Society of Lies - ARC Review

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

This 384-page book by Lauren Ling Brown comes out on August 13th, 2024. A mystery/thriller (heavy on the thriller aspect), this book has so many twists and turns that in the end it gets a little confusing.

Older sister Maya is back at Princeton for her younger sister, Naomi’s graduation from the alma mater that they share. It turns out that they were also in the same secret society, but Maya didn’t know about Naomi’s membership. What should be a fantastic day, turns dark when Naomi turns up dead.

This book is a dual POV between the two sisters with Maya’s chapters tracing forward from her sister’s death, and Naomi’s chapters moving forward up to her murder. Everyone is a suspect, and I do mean everyone. With unreliable narrators and unreliable secondary characters, this book is full of twists and turns.

The ending is a little confusing, but ultimately satisfying.

4 Stars

Synopsis from the Publisher:

How far would you go to belong?
Maya has returned to Princeton for her college reunion—it’s been a decade since she graduated, and she is looking forward to seeing old faces and reminiscing about her time there. This visit is special because Maya will also be attending the graduation of her little sister, Naomi.
But what should have been a dream weekend becomes Maya’s worst nightmare when she receives the news that Naomi is dead. The police are calling it an accident, but Maya suspects that there is more to the story than they are letting on.
As Maya pieces together what happened in the months leading up to her sister’s death, she begins to realize how much Naomi hid from her. Despite Maya’s warnings, Naomi had joined Sterling Club, the most exclusive social club on campus—the same one Maya belonged to. And if she had to guess, Naomi was likely tapped for the secret society within it.
The more Maya uncovers, the more terrified she becomes that Naomi’s decision to follow in her footsteps might have been what got her killed. Because Maya’s time at Princeton wasn’t as wonderful as she’d always made it seem—after all, her sister wasn’t the first young woman to turn up dead. Now every clue is leading Maya back to the past . . . and to the secret she’s kept all these years.