The Lying Game
- 464
- Pages
- about 9 h
- Reading time
- NYT bestseller · 3 weeks on the list, peaked at #9
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About the book
From the New York Times and #1 Globe and Mail bestselling author of The Woman in Cabin 10 and In a Dark, Dark Wood—a novel about the slipperiness of truth and the price of friendships. “I need you.” Three small words that change everything. Isa Wilde knows something terrible has happened when she receives this text from an old friend. Why else would Kate summon her and their two friends Thea and Fatima to the seaside town where they briefly attended school together seventeen years ago? The four friends first met at Salten House boarding school, where they quickly bonded over The Lying Game, a risky contest that involved tricking fellow boarders and faculty with their lies. But the game had consequences, and the girls were eventually expelled after Kate’s dad, their beloved art teacher, mysteriously disappeared. Forever bound by their lies but needing to forget their past, they went their separate ways—Kate remaining in Salten while the other three left to start new lives in and around London. Now reunited, Isa, Kate, Thea, and Fatima discover that their past lies had far-reaching effects and criminal implications that threaten them all. In order to protect their reputations, and their friendship, they must uncover the truth about what really happened all those years ago. Atmospheric, twisty, with just the right amount of chill, The Lying Game will have readers at the edge of their seats, not knowing who can be trusted in this tangled web of lies.
Where the score comes from
The sources average 6.5 across 168 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 53% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Thriller average of 7.6. That is how 7.0 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 5.6 | 9 | 5% |
| Hardcover | 6.5 | 159 | 95% |
Reader voices
The most-liked reviews on Hardcover (credited to their authors).
“I think I've just read too many Ware books in a row. Her characters are starting to grate on me. Maybe it's a British boarding school thing, but these adult women are obsessed with their school days to the point that they remember every detail…”
“This book was really just not good. Very predictable. Very stereotypical. Not good psych thrills. Disappointed that every book I have read by Ruth Ware seems to go downhill. I'm sad about it and glad that this book was over in the end.”
Frequently asked
How long is The Lying Game?
It has 464 pages — longer than 61% of the ranked books in Thriller.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Thriller — with scores between 6.7 and 7.3, closest to this book.
