I Love It When You Lie by Kristen Bird review: Not quite a suspenseful thriller

I Love It When You Lie by Kristen Bird doesn’t quite hit the mark as a suspenseful thriller, but it is an interesting book to read.

Disclaimer: I got a free advanced copy of this book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

When something is described as a suspenseful thriller, I expect it to have twists and turns along the way. That wasn’t the case when it came to I Love It When You Lie by Kristen Bird. Instead, the novel more fits the women’s fiction genre.

That’s not to say it’s a bad thing. The story is still good, but I would have gone into reading it slightly differently instead of being disappointed there wasn’t the focus on the murder mystery throughout the book.

What is I Love It When You Lie by Kristen Bird about?

The novel follows the Williams women, who happen to keep a lot of secrets. In fact, they don’t just keep them. They bury them. Deep.

The novel takes place days before Pearl Williams’s 80th birthday. Just before it happens, she dies, and now the granddaughters need to send her off in a way that suits this matriarch of the family.

However, we know that something has happened. The sheriff is talking to a Williams woman who married into the family, and she is more than willing to share a few details. Gran wasn’t all that nice to her, and there is a chance she killed her husband. That isn’t the mystery that’s happened, though.

As we go on, we find out that all the women are up to something. Clementine, the baby of the family, is involved in an affair with her professor. June is willing to do whatever it takes for a baby. Tara is making a string of decisions that could lead to her landing in jail. What has gone on, and how will the secrets affect the family without Gran around to protect them?

I Love It When You Lie book review

I did enjoy the book going into it. It’s clear that there is some sort of mystery in the plot, but that doesn’t get revealed until toward the end of the book. To be honest, if it wasn’t for us going back to Stephanie and the sheriff at various points, I’d forget about that plot.

We spend a lot of time learning more about Tara, June, and Clementine. This is about their lives and the decisions they’re making to remain ahead of the men—and not just the men they married.

Something that saves the book is just how flawed these women are. Apart from Clementine, I have some empathy for each of them. I can see why they’ve made the decisions they have. I just can’t get behind any character who has an affair, and that’s a personal thing. I’m immediately going to hate that character with a passion regardless of the circumstances.

Everything about Gran’s past and the missing person could have been left out. I’d have happily read a book about these women. I was just disappointed to find out it wasn’t the mystery that I was hoping it would be based on the synopsis.

Stars: 3 out of 5

I Love It When You Lie by Kristen Bird is now available to buy on Amazon.