What do you think?
Rate this book
Last Girl Lied To
Something made him angry that night.
Something made her cry.
Something made Trixie disappear.
What if it was all the same thing?
Fiona claims she doesn’t remember anything about the night her best friend left a party early and walked into the ocean. But the truth is, she wishes she could forget.
Trixie’s disappearance is ruled a suicide, but Fiona starts to believe that Trixie isn’t really dead. Piecing together the trail of a girl who doesn't want to be found leads her to Jasper, Trixie’s former friend with benefits, and Beau—the boy who turned Fiona down, who loved someone else, who might be happy Trixie is gone.
The closer Fiona gets to finding out what happened, and the closer she gets to Jasper and Beau, the more she realizes that the girl she knew better than anyone may have been a carefully constructed lie—and she might have been waiting to disappear the entire time.
Told in alternating chapters between the past and the present, Last Girl Lied To is a gripping emotional thriller.
Something made her cry.
Something made Trixie disappear.
What if it was all the same thing?
Fiona claims she doesn’t remember anything about the night her best friend left a party early and walked into the ocean. But the truth is, she wishes she could forget.
Trixie’s disappearance is ruled a suicide, but Fiona starts to believe that Trixie isn’t really dead. Piecing together the trail of a girl who doesn't want to be found leads her to Jasper, Trixie’s former friend with benefits, and Beau—the boy who turned Fiona down, who loved someone else, who might be happy Trixie is gone.
The closer Fiona gets to finding out what happened, and the closer she gets to Jasper and Beau, the more she realizes that the girl she knew better than anyone may have been a carefully constructed lie—and she might have been waiting to disappear the entire time.
Told in alternating chapters between the past and the present, Last Girl Lied To is a gripping emotional thriller.
347 pages, Hardcover
First published April 16, 2019
50 people are currently reading
6937 people want to read
About the author
Laurie Elizabeth Flynn
8 books1,422 followers Laurie Elizabeth Flynn is a former model who lives in London, Ontario with her husband and their four children. She is the author of three young adult novels: Firsts, Last Girl Lied To and All Eyes On Her, under the name L.E. Flynn.
Her adult fiction debut, The Girls Are All So Nice Here, was named a USA Today Best Book of 2021 and became an instant bestseller in Canada. It has sold in 11 territories worldwide. Her second adult novel, Till Death Do Us Part, was an instant USA Today and national Canadian bestseller, and a Good Morning America Buzz Pick.
When she’s not writing, you can likely find her hiking in the woods, perusing thrift stores for vintage dresses, or bingeing on reality TV dating shows.
Her adult fiction debut, The Girls Are All So Nice Here, was named a USA Today Best Book of 2021 and became an instant bestseller in Canada. It has sold in 11 territories worldwide. Her second adult novel, Till Death Do Us Part, was an instant USA Today and national Canadian bestseller, and a Good Morning America Buzz Pick.
When she’s not writing, you can likely find her hiking in the woods, perusing thrift stores for vintage dresses, or bingeing on reality TV dating shows.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 189 reviews
Want to read
May 4, 2017I wrote this! If you like dark, twisty YA psychological thrillers, I hope you'll enjoy reading!
April 27, 2019
The twist at the end was perfect! I wish I could say the same about some of the characters.
At first, I really liked Fiona, but as the book kept progressing, she started to get on my nerves. And why on earth do all the relationships in this book need to be kept so incredibly secret?
Oh well, it was entertaining enough.
At first, I really liked Fiona, but as the book kept progressing, she started to get on my nerves. And why on earth do all the relationships in this book need to be kept so incredibly secret?
Oh well, it was entertaining enough.
March 20, 2019
I received an ARC of this from the publisher from a giveaway here on Goodreads! Thank you!
ah, the dreaded two-star review. by goodreads standards, it means the book is okay. and the book wasn't bad, at all, but if i ask myself if it was good, i just kinda "eeeeeeehhhhhh" to myself because i don't know. last girl lied to certainly isn't bad but it's definitely not something i'm going to tell everyone around me to read because it really is a lot of "ok."
i really don't think there's a single character in this book that i genuinely liked or cared about. everyone had their own flaws, and fiona liked to make sure we knew that she had them but it was almost beat into our heads by the end that she felt that she was lesser than because she wasn't the same size she'd been a year before. fiona used people just as much as she was used, and i guess spending 370 pages of listening to her judge others for things she personally wouldn't have done while she herself did things others wouldn't have done was just one big Clusterfuck.
i really. wanted to. like this more. but i just can't. like? i really thought when i was about halfway through this that i was going to give it like four stars, at least, because the mystery was really good in the beginning. but!
seriously, fictional high schoolers go through more shit than i could have ever dreamed of. or nightmare-ed of. depends on the situation, ig.
maybe more people will like this more than i did. i used this as a sort of cleanser between like a marathon of fantasy books and idk if it helped or not. thank you, again, to goodreads, the publisher, and the author for this arc!
