The Lies That Bind by Emily Griffin

Have you ever read a book and just been angry after reading it. Not angry because it was so good and you are upset that it’s over but angry because you wasted the time reading a book. That’s how I feel about this one. I finished this book and just paused for a second like why did I just waste the last day reading this book. I’m going to try in my book reviews to not give too much away so the book still seems interesting for other readers if you choose to read.

So why was I so angry after reading this book. Let me tell you why. The book summary that is on the back of the book/on goodreads does not match up to what the actual book entails. To save yourself from going to go read the book summary, I’ll give you the jist of this book.

The setting is New York City spring of 2001. A girl named Cecily Gardner has just broken up with her long term boyfriend and has found herself drowning herself in self pity with alcohol at a bar at 2 am. A stranger luckily stops her before she sends that typical “I miss you” text so many of us unfortunately have sent in life. The stranger, named Grant Smith, and our dear Cecily Gardner form this connection that you start to see play out the next few months. Then the unforgettable event of 9/11 occurs and Grant ends up disappearing. Cecily, who is a NYC reporter, makes it her mission to try and find Grant but ends up having more questions in the end. Like did she even know this guy and what other lies he had been telling her.

This might have been my own ignorance when reading this, but after reading the book summary the first time I was really intrigued. I thought I was signing up for a mystery novel and seeing how it connected to 9/11. I am warning you in advance that, that was not the case. It was not a mystery novel but rather a cheesy romance novel. For as large of an event that 9/11 was, somehow it was only talked about for like 4 chapters. I just felt like there was so many other paths this author could’ve took. Some people might enjoy it but after reading some peoples reviews and thoughts about the novel, they all had very similar opinions that I did. So in the end The Lies That Bind was a bust but there’s a whole world of books for me to check out.

Until Next Time, The Library Abroad

Picture credit: Virtual Book Club: The Lies That Bind by Emily Giffin, July 13th | The Willie Wags