The Lies that Bind is gut-wrenching and touching as well as frustrating and enraging.
Cecily is trying to keep her mind off her break up with her ex-boyfriend Matthew. One of her distractions is at a local bar where she meets the most wonderful and polite guy. She takes him home but they don’t have sex. He is proving to be sweet and unusual and that just endears her more. She begins to fall for him but she doesn’t know that just because he seems perfect, he isn’t really a mess underneath.
The last two novels by Emily Giffin have been a disappointment. I couldn’t bring myself to care about the main characters and the magic of her previous novels was gone. The first half of this book goes back to her classic books that brought in readers: an engaging story and anxiously waiting to see what happens when the other shoes drops. But unlike some of her earlier novels, the other shoe drops in such a way that it turns you off of the book as a whole.
Even without reading a summary of the plot, readers know as soon as they see the book is set in 2001, that 9/11 will be a prominent feature in this story. As the romance builds, the reader is anxious to see what happens when the story clashes with this real-life event. Giffin creates a juicy story that bucks every expectation.
Unfortunately, the twist doesn’t follow through in-depth. The characters make bad choices, you can see one twist coming, and many other plot points are just thrown in without any real meaning. By the end of the book you like none of the characters, and I was just pissed off such potential was wasted on the drivel that was the ending.
Overall, The Lies That Bind is at once classical Giffin mixed with the lesser work she has done of late. I wanted this book to bring me back into her fold, but at this point, I’m getting to the point where I leave her books behind.
Publication Date: June 2
I received ab ARC from the publisher; all opinions are my own,
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