The Better Liar by Tanen Jones

The Better Liar by Tanen Jones
Genre: Thriller
Page Count: 307 pages
Publisher: Ballantine Books (Under Random House)
Pub Date: January 14, 2020

What I Loved: The Better Liar had me all over the place! The story was just crazy enough that I would think I knew what was going on, and then I would second guess it because “That would be crazy…”

How I Felt:

The first chapter of this book had me hooked. Robin’s discussion of being dead and how it made her feel, had me so intrigued! From there, the book just took off and never slowed down.

The Better Liar is told from three point of views: Robin, Leslie, and Mary. The mixture of these three told the story so well, giving insight to the history of the two sisters, Robin and Leslie as well as telling the story in present day.

The character building was done well. I found that I connected with the characters about different things. One of my favorites was actually Nancy, a secondary character. Her story was built so well, I really enjoyed the portions of the story that she was a part of. I found Leslie to be my least-liked character. There wasn’t anything wrong with her and I believe that the author meant for me to feel that way about her. She was just more distant and harder to know.

Overall, the suspense in this book had me reading late into the night. There were so many questions to answer and I had so many theories. I needed to know which was right, if any!

Content Warnings: Discussion and reference to suicide and murder.

To Read or Not To Read: I would recommend this book for any reader that enjoyed books like Gone Girl or The Girl on the Train. The Better Liar is filled with suspense and mystery and is a definite page-tuner.

Leslie is in trouble. She needs money. Her father has just passed away and left his two daughters $50,000 each. This is great news for Leslie, except that she hasn’t spoken to her sister is over 10 years.

She tracks her sister, Robin, to Las Vegas and finds her, but unfortunately Robin has just died of an overdose. Leslie is at a loss. She can’t get the money she needs, and her sister has just died.

Through chance, she meets Mary, a waitress looking for a way to make it big in Hollywood. Leslie convinces Mary to pretend to be Robin. Mary can have Robin’s $50,000 and head off to California. She must spend a few days in Leslie and Robin’s hometown pretending to be Robin.

Their quick and easy plan begins to become complicated as both realize the other woman may be hiding some secrets. With lots of twists and turns to keep you on the edge of your seat, you’ll be wondering who’s the better liar?