Sometimes I Lie by Alice Feeney
| Sometimes I Lie by Alice Feeney | |
|
| |
| Category: Thrillers | |
| |
Reviewer: Zoe Morris
 | |
| Summary: A gripping series of stories that offer each other full support, the only question is, can any of them be believed? | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 384 | Date: March 2017 |
| Publisher: HQ | |
| ISBN: 978-0008225353 | |
|
Share on: | |
|
| |
Christmas is barely over but Amber doesn't have much to celebrate. She's in a coma, trapped with an active mind but an inactive body, able to hear and understand but not respond to what is going on around her. And her mind's a little fuzzy on a few things too, like how she ended up there, who else was involved, and what it all means.
This book has a before and after, but it also has a way back when, and the three times take it in turns to fill in the story. As well as coma Amber, we drop back just a few weeks to her going to work, leading up to Christmas and the incident, whatever it may be, that leads to her hospitalisation. Further back we also go, to a series of primary school diaries. Because sometimes to understand the adult, you also have to understand how they were as a child, the things that moulded them and scalded them. All three time points are intriguing and facts from one repeatedly become clues about another.
By the end of it you won't know which way is up, you'll be so turned around. It takes Amber an infuriatingly long time to remember what happened, almost as if she needs to relive those past few weeks in her mind and follow the trail of breadcrumbs right up to the present. You might think fine, she's in a coma, it's not like she's going anywhere. But something or someone knows what happened on the night of the accident, and until we find out more, there's every chance that person is closer than you think.
This book swept me away and the stories within stories gripped me tight. The woman lying there, seemingly peacefully in the crisp white hospital sheets seems so different from the woman on the radio show, or the young kid from 20 years ago. Sometimes I lie, she tells us, and so beyond working our way through the clues, we also have to sift the truth from the fabrications. Who can you trust when you're not sure you can trust yourself?
I'd like to thank the publishers for sending us a copy to review. We also have a review of I Know Who You Are by Alice Feeney.
Sometimes other people lie too, and Lie with Me by Sabine Durrant is a great example that men can also be fibbers. We think you'll also love Feeney's Rock Paper Scissors.
Please share on: 
Facebook, 
Twitter and
Instagram
You can read more book reviews or buy Sometimes I Lie by Alice Feeney at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Sometimes I Lie by Alice Feeney at Amazon.com.
Comments
Like to comment on this review?
Just send us an email and we'll put the best up on the site.
Phillip Allen said:
Could someone please explain what this story is all about. I get it that lies will be told but when one character suddenly changes into another I am completely baffled. Is this the sign of a good story or not?
I like that Amber/Claire have a happy ending with their or their sister’s children but what happened to the other sister/friend. Have I just not paid attention?
Are all Alice Feeny’s novels like this or dare I risk another one? Dare I re-read this one when I feel stronger!!!
Please, someone out there give me a correct series of events with names etc
