Tell Me Lies: A Novel

Written by Carola Lovering

Narrated by Corey Brill and Rebekkah Ross

Now an original series on Hulu!
YOU NEVER FORGET YOUR WORST.

“A twisted modern love story” (Parade), Tell Me Lies is a sexy, thrilling novel about that one person who still haunts you—the other one. The wrong one. The one you couldn’t let go of. The one you’ll never forget.

Lucy Albright is far from her Long Island upbringing when she arrives on the campus of her small California college and happy to be hundreds of miles from her mother—whom she’s never forgiven for an act of betrayal in her early teen years. Quickly grasping at her fresh start, Lucy embraces college life and all it has to offer. And then she meets Stephen DeMarco. Charming. Attractive. Complicated. Devastating.

Confident and cocksure, Stephen sees something in Lucy that no one else has, and she’s quickly seduced by this vision of herself, and the sense of possibility that his attention brings her. Meanwhile, Stephen is determined to forget an incident buried in his past that, if exposed, could ruin him, and his single-minded drive for success extends to winning, and keeping, Lucy’s heart.

Lucy knows there’s something about Stephen that isn’t to be trusted. Stephen knows Lucy can’t tear herself away. And their addicting entanglement will have consequences they never could have imagined.

Alternating between Lucy’s and Stephen’s voices, Tell Me Lies follows their connection through college and post-college life in New York City. “Readers will be enraptured” (Booklist) by the “unforgettable beauties in this very sexy story” (Kirkus Review). With the psychological insight and biting wit of Luckiest Girl Alive, and the yearning ambitions and desires of Sweetbitter, this keenly intelligent and supremely resonant novel chronicles the exhilaration and dilemmas of young adulthood and the difficulty of letting go—even when you know you should.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Jun 12, 2018
• ISBN: 9781508255703

Carola Lovering

Carola Lovering attended Colorado College, and her work has appeared in W Magazine, National Geographic, Outside, and Yoga Journal, among other publications. Tell Me Lies is her first novel. She currently lives in Brooklyn. 

Reviews for Tell Me Lies

[Tyler George · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really liked this book because it showed was a narcissist can do to a vulnerable person, something that I’m sadly watching in my family now. The series on Hulu is awful, but this book is sad and entertaining.

[Feminist Reader · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I wish the mystery/murder element would have been developed; instead, we are dragged through obsession and mislead to the trombone fart of an ending. I mean, I’m giving a golfclap to the protagonist for finally seeing what she needs to see, but wow—the buildup does not lead to a satisfying payoff.

A craptastic journey leads to a flaccid end.

[Nathalie Barreto · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I hate Stephan in this book. It’s the only book where I’ve wanted to punch a main character for being an awful person. This book will remind a lot of people about their youth and time in college - in love with someone who didn’t deserve you and fogged your vision. Overall, a really good read. I never wanted to stop reading this book because I had to know what was going to happen next.

[Kelsey McCullough · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Quick Summary:
Lucy is attending college in California when she goes to a house boat party on Lake Mead and meets Stephen. Stephen isn’t the typical hot guy she would have found attractive but after being asked out numerous times, she finally agrees. Their relationship is anything but smooth as Stephen is juggling other girls while keeping Lucy as a solid backup plan. Breaking Lucy’s heart over and over she can’t seem to shake the “love” that she constantly comes back to with Stephen.

What I liked about this book:
It’s real. We’ve been there, the one you thought was going to be forever but you’re devastated time and time again. I also liked that the story went back and forth in the time line of their relationship and told from both perspectives.

What I didn’t like about this book:
Lucy’s battle with an eating disorder and her constant talking about food or lack there of got redundant. I understand this is a real issue people face but there wasn’t a chapter that it doesn’t come up.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3.5)

[jessica magoon · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I read this book way before the show and i loved the crap out of it!!!

