We Lie Here

by Rachel Howzell Hall

A woman’s trip home reveals frightening truths in a twisty novel of murder and family secrets by the New York Times bestselling author of And Now She’s Gone and These Toxic Things.

TV writer Yara Gibson’s hometown of Palmdale, California, isn’t her first choice for a vacation. But she’s back to host her parents’ twentieth-anniversary party and find the perfect family mementos for the celebration. Everything is going to plan until Yara receives a disturbing text: I have information that will change your life.

The message is from Felicia Campbell, who claims to be a childhood friend of Yara’s mother. But they’ve been estranged for years—drama best ignored and forgotten. But Yara can’t forget Felicia, who keeps texting, insisting that Yara talk to her “before it’s too late.”

But the next day is already too late for Felicia, whose body is found floating in Lake Palmdale. Before she died, Felicia left Yara a key to a remote lakeside cabin. In the basement are files related to a mysterious tragedy, unsolved since 1998. What secrets was Felicia hiding? How much of what Yara knows about her family has been true?

The deeper Yara digs for answers, the more she fears that Felicia was right. Uncovering the truth about what happened at the cabin all those years ago will change Yara’s life—or end it.

Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Audiobook, Contemporary, Suspense

415 pages, Paperback

First published July 12, 2022

About the author

RACHEL HOWZELL HALL l is the critically acclaimed author and Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist for And Now She’s Gone, which was also nominated for the Lefty-, Barry-, Shamus- and Anthony Awards and the Audible Originals bestseller How It Ends. A New York Times bestselling author of The Good Sister with James Patterson, Rachel is an Anthony-, International Thriller Writers- and Lefty Award nominee and the author of They All Fall Down, Land of Shadows, Skies of Ash, Trail of Echoes and City of Saviors in the Detective Elouise Norton series. Her next thriller, These Toxic Things, out in September 2021, recently received a starred review from Publishers Weekly, calling the novel ‘cleverly-plotted’ and ‘a refreshing take on the serial killer theme.’

Rachel is a former member of the board of directors for Mystery Writers of America and has been a featured writer on NPR’s acclaimed Crime in the City series and the National Endowment for the Arts weekly podcast; she has also served as a mentor in Pitch Wars and the Association of Writers Programs. Rachel lives in Los Angeles with her husband and daughter. For more information, visit www.rachelhowzell.com

Her next novel And Now She’s Gone will be published in September 2020. You can find her at www.rachelhowzell.com and on Twitter @RachelHowzell.

Reviews

[Nilufer Ozmekik · Rating 3 out of 5]

I couldn’t get more excited after seeing RHH’s last book at the NG, and the best part is you can access it without even requesting! “And Now She’s Gone”was one of my all-time favorite reads, and I also enjoyed her several previous works!

The plot attracted my interest, and the beginning of the book was so strong that it kept my hopes up for another five-starred read, but then… well, it felt like the beginning and the rest of the book were written by different authors because I truly lost my entire interest and kept stuck in a repetitive cycle ( same dialogues, unnecessary details about characters’ motives, actions, one-dimensional characters, and a very foreseeable culprit).

I had two options: DNF 20% or skim it! I honestly chose to skim as fast as I could.

Overall: I was disappointed. If this book could be re-edited: with fewer pages and more character development, fewer repetitive situations and dialogues, it would have potential.

I’m only rounding up 2.5 stars to 3 because I love the author’s writing style, and the beginning of the book was truly promising!

I wish I had enjoyed the entire book. Keeping my hopes for the next one! I’m still a devoted fan of the author!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Thomas& Mercer for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.

[Whitney Erwin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really really wanted to love this book, but I just could not get into it no matter how hard I tried!! The storyline wasn’t very interesting and it didn’t seem to go anywhere very fast. I did not like any of the characters in the book, they all really could use some more development. I had to skim through some parts of this book just to make myself finish. This was just a lukewarm read, overall. I will definitely give the author another try in the future and I may try her previous book, which has great ratings.

Thank you Net Galley and Thomas & Mercer for an ARC in return for my honest review.

