Heart-Shaped Lies

Heart-Shaped Lies was perfect for fans of highly intense relationship drama. This book is a great read-alike if you enjoyed Suddenly a Murder by Lauren Muñoz or Dead Below Deck by Jan Gangsei. The author had no love for Tommy Harding’s character. Every move and manipulative statement out of his mouth gave me visions of throat punching him. It was nice that the beginning starts with his death and then flashbacks to the events leading up to it because I don’t think I could have stood the emotional abuse red flag behavior otherwise. His actions leave us with a plethora of likely suspects with cause to see him dead because there are no redeeming qualities offered about him.

Tommy left behind three girls that he was in a relationship with. There is the girlfriend, Kiara; the sidepiece, Priscilla; and the online good girl, Nevaeh. All of them are acting cagey and all of them were at the scene of the murder just before he died. They can’t trust each other, but they also are the only ones who understand what it is like to be “loved” and pushed by Tommy. Their determination to avoid implication, prove to online fans that they are innocent, and sidestep the police is ill-advised and positions them in a place of danger for the showdown.

An underlying theme is the part social media plays in all this. Tommy could have left Kiara and been with the others, but she was tied to his public image and his fans loved the image of them together. The girls are more worried about the online comments and death threats to see the real-life danger and make good choices regarding what they know about the investigation. It is hard to see who to root for because they are all flawed and acting erratically.

I used an audiobook with this story. It captures the emotional depth of the character’s struggles to seek a path forward. We can see how addled the girls are and how easy to maneuver into a position of vulnerability through the worry and hand-wringing tone of the narrator. Tommy’s manipulations are a bit overboard and hearing them through narration makes it easier to spot how he is using the girls.

Overall, I thought I had figured out who the culprit was, but about the time I was patting myself on the back a shocking reveal changed everything about what happened that night. The ending gives nice clarity to how the girls move forward and how light can come from the darkness making for an excellent conclusion.

Tommy’s life revolves around his camera and his fan base. He will do anything to keep his fans happy and his popularity growing. He begins his journey with harmless pranks, but as he gets more and more famous, he starts to take things too far. But Tommy is playing everyone and secrets don’t always remain in the dark. When his body is discovered on his senior trip, everyone is a suspect.

On screen, Tommy is the picture perfect boyfriend to Kiara, who he’s been dating since freshman year. While Kiara sees the dark side of Tommy, she can’t see herself leaving him. She needs him just as badly as he needs her. Priscilla will do anything to grow her social media revolving around makeup, including going along with Tommy’s antics. However, he just offers her empty promises. Navaeh meets Tommy online, not knowing who he really is, but she gives him pieces of herself she can’t get back. These three girls have nothing in common but are tied together by their relationships with Tommy. The question everyone has is who is the killer among them?

HEART-SHAPED LIES is a murder mystery that reminds me of the movie John Tucker Must Die. Tommy’s life is full of glittery lies and he fools everyone both on screen and off screen of his backstabbing ways. The ones most affected by it are the three girls he leads to believe he cares for: Kiara, Priscilla, and Navaeh. With Tommy’s account hacked, secrets are exposed and everybody becomes a suspect. I love how everything unfolds and how the author explores the negative impact being an influencer can have on a person. Tommy is addicted to fame and doesn’t care what he has to do to maintain it. I also really like how the first half of the book takes place while Tommy is alive and the second half is trying to figure out who kills him. It gives the reader a well rounded view of the events. Each of the girls handled the situation differently and I found that made it more realistic.


Final Verdict: I would recommend this to ya fans of suspense, mystery, coming of age, and social media. This is a very fast paced book with a lot of twists and turns that held my attention the entire time.