User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
Year’s last good but not so good book for me! Yes, it’s less tricky for my taste!
I liked two things about this book: spooky, eerie atmosphere and epilogue.
The story-line is also intriguing with very special private school only accepts rich, privileged, successful, smart ladies named Goode located at the hills of Virginia. Honour Code is the most important thing to protect responsibility and dignity of these girls community. As you can imagine there are established secret societies and their rules to protect.
But one day all hell breaks loose and everything gets out of control when they find the corpse of a girl hanging from the front gates of the school. Did she kill herself? Or is there a secret killer who wants revenge against those girls?
When too many girls involve in a mystery, this means more drama, angst, verbal ugly fights! Well, I loved the beginning of the mystery, eerie, disturbing, mystic atmosphere of the traditionally weird school yard. But when I move to the second half, my spider senses start to scream at me how the story could conclude and who may responsible of the deaths. Yes, there is nothing surprising.
Everything is so much obvious, a little hmmm okay, please pass me salt and pour me more wine kind of I got bored and disappointed but I still want to finish it thoughts flew around my mind.
I read J.T. Ellison’s previous works and I always enjoy the author’s riveting writing style. This book is good choice as a holiday book because it’s a quick read.
It doesn’t numb your mind and plays with your grey cells too much. You easily solve the mystery and at some parts you feel like you’re a few steps ahead from the author. When you finish it, you don’t whine about anything, you just take a deep breath and tell yourself, “hmm okay what’s next and bring the bottle, I’m thirsty!” (At least that’s what I did after my reading)
So the book, the story, the characters didn’t affect me much. It’s not so memorable story but is also not boring, slow, nonsense reading. It’s mediocre, three starred: I don’t like it so much but I also didn’t hate it kind of another Switzerland thriller book just took a place at my previous thriller rides.
Rating: really liked it
Good Girls Lie but not here in this in this elite all-girls boarding school where honor is a code??? Well, appearance is everything, but things are not always as they appear. There are a few secrets hidden in the dark corner and behind closed doors in this school and not everyone seems to follow that code.
Good Girls Lie is a simple and easy read with a little dark to it. With a story that centres around teens, I was a bit worried about the teen drama however I thought the drama was kept low here between the Goode girls. There is some cattiness, games, and competition here between them, but I thought just enough to create some conflict between them that added to the suspense and tension to the story.
The setting is interesting and I seemed to find myself drawn to stories where the setting is characters themselves. With this school, it also harbored some secrets here with our characters making it even more exciting.
The story does start off with a dark scene that is a little chilling to catch your attention and the mystery starts to form there. You don’t need too many detective skills here to pick up on the clues and figure out what is going on, making this a fun and easy read.
I received a copy from the publisher!
Rating: really liked it
There is something about the Goode Girls..........they come from well respected families...they are wealthy...they are smart...they are wealthy...they are driven...they are wealthy...Also..they drink, do drugs, cut school, murder, bully, haze, lie and get into the BEST colleges!
The Goode Prep school is the best of the best. All girls of Goode are hand picked by the dean and have been for decades. Goode is almost a guarantee to an Ivy League school of your choice upon graduation. The girls of Goode seem to have it all...don't they?
I loved the atmospheric feel that the author managed to create. An old building surrounded by wrought iron gates, a wicked past filled with suicides and murder. The building is cold, dark, secluded. Often as the girls were going about their day I felt a tinge of unease and creepiness as I imagined the building and the secrets it kept.
The girls at Goode seemed much older than the high school girls that they were. They were functioning in an environment with very little supervision, treated more like college students. They were expected to be able to write a thesis and it was not uncommon to be a part of secret societies with outlandish initiation processes.
Ash Carlisle was like all the other girls that arrived at the school. Well except her family is dead and she was witness to it. Pretty much everyone around her dies...well there is that. Maybe it is just a coincidence? Bad luck?
As a fan of J.T. Ellison I knew she would bring a big twist into the mix. She did with this book as well, although I did find it a slower pace and more atmospheric than her other books I fully loved the boarding school setting. I thought the ending was a bit predictable but I still enjoyed the road we took to get there.
Let it be known....Goode girls always get their way...even if it kills them...
Rating: really liked it
4 surprisingly sinister stars for Good Girls LieA thriller set within an exclusive all girls boarding school? I'm so in! There's just something about sneaky, catty girls and sinister happenings that I find irresistible. Mix in some bad behavior, sexual surprises, secret societies, hazing and yes - murder and you have quite the page turner.