ah, the dreaded two-star review. by goodreads standards, it means the book is okay. and the book wasn't bad, at all, but if i ask myself if it was good, i just kinda "eeeeeeehhhhhh" to myself because i don't know. last girl lied to certainly isn't bad but it's definitely not something i'm going to tell everyone around me to read because it really is a lot of "ok."
i really don't think there's a single character in this book that i genuinely liked or cared about. everyone had their own flaws, and fiona liked to make sure we knew that she had them but it was almost beat into our heads by the end that she felt that she was lesser than because she wasn't the same size she'd been a year before. fiona used people just as much as she was used, and i guess spending 370 pages of listening to her judge others for things she personally wouldn't have done while she herself did things others wouldn't have done was just one big Clusterfuck.
i really. wanted to. like this more. but i just can't. like? i really thought when i was about halfway through this that i was going to give it like four stars, at least, because the mystery was really good in the beginning. but!
seriously, fictional high schoolers go through more shit than i could have ever dreamed of. or nightmare-ed of. depends on the situation, ig.
maybe more people will like this more than i did. i used this as a sort of cleanser between like a marathon of fantasy books and idk if it helped or not. thank you, again, to goodreads, the publisher, and the author for this arc!
January 18, 2021
Trigger Warnings: Signs of an Eating Disorder, Alcohol and Substance Abuse
I’m going to find this super tricky to talk about without going into spoilers.
I feel kind of disappointed with the ending, I’d read reviews about a twist that they didn’t see coming but I’m not sure if that’s actually the case, to top it off I just feel like things were left unresolved and I wish we’d of got more answers.
As for characters, I just found there to be a lot of drama, and I don’t know I think I things were kind of put into your face and then like mhm I told you so! (This is the one ot way I can explain it without spoilers so take that as you will)
This was gripping because I truly did want to find out what happened and there were countless times I’d be muttering to myself. I think the storyline was super interesting, the characters didn’t do it for me and the overall pay off was slightly disappointing. An okay read, but I much preferred “All Eyes On Her”
I’m going to find this super tricky to talk about without going into spoilers.
I feel kind of disappointed with the ending, I’d read reviews about a twist that they didn’t see coming but I’m not sure if that’s actually the case, to top it off I just feel like things were left unresolved and I wish we’d of got more answers.
As for characters, I just found there to be a lot of drama, and I don’t know I think I things were kind of put into your face and then like mhm I told you so! (This is the one ot way I can explain it without spoilers so take that as you will)
This was gripping because I truly did want to find out what happened and there were countless times I’d be muttering to myself. I think the storyline was super interesting, the characters didn’t do it for me and the overall pay off was slightly disappointing. An okay read, but I much preferred “All Eyes On Her”
September 23, 2020
“After all, lies that make other people feel better must be kind of okay.”
It is not what I was expecting after loving All eyes on her. It was a part mystery but no thriller.
Fiona’s best friend Trixie committed suicide in the same fashion as the golden boy of school Toby did last year. Fiona refused to accept that her friend and Toby both aren’t dead. There is something behind both of the suicides. So the whole story is flashbacks of Fiona’s life and her efforts to prove her theory right.
I liked the story and the way the author unravel details here and there. The pace of the book was kinda slow. The story is more about Negative body image, toxic friendships, drugs, drinking, crushes and other stuff. Though I liked the story, the narrator Fiona sounds so irritating, her obsessions and her lack of taking right decisions made her so dull and boring. The long time crush, friends, no-boyfriends/boyfriend all were so unlikeable and hard to read. I couldn’t relate to any of them.
The ending wasn’t my favourite part either. Nothing excited happened.
It is not what I was expecting after loving All eyes on her. It was a part mystery but no thriller.
Fiona’s best friend Trixie committed suicide in the same fashion as the golden boy of school Toby did last year. Fiona refused to accept that her friend and Toby both aren’t dead. There is something behind both of the suicides. So the whole story is flashbacks of Fiona’s life and her efforts to prove her theory right.
I liked the story and the way the author unravel details here and there. The pace of the book was kinda slow. The story is more about Negative body image, toxic friendships, drugs, drinking, crushes and other stuff. Though I liked the story, the narrator Fiona sounds so irritating, her obsessions and her lack of taking right decisions made her so dull and boring. The long time crush, friends, no-boyfriends/boyfriend all were so unlikeable and hard to read. I couldn’t relate to any of them.
The ending wasn’t my favourite part either. Nothing excited happened.
October 15, 2024
3.5 STARS
Fiona’s best friend Trixie commits suicide a year after Toby, a popular jock chose the same manner of death. Soon Fiona imagines they’re both alive with new identities. Her longtime crush Beau, Toby’s brother, is in a seemingly permanent alcoholic stupor so Fiona turns to Jasper, Trixie’s friend with benefits. Fiona soon begins to suspect she never really knew her friend.
