Two Truths and a Lie
by April HenryPublished by: Christy Ottaviano Books on May 24, 2022
Genres: Young Adult, Mystery, Thriller
Pages: 288
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Rating:
A group of teens are trapped in an old motel with a murderer in this chilling YA mystery by New York Times bestselling author April Henry.
Nell has always wanted to be an actor, but doubts her ability. As a member of her school’s theater program, she prefers working backstage. On the way to a contest, an unexpected blizzard strands her acting troupe in a creepy motel. Soon they meet a group of strangers from another high school—including the mysterious and handsome Knox, who insists they play the game Two Truths and a Lie. When it’s Nell’s turn, she draws a slip of paper inked in unfamiliar handwriting:
I like to watch people die.I’ve lost count of how many people I’ve killed.
Suddenly a night of harmless fun turns into a matter of life and death. As guests go missing, it becomes clear that a murderer is hiding in their midst ready to strike again. In a room full of liars and performers, the truth is never quite what it seems. Nell is going to have to act like her life depends on it—because it does.
Content Tags:
Perfect for readers who want:
- Locked room mystery type thriller
- Murder hotel tropes
- Teen sarcasm and banter
- Nostalgic ’90s horror vibe
Many thanks to Christy Ottaviano Books and TBR and Beyond Tours for an eARC in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
There’s a special place in my heart for young adult mystery, especially mystery thrillers. And locked room mysteries? Definitely my thing. So of course I had to give this a try as soon as I read the blurb.
Two Truths and a Lie is a young adult suspenseful thriller that captures all the nostalgia and vibes of cheesy ’90s horror movies that we absolutely loved with none of the gore.
This was a pretty average book that hit all the tropes. It was a fun, entertaining read that was quick to get through and kept me entertained. However, the whodunnit was very easy to solve, and the plot relied on contrived scenarios that didn’t always make sense.
Two Truths and a Lie is your classic locked-room scenario set in a murder hotel where the past is coming back to haunt the present. Potentially literally.
I mean, I feel like at this point in time, with how prevalent these stories are on the Internet, the whole “don’t mess with a Ouija board” should be a given, right? Yet, teens never listen, do they? No, of course not. They’re all, “Hey, wouldn’t it be fun to try to summon angry murder spirits and solve the cold case that happened here decades ago?” Well, not so much fun when people start dying, is it?
Hmm. Maybe I should back up. The basic premise of this book is that a group of people end up stranded in this out-of-the-way hotel due to a blizzard. The hotel just happens to have been the scene of a couple unsolved murders, which doesn’t seem like such a huge deal until people start showing up dead.
If you’re into locked-room mysteries, this was a pretty fun one. While not chock full of surprises on its own, Henry uses a lot of the popular mystery tropes to great effect.
“That article was sexist.” Valeria makes a face as she shakes back her hair. “It kept calling the killer he. Why couldn’t the killer have been a woman?”
“Because that’s not how women act,” Min says, pulling a little apart from Valeria. “They don’t stab people to death.”
“Maybe not strangers,” Valeria says. “I’ll grant you that. Women aren’t that kind of violent. But a woman who felt betrayed by one of them . . .” Her voice trails off.
Henry manages to capture the old-school nostalgia of a ’90s horror movie with the atmosphere of her novel, and I loved it!
I’m a sucker for nostalgic ’90s horror movies. You know the ones. They don’t always make sense, and they’re not always technically sound movies, but for some reason there’s nothing better than making some popcorn, turning off the lights, and having a horror movie bingefest.
Henry manages to capture the same tense atmosphere that I’ve come to know and love. Sure, some of the plot points sound like excuses (like we can’t call the police because the phones don’t work without power . . . because an old-school hotel doesn’t have a corded phone?!). Despite all that, though, Henry weaves a compelling enough story that readers may be persuaded to forgive some of these convenient excuses like I was because you get invested in the mystery.
“In my church, we don’t believe in drinking,” Jermaine says.
“But what if drinking believes in you?” Min says, already cracking herself up.
Since this book is a young adult with a mostly teen cast, it’ll maybe come as no surprise that there’s a lot of glorious banter and sarcasm in this book!
If that’s not your thing . . . I mean, what are you even doing here, honestly? Are you lost? Can I call someone for you?
I enjoyed hanging out with this group of teens. While I didn’t feel like I got to know them all that well, they did all have distinct personalities and interests, and I enjoyed the way they interacted. Obviously, I’m a fan of banter and sarcasm, so the fact that teens are 92.4439% sarcasm worked out great for me. It wasn’t even just the teens, either. These are some salty adults (and I lose that term loosely for some of them), which made the scenario all the more interesting!
“Wait. How come?” Knox says, or rather whines. […] “Just ‘cuz you’re old?”
She gives him that stare we all know so well, the one that cuts to your core. “Yes, Knox. And I deserve something for being old. Goodness knows society doesn’t give you much.” She sighs as she stretches out. “And if old age has taught me anything, it’s that when you deal with teenagers, often they will rise to the occasion. But sometimes they will disappoint you.”
As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, the mystery is very easy to solve, and there are some plot points that don’t entirely make sense but are necessary for the plot.
There’s not anything necessarily wrong with this. As I said, this is almost part of the charm of the book for me. This book felt like the cheesy movie version of the book world, and I absolutely love cheesy movies. The cheesier the better. Cheesy movie books are my guilty reading pleasure, and I eat them right up like popcorn.
However, I decided to add this because if you’re looking for a solid mystery with twists that’ll keep you guessing, this probably isn’t what you’re looking for. If you’re looking for a story you can just sink your teeth into and enjoy in a single afternoon as a fun read, this will be more your style!
His face lights up. “I saw that on The Simpsons.”
“Yeah, that’s where they got the idea,” I say, looking past him. “First it was a short story in the fifties, and then it was a Twilight Zone episode.” Out in the hall, Oscar is tipping back a small silver flask. “But it was a short story first.”
About April Henry
New York Times-bestselling author April Henry knows how to kill you in a two-dozen different ways. She makes up for a peaceful childhood in an intact home by killing off fictional characters. There was one detour on April’s path to destruction: when she was 12 she sent a short story about a six-foot tall frog who loved peanut butter to noted children’s author Roald Dahl. He liked it so much he showed it to his editor, who asked if she could publish it in Puffin Post, an international children’s magazine. By the time April was in her 30s, she had started writing about hit men, kidnappers, and drug dealers. She has published 26 mysteries and thrillers for teens and adults, with more to come. She is known for meticulously researching her novels to get the details right.
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