Everyone Here Is Lying By Shari Lapena

Everyone Here Is Lying by Shari Lapena Goodreads Summary (review below):Welcome to Stanhope! A safe neighborhood. A place for families.

William Wooler is a family man on the surface. But he’s been having an affair, an affair that ended horribly this afternoon at a motel up the road. So when he returns to his house, devastated and angry, to find his difficult nine-year-old daughter, Avery, unexpectedly home from school, William loses his temper.

Hours later, Avery’s family declares her missing.

Suddenly Stanhope doesn’t feel so safe. And William isn’t the only one on his street who’s hiding a lie. As witnesses come forward with information that may or may not be true, Avery’s neighbors become increasingly unhinged.

Who took Avery Wooler?

Nothing will prepare you for the truth.

Everyone Here Is Lying By Shari Lapena- Review

I feel like I should bullet this review to keep myself away from spoilers and to keep me from babbling. However, I won’t bullet it. I also promise not to spoil anything, but I can’t promise I won’t ramble. I think I am already rambling. Also, because Everyone Here Is Lying is entirely character-driven, there are A LOT of characters, and more than a word about them could spoil Shari Lapena’s best book yet. I won’t have a character breakdown section.

Now. First off, I haven’t said the following sentence about a book since one of my first thriller reviews, Dear Wife By Kimberly Belle. I am mentioning this to show how rarely I say it. In Everyone Here Is Lying, Shari Lapena hasn’t created unreliable narrators. Nope. What she has done is make you an unreliable reader. Good luck trusting one word in Everyone Is Lying because you can’t. Secondly, there isn’t a more apt title for a book, ever. Everyone is lying about something. Some are flippant and small, but they don’t know that, and some are substantial disastrous lies, and they definitely know that. Moreover, you know how I hate when summaries for books lie? And then I put this little gif in:

Well, ha to that! Because the summary of Everyone Here Is Lying is spot on right, especially the last sentence. It is absolutely correct. Whatever you might think? Whatever you might predict? Nothing. And I mean, nothing will prepare you for what Shari Lapena has planned.

Shari Lapena has created and executed a cast of primarily despicable characters to perfection. They are a bunch of fucked up people doing a bunch of fucked up things, and it is brilliant. The best part? Half their mess has nothing to do with the actual mystery, but holy hell, do they panic into desperation mode. And that makes everything come tumbling down like dominoes. Ok, I need to end that thought before I give something away.

Thank you to Pamela Dorman Books and Penguin Random House for an advanced audio copy of Everyone Here is Lying by Shari Lapena, which you will buy on July 20th

One of the best things Shari Lapena creates is an equal footing for all characters. In other words, no one stands out as a “favorite” for you to choose as the culprit. One, they are all culprits in SOMETHING. That is where the unreliable reader comes in. Because no matter the secrets characters are hiding? They all seem equally capable of being the person who did the thing.

Speaking of doing things, if I haven’t mentioned it? Shari Lapena did the thing. She did an insanely sinister psychological thriller. It really puts the psychological in psychological thriller. It also puts the thriller in psychological thriller, but let me stop.

Everyone Here Is Lying By Shari Lapena- Final Thoughts/Audiobook

A moment to discuss January LaVoy, please. I’ve recently discovered this talented narrator, and she was absolutely dynamite narrating Everyone Here Is Lying. There is a massive list of characters that range in age from child to teen to adult. And she is the only narrator, and she HITS IT OUT OF THE PARK. The wrong narrator could have killed this audiobook in a bad way. But LaVoy did her thing to bring Shari Lapena’s thing to life.

God, I want to scream all about Everyone Here Is Lying from the rooftops, but I can’t say anything more. Well, ok, I can say to put your money and time aside on July 20th, go to the bookstore when it opens and bang on the doors until they let you in. Then buy Everyone Here Is Lying and be ready to read all day. You won’t even notice the time fly.