[Carole · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was looking forward to reading We Lie Here by Rachel Howzell Hall because most times family dramas and mysteries are a good read. And I had read that this author’s writing career was to be admired. But Yara Gibson and her family add so much dysfunction to this story that it is almost impossible to find a character who is at least bearable. Yara is a television writer in California and she uses her vacation time to organize a twenty-fifth wedding anniversary celebration for her parents in Palmdale. Sounds pretty good. But the more I read, the more I wanted to get to the end quickly. So many chapters are spent discussing Yara’s inhaler and other uninteresting subjects. There are a lot of possibilities here but most are not put to good use. The drama in this family is over the top and even a great ending does not make this novel shine. I will make a point of reading other books by Rachel Howzell Hall because I assume that We Lie Here is a one-off. Thank you to Thomas & Mercer, NetGalley and the author for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Prolific author Rachel Howzell Hall’s latest standalone novel is We Lie Here. It’s Yara Gibson’s parents’ twentieth wedding anniversary and she returns home to arrange the celebrations. Yara ignores a text message from a woman saying she is a childhood friend of her mother’s. When a body is found in the lake, Yara is shocked to learn who it is and that she was left a key to a remote cabin. Yara’s investigation discovers files regarding an unsolved mysterious tragedy from 1998. All sorts of unknown truths are revealed, with plenty of action and twists, that end with a surprising climax. The remote cabin prologue finally makes sense and so an enjoyable three and a half star read rating. With thanks to Thomas & Mercer and the author, for an uncorrected advanced reader copy for review purposes. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own and freely given.

[Stitching Ghost · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked Yara so I kept reading because I was really invested in her, but I saw the ending coming from miles away.

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not sure how to rate this because, while I loved it, it wasn't an easy read and took me days to get through, even with the audio. Not because of the subject matter, but from the writing style. No books I've read by this author are the kind you sit back and chill while listening or reading. You really have to pay attention. Plus the chapters weren't labeled very well. I would be confused about who was narrating. It was mostly Yara, but would sometimes go to whoever the bad guy was or other mysterious things. It is a bit similar to These Toxic Things. Hall has a knack for writing around heirlooms and long-held family secrets and I love that.

So while it was difficult to read at times, it was still well-written and a great mystery so I can't say I didn't really enjoy it. There were twists throughout and I definitely didn't see them coming!

[Marianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

We Lie Here is the eighth novel by American author, Rachel Howzell Hall. Having escaped Palmdale three years earlier for a career in Los Angeles, TV scriptwriter Yara Gibson returns as infrequently as she can get away with. But she’s spending $5000 on a twentieth anniversary party for her parents, and she’s given herself ten days to organise the best party that Palmdale has seen.

And maybe also mine her family’s craziness to write a script for a movie, tentatively titled, The Queen of Palmdale.

Within hours of her arrival, Yara is getting text messages from an unknown number telling her: “I have information that will change your life!” A stranger accosts her in the hotel carpark, needing to urgently tell her something. Felicia Campbell, it turns out, is her mother’s estranged cousin. Angling for an invite? Yara doesn’t have time for this!

The barrage of messages continues. “Please Yara Talk to me before it’s too late!” and “You need to know the truth RIGHT NOW!!!” Should she relent? A note with keys under her hotel room door: meet me at your mother’s favourite place. But the next day, Felicia is found, drowned in the lake. Suicide? Or murder?

In between dealing with party preparations, the asthma flare-up every time she enters her parents’ house, her younger sister’s petty-criminal boyfriend, accusatory calls from Felicia’s twin sister, important things that she keeps misplacing, her mother’s demands and her father’s strange attitude, curiosity takes hold and Yara goes to the cottage on Lake Paz for which she now has keys.

What she finds there raises more questions about her family than giving her any answers that Felicia might have had. Here she is, organising a celebration of her parents’ marriage, but she’s discovering cracks that were never apparent when she was growing up. Have her parents been lying to her all this time? On top of this, her car is vandalised, notes left, a strange car opposite her parents’ house: what is going on?

