REVIEW: All my Lies are True by Dorothy Koomson

All my Lies are True (Poppy & Serena #2) by Dorothy Koomson

Genre: Contemporary fiction, Thriller

Read: 18th December 2024

Goodreads

Amazon

Published: 9th July 2020

★★★★★ 5 stars

DESCRPTION:

From the bestselling author of The Ice Cream Girls comes a gripping emotional thriller of love and obsession and the nature of coercive control. 'The author plays a blinder' says the Sun.

Verity is telling lies...

And that's why she's about to be arrested for attempted murder.

Serena has been lying for years. . .

And that may have driven her daughter, Verity, to do something unthinkable...

Poppy's lies have come back to haunt her . . .

So will her quest for the truth hurt everyone she loves?

Everyone lies.

But whose lies are going to end in tragedy?

MY THOUGHTS:

Firstly, let me say right off the cuff that YOU NEED TO READ THE ICE CREAM GIRLS first! Otherwise this one won't make a whole lot of sense. And even if it did, you will feel like you are missing a big part of the story.

So...ALL MY LIES ARE TRUE. I didn't even know I wanted a sequel to Poppy and Serena's story...until I read this! I didn't even know there was one until I saw it listed in Goodreads. I loved "The Ice Cream Girls" but I think I enjoyed this one so much more! I wasn't sure what to expect but it certainly wasn't what it ended up being. And in the end, the whole story - Poppy, Serena and Verity's - seemed to come full circle and end nicely.

The focus of this story is Serena's now adult adult daughter Verity, who was just 14 at the time of the first book. Now 24, Verity is training to be a solicitor whilst her brother Con is nearing the end of his A Levels. The past ten years have brought a sense of healing to her parents who nearly split up a decade ago after the truth about Serena's involvement as an ice cream girl became public knowledge once again - thirty years after the fact.

But now Verity has a secret. And a boyfriend.

Logan Carlisle has wanted justice for his sister ever since she was released ten years ago and they were reunited. He believes Poppy was innocent of the crime for which she served twenty years of her life for and that Serena, the other ice cream girl, got away with murder.

When he meets Verity by chance, he gives her his thoughts and together they decide to look into the case that swept the nation thirty years before to see if they can't see what others failed to. They spend hours, days and weeks pouring over the court transcripts and discover that both Poppy and Serena were so inadequately represented it's a miracle both girls weren't convicted. But if Poppy didn't do it, then did Serena?

But this is not just an ordinary tale of a quest for justice. It is not just some ordinary romance built on secrecy and deception. Both Poppy and Serena have proved to be unreliable narrators in the past...is Verity following in their footsteps and become another?

Told from the perspectives of primarily Verity, Serena and Poppy, this captivating sequel reveals a twist that you may or may not see coming. But one thing is for sure - you will be left questioning if what you read is true, or if they are all just lies?

Once again, abuse is the running theme throughout though it is far easier to stomach than the first book. There are a few flashbacks to both Poppy and Serena's time with Marcus Halnsley and their memories of him. While we, the reader, were privy to the identity of Marcus' killer at the first book's end, others were not. It seems though the story as a whole has come full circle this time, concluding it all once and for all.

This book, like "The Ice Cream Girls" was around the 500 page mark, but it never felt like it dragged or was too bogged down in any way. I was thoroughly enthralled throughout with an addictive storyline that continued to shock me until the end.

Another five star read that was a pure delight to read.

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Books and reading have been a huge part of Dorothy Koomson's life since she was very young. Her mother taught her – and her siblings – to read and write when she was in nursery. As she got older, she used to go to the library every day after school to read books where she used to write short descriptive passages all the time. Whiling away many, many hours daydreaming and creating stories in her head.

At the grand old age of 13, she wrote my first novel called "There’s A Thin Line Between Love And Hate". She would write a chapter every night in her exercise books then pass it around to her fellow convent school pupils the next morning.

Dorothy grew up in London and then grew up again in Leeds when she went to university at Trinity and All Saints College (as it was then). She later returned to London to study for her masters degree in journalism at Goldsmiths University. She had various temping jobs and eventually became a journalist and editor working on various women’s magazines and national papers.

