The Lying Game by Ruth Ware just wasn't a book for me. It was so slow and repetitive. I can't believe I read through the whole thing. Another I most definitely should have DNFed.

There were a few things I did enjoy about the book, but heads up; this review is short and quite negative.

Let's start with the positives:
1) I did enjoy some of the foreshadowing.
2) I enjoyed the suspense at the beginning of the book before I noticed how repetitive it was
3) I really like the book cover
4) I enjoyed the passages below

My favorite passages:
Speaking those fears aloud makes them read, and I can't admit to myself that this is a possibility, that the whole nightmare should be starting up again.

Before the Salten reunion I went months, years even, without, speaking to the others. But now the urge to talk to them is like a constant itch on my skin, a craving beneath the surface like the cigarettes I suddenly want again.

But the questions beat at me, things with wings and claws, battering against me so that I flinch as I walk, turning my face as if I can avoid them, but I can't.


Now, onto the negatives:
So back to my comment about the foreshadowing. I did indeed enjoy some of it. But a lot of it was just overdone in my opinion, which made things much too predictable.

I think I would have enjoyed this book more if it was shorter... If the author had simply cut out 75% of the repetition. It was just way too much. I felt that I was reading the same things over and over and over, and that the story was progressing at a snail's pace. There was also a lot drama that fell flat with me.

I also didn't care for any of the characters. The main character, Isa, was incredibly unlikable for me.

There were two main mystery elements. The first was revealed about halfway through. After all the build up, I definitely thought it was going to be something more. But it ended up being pretty underwhelming for me. I almost DNFed at that point, but I kept reading to see what the conclusion of the second mystery would be. Yet another underwhelming reveal that was done in such a rushed way.

... and that ending. I wanted to enjoy the action. But it felt rushed and unorganized. Like it was forced and trying to wrap things up quickly. I didn't like it at all.

I think I finally need to call it and say that Ruth Ware's writing style just isn't for me.