Tell Me Lies

Tell Me Lies is the kind of psychological thriller that pulls you in immediately and refuses to let go. Pomare’s pacing is razor‑sharp, the tension builds with every chapter, and the writing has that clean, compulsive quality that makes the pages fly by. I genuinely loved the experience; dark, unsettling, and full of that creeping dread that Pomare does so well. It’s the kind of book you inhale in a single sitting because you need to know what happens next.

The story’s greatest strength is how effortlessly it moves. Every chapter adds a new layer of suspicion, unease, or emotional pressure. The atmosphere is tight, the stakes feel personal, and the characters (especially Margot) are written with a believable blend of vulnerability and questionable judgment. It’s easy to get swept up in her unraveling.

Where the book falters is in its final reveal. A great twist feels shocking and inevitable; surprising in the moment, but obvious in hindsight once you trace the breadcrumbs. Here, the twist comes from so far out of left field that it feels disconnected from the clues we were given. Instead of that satisfying “Oh my god, how did I miss that?” moment, it leans more toward “Wait… where did that come from?”

The result is a climax that’s dramatic but not fully earned. The emotional and psychological groundwork is strong, but the twist relies on information that wasn’t meaningfully seeded earlier, which weakens its impact.

Despite the twist’s shortcomings, the book excels at exploring:

-the lies we tell ourselves

-the consequences of avoidance

-the slow erosion of control

-the tension between truth and perception

Pomare’s characters feel messy and human, and the moral ambiguity is one of the novel’s most compelling elements.

Tell Me Lies is absolutely worth reading for its atmosphere, pacing, and psychological depth. I enjoyed it, I flew through it, and I stayed invested the entire time. But the twist (arguably the heart of a thriller) needed stronger groundwork to feel earned. A solid, gripping story with an ending that doesn’t quite match the strength of the journey.