LAST GIRL LIED TO is filled with liars, those who tell big lies, those who tell small ones. Fiona constantly makes poor choices and doesn’t see people for who they are. She wasn’t always kind, was rarely honest, had terrible communication skills, but was also a young woman in a lot of pain. She stuffed her feelings with food and shunned support.
I enjoyed L E Flynn’s writing style, but the pace was a bit slow. More mystery than thriller, LAST GIRL LIED TO is enjoyable and touches on important issues like unhealthy relationships, substance abuse, friendship and family.
ETA: I also enjoyed the audiobook. The narrator is so good, her dialogue sounds like different people/genders speaking.
Fiona’s best friend Trixie commits suicide a year after Toby, a popular jock chose the same manner of death. Soon Fiona imagines they’re both alive with new identities. Her longtime crush Beau, Toby’s brother, is in a seemingly permanent alcoholic stupor so Fiona turns to Jasper, Trixie’s friend with benefits. Fiona soon begins to suspect she never really knew her friend.
LAST GIRL LIED TO is filled with liars, those who tell big lies, those who tell small ones. Fiona constantly makes poor choices and doesn’t see people for who they are. She wasn’t always kind, was rarely honest, had terrible communication skills, but was also a young woman in a lot of pain. She stuffed her feelings with food and shunned support.
I enjoyed L E Flynn’s writing style, but the pace was a bit slow. More mystery than thriller, LAST GIRL LIED TO is enjoyable and touches on important issues like unhealthy relationships, substance abuse, friendship and family.
ETA: I also enjoyed the audiobook. The narrator is so good, her dialogue sounds like different people/genders speaking.
October 2, 2020
After reading All Eyes on Her and loving the thriller and twists and turns of the story, when I came across at work "Last Girl Lied To" written by the same author I picked up as I had a feeling I would enjoy it. This book followed a similar suit to a few other stories I had read in the past as we meet best friends Trixie and Fiona. The two were so different and on different levels and somehow they became fast and best friends, was it however all part of a plan and a lie? It is Senior Year and the pair of them are at a party when Trixie disappears and when rumors start flying that she drowned - Fiona can't believe it as it doesn't sound like the Trixie she knew. Desperate for answers, Fiona will try and track down clues to discover what happened exactly to Trixie but will she like what she learns? What will happen to Fiona when she learns that Trixie wasn't who she thought she was and that she had kept a lot of dark secrets and most importantly, does Trixie even want to be found? Find out in this YA psychological thriller where you have to be careful as you may be trusting the wrong people and the Last Girl Lied To shows readers you never really "know" someone, that there will always be secrets and a hidden side that you may never discover unless pushed to the brink of out of sheer desperation.
May 6, 2019
Last Girl Lied To is a fast, gripping young adult contemporary about Fiona, who is reeling from the death of her best friend, Trixie. Fiona and Trixie became friends when Fiona decided that she couldn't handle being with her so called "friends" anymore. She and Trixie became incredibly close, at least on Fiona's end, but Trixie's death, which was ruled a suicide has her reeling.
Over the course of Last Girl Lied To, Fiona navigates through her past with Trixie, her own demons, and tries to find Trixie, who she's convinced has decided to disappear.
There are many things I loved about this novel (its fearless portrayal of how raw and immediate adolescence is, the lumonious writing, the emphasis on the psychological aspect of "psychological thriller") but what I loved best is how the ending is uncompromisingly honest. A deft, dark, and thought provoking read, Last Girl Lied To is contemporary ya done right and was so good I bought myself a copy. Very highly recommended.
Over the course of Last Girl Lied To, Fiona navigates through her past with Trixie, her own demons, and tries to find Trixie, who she's convinced has decided to disappear.
There are many things I loved about this novel (its fearless portrayal of how raw and immediate adolescence is, the lumonious writing, the emphasis on the psychological aspect of "psychological thriller") but what I loved best is how the ending is uncompromisingly honest. A deft, dark, and thought provoking read, Last Girl Lied To is contemporary ya done right and was so good I bought myself a copy. Very highly recommended.
April 22, 2019
Yeah, so...not a thriller.
A mystery with angsty teens who spend their time...angsting.
I ended up being a little surprised by what exactly happened to one of the characters, but not all surprised by the 'who' in all of this.
Finally, the pacing is a bit slow. Every so often it picked up, but then it slowed down to glacial.
OK read.
A mystery with angsty teens who spend their time...angsting.
I ended up being a little surprised by what exactly happened to one of the characters, but not all surprised by the 'who' in all of this.
Finally, the pacing is a bit slow. Every so often it picked up, but then it slowed down to glacial.
OK read.
April 9, 2020
I don't usually read YA thrillers, in fact I didn't even know that this was a YA novel until I picked it up before reading. It was one of those books I instantly bought because the cover told me it was a thriller so it was an impulse buy. If the title has the word"Lie" in it, presume it is a thriller.