For much of the story, we wonder, is Yara an unreliable narrator? Or are those around her gaslighting her? She’s off her anxiety meds and she’s stopped smoking; she does have a history of forgetting and losing things… it all has her doubting herself, what she remembers, what she has always thought she knew.

Howzell-Hall gives the reader yet another gripping page -turner that has the reader leaping to conclusions and then second-guessing those in favour of a different theory, all the way to the dramatic climax. The astute reader might settle on the actual perpetrator, but the how and why of it keep them enthralled. Brilliant crime fiction.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer.

[Kurryreads (Kerry) · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars rounded up - so underrated! On kindle unlimited

Video review: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT22GsLQ9/

Featured in:
Thrillers not surrounding a murder or missing persons case: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT2vtmRsq/
Kindle unlimited thrillers: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT2vty7vn/

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bring on the family drama!

Yara Gibdon returns home to host her parents twentieth anniversary party. Everything is going to plan until she receives a sketchy text:” I have information that will change your life”.

The message is from her mother’s estranged friend Felicia Campbell. Yara tries to ignore her constant “we need to talk” texts and phone calls. Then Felicia winds up dead. She left Yara a key to a cabin. This key will unlock all the hidden secrets from years ago. This key will also change Yara’s life.

I enjoyed this thriller. It was a little slow in the beginning, but it picked up and I got hooked! The twist at the end I kinda saw coming but it did not take away from the story.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[OutlawPoet · Rating 4 out of 5]

First, as a Southern California Native, let me assure you that this book describes Palmdale perfectly. It’s…not a place we choose to go, and if you need to know the reasons, read the book.

Now, the mystery was a good one with a very surprising reveal. While I was suspicious of everyone, I truly didn’t expect the outcome of this one.

As usual, the author’s characters aren’t the most likeable. If that’s a problem for you, I’ll tell you right now that you probably won’t like many (if any) of them, but they’re bold and realistic and I loved them, faults and all.

This is a good read!

*ARC via Publisher

[Priskah · Rating 2 out of 5]

1,5 ✨✨✨

(Audiobook)

[Bookreporter.com Mystery & Thriller · Rating 4 out of 5]

In WE LIE HERE, Rachel Howzell Hall puts TV writer Yara Gibson through the ringer in a whopper of a domestic thriller that will have readers’ heads spinning just as fast as Yara’s does throughout the novel.

In the town of Lake Paz, California, in 1998, a woman named Birdie is awakened by a noise coming from the cabin next door where a Black family is staying. She asks about the yelling as it is extremely late at night. They apologize and say they will be leaving the following morning. Birdie then remembers hearing something that sounded like a pop before going back to bed.

In the present day, Yara returns to her hometown of Palmdale, California, to host her parents’ 20th anniversary party. She is staying at the local Holiday Inn, where she receives the first of many strange text messages. It begins with: “I have information that will change your life.” It's from an unknown number, and she angrily replies, “Who do you think you are?”

Yara gets together with her younger sister, Dominique, for drinks at the hotel when she meets her cousin, Felicia Campbell, for the first time. It turns out that Felicia, who claims to be a childhood friend of Yara’s mother, was the one who sent the cryptic text. Yara confronts Felicia about the message, but before she can answer, Felicia yanks at her necklace and rips it from her neck. Yara and Dominque grab it back and are shocked by the aggressive behavior. They ask Felicia to leave and tell her in no uncertain terms that she is not invited to the party. After leaving, she sends Yara another text: “Talk to me before it’s too late.” Of course, Yara does not respond.

Felicia remains persistent and sends a more detailed message, letting Yara know that what she has to share is very important and asking to meet with her the next morning at her mother’s favorite place in Lake Paz. None of this makes any sense to Yara as she is not aware of any connection between her mother and that town. Life is so hectic these days as she prepares for the big party that she does not want to bother her parents with any of this.

Meanwhile, Felicia arrives at Lake Paz, where an individual leads her by gunpoint late in the evening to the lake until she sinks beneath it, never to be seen alive again. However, she does send one final text to Yara before meeting her untimely end: “Help. Lix uz.” This makes no sense to Yara and was obviously typed under duress. When she finally calls back, someone else picks up and informs her that Felica is dead. She had left Yara a key to the address where she had wanted to meet in Lake Paz.