The book starts off with an unforgettable death scene that pulls you right in and and will have you needing to know what happened.
“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭’𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯 𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭’𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦.” Told in a flashback format, this death brings lies to the surface amidst The Goode School's elite students and faculty. Beneath its beautiful, rich and influential facade lurks a dark labyrinth of cruelty, secrets and murder.
I really enjoying the creepy, disturbing vibe this one had. The setting was wonderful and the plot moved at a quick pace. There were a few twists and even though some were predictable, I was pretty happy with most of the reveals. Overall this was a fast-paced, engrossing thriller.
Thank you to J.T. Ellison, Harlequin and NetGalley for providing me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: really liked it
Menacing, edgy, & an engrossing page-turner!GOOD GIRLS LIE by J.T. ELLISON is a riveting, spooky, dark, gritty, and twisty thriller that has quite the seductive and intriguing storyline. It opens up with a brutally chilling scene when one of the students is found dead and then it has us going back in time to learn the events of what happened leading up to this horrific tragedy. This is probably one of my favourite tactics, it definitely caught my attention, freaked me out a little bit and kept my interest piqued right to the very end.
J.T. ELLISON delivers a quick, clever, taut, well-written story here that has an absolutely fantastic creepy atmospheric setting to it that was both haunting and suspenseful. The Goode School is a prestigious all-girls boarding school that was a character all in itself that I was thoroughly entertained by. I loved all the spooky, claustrophobic, creepy, and gothic vibes that surrounded it.
I wouldn’t necessarily say that I was totally engaged the whole time I was reading this or surprised by the twists but there were definitely parts to the story that I found quite appealing and immersive. The way that the story was told through alternating perspectives was another tactic that definitely appealed to me.
If you follow my reviews you already know that I never read the synopsis. I like to go in completely blind and see if I can figure out the direction and the storyline all by myself. Sometimes I must admit that there are a few books where I’ve been a few chapters in that I had no clue where the story was headed, needing to read the synopsis. I didn’t have a problem figuring this one out or knowing where it was headed. Even though I thought it was a little bit predictable, I wasn’t disappointed at all with the reveals.
Norma’s Stats:
Cover: This cover immediately appealed and intrigued me and definitely enticed me to want to read this book. I think it is an extremely fitting representation to storyline.
Title: An intriguing, relevant, and totally effective representation to storyline. I loved how it played so fittingly into storyline.
Goode girls don’t lie…hahaha we will see about that!!!Writing/Prose: Easy to follow, intense, entertaining, suspenseful, magnetic, engaging and compulsively readable.
Plot: Dark, twisted, disturbing, atmospheric, creepy, interesting, fast-paced, twisty, and entertaining.
Ending: I wouldn’t say that the ending was all that surprising but the Epilogue was downright fantastic, exciting, and utterly creepy!
Overall: 3.5 Stars! I do love me some drama and angst in my thrillers and throw in lots of juicy secrets along with a spooky and eerie setting then I’m one happy camper! If that appeals to you as well then I think you are going to absolutely love this one!! Would recommend!
Thank you so much to Harlequin / MIRA for kindly sending me a copy of this book!
This review can also be seen at Two Sisters Lost in a Coulee Reading book blog:
https://twosisterslostinacoulee.com/
Rating: really liked it
Goode girls don't lie .......or do they?
A code of honor, secret societies, and murder!
The Goode School is a prestigious all-girls school where the girls gain early acceptance to the ivy schools of their choice. This boarding school in Marchburg, Virginia accepts only the brightest (and richest) girls - daughters of politicians, prominent businessmen/women, and elite members of society. Rules are expected to be followed, there is an honor and conduct code that must be abided by. Sure, the secret societies and their hazing i.e. tagging activities are overlooked. They are time-honored traditions after all.
Then one day a student is found dead. Was her death a suicide? Was she murdered? Soon suspicions are voiced and students, police and the dean begin to have doubts about one student. Are their doubts correct? Who is to blame?
The setting was wonderful. An all-girls school in the hills without much around, secret societies. This sounds like the making of a very book (even movie) but there was just something a little lacking in this for me. I wanted just a little bit more oomph to this. I wish there would have been more mystery as to who the culprit was. The reveal was not shocking to me. Plus, I was really hoping that a secret relationship would come out. This is a book that I feel would make a great plane book. It's entertaining, a great way to pass time, but will I remember it months from now. Probably just vaguely. I will say that I found the epilogue to be excellent. Very clever. I thought the epilogue was the best part of the book.