I actually really enjoyed this one a lot more than I thought I would. I'm a HUGE fan of books that have people that go missing or deaths ruled as a suicide because 9 times out of 10, it's not a suicide and nothing is at it seems. I also LOVE a determined female protagonist who is trying to find out what happened to her friend, but is also an unreliable narrator herself. I think if you don't have an unreliable female protagonist then it's no fun at all.
The plot was very intriguing and I've read similar novels like this one before, but for a YA thriller, I was really surprised at how complex it was written. Usually YA novels tend to be a little underdeveloped in terms of plot and charcater, but Flynn does an astounding job with this one!
I loved Fiona as a character and I also really liked how this novel was not only a thriller, it was also about issues that I think teenage girls are continually facing this day and age with body image and friendships and such. It was really well-written and I loved the lies and the secrets that were hidden inside this one!
If you're a fan of this novel, I recommend reading Local Girl Missing. It has similar vibes to this story and it's also a very twisty one!
I actually really enjoyed this one a lot more than I thought I would. I'm a HUGE fan of books that have people that go missing or deaths ruled as a suicide because 9 times out of 10, it's not a suicide and nothing is at it seems. I also LOVE a determined female protagonist who is trying to find out what happened to her friend, but is also an unreliable narrator herself. I think if you don't have an unreliable female protagonist then it's no fun at all.
The plot was very intriguing and I've read similar novels like this one before, but for a YA thriller, I was really surprised at how complex it was written. Usually YA novels tend to be a little underdeveloped in terms of plot and charcater, but Flynn does an astounding job with this one!
I loved Fiona as a character and I also really liked how this novel was not only a thriller, it was also about issues that I think teenage girls are continually facing this day and age with body image and friendships and such. It was really well-written and I loved the lies and the secrets that were hidden inside this one!
If you're a fan of this novel, I recommend reading Local Girl Missing. It has similar vibes to this story and it's also a very twisty one!
April 7, 2019
I had a really hard time getting through this book. The characters were either boring or annoying to me, the plot wasn’t making me want to find out how things ended, and there just wasn’t anything spectacular about this book that made me excited to pick it up each time to read it.
April 30, 2019
This is well-written, but I wouldn’t call it any kind of thriller. Maybe I’m wrong, but even an “emotional” thriller should be exciting or at least surprising. EVERY single chapter was Fiona obsessing about her crush or her missing friend, both of whom had so many issues, that it really made Fiona look bratty in comparison with her constantly whining about her weight. The crush and friend were also incredibly unlikable, which meant I didn’t care about them at all. Also, there was a “secret” - some crap that happened at a party and it was so obvious what it was that I got tired of the author trying to hide it from me, while excessively hinting at it at the same time. Also, also, there were scenes in the book that were completely pointless, because it was playing out crap I was already told in detail somewhere else in the book. So that was annoying, and it made the book way longer than it needs to be. And the ending...I didn’t like it.
In any case, it was interesting enough for me to keep reading, but it wasn’t nearly as dark or as interesting as I thought it would be. I felt I was reading someone’s obsessive journal entries. I get it. But that didn’t make for a super fun time. I will admit to ya contemporary being my least favorite thing to read, but I also thought I was reading a thriller, so I expected Fiona to be in danger at some point or for something exciting to happen, and well, spoiler alert, she wasn’t and nothing exciting happened.
In any case, it was interesting enough for me to keep reading, but it wasn’t nearly as dark or as interesting as I thought it would be. I felt I was reading someone’s obsessive journal entries. I get it. But that didn’t make for a super fun time. I will admit to ya contemporary being my least favorite thing to read, but I also thought I was reading a thriller, so I expected Fiona to be in danger at some point or for something exciting to happen, and well, spoiler alert, she wasn’t and nothing exciting happened.
October 20, 2020
It was my first time reading by this author and I will definitely be picking more of her books up in the future.
June 12, 2019
You can find this review and others on my blog shades of paper
The premise of this book sounded incredible, and I went with pretty high expectations because I enjoyed her debut novel back when I first read it, but unfortunately I was so let down by its outcome. This was more a personal me thing, but I had so many issues with it, and though there were certain elements that I liked and found intriguing, those didn’t redeem the story for me.
I feel like there was something about this plot and characters that made me feel disconnected to the story. Though I think the mystery was quite well put together and I enjoyed following that storyline, I feel the pacing was a bit off. Sometimes there were a lot of things happening and there was a lot of information given to the reader, and other times were quite repetitive and boring.
The characters weren’t my favorite, either. I appreciated how much our main character cared about her friend, and everything she did to find the truth, but I feel we didn’t get to know more about her that wasn’t related to her friendship with the other girl. Neither of the characters were really complex or unique, and there were some that only appeared once and weren’t really that important. T
There was also a romance that I didn’t like at all. It wasn’t cohesive with the storyline the reader was following and completely unnecessary, and didn’t add anything to the plot nor the character. I get why it was done that way, but I think it could have been done differently and have more impact on the reader.