Yara visits the cabin in question and becomes enamored with the place that seems to be lost in time. When she’s finally ready to leave, she finds that all four of her tires have been slashed. An elderly lady holding a shotgun confronts her, having seen a suspicious character in the area earlier. Yara indicates that she was there for the day and it was her car that was vandalized. The woman calls the incident in and introduces herself as Birdie. She then goes on to explain that the cabin was owned by the Marsh family and at one time had housed famous Black musicians like Cab Calloway and celebrities like Dorothy Dandridge. She also talks about an incident that took place there in 1998.

Upon returning to her family home, Yara receives a call from Alicia, Felicia’s sister, wanting to know what caused Felicia’s death. Yara’s mother warns her to stay away from that part of the family, but she is far too shrewd to know that something secretive is going on. What makes WE LIE HERE so frightening is the suggestion that your own family might not be who they claim to be. Rachel Howzell Hall plots this idea perfectly, and the reveal is quite satisfying with the appropriate surprises and twists in the final act.

Reviewed by Ray Palen

[aPriL does feral sometimes · Rating 3 out of 5]

‘We Lie Here’ by Rachel Howzell Hall is an atmospheric mystery. While Yara Gibson, the main character, fascinated me, she also frustrated me. You know, like real people sometimes do. In this case, Yara and her family is one of those upper-middle-class, constantly-busy-people ones that appear to be normal if seen only by their surface appearances. But when around them for some time one becomes aware of hidden riptides. Since Yara’s point of view is the one most seen (there is another’s, a bad guy), readers soon see she is a high-maintenance anxiety-prone neurotic. Her memory is faulty, too, perhaps due to all of the prescribed drugs she is dropping for her asthma and anxieties.

Are her fears real?

I have copied the book blurb below:

”A woman’s trip home reveals frightening truths in a twisty novel of murder and family secrets by the New York Times bestselling author of And Now She’s Gone and These Toxic Things.

TV writer Yara Gibson’s hometown of Palmdale, California, isn’t her first choice for a vacation. But she’s back to host her parents’ twentieth-anniversary party and find the perfect family mementos for the celebration. Everything is going to plan until Yara receives a disturbing text: I have information that will change your life.

The message is from Felicia Campbell, who claims to be a childhood friend of Yara’s mother. But they’ve been estranged for years—drama best ignored and forgotten. But Yara can’t forget Felicia, who keeps texting, insisting that Yara talk to her “before it’s too late.”

But the next day is already too late for Felicia, whose body is found floating in Lake Palmdale. Before she died, Felicia left Yara a key to a remote lakeside cabin. In the basement are files related to a mysterious tragedy, unsolved since 1998. What secrets was Felicia hiding? How much of what Yara knows about her family has been true?

The deeper Yara digs for answers, the more she fears that Felicia was right. Uncovering the truth about what happened at the cabin all those years ago will change Yara’s life—or end it.”

The blurb info is spot on, but I cannot convey how annoying Yara and her anxieties and her cowed obedience to her mother is. I find it difficult to believe she is a Los Angeles television show writer, and that she is able to tread water in that competitive, stressful environment. She switches often between being highly competent and being a mentally-ill basket-case with no ability to self-direct, throughout this novel. She judges everything through the lens of her mother’s opinions despite that she fears her mom and her opinions. There is a Munchausen syndrome by proxy vibe going on, coupled with obvious gaslighting that Yara is frustratingly blind to but readers can clearly see.

As a thriller, it was sort of stop-and-go rather than a sustained buildup. However, the mystery of why/what/who is definitely intriguing!

The book kept my interest, and I generally enjoyed the reading of it.

[Nadine in NY Jones · Rating 1 out of 5]

put a muscle car on the cover of the book and I'm going to want to read it ...


***


This was a pretty good story, sadly buried under writing that I hated and unbearable characters who were too stupid to live.