The writing was good, and the plot moved at a good pace. Many are enjoying this book more than I did so I encourage my fellow readers to check out those reviews as well.
Thank you to Harlequin- Mira and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
Rating: really liked it
DNF @ 15%. Not connecting with characters or storyline.
Rating: really liked it
Fabulous Mystery And Subdued Thriller!
There Is a boarding school which happens to be called The Goode Academy known for it's prestigious reputation of accepting only the most privledged and the brightest, talented and the most elite of teenage girls who will become the finest of young women and will be accepted into any university or Ivy League school of their desire before they graduate from Goode's doors. There will be one among their midst however, who may not belong and when the new sessions begin strange events start happening and there is tension and deception and a sense of darkness lingering in the halls and behind the walls of the academy that can be subtly felt by many students but unfortunately none of the girls or the faculty knows that there a real evil dwelling in the stately boarding school that will affect the lives of all before the first term is even finished.
Bravo, bravo to J.T. Ellison on her writing of this fabulous book! I was intrigued from the first page and was consumed by the flawless writing style and storytelling. I felt as if I was an invisible character listening and following the girls and wishing I could tell them to be careful and not so mean and spiteful. I was entrenched in the drama and the mystique of the school's underlying mysteries. This book had me from start to finish and I just wanted the story to continue and find out what would happen to many of the characters and their thoughts and feellings in the next chapters of their lives if they lived to tell their stories.
I want to thank the author J.T. Ellison and the publisher "Harlequin and Mira" (US and Canada) and of course Netgalley for allowing me the opportunity to read this wonderful novel for an honest and unbiased review!
I highly recommend this book and I am giving a rating of 5 Privledged 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 Stars!!
Rating: really liked it
EXCERPT: The girl's body dangles from the tall, iron gates guarding the school's entrance. A closer examination shows the ends of a red silk tie peeking out like a cardinal on a winter branch, forcing her neck into a brutal angle. She wears her graduation robe and multicolored stole as if knowing she'll never see the achievement. The last tendrils of dawn's fog laze about her legs, which are five feet from the ground. It rained overnight and the thin robe clings to her body, dew sparkling on the edges.
There is no breeze, no birds singing or squirrels industriously gathering for the long winter ahead, no cars passing along the street, only the cool, misty morning air and the gentle metallic creaking of the gates under the weight of the dead girl. She is suspended in midair, her back to the street, her face hidden behind a curtain of dirty wet hair, dark from the rains.
Because of the damage to her face, it will take them some time to officially identify her. In the beginning, it isn't even clear that she attends the school, despite wearing the Goode School robes. But she does. The fingerprints will prove it.
Of course there are a few people who know exactly who is dangling from the school gates. Know who,and know why. But they will never tell.
ABOUT THIS BOOK: Goode girls don’t lie…
Perched atop a hill in the tiny town of Marchburg, Virginia, The Goode School is a prestigious prep school known as a Silent Ivy. The boarding school of choice for daughters of the rich and influential, it accepts only the best and the brightest. Its elite status, long-held traditions and honor code are ideal for preparing exceptional young women for brilliant futures at Ivy League universities and beyond. But a stranger has come to Goode, and this ivy has turned poisonous.
In a world where appearances are everything, as long as students pretend to follow the rules, no one questions the cruelties of the secret societies or the dubious behavior of the privileged young women who expect to get away with murder. But when a popular student is found dead, the truth cannot be ignored. Rumors suggest she was struggling with a secret that drove her to suicide.
But look closely…because there are truths and there are lies, and then there is everything that really happened.
MY THOUGHTS: 'Lies will flow from my lips, but there may perhaps be some truth mixed up with them; it is for you to decide whether any part of it is worth keeping.' - Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own
And lies certainly do flow from everyone's lips in J.T. Ellison's latest thriller, Good Girls Lie. The opening chapters had my pulse pounding and I voraciously flicked over the pages until my Kindle went flat. The pace does settle for a time before the climactic ending.
Ellison has written an atmospheric and creepy novel with cutting edge characters. These teenage girls are rich and privileged, cliquey and bitchy. They can be cruel and manipulative. They are adept at hiding their true feelings, preferring to be seen as 'cool', to be admired and emulated.
The culture of their school almost encourages their behaviour... until it all backfires and popular students start dying. Is it a coincidence, or perhaps just plain bad luck, that there is a new girl at the school. One whose entire family is dead...