[roshinicdebaca · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I have never really understood women who ruin their entire lives over lying cheating dickheads like this one until I finally read this book. It was so, so very beautifully written that upon finishing it, I just felt a wave of sadness for all the women out there who’ve ever been thru a similar situation. Every choice Lucy makes thru the entire 7 years this book spans makes you see from both an unbiased outsider perspective, where you want to shake her and say, don’t do that!!! But on the other hand the writer does such a great job of showing you how slowly but steadily this bright, vivacious young girl is cuckolded into making one bad decision after another all in the name of love. You get to intimately walk thru her mind and emotions in each chapter and then the author fabulously pairs it with a chapter in the mind of this sociopath guy and how each gesture of his is all calculated plots to get women into bed.

I also loved how you get to see how the decisions of both the male and female characters parents caused these broken characters to behave the way they do. Lucy’s angry and rebellious decisions seem like your standard behavior when you see what she has seen her mother do. But then you have to think about what it was like for Stephen to grow up in a house where your mother was so obviously bipolar and her cold and uncaring behavior must’ve caused him to check out and distance himself from feeling deep emotion. You see little hints thru the book of when he starts to feel anxious or depressed how he turns to the ‘thrill of the chase’ and uses his sex addiction to draw him away from feeling anything deeper.

You then notice how Lucy’s parents no matter what are still always there for her. They are still caring parents despite everything, and push their daughter to go into counseling. On the other hand, Stephen never really had parents who could push past their own problems and be there for their kids. The father in so deeply in his own depression over loosing his wife that he cannot look past his face to realize what that must’ve done to his kids to not have a caring mother growing up. He obviously never reaches out to help Stephen to grow into a trustworthy dependable man. So yes, while Stephen was the guy no girl reading this book could stand, my heart went out to him only for the fact that he never had parents to care for him in the way a child needs to end up becoming a good adult.

On the surface this book might just seem like a sad love story of two college kids that end badly, but I felt like it was so much more than that.

[Jackie Frick · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good and relatable story! I always like it when authors create unlikable characters because it so mirrors real life..with our human imperfections and bad decisions. I especially appreciated how accurate the writing was for Stephen. It was as if a different person was co-writing because the tone and thoughts were completely different than Lucy's narrative. I would definitely recommend, especially if you have been either Lucy or Stephen in relationships!

[Leslie Hitchcock · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Honestly, there are way better toxic type stories out there. Just skip this. It has some major playback issues, skipping chapters/parts etc. also didn’t care for the readers.

[Hanna Harwood · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Stayed listening since I was on a long drive but if I was reading this I would have stopped after a handful of chapters. Relatable story with good writing but nothing exciting. Long book for just an average life story. Everything was expected.

[Alisha Hart · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Audio kept going silent for a few seconds
Otherwise story was great

[Mandy · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

So many time I wanted to DNF this book. Stephen is terrible and every time his part came I wanted to stop listening. And for Lucy to give up everything and so many years of her life for him! And then the ending I felt like it was rushed and the author was done but forgot she had to close up a few story lines.

[Marie · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I should have stopped reading the 100 times I thought about it.
This story was well written but boring. After reading Colleen Hoovers books, my bar is set high. There was no really good turn of events, nothing that I said omg to. I wouldn’t suggest this book if you like anything other than a relationship that’s in and off again and moving here and there, issues that aren’t meant to be the huge twist but aren’t quite captivating. The best part of this story was so minimal.
Back to Colleen Hoover for me.

[Mary · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I think what I liked most is that its so true, some of us have that one person who is just the sun and moon to us but in reality only is darkness. The relationship that will never be or constant why am I putting up with this and why is this person I care about so much willing to be everything I want to someone else. Then one day you wake up and see how stupid you have been and this person you have created to be everything in reality is just not that. Its a hard lesson and a heartbreaker but what is meant to be always will be.

