You’ve heard about the “bad boys.” Maybe you’ve even dated one. We’re not talking about the risk-taking, law-breaking, thrill-riding bad boys. No, we mean the guys who break your heart. Who cheat on you, lie to you, manipulate you, and mess with your mind. These are the true bad boys, the ones you need to watch out for. The guys that should come with a warning label - “Run! Do not stop, do not look back, get as far away as possible.”
Carola Loverling’s Tell Me Lies is about one of these bad boys, and the girl who falls inexplicably, irrationally, maddeningly in love with him and his lies. The day that Lucy Albright locked eyes with Stephen DeMarco on a day trip with friends her freshman year of college, she was a goner. Stephen was not exceptionally good-looking, he wasn’t in shape, but he was oozing with a charm that Lucy found irresistible.
Soon after, Lucy and Stephen enter into a string of heady alcohol & drug-fueled relationships over the years, with Lucy never playing the part of the girlfriend, but rather the girl on the side. Stephen seems to have a lot of girls on the side actually, Lucy being only one of them, but she believes Stephen’s lies and holds onto hope that someday he will be hers and hers alone.
As Stephen strings Lucy along, manipulating her and leading her to believe they have a future, Lucy loses herself more and more in this “relationship.” You know the pattern - she becomes obsessed with her appearance, she stops doing the things she loves, she obsessively checks her phone, she believes his lies. The love that Lucy has for Stephen is dangerous and all-consuming, the type of love that’s difficult to escape and always leaves scars.
Tell Me Lies is an eye-opening cautionary tale exploring how the wrong guy can wreck you and destroy your life if you let him. Reading much like a memoir and alternating between Lucy’s and Stephen’s points of view and the past and present, the novel chronicles Lucy’s relationship with Stephen, and how he subsequently manipulates and destroys her to his own advantage.
Anyone who has ever fallen in love with a narcissist or sociopath will recognize the signs and tactics used by Stephen to play Lucy, make her fall in love with him, and keep her hooked. Almost painful and uncomfortable to read at times due to Stephen’s stark and blatant manipulation, Tell Me Lies is an important novel of the times, and will hopefully help readers recognize the signs and impact of a destructive love interest.
The novel also examines Lucy’s life throughout college and into her career, as well as her relationships with friends and family. Tell Me Lies is a novel about the growth and forging of a young woman, and explores themes such as forgiveness, substance abuse, eating disorders, mental health, and self-worth. Readers should not enter this novel expecting sunshine and roses. The book has a rather dark vibe, and does not sugarcoat distressing and disturbing events and situations. Much like a “Go Ask Alice” in the narcissistic boyfriend vein, Tell Me Lies is a vital read for young women and serves a much greater purpose beyond a work of fiction.
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GENRE: Adult Books for Young Adults; Mainstream Fiction; Multiple Perspectives; New Adult Fiction; Psychological Fiction THEME: Toxic Relationships (Characters are drawn into intense relationships in unhealthy ways)
TONE: High-Drama; Romantic; Steamy PACE: Fast-Paced LOCATION: New York City; Southern California SUBJECT: Addiction; College Students; Dating; Lust; Men/Women Relations; Mothers and Daughters; Obsession; Secrets; Young Men; Young Women
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