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Book Summary and Reviews of Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera

Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera

Listen for the Lie

A Novel

by Amy Tintera

  • Readers' Rating (13):
  • Published:
  • Mar 2024, 352 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

What if you thought you murdered your best friend? And if everyone else thought so too? And what if the truth doesn't matter?

After Lucy is found wandering the streets, covered in her best friend Savvy's blood, everyone thinks she is a murderer. Lucy and Savvy were the golden girls of their small Texas town: pretty, smart, and enviable. Lucy married a dream guy with a big ring and an even bigger new home. Savvy was the social butterfly loved by all, and if you believe the rumors, especially popular with the men in town. It's been years since that horrible night, a night Lucy can't remember anything about, and she has since moved to LA and started a new life.

But now the phenomenally huge hit true crime podcast "Listen for the Lie," and its too-good looking host Ben Owens, have decided to investigate Savvy's murder for the show's second season. Lucy is forced to return to the place she vowed never to set foot in again to solve her friend's murder, even if she is the one that did it.

The truth is out there, if we just listen.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!
  1. Listen for the Lie alternates between Lucy's point of view and Ben's podcast interviews. How did this structure impact your reading experience? How did you navigate the many points of view? How much did you trust the people of Plumpton?
  2. As a narrator, Lucy has a bold and sarcastic sense of humor. How do you believe this affected her credibility among the people of Plumpton and the listeners of Ben's podcast?
  3. Throughout the book, we encounter many characters who had loose alibis for the night of Savvy's murder. How did gender bias contribute to the fact that Lucy's guilt was presumed from the start, while the men who surrounded her were never questioned? What are some examples?
  4. How does the small-town setting of ...
Please be aware that this discussion may contain spoilers!

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What book or books are you reading this week? (02/13/2025)
...diobooks are my "fun" reading - sci-fi, fantasy, mysteries & thrillers… that sort of thing. Not sure what book I'll start listening to next, possibly Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera, but not 100% sure yet.
-kim.kovacs

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Listen for the Lie is quite sexy, compulsively readable, and laugh-out-loud funny." ―ShelfAwareness

"Readers will be hard-pressed not to wolf down this intelligent page-turner in a single sitting." ―Publishers Weekly

"Smart, edgy, and entertaining as heck." ―Kirkus Reviews

"The true-crime podcast hook will draw readers in, but it is Lucy's unique voice that will keep them turning the pages. An excellent takedown of small-town life and toxic masculinity." ―Booklist

"Listen for the Lie is an edgy mystery novel whose true-crime storyline draws you in like 'Serial'." ―The Washington Post

"Original and deliciously dark with a wicked sense of humor. An addictive page-turner that will keep you guessing until the end." ―Alice Feeney, New York Times bestselling author

"A singular voice that explodes off the page, Amy Tintera's writing flashes with sharp comebacks and pointed commentary as she expertly knits her web of secrets and small town lies. Hands down the most fun I've had reading about murder." ―Chandler Baker, New York Times bestselling author of The Husbands

This information about Listen for the Lie was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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Author Information

Amy Tintera

Amy Tintera is the New York Times bestselling author of several series for young adults. She earned degrees in journalism and film and worked in Hollywood before becoming an author. Raised in Austin, Texas, she frequently sets her novels in the Lone Star State, but she now lives in Los Angeles, where there's far less humidity but not nearly enough Tex-Mex. Listen for the Lie is her adult debut.

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Read-Alikes

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