While working as a journalist, Dorothy continued to write short stories and novels in every spare moment – like on the train to and from work – as way to achieve her goal of becoming a published novelist. In 2001 she had the idea for "The Cupid Effect" and signed up with her first publisher a year later. In 2003 "The Cupid Effect" went on sale and her career as a published novelist began.

In 2006, her third novel, "My Best Friend’s Girl" was published. It was incredibly successful – selling nearly 90,000 copies within its first few weeks. Six weeks later, it was selected for the Richard & Judy Summer Reads Book Club and the book went on to sell over 500,000 copies. Because of its huge sales, it won an award. Her fourth novel, "Marshmallows for Breakfast", also won an award for selling over 250,000 copies.

In 2005 Dorothy moved to Australia and spent two years living in Sydney. When she returned to England in 2007 she moved to the south coast, namely Brighton. She love living by the sea. There’s nothing like a good walk along the seafront to clear your head or to work out the knots in a plot.

Those who’ve read her later books will know that a lot of them have been set in Brighton and its surrounding area, often with a good dose of Leeds and South London thrown in.

Social Media links:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads

REVIEW: The Ice Cream Girls by Dorothy Koomson

The Ice Cream Girls (Poppy & Serena #1) by Dorothy Koomson

Genre: Contemporary fiction, Drama, Crime

Read: 15th December 2024

Goodreads

Amazon

Published: 1st March 2010

★★★★★ 5 stars

DESCRIPTION:

As teenagers, Poppy Carlisle and Serena Gorringe were the only witnesses to a tragic event. Amid heated public debate, the two seemingly glamorous teens were dubbed 'The Ice Cream Girls' by the press and were dealt with by the courts.

Years later, having led very different lives, Poppy is keen to set the record straight about what really happened, while Serena wants no one in her present to find out about her past. But some secrets will not stay buried - and if theirs is revealed, everything will become a living hell all over again. . .

Gripping, thought-provoking and heart-warming, THE ICE CREAM GIRLS will make you wonder if you can ever truly know the people you love.

MY THOUGHTS:

I first read this book about ten years ago and it resonated with me then. I decided to read it again because I wanted to read the sequel and found myself a little puzzled at its beginning because the story I remembered was the TV adapation which I have only recently rewatched for about the third time. It was picking up the sequel that I realised the TV adaption of the first book bore some striking differences to what actually happened in the book. And so I decided to read it again.

Reading it the second time around gave me a fresh understanding of the plight of both women. As teenagers in the 80s, they had the misfortune of falling in love with the same man. Their teacher. Most of us have had a crush on a teacher at some point in our lives, but this went way beyond that. And their teacher, Marcus Halnsley, abused his position of trust and authority by preyinh on, grooming and abusing these girls.

Poppy and Serena were not friends. Their paths may never have crossed had it not been for Marcus. And because each were sleeping with the others' boyfriend, they also hated one another. But Marcus played them against each other. And as a predator, he was charming, clever and manipulative. Poppy and Serena fell for his charms and were lulled into a false sense of security, believing the lies he fed them, playing them against the other. He made them into the women they were to become...and continued to haunt them from beyond the grave.

The story begins with Poppy's release from prison after twenty years for Marcus' murder. But she is single-minded in her purpose upon freedom - to find Serena and make her confess. Because if Poppy didn't kill Marcus,  Serena must have.

It's a shame that Poppy and Serena weren't friends because they were so alike in many ways, yet so different in others. Serena had a strength that Poppy lacked but she had a naivety about her. They both did. That's what attracted Marcus to them in the first place. But I think Poppy was even moreso.

I liked Poppy and felt for her having not only suffered at Marcus' hands but then the justice system. I believed in her innocence. I also felt for Serena but thought she should have been honest with her husband from the beginning. I understand her reticence but Marcus couldn't hurt her any longer. These two women suffered sexual, physical and psychological abuse for over two years at his hands. Their scars ran deep.

