March 2018

I both listened to and read SOMETIMES I LIE by Alice Feeney. The narrator, Stephanie Racine, is a very strong performer, and she had my attention from her opening lines. Here's the setup for the novel: "My name is Amber Reynolds. There are three things you should know about me. 1. I’m in a coma. 2. My husband doesn't love me anymore. 3. Sometimes I lie." The storyline moves from present day (opening on Boxing Day, December 26th) to the weeks before Amber's accident. Also, entries from her childhood diary are sprinkled in here, giving the listener/reader even more to ponder. The pace is brisk; you do need to pay attention to the time frame if you are listening. The pieces of the story are very carefully woven together. I would love to know how Alice constructed the story.

While I am a tad tired of unreliable narrators (this is one very large category of thrillers these days, and many let me down), the way Alice twists things around in the last quarter of the book definitely had me perked up. It was like I was on a rollercoaster. As I was reading it, I got two notes about the audiobook from our readers. Nancy told me, “I'd almost encourage you to read the last quarter of the book; so much happens so quickly and with such surprise that your head will spin. I don't want you to miss any of it. Of course, you can finish the audio and then pick up the book later.” Then Donna wrote, “I just had to write and tell you how captivated I was by the audio of SOMETIMES I LIE. I haven’t listened to audiobooks in years, but I have a long drive to work now and started this audio advance copy on a lark. I cannot wait to read the print copy to see where I missed hints at what was to happen. I’m telling everyone to put this on their TBR. Thought it was marvelous, absolutely loved the narrator. Cannot wait to hear your thoughts.”

I was halfway through the audio, read the second half, and they are right. So much happened so fast that I went back to listening to the audio to hear the clues that I missed. I am glad I am not alone in this! I THINK I have it figured out, but I am not 100% sure. This book WILL be talked about, and I am glad I finally can talk about it with others. I cannot tell you much more, as the story really needs to unfold for you for it to work. I will share this: A friend told me she enjoyed listening to it so much that she took the long way home at night, and more than once she sat in the car continuing to listen. I need to get her turned on to digital audio so she is not tethered to her car, but rather can just stay up all night listening.