THIS IS WHY WE LIE By Gabriella Lepore

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

This Is Why We Lie by Gabriella Lepore
Published by Inkyard Press on 9/21/21
Genres: Contemporary, Mystery & Detective, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 320
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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Everyone in Gardiners Bay has a secret.

When Jenna Dallas and Adam Cole find Colleen O’Dell’s body floating off the shore of their coastal town, the community of Gardiners Bay is shaken. But even more shocking is the fact that her drowning was no accident.

Once Jenna’s best friend becomes a key suspect, Jenna starts to look for answers on her own. As she uncovers scandals inside Preston Prep School leading back to Rookwood reform school, she knows she needs Adam on her side.

As a student at Rookwood, Adam is used to getting judgmental looks, but now his friends are being investigated by the police. Adam will do whatever he can to keep them safe, even if that means trusting Jenna.

As lies unravel, the truth starts to blur. Only one thing is certain: somebody must take the fall.

Short and Sweet Review

When Jenna and Adam find Colleen O’Dell’s body floating lifeless in the shore, their small town is shocked, but things get worse when they learn this wasn’t an accident. When Jenna’s friend Holly becomes a suspect Jenna starts to look into things and knows she needs Adams help to piece everything together. Adam goes to Rookwood reform school and is used to being judged and now that he and his friends are being investigated he knows that he needs to do everything he can to keep him and his friends safe.

Jenna likes to take in Gardiner Bay’s scenary early in the morning and that’s when she hears Adam calling for help, and sees that Colleen O’Dell is dead. Thats when this whole mystery kicks off. Jenna went to school with Colleen and wasn’t really close with her but was kind of in the same friend group. When Jenna’s friend Holly becomes a number one suspect because of a recent fight she had with Colleen, Jenna knows she has to do something to help clear Holly and that means digging a little deeper into the girls at Preston Prep and the boys at Rookwood. Jenna’s aunt is a cop so she knows when some people are being looked at more closely than others and that this was a murder and not an accident. We get the POVs of Jenna and Adam and we see that Adam and his friends are hiding something we just don’t know what it is, while with Jenna she’s working towards uncovering what could have happened.

There’s a lot of layers to this mystery and a few twists that I was not expecting. The ending caught me off guard because I thought I had it figured out but I was wrong. I like how some of the characters mainly the Rookwood boys have something they are hiding, while the Preston girls have an interesting dynamic as most high school girls do. This was a read that kept me hooked from beginning to end and I loved the texts, the news clips, and police interviews that are sprinkled in. Definitely pick this book up!