“The Lie Tree” by Frances Harding’s | Book Review

Book Review | Rating – 3/5 | Genre – Historical Fantasy

This is yet another book that has entered my collection without me really noticing it. I want to say it may have been another present, that’s where I tend to get a lot of my books. Anywho, less to say about that, let’s move onto the review…

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Faith’s father has been found dead under mysterious circumstances, and as she is searching through his belongings for clues she discovers a strange tree. The tree only grows healthy and bears fruit if you whisper a lie to it. The fruit of the tree, when eaten, will deliver a hidden truth to the person who consumes it. The bigger the lie, the more people who believe it, the bigger the truth that is uncovered. The girl realizes that she is good at lying and that the tree might hold the key to her father’s murder, so she begins to spread untruths far and wide across her small island community. But as her tales spiral out of control, she discovers that where lies seduce, truths shatter… (Check it out here)

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What did I think?

It was rather hard to gauge this book when I first started reading it. At first, I thought it was a good story. Although it was a period piece, which normally puts me off, the protagonist still felt very modern, wanting to break away from the sexism of her surroundings.

There was an element of darkness and suspense that made the story gripping in the beginning. My interest was kept during the first half of the story; wondering what the father was working on, and what the lie tree was going to do.

However, as the story went on I found myself losing interest rather quickly. Where it started to fall flat, was how long the secret was kept from the reader. By the end of the story I had little interest in actually finding out what would happen.

Reasons to read The Lie Tree…

• Interesting protagonist: normally children as main characters simply annoy me. Then put in a period story they’re very “of the time”. However, it was great to see this story focus on how Faith wanted to break free of society’s expectations.
• Thrilling and dark: despite the rather comical book title, the story was full of suspense. Even when the story was dragging, there was always a sense of unease through.

At the end of the day…

It was a shame about this book; it started off great, full is suspense and intrigue. I kept on reading, wanting to discover what lay behind the mystery. However, there was little reward as the book went on.

I think that if the book was just a little shorter and got to the point a bit quicker, I’d probably have enjoyed it more.