This is the first book I've read by Hall, and the cover gave me certain expectations:  dark, gritty, muscle car action.  But what I got was: run-of-the-mill women's thriller with a sassy self-centered protagonist who thinks she's above all that and a really slow plot (we are almost halfway through the book before the events described in the GR blurb take place).  Where is that bitchin' Camaro I was promised???  (There IS a Camaro, and it IS part of the plot, and it IS driven on the road at one point.  But none of that was enough to save this book.)  

The entire set-up is that cousin Felicia is trying to talk to Yara about seeeecrets, but Yara won't take the time to listen.  There was no reason why not, though.  Yara was just impatient and has some sort of superiority complex.  But this is not some rando, this is her mother's cousin, who grew up with her mother, whom she had never heard of!  Her mother even acknowledges that yes, she has a cousin named Felicia. Why wasn't Yaya naturally curious?  Curious enough to give this woman fifteen minutes to speak???

And the story buried under all of Yaya's whining about her asthma and her crazy mother is a GOOD one, I did not guess most of the twists, and it all came together in a sort of exciting way. I guess. I had really checked out at that point, though, because I hated the writing so much.

Sadly, this book is just Not Good.  I skimmed through other reviews, and a lot of people are saying they loved a previous book by this author but not this one.  So MAYBE I'll read another book by Hall someday, give her another chance?  (Probably not, tbh.)

[Loc'd Booktician · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my second Rachel book. The issue I had with the first one was the pacing. This book was faster pace. I was excited that I kept rethinking who I thought did the murder. I was so focused on my hatred and uncomfortableness with one of the characters that I missed it. Touché Rachel, touché!

Typically bad parents are too much for me to read. However, I felt like this book had just enough of it without making me (the reader) annoyed with the constant reminder that the MC had an unsupportive mom. I think that’s why I had so much trouble with Violin Conspiracy because it was tooo much.

This is a story of NOTHING and I mean NOTHING is what it seems. When you think something is surface level it is much deeper than that. You second guess yourself just like the MC. I thought that was chef kiss! I’ve never read a book where I was feel the same emotion as the MC while reading.

[Savitri (IG: abookishcookie) · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF at 47%
I loved These Toxic Things last year so I was super excited for this title. Unfortunately, the characters fell flat from the get go, and the pace was dreadfully slow. Add a weirdly dysfunctional family to the mix and I just had to pull the plug halfway through. Why is everyone afraid of someone who verbally threatens to pack her bags and leave her family for the slightest event? I really tried reading it but when it takes me 10 days to get to just half the book, it’s time to call it quits.

Since I DNF’ed, I asked a friend to reveal the ending, and well, yea…I’m glad I DNF’ed. Enough said.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first dive into Hall’s work and I fell in love with her storytelling! This is a very well crafted slow burn mystery that spends a lot of its time exploring our main character’s family dynamics and drama

[Wyetha · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.50 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This novel is a mystery crime-thriller, which is typical of this author, and I’ve only read one other title in her collection.

The novel centers around the family and the planning of an anniversary dinner. Yara [Ya-Ya for short] our protagonist, and eldest daughter is planning a this event for her parents (but mainly her mother).

The impression that I get that “B” (short for Barb or Barabara), is a head strong Mom that puts her kids first (sorta). Ya-Ya has a younger sister, Dominque, who is 19 and has just started college.

QUOTE: “Every Summer, they arrived and talked loudly, and never kept private things private, and always spilled those secrets across the woods like cheap wine.”

Ya-Ya has been plagued over the years with several chronic illnesses, such as allergies, asthma, anxiety, and depression. She also used to sleepwalk. Ya-Ya saw this as the main reason to move away from her parent's house because she relates this to her many illnesses. The dryness of Palmdale, and the fact that her mother constantly smokes (as well as her sister) even though Ya-Ya is asthmatic, which bothered me because wouldn’t any parent (family member) curb smoking, if only temporarily because their child (or sibling) had these issues. That was my first flag. (As there were many)

This book seems typical of a Howzell novel because there are family secrets and something that happened in the past, which leads to a murder in the present day, which results in more conflict. “We Lie Here” also has a similar ending to “These Toxic Things”, but with a different sub-plot and I didn’t mind that.

