Two Truths and a Lie

 Tell me a story... where you don’t know who to trust 

Two Truths and a Lie by April Henry

Expected publication date: May 24, 2022

Date read: March 30, 2022

On their way to a theater competition, a group of teenagers and their chaperone are stranded in an unexpected blizzard, finding shelter in a run-down motel. Their fellow guests at the motel include another group of teens on their way to a robotics competition, a few adult males, each traveling alone, the motel owner, and a caretaker. While the teenagers decide to play “Two Truths and a Lie” to pass the time, Nell pulls a slip of paper that reads: “I like to watch people die” and “I’ve lost count of how many people I’ve killed”. The kids assume it’s a prank, until bad things start to happen. When a student disappears, the motel guests have to work together to figure out what’s happening, before it’s too late for everyone. 

I unintentionally read two locked-room stuck-in-a-blizzard mysteries back to back, which might have affected my feelings for this one (the second of the two). That being said, I did enjoy this one. 

I really liked Nell, our main protagonist. The characters that were supposed to be unlikable were loathsome. We get a lot of love-obsessed teenagers for main characters, but this book is written for a teen audience. None of the characters were too annoying about it, just a few moments that had me (not a teenager) rolling my eyes  

My biggest complaint also has to do with one of the things that I liked best about this book, and I’ll do my best to keep it as spoiler-free as possible. Up until the half-way point of this book, it was unclear if we were dealing with a ghost story or a murder mystery. I loved the way that both scenarios seemed possible for a good way into the book. My biggest complaint is that the way that it didn’t end up going, wasn’t as wrapped up as I wish it had been; it left a few unanswered questions. I also didn’t love the epilogue - I don’t mind stories getting wrapped up in neat little bows, if it’s done well. This one kind of reminded me of the cards you get at the end of teen rom-coms that tell you what happened to each character. But again, I’m not a teenager, and I don’t think that most readers of the target audience will mind this trope. 

Overall, I actually liked this book quite a bit. The plot moved fast and I loved that I didn’t know where it was going. It’s a fast, fun read and I think teen mystery fans will really enjoy this one. 

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Trigger warning: Murder, hanging, death by fire, human trafficking, gore, drugging someone against their will

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.