Name: HeyBiblio Fam Club's review of Lies Like Poison by Chelsea Pitcher
Item: Lies Like Poison
Rating: 3
Author: HeyBiblio Fam Club

Chelsea Pitcher

Riverdale meets Kara Thomas’s The Cheerleaders in this electrifying, twisted thriller about estranged friends who reunite when someone commits the murder they’d planned—but didn’t go through with—and leaves one of their own to take the fall. Poppy, Lily, and Belladonna would do anything to protect their best friend, Raven. So when they discovered he was suffering abuse at the hands of his stepmother, they came up with a lethal plan: petals of poppy, belladonna, and lily in her evening tea so she’d never be able to hurt Raven again. But someone got cold feet, the plot faded to a secret of the past, and the group fell apart. Three years later, on the eve of Raven’s seventeenth birthday, his stepmother turns up dead. But it’s only belladonna found in her tea, and it’s only Belladonna who’s carted off to jail. Desperate for help, Belle reaches out to her estranged friends to prove her innocence. They answer the call, but no one is prepared for what comes next. Now, everyone has something to lose and something equally dangerous to hide. And when the tangled web of secrets and betrayal is finally unwound, what lies at its heart will change the group forever.

Lies Like Poison

Jasper

Pain couldn't be outrun. It was a wild, snarling creature in the forest, indiscriminately stalking its prey. There was only one way to survive it. You had to call out for other voices in the tangled woods. You had to reach for careful hands and let them pull you to safety, away from gnashing teeth and curling claws. And then, when you were strong enough, you had to reach out your own trembling hands and pull other people out of the darkness.

There were flecks of gold in her green eyes. Strands of red in her hair. Looking at Jack was like peering through a portal into a world of glittering light and ancient redwoods, a world everyone told you to stop looking for, because you'd never find it. But Raven had.

abigail janiece

HeyBiblio Fam Club

Surprising mystery, captivating writing, compelling romance.

Charlie Winchester 

Liked the concept. I never connected with the characters and their relationship(s) which is something I feel was necessary for this book so it fell flat for me

From the author of bestselling THIS LIE WILL KILL YOU comes another unputdownable thriller about a group of friends who will do anything to protect each other. Even murder.... Perfect for fans of RIVERDALE and ONE OF US IS LYING. The recipe for the perfect murder... Poppy, Lily, and Belladonna would do anything to protect their best friend, Raven. So when they discovered he was suffering abuse at the hands of his stepmother, they came up with a lethal plan: petals of poppy, belladonna, and lily in her evening tea so she’d never be able to hurt Raven again. But someone got cold feet, the plot faded to a secret of the past, and the group fell apart. Three years later, on the eve of Raven’s seventeenth birthday, his stepmother turns up dead. But it’s only belladonna found in her tea, and it’s only Belladonna who’s carted off to jail. Desperate for help, Belle reaches out to her estranged friends to prove her innocence, but who can she trust? Someone is lying and when the tangled web of secrets and betrayal is finally unwound, what lies at its heart will change the group forever.

Yeah I don’t think this author is for me…at all. The plots and ideas are just so good and I really really want to love them but something in the execution seems to keep falling flat. 

The narrators in this book were the most unreliable annoying people ever. Now I love a good unreliable narrator but man these characters were lying to not only the reader or each other but to themselves! They were just causing drama where drama wasn’t even there, like if they didn’t lie to themselves bam problem done away. 

Also the ending? Wtf was that lmao. There’s predictable and haha I suspected you then there’s whatever that was. 

2.5* bc I did really like the concept again like the last one I read, it just wasn’t executed in a very good way…

From the author of bestselling THIS LIE WILL KILL YOU comes another unputdownable thriller about a group of friends who will do anything to protect each other. Even murder.... Perfect for fans of RIVERDALE meets ONE OF US IS LYING.

grace richards

Yasmin H

I was a bit disapointed by this book. I expected it to be very fast paced and interesting; however, I found there were too many characters and the book switched between present day and the past very often without much warning or indication. I found this made the book very hard to follow and very complicated. 

If it weren’t for this, I think I would have enjoyed the book. The idea was very good, but the book just wasn’t well written. I don’t think I will read another of Chelsea Pitchers books anytime soon. 

By the end of this book, I understood what had happened, but I didn't understand until the last chapter.

Started off interestingly, but lose it's charm midway.

Maria Luiza

This was... wild. Kept me at the edge of my seat but I could not, for one second, believe in any of the events that happened of the book, so it was hard to be really into the story. The characters also feel a lot like caricatures in the way they act so it felt really weird. But I did not expect the end, and that's saying a lot for me.