[Keri Howell · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This audiobook is super glitchy. I kept listening because the story had me hooked but it kept skipping chapters and the sound goes out for minutes at a time, downloaded or streaming (tried on multiple connections???‍♀️). Pretty lame.

[Selena Rivas · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

DNF. Didn’t even make it past the first chapter. Lucy talks shit about anything and everything.

[kelsey · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a long book about a shitty relationship, it’s okay but could have ended earlier!

[Emily Marshall · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The audiobook skipped at least two sections and then cutoff before the last few paragraphs were read. It was very frustrating. Thankfully I had the actual book so I read those sections.

As far as the book. It was okay. It would be helpful for anyone who gravitates towards narcissistic, sociopathic, or serial cheater men.

[Melea Mullican · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

an and capable of emotional connections even if it wasn't with me. Lovering does touch on Stephen's past and why he may be the way he is, but his attitude toward these circumstances led me to believe it wasn't the cause, but more of something that made it worse. He isn't relatable for me (I couldn't say that I knew anyone like him in college), and that is why I had a hard time becoming fully invested in his character as a villain.

While I liked the structure of the story, I felt like a lot of what happened was repetitive and drawn out. For me, I could have gotten the same sense of Lucy and Stephen's relationship in half the pages. this made it hard for me to devour the book like I was hoping to. However, I enjoyed the way things wrapped up at the end. It was a very powerful female moment that will have readers saying, "Yes girl!"

Overall, TELL ME LIES just was not my cup of tea. I understand where the author was going with it, but I dd not feel like it was a very accurate portrayal of the relationship that went wrong. Sometimes it seemed like she went a bit farther than what was probably true just for the sake of shock and awe. I likely will not recommend this book to others; however, I did enjoy Lovering's writing and structure style enough to give another book by her a try in the future.

[Pam Sanders McCoy · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I thought it started off good, but then the story seemed to just drone on and on. It was a little like listening to a friend constantly complaining about their unhealthy relationship over and over and over.

[MaKenna Harwood · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Very easy to identify with. It almost makes you nostalgic for your early 20’s

[Toni Johnson · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Two trash humans falling in and out of list with each other …one star because it keeps you listening and one star because at least one of the characters becomes less trash-ish through personal growth… but still trash.

[dairyqueen84 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Ugh! I hated both Lucy and Stephen but I guess that’s a sign of good writing, right? The ending was just too pat and didn’t fit with beginning of the book.

[kayla.krantz · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

So, wow, this book, I could not stop thinking about it.

We’ve all had that one relationship that’s messed us up, that one person who has gotten under our skin, and that one relationship that seemed to end so suddenly and without reason. This book really got me to thinking about the way that people don’t really care about others’ feelings, that they do the things they do without rhyme or reason, and sometimes, it’s good to let people go.

People throw around the term toxic a lot when it comes to relationships and in this book, Stephen is the perfect example of a toxic man. When Lucy starts college, she isn’t sure of herself yet, but she seems determined to herself. After Stephen, however, she goes into a downward spiral: doing drugs, developing an eating disorder, and even turning down the program that made her go across the country to Baird.

I think I liked this book so much because it really made me reflect on the way that people change themselves for others. We want to fit a picture that someone has, and when we don’t, we destroy ourselves trying.

That’s why the ending of this book was so beautiful. Not for anything that Lucy said or did, but just because of the fact that she could walk away with her head held high. I know from experience what a challenge that can be considering everything she went through with Stephen.

This was just overall a very beautiful, thought provoking book. If you’ve ever been through a toxic relationship, you’ll find this book very relatable and impossible to put down.

[sbojo32 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I really thought I'd like this book a lot more than I did. It fell a little flat and immature. There could have been opportunities to really address some big issues, but it didn't happen. Stephen is a jerk; that's obvious from the beginning, but Lucy can't see it. It's real, for some, I'm sure. However, reading it just gets aggravating at times because you want to shake her and let her see what a jerk he really is.