Her First Lie

This is a prequel to The Perfect Child, so I’m not entirely sure what I expected considering I didn’t love that one. At this point, I’m realizing that Lucinda Berry and I have a bit of a love-hate relationship. I almost always struggle to get into her books at first, but if I push through, they eventually pull me in and I need to see how everything plays out.

If The Perfect Child made you uneasy, this one takes it a step further. It actually made me fear Janie even more. Minor spoiler, but the hammer incident alone was enough for me. While this story does give more insight into the family dynamics and the history of the women involved, it still feels like something was off with her from the very beginning.

That said, you do have to suspend disbelief quite a bit. Keeping a child hidden in a dorm for that long without anyone noticing felt like a stretch, and some of the events, especially certain crimes, seemed a little too easy to get away with.

The structure alternates between timelines, following Becky as both a child and an adult. This helps build a clearer picture of who she is and why she makes the decisions she does as a parent. If you like shorter chapters, this one works well for that style of reading.

You can read it as a standalone, but honestly, I think I would have preferred reading this one first. It adds context that might have made the events in The Perfect Child feel more grounded.

If you are expecting a traditional, edge-of-your-seat thriller, this is not quite that. It leans much more into psychological territory. And as always, it will leave you wondering how the author comes up with some of these ideas.

I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.