I recently went to an author-signing event and Alessandra was one of the authors present. Previous to this I have never read any of her books. I try to read an author I have never before every other book that I read. So I thought reading some books from the authors I recently met would be a great idea. My reviewer, Dottie was familiar with Alessandra’s work and she told me I had to start with Black Lies. So with an author in mind and a recommendation I was on my way towards a new fictional journey.
Now for the review, this is a DIFFICULT task I am faced with. Black Lies has secrets and twists coming every which way so Alessandra has me in a tight spot of portraying my thoughts on the book while giving nothing away to you. I am even having my reviewer read this prior to publishing to make sure I give nothing away. I HATE spoilers, I am not one of those people who search them out because they need to know immediately. This was the ONLY book I have ever read where with each page I turned I had to continuously stop myself from going ahead in the story and searching out the answers. I may not be one for spoilers but I am one for liking to be right… I had my suspicions about certain aspects of the book and I was DYING to know if I was right (Which by the way I was; pat on the book for this smarty-pants!). I highly advice you take the ride sans spoilers and cheating as well. It’s worth going in blind.
O-M-G! Words cannot do justice for my feelings about Black Lies. Ironic right? It’s words that make the quality and character of this story and yet… I feel supremely inadequate to describe to you the caliber of Black Lies, a one of a kind story of love, passion, betrayal, and secrets. Black Lies is the epitome of original and captivating story telling.
Okay so I’d like to talk a little bit about the characters. This aspect of the book was a little odd for me. I could not relate to Layanna at all and there was no huge connection to her for me. She is a well written character with very little I can say bad about her but just for me personally there was a disconnect. This is not saying anything negative about Layanna or the writing just a personal preference for me. She is a society girl from an extremely rich family, expected to live a certain way and follow a certain way of life set by her upbringing’s social norms. These expectations feel suffocating to her and she walks a line of rebellion and staying the course.
Brant Sharp, the powerful, rich, self-made man. His attraction to Layanna from the beginning and his dedication to her is something I find attractive in him. He takes care of business and doesn’t neglect Lana to do it. He’s got some skeletons in his closet but he is also open and honest about certain things, like his scandalous sexual history.
Lee, I didn’t really care for him. I found him short tempered (a little bit physically scary) and kind of mean during sex (Which Lana seemed to like and I totally didn’t get). He was not my cup of tea. He was Brant’s opposite in many ways: a working-class man, out to please himself, and a fly by the seat of his pants type of man.
Even with my disconnect from Lana and not particularly caring for Lee I would still shout from the roof tops how good this book is because the storyline is just that darn good. The dialogue was well written and realistic. The secrets and suspense has you staying up way later than you should to just get in one (never really just one) more chapter and than cursing Alessandra in the morning when you’re tired at work. In a genre of books where often plots have a lot of similarities this book is so different from the rest. It has that standout factor. All of these things make anything you could possibly have to say negative about this book a non-factor.
I really have so much more I want to say but I can’t. After reading this book I went directly to Facebook to discuss with my reviewer Dottie, as she had already read the book. (While reading she got many PMs from me that were along the lines of… “IS THIS THE ANSWER?!” … “NO DON”T TELL ME” … “But I’m right, aren’t I?). We went back and forth on our thoughts and opinions on the story for a long time and I would love to do that here too but really this is a book where the less I say the better your reading experience will be.
So there is only one thing left to do. Give you my recommendation and that is of course for me to tell you that this is a book worth taking a chance on, one that should be on your TBR, purchased right away, and be your next epic read. I know you will not be disappointed in this fictional ride. And if you’ve already read Black Lies, feel free to find me on Facebook because discussing this one is something I could do day and night.
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From #1 New York Times bestselling author Colleen Hoover comes a novel that explores life after tragedy and the enduring spirit of love. | Learn more
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