Highly recommended.
😯😯😯😯.5
#GoodGirlsLie #NetGalley
THE AUTHOR: J.T. Ellison began her career as a presidential appointee in the White House, where a nuclear physicist taught her how to obsess over travel itineraries and make a seriously good pot of Earl Grey, spawning both her love of loose leaf and a desire for control of her own destiny. Jaded by the political climate in D.C., she made her way back to her first love, creative writing. More than 20 novels later, she is an award-winning New York Times and USA Today bestselling author with thrillers published in 27 countries and 15 languages. She is also the EMMY-award winning cohost of A WORD ON WORDS, a literary interview TV show. She lives in Nashville with her husband and two small gray minions, known as cats in some cultures. She thinks they’re furry aliens.
DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Harlequin MIRA for providing a digital ARC of Good Girls Lie by J.T. Ellison for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.
For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com
This review is also published on Twitter, Amazon and my webpage https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
Rating: really liked it
Now this was a fantastic read. I devoured Good Girls Lie by JT Ellison in about 3 hours yesterday afternoon. I set out to read this thriller, released in December 2019, assuming I'd finish about 25% before bed... nope, I couldn't put it down. What a great story that pulls you in, keeps you guessing, and drives you a little batty. While I loved it, there were a few flaws that had me scratching my head, but overall, I definitely recommend it.
Ash Carlisle has been dropped off at a Virginia all-girls school after her parents die tragically. She's British and just arrived from her hometown to finish school. She's 16 and precocious but also emotionally challenged after everything she's gone through. The very first day, Becca, the head girl, tortures her. Later on, she wants to become best friends. Meanwhile, Ash's roommate and next door neighbors try to be friends. Then they turn somewhat evil. Which group of friends should Ash trust? We know in the beginning, one of these girls is found hanging (dead) at the school entrance. You won't find out who until closer to the end, but you will keep guessing until you figure it out. And you will, because it becomes obvious in a necessary way... but you probably won't figure out why!
The suspense and thrills are top notch. A few reliances on over-the-top silliness. Teenage girls are truly awful sometimes. Really, I think if I had any of them as friends, I'd never speak again. Does this really happen? I don't know for sure, nor do I understand whether schools like the Goode one exist... if they do, please destroy them now! But these are all good reactions to the book because it means the author has done a superb job at pushing her readers to get angry and feel something.
This is a psychological read. You know you're being led down the wrong path. I'm fine with that. I get that someone is lying. I also know there's a missing character. We can't tell who (s)he is, but there are a number of options that will have readers smacking themselves upside the head each time a new twist arrives. While I loved this about the book, in a few scenes, I kept thinking... that's such a vague way to write this scene. In the end, you realize why... so... because of this, I felt a little used as a reader. I think it could've been done a little differently with another POV and thoughts from surrounding character... that's the only reason I couldn't knock this one up to a five star read.
That said... it's one of my faves in the last few months. I adore Ellison's writing style and plots, so this was a perfect read for me. I find she's growing quite high in my 'must-read' list, and I definitely recommend her books to someone with an open mind who doesn't set out to look for problems when they read. Live a little. Get lost in an author's imagination. Don't be too picky. And you might find the balance in a story like this one is quite phenomenal.
Rating: really liked it
Good Girls Lie by JT Ellison ticked all the boxes for a great psychological thriller for me. I am a big fan of JT, loving her stand alone books as well as the Taylor Jackson series through the years. When I heard about her new book I was desperate to get my hands on a copy. l was thrilled when I was approved for an ARC. And true to form once I started reading I did not want to put it down. I was completely hooked after that first chapter - and it just kept getting better.
So Good Girls Lie opens with a young student hanging from the front gates of the Goode School in Virginia, a boarding school for the daughters of the rich and elite. A new student has arrived, Ashlyn Carr. She has recently become an orphan when both her parents died suddenly. Being from England this is a whole new world for her. A school steeped in history, old and creepy with secret societies and lots of mean girls. Ash has plenty of her own secrets and struggles to find her place. She tries to fit in and make friends but these girls do not make it easy. And then girls start to die...…
Absolutely loved this book, could not get enough. Highly recommend.
Thanks to Netgalley and Harlequin MIRA for my advanced copy of this book to read. All opinions are my own and are in no way biased.
