Review: The Best Lies by Sarah Lyu

The Best Lies
Author: Sarah Lyu
Genre: YA Mystery/Thriller
Release Date: July 2, 2019
Publisher: Simon Pulse

Description:

Remy Tsai used to know how her story would turn out. But now, she doesn’t even know what tomorrow will look like.

She was happy once. Remy had her boyfriend Jack, and Elise, her best friend—her soulmate—who understood her better than anyone else in the world.

But now Jack is dead, shot through the chest—

And it was Elise who pulled the trigger.

Was it self-defense? Or something deeper, darker than anything Remy could have imagined? As the police investigate, Remy does the same, sifting through her own memories, looking for a scrap of truth that could save the friendship that means everything to her.

Told in alternating timelines, Thelma and Louise meets Gone Girl in this twisted psychological thriller about the dark side of obsessive friendship.  

 

The Best Lies is an electric YA thriller that will have readers on the edge of their seat until the very end. I'm a huge fan of this genre, so I immediately knew I had to read this as soon as possible. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect, but this book went above and beyond anything I could've thought. There was nothing I didn't like about this story. The main character, Remy, is incredibly realistic and complex. We learn about her life in extreme detail, and since the story is told in the first person point of view, from Remy's perspective, we get an inside look at everything she's thinking and feeling, her hopes and dreams, her fears, her memories, and so much more. I felt immediately connect with Remy right from the start of the story. The other major characters, especially Elise and even Jack, were also well rounded and had a realistic draw to them. The more minor characters were somewhat stereotypical, but the author gave them their own realistic problems and issues to deal with throughout the story.

The plot was seriously intense. The description tells us that Remy's boyfriend Jack gets killed my her best friend Elise, but we don't know why. Was it an accident, like Remy believes? Was it on purpose? If Elise murdered Jack, what was her motive? We also know from the description that Remy and Elise have a very unhealthy friendship. Which is pretty much the understatement of the year. As I read Remy's story, I could see this toxic attachment begin and build between the two of them. They would say crazy things like they were soul mates. It definitely seemed way off to me. I don't want to go into much more detail because I don't want to have any spoilers, but I will say that things go from bad to worse to outright crazy. There were quite a few times when I was thinking WTF?? I had a few theories going on in my mind during the story, but only one of them turned out to be right. It was a huge roller coaster of a story, and it stayed that way until the very end. Which is probably why I ended up reading the entire book in one sitting - I just had to know what was going to happen.

The writing was fantastic and I loved everything the author did. Especially using the first person POV -  which is a huge deal for me with any book. Also, the alternating timelines - from present to past - wasn't confusing at all. It all basically takes place in the span of a year, so you can tell from the dates at the beginning of the chapters when it was happening. Eventually, the past catches up with the present and then we just have the one solid timeline. This was a really fascinating and disturbing read - and I can't recommend it highly enough to fans of YA mystery, thriller, contemporary fiction, and even romance.