When it comes to the ending I was pretty let down. I tend to be really good at figuring out mysteries and who killed who in books, and this was no different. However, I guess I was expecting more, because I found the ending not only predictable but also quite underwhelming. The book was reaching its climax and I was expecting to be surprised or blown away, but I didn’t feel anything.
So yeah, overall I think this book had a really cool concept and potential, but I was expecting something much more surprising.
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.
The premise of this book sounded incredible, and I went with pretty high expectations because I enjoyed her debut novel back when I first read it, but unfortunately I was so let down by its outcome. This was more a personal me thing, but I had so many issues with it, and though there were certain elements that I liked and found intriguing, those didn’t redeem the story for me.
I feel like there was something about this plot and characters that made me feel disconnected to the story. Though I think the mystery was quite well put together and I enjoyed following that storyline, I feel the pacing was a bit off. Sometimes there were a lot of things happening and there was a lot of information given to the reader, and other times were quite repetitive and boring.
The characters weren’t my favorite, either. I appreciated how much our main character cared about her friend, and everything she did to find the truth, but I feel we didn’t get to know more about her that wasn’t related to her friendship with the other girl. Neither of the characters were really complex or unique, and there were some that only appeared once and weren’t really that important. T
There was also a romance that I didn’t like at all. It wasn’t cohesive with the storyline the reader was following and completely unnecessary, and didn’t add anything to the plot nor the character. I get why it was done that way, but I think it could have been done differently and have more impact on the reader.
When it comes to the ending I was pretty let down. I tend to be really good at figuring out mysteries and who killed who in books, and this was no different. However, I guess I was expecting more, because I found the ending not only predictable but also quite underwhelming. The book was reaching its climax and I was expecting to be surprised or blown away, but I didn’t feel anything.
So yeah, overall I think this book had a really cool concept and potential, but I was expecting something much more surprising.
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.
dnf
April 10, 2024Haven't wanted to pick this up in 3 days so DNF @ 26%
April 26, 2019
The main mystery in this YA novel is whether Trixie actually committed suicide or if she simply wanted to disappear (as her best friend Fiona thinks). But there were a lot of smaller mysteries throughout the story as well. All of these were slowly revealed in short chapters. Especially the chapters about the past were super short. This made for a super quick read. The alternating chapters between past and present really worked for me. I was so compelled to just keep on reading and reading. The writing style was also very engaging.
While I thought it was a pretty fast read, the story isn’t action-packed or fast-paced at all. Most of the story is about Fiona and her as a character. I really enjoyed the mystery part of it all and I just wanted to know what happened. Along the way we learn more and more about Fiona, Trixie, Jasper, Beau, and Toby and all that happened in the past year or so. For me the ending was satisfying, it was just twisted enough to be rewarding! I was hoping for an ending like this, and while it wasn’t my favorite ending to a thriller I did really like it.
Apart from the mystery element this story was about the characters, and oh my were they flawed! Every single one of the characters in Last Girl Lied To was flawed and I honestly didn’t like most of them. I think Fiona, Trixie, Jasper, and Beau are important to talk about. Out of all of them I liked Beau the most, even though he was so so broken. He is dealing with his grief in a very unhealthy way but I liked his development.
Jasper had such a creepy vibe over him and I was immediately put off by him. I didn’t like or trust him at all. But his storyline was definitely interesting! I do have to say I was very annoyed by the fact that Fiona judged Trixie for using Jasper, and than she proceeds to do the exact same thing!
Trixie started out as a bit of a generic YA mystery character. I liked that she wasn’t the popular girl at school but she did seem quite mean. Her relationship with Fiona was pretty toxic in my opinion. We get to know Trixie through flashbacks and to be honest, she’s a pretty bad friend to Fiona. I did like some of the revelations shown in the very last chapters, it showed that she is just another flawed human.
And then we had Fiona, our main character. She started off super bland and she annoyed me so much haha. Fiona is the kind of person that just let’s life happen to here instead of taking charge and live her life. She just does whatever people want her to do and never stops to think what she herself likes to do. It was this side of her that I really hated. But I also liked that she was persistent and super loyal. She really sold her self short. I liked that she developed during the story and that she wasn’t ‘fixed’ by having a guy loving her. So on the one hand I really disliked Fiona, but I also appreciate her and think she made for a good main character!
All in all I really enjoyed this story and especially the ending. I flew through it, mostly because of the engaging writing style and short chapters. The characters were very flawed but that also made them real. Last Girl Lied To is definitely a recommended read if you like YA mysteries or contemporaries with a mystery element!
While I thought it was a pretty fast read, the story isn’t action-packed or fast-paced at all. Most of the story is about Fiona and her as a character. I really enjoyed the mystery part of it all and I just wanted to know what happened. Along the way we learn more and more about Fiona, Trixie, Jasper, Beau, and Toby and all that happened in the past year or so. For me the ending was satisfying, it was just twisted enough to be rewarding! I was hoping for an ending like this, and while it wasn’t my favorite ending to a thriller I did really like it.