The story unfolds in alternating chapters from Poppy and Serena's perspectives as they struggle to move on with their lives but find themselves reliving the past. This is a very dark and emotional tale that exposes the heart and soul of the characters.

I enjoyed it just as much as I did the first time around. However, I must point out a constant mistake Ms Koomson made throughout the book. She referred to the girls having broken the first commandment - citing it as being "Thou shalt not kill". It is not the first commandment - which is actually "Thou shalt not have any gods before me" - but rather the sixth commandment. An error that should have been picked up and rectified upon editing. But still a brave and heartfelt story nonetheless.

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Books and reading have been a huge part of Dorothy Koomson's life since she was very young. Her mother taught her – and her siblings – to read and write when she was in nursery. As she got older, she used to go to the library every day after school to read books where she used to write short descriptive passages all the time. Whiling away many, many hours daydreaming and creating stories in her head.

At the grand old age of 13, she wrote my first novel called "There’s A Thin Line Between Love And Hate". She would write a chapter every night in her exercise books then pass it around to her fellow convent school pupils the next morning.

Dorothy grew up in London and then grew up again in Leeds when she went to university at Trinity and All Saints College (as it was then). She later returned to London to study for her masters degree in journalism at Goldsmiths University. She had various temping jobs and eventually became a journalist and editor working on various women’s magazines and national papers.

While working as a journalist, Dorothy continued to write short stories and novels in every spare moment – like on the train to and from work – as way to achieve her goal of becoming a published novelist. In 2001 she had the idea for "The Cupid Effect" and signed up with her first publisher a year later. In 2003 "The Cupid Effect" went on sale and her career as a published novelist began.

In 2006, her third novel, "My Best Friend’s Girl" was published. It was incredibly successful – selling nearly 90,000 copies within its first few weeks. Six weeks later, it was selected for the Richard & Judy Summer Reads Book Club and the book went on to sell over 500,000 copies. Because of its huge sales, it won an award. Her fourth novel, "Marshmallows for Breakfast", also won an award for selling over 250,000 copies.

In 2005 Dorothy moved to Australia and spent two years living in Sydney. When she returned to England in 2007 she moved to the south coast, namely Brighton. She love living by the sea. There’s nothing like a good walk along the seafront to clear your head or to work out the knots in a plot.

Those who’ve read her later books will know that a lot of them have been set in Brighton and its surrounding area, often with a good dose of Leeds and South London thrown in.

Social Media links:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads

REVIEW: The Ice Cream Girls by Dorothy Koomson

The Ice Cream Girls by Dorothy Koomson

Genre: Drama, Crime 

Read: 6th May 2016

Goodreads

Purchase: Amazon

★★★★★ 5 stars

Dorothy Koomson writes at the end that this book's theme is about domestic violence. Overall it is, but it is also more than that. It is about another taboo topic. The grooming and seduction of underage girls, which is another crime in itself. Men who groom and seduce young teenage girls are predators of the worst kind. Not only are they looking for their own interests, but they know how to recognise those who are more vulnerable, more lonely, those who would be flattered by his attention and more susceptible to his attentions. And more willing. To fall into his arms, his bed and his control. What Marcus did to Serena and Poppy was more than domestic violence - it was child grooming and child sexual abuse. And then he used each of the girls against the other. He was a manipulative controlling child abuser...and he damaged both of those girls irreparably for life.

I will not complain about the justice system and how the court case was unrealistic, as others have done, because that is not what this book was about. If that's what was expected then one would read a police/crime procedural novel. This was about two girls and how their lives intertwined and ultimately how they were damaged and affected by their relationship with Marcus. This was their story. Serena and Poppy's. And it was beautifully told.

While this is not a true story in itself, it is certainly one that happens every day all over the world. And while the nature of this book is very dark and emotional, it is also a fantastic read. I had seen the mini series a couple of years ago and loved it, and I enjoyed the book just as much. I will not spoil the outcome as to who did kill Marcus (the ongoing debate between both women who believed the other did it)...that is the climatic twist at the end that adds the perfect touch to the end of the book.