We Lie Here was an audiobook book for me, and although the narrator’s voice was a little unbelievable in conjunction with the story, it’s something you get used to and wasn’t cringe-worthy. It's one of those stories that I thought I had it. But when I put a piece together, the finished line was moved, and I was back to guessing. There was something I figured out right off the bat and something that caught me entirely off guard.

This was a nice break from all my supernatural, paranormal wheelhouse of reading, and I love supporting my African American authors.

[Cheryl James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started out slow and a little disinteresting but,
(wait for it) it picks up and you need to be ready for the ride. This story is, "On the corner of Drama and Lies"🤔

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

I’m a little backlogged with my ARCs but steadily making my way through them! I really enjoyed this story! Being a California native, all the details of the places and culture were extremely accurate which I greatly appreciated! I loved how even while Yara was visiting her family and planning a big anniversary party she was still creating mysteries for the show she writes for, all the while being faced with a real life mystery of her own with her family. The characters were well established and I love how I couldn’t predict the majority of the twists! I would recommend to anyone who enjoys psychological thrillers and mysteries!

[Trisha · Rating 2 out of 5]

I tried this both as an audio and on my kindle and I just struggled. It's a slow plot, filled with people that were really hard to like. Our MC, Yara, is constantly poking those around her and making them mad, having drama with her asthma and/or losing things. It got tiresome and bogged down the plot. Add to it the family drama with her mom, her dad and sibling and the actual mystery was buried under drama for at least the first 100 or more pages.

By the time we finally got going on the mystery, I wasn't invested and not enjoying it. I wish I'd liked it more.

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

[Candice Hale · Rating 4 out of 5]

✨🆂🅴🆅🅴🅽 🅻🅸🆃 🆃🅷🅸🅽🅶🆂 ✨
|| 𝙒𝙚 𝙇𝙞𝙚 𝙃𝙚𝙧𝙚 x Rachel Howzell Hall ||

𝗜𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲?
* Yes, most definitely. Hall’s writing style is captivating and thrilling, making me wonder why I didn’t read her work sooner.

𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿:
* My favorite character is Shane. Shane is Yara’s boyfriend and a U.S. Marshal, but he is really the only sane person in the entire novel. He is very protective of Yara and wants to protect her mental well-being at all costs. I like Shane because he doesn’t want anything from Yara, but to love and honor her.

𝗠𝗮𝗷𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆: (spoiler)
* One major takeaway is how people assume that who we are in high school and how we treated others back then doesn’t affect who we become years after. The characters in this novel clearly prove to us that our behaviors, especially those of Barbara, Liz, Felicia, and Robert, all affect their adult relationships years later. How we treat people in those formative years often shape them for the rest of their lives.

𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗲𝘀/𝘀𝘂𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀:
* Family Secrets & Betrayal
* Toxic Relationships
* Anxiety

𝗗𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆?
* Yes, in this novel, there are so many family members that lie and betray one another that it’s so hard to keep up with them. The title is a double entendre, too, because “we lie here” in our lives dismayed, angered, and hurt when our loved ones are not honest with us.

𝗗𝗶𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘁/𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂?
* Yes, the plot was very entertaining and full of intense family drama. There was a slow-burning suspense to the mystery of the who-dun-it. It was exciting to read for a first-time reader of Hall. I enjoyed her writing style so much it was hard to put down.

𝗜𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲𝗱?
* I did not enjoy the mother Barbara Gibson’s constant gaslighting of Yara and her family—it was manipulative and selfish. It truly pissed me off to no end. She was my least favorite character.

[Pgchuis · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

I read and enjoyed a couple of this author's Elouise Norton books, but this one was a big disappointment. The only character who was at all likeable and normal was Yara's boyfriend Shane, and he was barely in it. Other than that the novel consisted of people quarrelling spitefully with one another, sending each other mysterious and/or threatening and spiteful text messages, Yara losing things and discovering things and repeatedly going places which would exacerbate her asthma. I am not a big fan of novels where the female protagonist's memory cannot be trusted because of past trauma or because she is on medication, but mainly this didn't work for me because it was all a lot of a fuss over not very much, and the characters were just so exhausting and unpleasant.