Apart from the mystery element this story was about the characters, and oh my were they flawed! Every single one of the characters in Last Girl Lied To was flawed and I honestly didn’t like most of them. I think Fiona, Trixie, Jasper, and Beau are important to talk about. Out of all of them I liked Beau the most, even though he was so so broken. He is dealing with his grief in a very unhealthy way but I liked his development.
Jasper had such a creepy vibe over him and I was immediately put off by him. I didn’t like or trust him at all. But his storyline was definitely interesting! I do have to say I was very annoyed by the fact that Fiona judged Trixie for using Jasper, and than she proceeds to do the exact same thing!
Trixie started out as a bit of a generic YA mystery character. I liked that she wasn’t the popular girl at school but she did seem quite mean. Her relationship with Fiona was pretty toxic in my opinion. We get to know Trixie through flashbacks and to be honest, she’s a pretty bad friend to Fiona. I did like some of the revelations shown in the very last chapters, it showed that she is just another flawed human.
And then we had Fiona, our main character. She started off super bland and she annoyed me so much haha. Fiona is the kind of person that just let’s life happen to here instead of taking charge and live her life. She just does whatever people want her to do and never stops to think what she herself likes to do. It was this side of her that I really hated. But I also liked that she was persistent and super loyal. She really sold her self short. I liked that she developed during the story and that she wasn’t ‘fixed’ by having a guy loving her. So on the one hand I really disliked Fiona, but I also appreciate her and think she made for a good main character!
All in all I really enjoyed this story and especially the ending. I flew through it, mostly because of the engaging writing style and short chapters. The characters were very flawed but that also made them real. Last Girl Lied To is definitely a recommended read if you like YA mysteries or contemporaries with a mystery element!
February 4, 2019
Took me ages to get into this one. Not sure the ending was worth the wait.
Read
May 24, 2020
April 18, 2019
Last Girl Lied To was a suspenseful, dark read full of secrets for you to discover! I really liked the writing style and thought it was unique. I loved the fact that the narrator was unreliable. That makes it harder for the reader to figure out the mystery, which I love! I liked the fact that the characters were flawed. I really enjoyed reading Last Girl Lied To! If you like mysteries then you should pick this one up!
Want to read
December 7, 2017I’ll read anything Laurie Elizabeth Flynn writes!
April 16, 2019
See more on our blog at JennRenee Read
I do my review in the form of questions
What made me pick this book up:
It was really a combination of the title and the cover.
What did I like about the cover:
It looks really creepy and ominous. I love how blurred out the girl is, you can't really see her. It matches well with the book I think.
What made me read this book:
I love mystery thrillers. And this one says that it's a gripping emotional thriller.
What did I like the most:
Well first I loved the mystery of it. First one kid kills himself by drowning, and then her best friend does.
Are they related? Did they really kill themselves? Why? If they didn't kill themselves where are they?
I feel like this book was written well from an emotional point of view. The author really wrote the emotions well in the book. I feel like it was realistic, the way that Fiona copes with it. Which is not at all. She doesn't just go on like everything's fine and she doesn't go back to how her life was before all this happened.
I also really love how much teen drinking, and being an alcoholic is centered in this book. I have said before how important I think it is that drinking too much, especially for teens, is talked about in these books. It doesn't glorify it, like some do. But it makes it seem bad. Like a really bad thing. And I love how they don't just talk about it from a teen's perspective, but also from an adult who had gone through something traumatic because of her drinking too much.
I like Beau. I feel sorry for Beau, but from the good parts I read about him, he seems like a really sweet and caring guy.
I also really liked how it highlighted that you can't let someone change you. That you can't change to become who that person wants you to be, or who you think that person wants you to be. You need to be yourself.
What didn't I like:
Just a couple things.
This book was actually really slow. I had a really hard time getting into it.
There was nothing at all thrilling about this book. Nothing. I'm actually getting a little irritated how many books right now are actually contemporaries but call themselves thrillers. I love contemporaries. I would still read them if they were contemporaries. But I want to know what I can expect going in. This one in the synopsis says it's a thriller. It's not.
Nothing really happens in this book. It's very anti-climactic. I figured out what had happened before it explained what had happened.
I also HATE Fiona. I hate her. I'm sorry but I do. I have terrible self image issues and the entire book she's talking about how fat and disgusting and horrible she is. Like "He can't possibly want me, he feels sorry for me" "It's just pity sex" "Why would anyone really want me"
I was just so done. Every other page. If it's brought up a few times, fine. Understandable.
But really. Too much guys, way too much.
Would I read the rest of the series/more from this author?
I think I would read more by this author, I'd try at least.
