug 31, 2021

Originally rated 2 stars, but have since changed it to 1 star. I swore to myself that I wouldn’t read another Emily Giffin book, but when I read the synopsis for “The Lies That Bind,” I knew I had to give her one last shot. The synopsis reminded me of "Something Borrowed" and "Something Blue", both of which I reread so many times as a teenager. So I figured one more book wouldn't hurt. And well * insert regret here.* Now the first portion of this book, not bad. Add in a nice meet-cute and some insta-love and you got yourself a nice start. But then it turned into one hot mess. It was an awful trainwreck, I couldn’t look away. I had to keep reading because I had to see if it got worse. (spoiler alert… it did) It was like Giffin just tossed a bunch of bad plotlines into a jar and picked 10 of them out to use. Some of them made zero sense & were impossible to come back from. But the last and final straw was using a moment like 9/11 to move her plot. Which didn't even make sense!! Now that I have given Emily Giffin one last shot, I can safely say I will no longer read her books. Her books are just not for me anymore.

Photo of rebecca
rebecca@rebecstrickl
3 stars
Nov 1, 2023
Photo of Kendall Munson
Kendall Munson@kendallnoemi
5 stars
Oct 2, 2022
Photo of Erin Jones
Erin Jones@erinpennjones
3 stars
Jan 18, 2024
Photo of Boothby
Boothby@claraby
1 star
Apr 14, 2023
Photo of Rachel Lau
Rachel Lau@rachxlau
5 stars
Mar 2, 2023
Photo of Grace Rogers
Grace Rogers@readingformoi
3 stars
Feb 7, 2023
Photo of Meredith pant
Meredith pant@meredith1
3 stars
Feb 6, 2023
Photo of Heather Miller
Heather Miller@heathersereads
3 stars
Dec 1, 2022
Photo of Eve Jones
Eve Jones@evejones
3 stars
Oct 11, 2022
Photo of Melaina Stopper
Melaina Stopper@bibibirdiebabe
3 stars
Aug 25, 2022
Photo of Brian Hill
Brian Hill@cbrianhill
4 stars
Aug 8, 2022
Photo of Hannah Leahy
Hannah Leahy@hannahlea
4 stars
Jun 8, 2022
Photo of Maria Nelson
Maria Nelson@marianelson0602
4 stars
May 23, 2022
Photo of riley dawson
riley dawson@rileydawson12
5 stars
Mar 21, 2022
Photo of Ariana
Ariana@ari__reads
4 stars
Mar 9, 2022
Photo of Sasha kobylinski
Sasha kobylinski @skoby17
3 stars
Jan 10, 2022
Photo of Lisa Joyner
Lisa Joyner@countrygirlreads9
4 stars
Nov 16, 2021
Photo of Kymberly L McNabb
Kymberly L McNabb@tregirl4
3 stars
Oct 28, 2021