Rating: really liked it
Good Girls Lie by J.T. Ellison is a fascinating thriller about the lifestyle of the rich and connected gone completely awry. This is my first J.T. Ellison book but I look forward to reading many more. The Goode School in Marchburg, Virginia is a girls’ boarding school that caters to the daughters of politicians and celebrities. The school prepares the students for admission to the Ivy League schools. A new girl arrives at Goode: she is from England and has recently lost both her parents to suicide. The dean takes her under her wing, and before long, the suspicious death of a student occurs. It soon becomes apparent that all is not what is seemed. The police get involved and become suspicious that this may be a case of murder. Not much more can be added so as not to divulge the plot. At first look, I thought this was a YA novel but this mystery can be enjoyed by most. Good Girls Lie will have you hooked from the first chapter and will take you on quite a ride. You will be astounded by the ending. Highly recommended. Thank you to Harlequin Mira and NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: really liked it
Favorite Quotes:
Everyone lies. To themselves, to each other. It’s a way to belong, to be included. To look important.
I employ the only tool in my arsenal— silence. It only adds to the mystique. Who knew? I thought lies had power until I saw what silence could do.
My Review:
J.T. Ellison has mad word skills and is a master storyteller, her descriptive and emotive prose fully created each scene from the ground up with multiple textures, scents, sights, and sounds. I was sucked right in and fully present, sometimes, uncomfortably so. While it wasn’t an edge of your seat thriller, I was deeply invested in this twisted and tense hybrid tale that was part YA, part Women’s Fiction, part suspense, part family drama.
The main character of Ash was always taut with tension and anxiously on edge for fear of discovery and I found myself often nibbling on my cuticles with the extremely poor posture of my shoulders in my ears while clutching my Kindle with a vise-like grip. This was a long, complex, and cunningly paced tale with multiple layers and interesting textures. The storylines were rather ingenious, shrewdly plotted, and expertly populated with a cast of diabolical and oddly intriguing characters of all ages. The most heinous was, of course, the teenaged girls, who were especially vile and vicious as only teenaged girls can be. Although, and I know from personal experience, rich and privileged teenaged girls are the absolute worst of the breed.
Rating: really liked it
An okay mystery...I like this type of setting (an old boarding school, secret societies, crazy teenage girls...), but this book didn't really work for me. I didn't get attached to any characters nor felt a creepy atmosphere. The second half was better than the first, but nothing exceptional.
I have to say that I didn't see it labeled as a Young Adult book, but it felt like it.
2.5 rounded up
Rating: really liked it
3.75 stars
Fast-paced, fantastic setting, and the amount of drama that you'd expect from
Pretty Little Liars, this is
a fun romp for fans of boarding school mystery/thrillers.
Pacing: ★★★ 1/2
Setting: ★★★★★
Reveal(s): Not overly surprising, but incredibly entertaining
Enjoyment: I love boarding school mysteries, so... yes.
Nestled in a small town in Virginia, there sits a prestigious all-girls boarding school catering to the elite. Appearances and social ties are everything, and
these girls are primed for success at any cost.
Enter Ash, a girl with a secret and everything left to lose.Ash has come to the Goode School to escape her tragic recent past and remake herself in the image of a Goode girl.
Goode girls are honorable, smart, and polished. Goode girls are dedicated to their studies and are guaranteed spots at Ivy League schools.
Goode girls can't afford to have setbacks or secrets.
But
this "perfect" boarding school is built on secrets, hazing, and lies. Nothing is what it seems, and Ash finds herself not only in danger of revealing her true past but also getting crushed by Goode's other members—who have some serious qualms about an English girl one-upping them on their home turf.
I loved this devious, back-stabbing, girls' revenge mystery/thriller story.
It definitely knows its audience, and it caters to us well. There is plenty of intrigue, hidden romance, double-crossing, atmosphere, and of course murder(s).
In particular, I loved the framing of the story—we have several POVs, and certain facts that I took for facts turned out to have different conclusions. Which was sometimes a nice surprise and sometimes an easily guessed—yet entertaining—reveal.
I will say that I definitely guessed the largest mystery plot point, but I still kept reading because the story itself was so entertaining.
My main reluctance to rate this higher was due to the easy to guess plot points and the pacing.
At times, this felt long. It IS long, but
unlike some long books that feel short, this one feels as long as it is.
Come for the drama, stay for the drama! This is definitely a worthy inclusion into the genre of boarding school mysteries. I loved it.
Thank you to Harlequin - MIRA for an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.