Not quite what I expected. Not at all a thriller, barely a mystery. Definitely contemporary.
Cover: *****
Story: ****
Pace: **
Writing: ****
Characters: **
World Building: *
Ending: ***
April 27, 2021
Content Warnings:
I read "Last Girl Lied To" because I was intrigued by the premise of Flynn's newest book "The Girls Are All So Nice Here" and wanted to try out her writing. I'll be honest, I'm not sure I will actually pick up another book by this author. "Last Girl Lied To" was all in all a solid YA mystery - not a thriller - about difficult friendships, teenage drama and a girl trying to discover who she really was. I found the mystery compelling but not all too surprising. There are barely any twists and Fiona takes her sweet time figuring out what happened to Trixie, her best friend who supposedly walked into the ocean.
"Last Girl Lied To" is a slow book. The middle dragged a bit but I found the end and resolution quite well done. Mostly though, the writing style didn't work for me, it was too matter-of-fact and plain. Especially the dialogues often felt stilted and I felt like none of the characters were fleshed out at all. They all did what the plot needed them to do but they didn't seem to have distinct personalities. Not even Trixie, who was supposed to be this really interesting girl who pulls everyone in.
I would have still rated the book 4 stars for being pretty entertaining if it hadn't been for the glaring, constant fatshaming. Fiona has gained weight over the year she spent with Trixie and she's constantly going on about how she feels too big, not worthy of love and not like herself anymore because of it and honestly, I found it quite triggering. She even goes as far as throwing out her sewing machine because what use is making nice clothes for a body like hers, right? It was disconcerning, especially considering this book is supposed to be read by very young, impressionable people.
It's 2021 (2019 when this book was published) and I think we should be able to read about fat heroines who don't hate themselves. Some body positivity or at least neutrality, please. Instead I got this girl who simultaneously hated her own body and "bad eating habits" (having "junk food" from time to time) but still judged her skinny friends for liking salad and using dieting apps as well. I feel like I know where the author was trying to go with this and it could have worked out but it didn't. What's left is the somewhat ugly message that being fat is the worst thing that could happen to you, even worse than your best friend going missing and your crush being an alcoholic, judged by how much Fiona thought about her new body shape instead of the other stuff.
Tl;dr: As a YA mystery about difficult relationships between teens it was okay, entertaining but all in all it offered nothing new. The constant fatshaming and selfhate from the MC made this almost unbearable though and I think you should be aware of these issues before deciding to read it.
Another thing worth mentioning is the complete lack of any diversity. This has loads of characters and is set in Southern California but everyone is white, cis hetero etc., even all the side characters, which I honestly find disappointing.
I read "Last Girl Lied To" because I was intrigued by the premise of Flynn's newest book "The Girls Are All So Nice Here" and wanted to try out her writing. I'll be honest, I'm not sure I will actually pick up another book by this author. "Last Girl Lied To" was all in all a solid YA mystery - not a thriller - about difficult friendships, teenage drama and a girl trying to discover who she really was. I found the mystery compelling but not all too surprising. There are barely any twists and Fiona takes her sweet time figuring out what happened to Trixie, her best friend who supposedly walked into the ocean.
"Last Girl Lied To" is a slow book. The middle dragged a bit but I found the end and resolution quite well done. Mostly though, the writing style didn't work for me, it was too matter-of-fact and plain. Especially the dialogues often felt stilted and I felt like none of the characters were fleshed out at all. They all did what the plot needed them to do but they didn't seem to have distinct personalities. Not even Trixie, who was supposed to be this really interesting girl who pulls everyone in.
I would have still rated the book 4 stars for being pretty entertaining if it hadn't been for the glaring, constant fatshaming. Fiona has gained weight over the year she spent with Trixie and she's constantly going on about how she feels too big, not worthy of love and not like herself anymore because of it and honestly, I found it quite triggering. She even goes as far as throwing out her sewing machine because what use is making nice clothes for a body like hers, right? It was disconcerning, especially considering this book is supposed to be read by very young, impressionable people.
It's 2021 (2019 when this book was published) and I think we should be able to read about fat heroines who don't hate themselves. Some body positivity or at least neutrality, please. Instead I got this girl who simultaneously hated her own body and "bad eating habits" (having "junk food" from time to time) but still judged her skinny friends for liking salad and using dieting apps as well. I feel like I know where the author was trying to go with this and it could have worked out but it didn't. What's left is the somewhat ugly message that being fat is the worst thing that could happen to you, even worse than your best friend going missing and your crush being an alcoholic, judged by how much Fiona thought about her new body shape instead of the other stuff.
Tl;dr: As a YA mystery about difficult relationships between teens it was okay, entertaining but all in all it offered nothing new. The constant fatshaming and selfhate from the MC made this almost unbearable though and I think you should be aware of these issues before deciding to read it.
Another thing worth mentioning is the complete lack of any diversity. This has loads of characters and is set in Southern California but everyone is white, cis hetero etc., even all the side characters, which I honestly find disappointing.
