ARC provided in exchange for honest review.
The Lies We Loved is a tormented, twisty novel that leaves you questioning whether a single person in Paige's life is actually sane and/or sensible (including Paige herself). On the night Paige plans to tell Elliot she is pregnant, he announces that he's fallen in love with a co-worker. He utterly blindsides Paige, who just can't understand how she didn't see it coming. It turns out that there was never a relationship with the coworker - Elliot's supposed best friend Shaun has sat dripping poison into his ear about how Paige is more successful than him and she won't want him anymore, and that this Heather is clearly into him. Instead of Elliot thinking it through logically, or talking it through with anyone other than Shaun, he jumps with both feet into the "you absolute dick" square on the Game of Life board. And from that point on, there is very little any character says or does that can be classed as rational - particularly in the case of Elliot.
As the "wronged" woman, and with the book being written from her POV, you expect to feel a lot of empathy for Paige, but she becomes so ridiculous at points that you just want to throttle her! I can understand that hormones are messing with her brain, and on top of having her heart ripped out, that means she's not necessarily able to rely on her sense of equilibrium, but honestly... developing feelings that you think could be love for your (totally unprofessional at best, thoroughly creepy at worst) OB/GYN because he shows you kindness is a sure sign that your behaviour is not rational, and that you should be talking to someone - a professional preferably (particularly with the suicidal ideation) - but even your Mum, who seems to be the closest thing to a sensible person you have in your life.
Elliot is such a conundrum. Why is he so led by Shaun? Why does he blindly believe everything that man says? And why is Shaun so rabidly anti-Paige? If Elliot stopped for one second to consider how successful his relationship with Paige has been until now, would he really nerf their life together on such a whim? There's potential for a really juicy backstory here, which I think once fleshed out will totally enhance the rest of the novel. Elliot's mother also confuses me - she is portrayed as a fierce Italian woman, for whom family is everything - yet she just blindly accepts Elliot's (Shaun's!) version of events when Paige has been a daughter to her for the past three years? She wouldnt stay quiet and shun Paige, especially as Elliot's behaviour gets more erratic - she'd be constantly trying to get to the bottom of it all.
As it stands, the threads are there for a really gripping story but it's all a bit vague at the moment. Fill in more of Shaun's backstory and we at least get some understanding of why exactly Elliot falls for his games. A steadier pacing of the plot with the OB/GYN may provide more of an understanding as to why Paige develops feelings for him - at the moment it just feels like a very odd crush on a man who shows her kindness which has been overblown into more because of her hormonal brain. More fleshing out of this plot point is needed for it to make as much sense to the reader as it probably does to the author. With some rewriting and some strong editing, this book has the potential to do well, but at the moment, in my opinion, it is falling a little short.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to review this book!