[Melanie Morales · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought I was really going to enjoy this. I was so wrong. This book jumps all over the place with no real rhythm. She assigns nicknames to characters without any hint that its happening...Felicia, Felicia, Felicia, and then suddenly they're talking about Lee....who is Lee??? 3 paragraphs later you realize Lee is Felicia..what? The dialogue is poorly written and there wasn't a single likeable character. I knew I didn't like it 50 pages in, but I needed to know how the author was going to attempt to wrap this mess up. Turns out, she didn't. None of this made any sense, even in the end. Oh, and Yara, the protagonist, has asthma. Terrible asthma...... which she mentions at least every other paragraph (I estimate about 4,672 times). Yeah, we get it, you can't breathe.

Oh, this was so bad. 😆

[Lois · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Rounded up
This was twisted and I wasn't surprised at the reveal none the less I truly loved this.

[Amanda Hupe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you, NetGalley, Rachel Howzell Hall, and Thomas & Mercer for the opportunity to read this book! This book will release on July 12th, 2022.

We Lie Here is the third book that I have read by Rachel Howzell Hall. I have come to really appreciate her writing and I will never forget listening to her at a thriller panel at the LA Times Festival of Books! One of the things that I appreciate is that she often writes about Southern California, which is where I live. It really hits differently when you know all the locations that the author is discussing. And let me tell you, Rachel Howzell Hall nails it. This book takes place in Palmdale. Yara doesn’t really want to come home but she is planning a huge party for her parent’s anniversary. Her mom, dad, and sister, can be… a lot. Her physical and mental health always decline when she is home. She is a TV writer, dating a US Marshal but going home makes her feel small. However, one afternoon a woman approaches her and claims to be her cousin, Felicia. She doesn’t seem stable but is insisting that she has information that concerns Yara. The next day, Felicia is dead. Then the messages start arriving and someone has been in her room…is it all in her head or are there deep family secrets that should stay buried?

So if you happen to wander over to Goodreads, then you will see that the reviews aren’t raving about this book. I can see where they are coming from. There are a few parts that can use some polishing up. However, the story and the characters are on point. At first, Hall leads readers to believe that all of the issues that are occurring are from some petty fights from years ago. –No, she manages to entwine a deeper more sinister plotline.

It also goes to show how important it is to deal with toxic family members. I can see why Yara just wanted to appease her mom, but it started to get to the point where she took the gaslighting to a whole new level. But as I kept reading, I realized there is a reason for Yara to subject herself to that toxicity. This is probably where the polishing up would come in handy.

However, there were moments that were extremely unnerving and gave me the chills! Overall, I think this is a great thriller!

[Gwen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m a bit flummoxed by this book…Rachel Howzell Hall is a talented writer and I really enjoyed her previous book, And Then She’s Gone, but this book was not well-written or put together at all. The actual story was not bad, but it felt more like a first draft to me than an edited, close-to-being-published book….so much repetition, it just didn’t flow, and very little character development, This one needs some more work before going to print. 3/10.

Thank you very much to NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for the advanced reader’s copy of this book.

[Drea g · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book a lot. 4 or 4.5 stars but only because I wish there was more to the ending. I wanted more of what happened after everything “happened”. I LOVED reading a thriller about an African-American woman and NOT a white woman. Thrillers are always!!! about white people. After this book, and another thriller I recently read (different author) about an Asian-American woman, I’m making it a point to find more thrillers starring non-white characters.

[Marisha (MarishaReadsALot) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up.

I had a bit of a hard time getting into this one, but once it got going I was very invested in what was happening. The end was crazy, something I absolutely didn't see coming. This was my first book by Rachel Howzell Hall but it definitely won't be my last!

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first dive into Hall’s work and I fell in love with her storytelling! This is a very well crafted slow burn mystery that spends a lot of its time exploring our main character’s family dynamics and drama