January 31, 2019
Toby and Trixie both disappear, no bodies for the funerals. Fiona is dead set that Trixie did not kill herself as people claim. She was her best friend after all-wouldn't she see it coming? Trixie was fierce, she was different, she was everything Fiona wasn't. Why would she walk into the ocean when she knew she couldn't swim? There has to be more to the story.
Fiona begins a quest to try to find her friend, but he efforts lead to a whole lot of her past that she wanted to leave behind, but also a bit of her past she wished had never faded away. Will her refusal to accept her friend's death lead to finding Trixie, or will it lead to nothing but pain for Fiona? Might it possibly ruin her future?
L. E. Flynn has created a mystery that will keep readers turning the pages. I will admit I did not see the ending coming. I thought I did at a few points, but Flynn kept throwing curveballs to make me think otherwise. I will say the ending is utterly satisfying.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!
Fiona begins a quest to try to find her friend, but he efforts lead to a whole lot of her past that she wanted to leave behind, but also a bit of her past she wished had never faded away. Will her refusal to accept her friend's death lead to finding Trixie, or will it lead to nothing but pain for Fiona? Might it possibly ruin her future?
L. E. Flynn has created a mystery that will keep readers turning the pages. I will admit I did not see the ending coming. I thought I did at a few points, but Flynn kept throwing curveballs to make me think otherwise. I will say the ending is utterly satisfying.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!
November 12, 2020
I went in with the expectation that this book was going to be a gripping thriller. The story progressed in a very interesting way that kept my attention and throughout the entire novel. However, I didn’t feel attached to any of the characters. I found it hard to sympathize with any of the them or understand them. I felt as though I would have rather had the mystery go into more detail rather than hear about the teen angst drama that was happening for our main characters. I found the ending to be rather lacklustre. It was not the ending I was expecting and/or hoping for. I felt as though the entire build up of the novel was for nothing once I got to the end of the book. All in all I believe that the storyline was there, I was just not a fan of the execution and the characters that were presented.
April 28, 2019
Dnf @ 55%
Please dont waste your precious time
Read something like Harry Potter (or reread ;) )
The narrator is one of the hypocritical annoying person someone could be. The book had potential but it was so slow. I figured it out and skimmed to the end and low and behold i was right. I hate it. I hate when authors play that card, making a character a villian just to benefit someone else or fit into the plot. Guys dont bother to read this. Its a steaming pile of angst with a winy mc and an annoying mystery that feels like you can figure it out. It also feels used. Read a real mystery like the girl on the train or smth.
Please dont waste your precious time
Read something like Harry Potter (or reread ;) )
The narrator is one of the hypocritical annoying person someone could be. The book had potential but it was so slow. I figured it out and skimmed to the end and low and behold i was right. I hate it. I hate when authors play that card, making a character a villian just to benefit someone else or fit into the plot. Guys dont bother to read this. Its a steaming pile of angst with a winy mc and an annoying mystery that feels like you can figure it out. It also feels used. Read a real mystery like the girl on the train or smth.
December 22, 2019
Thank you Negalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.
I actually really liked this missing person/teen mystery in a category that is sometimes crowded with wildly unrealistic scenarios and unnecessary drama.
Fiona and her issues in love, friends and body image felt raw and authentic.
The mystery around the suicides of two complicated high school students keeps you guessing until the end.
Highly recommended for readers of YA contemporary that enjoy heavier topics.
I actually really liked this missing person/teen mystery in a category that is sometimes crowded with wildly unrealistic scenarios and unnecessary drama.
Fiona and her issues in love, friends and body image felt raw and authentic.
The mystery around the suicides of two complicated high school students keeps you guessing until the end.
Highly recommended for readers of YA contemporary that enjoy heavier topics.
August 2, 2021
Another YA / teenager mystery with dead/ suicide of friend/ classmates. It was a fast read , but what made it less interesting to me was lack of good reasoning behind the plot, and not very likable characters! The story was narrated by Fiona going back and forth in time which sometimes made it hard to follow in the chronological order.
Last but not least, some of the events or actions were a bit hard to believe for a teenager, like staying home alone for weeks!
Last but not least, some of the events or actions were a bit hard to believe for a teenager, like staying home alone for weeks!
April 5, 2019
Interesting! This was super addicting to read; I loved the short chapters. I really like that this was about Fiona kind of finding herself and getting out of the shadow of her friends (Jenny, Allison, Trixie), while trying to find Trixie and what may have happened to her. The mix of past and present painted a good picture of their friendship, flaws and all.
February 4, 2023
Oh. My. Gosh. I LOVED this. The endless plot twists, the romance, the drama. Wow, this was so good! Once I got to chapter like 85-86, I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN!!!! I also love that even though the book is 300 & some pages, it doesn’t feel that long because, it’s always interesting & the “chapters” are super short! Great book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 189 reviews