3.5 stars out of 5
Living Lies by Natalie Walters was an enjoyable read by a promising debut author. The first few chapters had me questioning how a debut writer could write such a captivating beginning that hooks in a reader so nicely. Unfortunately for me, I felt the overall mystery didn’t have enough plot twists/red herrings and that it was heavier on romance than I prefer. But with that said, I will definitely read more books by this author, in hopes that she will focus more on the suspense than romance (sorry, there only so many times I can read how handsome and muscular Charlie was with a nice jawline and of course about a dozen times how good he smelled!!).
Criticisms aside, I did want to mention that the author did a stellar job with her theme on depression and PTSD, with a nice Christian angle. It was presented with realism, empathy, and was the shining moment of this book. Also, she did a great job with all her primary and secondary characters and they were developed nicely in the small Southern town. It’s these kinds of things that make you want to read this author again.
*I received this book free from Netgalley and publisher Revell in exchange for an honest review.