Shannon Thomas

I normally don’t tend to engage well with mysteries, I find them predictable and too focussed on the who and the why and there’s not enough substance to the rest of the narrative.
Lies Like Poison was TOTALLY different. All four of the protagonists were caught up in their own web of lies and it was thoroughly intriguing watching them unravel.
Belle, Poppy (Jack) and Lily come up with a plan to kill Lily’s mother (Raven’s stepmother). Evelyn has been tormenting her children for years and Belle and Jack can’t bear to see how much it hurts Raven. The three of them brew the perfect murder, they will slip a petal of Belladonna, a petal of Poppy and a petal of Lily into Evelyn’s tea to poison her. They don’t go through with the murder and Lily hides the recipe. Yet, fast forward three years and Evelyn is found dead, cause of death? Poison. Found next to her is the “recipe for the perfect murder” they devised those years ago, but only belladonna is found in the tea.
I was so immersed in this story. Not just for the mystery, but the characters as well. Every character had secrets and demons in their closets. I so enjoyed watching the characters develop, grow and find the strength to be honest with each other, so much so that certain scenes had me balling.
A definite must read, an enticing, complex and modern whodunnit!

Caitlyn DeRouin

4.5 stars! - read my full review here https://teatimelit.com/2020/11/10/blo...

This was one of the most interesting YA thrillers I have read in a while! The story and characters instantly drew me in and it was hard to put it down! The book is sorted into three different sections, each focusing on three of our main characters. Each section reveals a bit more of the truth and the pieces slowly start to come together. There were so many twists and turns and my brain was moving a million miles a minute trying to figure them all out. I’m very proud to say that there were many of the twists that I figured out – but I definitely second-guessed myself continually until the truth was revealed. I spent a lot of time convincing myself that I was on the right track and then saying, “No, that’s crazy that can’t be it!” followed up a few chapters later with me saying, “I was right after all!” which honestly is one of my favorite things about reading mystery/thrillers. I love being so enthralled in the story that I can’t stop myself from trying to figure out the truth, which usually leads to me coming up with lots of crazy theories that I hope are correct and sometimes are. It makes me feel like I’m part of the story, and I definitely felt like I was part of this story.

Ruth Parker 

I was super excited to receive this book as an ARC, allowing me an early read of a book which sounded great to me. I enjoyed the author’s latest book, This Lie Will Kill You, although it wasn’t my favourite it was a bit of fun. 

I have to be honest, I didn’t enjoy this as much as the other book. But I’ve rated them the same. Why, you ask. Why rate them the same if I have different opinions on the tone and quality of them? 

Her previous book contained elements that I am really into in fiction; tropes such as games. It was basically the wage Clue which was a ton of fun, even though it was a bit silly. This book read a little more maturely than the last point (point in favour!), the writing was better. The tone was darker. But I didn’t find it as enjoyable a read. I just wanted to get to the end to find out who did it and be done. And I wasn’t surprised. For me there were only two people who could have done it and one was too obvious at the halfway mark. 

With this kind of book, if I’m not getting something thrilling and life changing then I want something amusing and entertaining, and this didn’t fit in to either, which was disappointing. 

I’ve been a bit negative in this review but honestly I enjoyed the book and if you like YA thrillers then you’ll probably enjoy this too. It’s not the best out there but it’s worth a read if you’re a fun of the genre.

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: Lies Like Poison

Author: Chelsea Pitcher

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 3/5

Diversity: LGBT+ rep, transgender characters

Recommended For...: mystery lovers, thrill seekers, LGBT+ rep!

Publication Date: November 10, 2020

Genre: YA Mystery

Recommended Age: can’t recommend, dnf-ed

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Pages: 304

Synopsis: Poppy, Lily, and Belladonna would do anything to protect their best friend, Raven. So when they discovered he was suffering abuse at the hands of his stepmother, they came up with a lethal plan: petals of poppy, belladonna, and lily in her evening tea so she’d never be able to hurt Raven again. But someone got cold feet, the plot faded to a secret of the past, and the group fell apart.

Three years later, on the eve of Raven’s seventeenth birthday, his stepmother turns up dead. But it’s only belladonna found in her tea, and it’s only Belladonna who’s carted off to jail. Desperate for help, Belle reaches out to her estranged friends to prove her innocence. They answer the call, but no one is prepared for what comes next.

Now, everyone has something to lose and something equally dangerous to hide. And when the tangled web of secrets and betrayal is finally unwound, what lies at its heart will change the group forever.

Review: I had to DNF this book at 32% in. While I’m so excited for the LGBT rep in this book and I will be revisiting this book at a later date, for right now it isn’t for me. The book is kind of strangely written and you have to be in the mindset of mystery/thriller for this read.

Verdict: It’s great, just not for me in this moment.

Arabella Mai Wallis

I love how accessible the writing style is in Chelsea Pitcher's book and, despite their shorter lengths, her novels are still able to add a lot of depth to the characters and really have you empathise and feel for them, just wanting to protect them. I had my theories of who the killer may have been but all my theories were wrong and I was pleasantly surprised. I liked how the tragedy brought people closer and had truths revealed throughout and our four main characters were just incredible and all deserve the world.

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Lies Like Poison by Chelsea Pitcher