If you love a thriller where you don’t know who did it, you have to check out Heart-Shaped Lies. It discusses parasocial relationships, love, and emotional manipulation. I breezed through it in a matter of days I loved it so much. Keep reading my book review of Heart-Shaped Lies for my full thoughts.
Summary
Kiara, Priscilla, and Nevaeh have nothing in common—except they just found out that they’re all dating Tommy Harding, the internet’s most famous teen prank star.
KIARA is the girlfriend who the cameras know and love, the academic star who Tommy parades around in public to keep his image in check.
PRISCILLA is Tommy’s co-star. As a beauty influencer and an accomplice to Tommy’s notorious antics, she’s always known that the two of them could be the Internet’s power couple—if only he would confess to his girlfriend what really goes on during their ‘rehearsals’.
And NEVAEH is the good girl, the pastor’s daughter who’d never dream of dating a boy who’s already taken.
When a viral post from Tommy’s social media account exposes his cheating ways during their high school class trip to Florida’s biggest theme park, the girls are crushed—and furious. Tommy claims his account was hacked. Now, Kiara, Priscilla, and Nevaeh want him out of their lives. Forever. After all, Tommy doesn’t just hold their hearts—he holds their secrets, too.
But when Tommy’s body is found the next morning, their so-called wish becomes a twisted reality. Because Tommy may be gone, but the internet is forever. And the girls are about to go from strangers to suspects….
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
We love a good revenge arc, but Heart-Shaped Lies isn’t only about revenge. It’s a story about taking our own voice, our own narrative, our own power back. For Kiara, Priscilla, and Nevaeh their stories are stolen away from them. With the emotional manipulation of Tommy and the power of social media, they can’t trust anyone. And no one really knows the truth about them. Is Kiara really a heart-broken girlfriend? And was Priscilla only Tommy’s co-star? Is Neveah really as innocent as she says? Agyemany delivers a story where we aren’t sure who we can trust.
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Heart-Shaped Lies asks us if we ever really know the whole story about anyone. It’s a story about the power of a good spin. In this multiple perspective story, Heart-Shaped Lies is a tangled web from the beginning. Featuring love and sacrifice, it asks us what we would do to control our own stories. I particularly appreciated the ways it explores social media, relationships you make on social media, and these parasocial relationships. Also the toll it can take on you to be “on”. Find Heart-Shaped Lies on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, Blackwells, & Libro. fm.