J.T. Ellison has taken us here before. The New York Times and USA Today best-selling author knows how to draw readers in, and hold them tight as she weaves her dark, psychological tale. Her latest thriller, Good Girls Lie is more of what you’d expect from one of her novels and yet different enough that you can’t see everything is coming.

Good Girls Lie follows the story of Ash Carlisle, a middle school student who transfers to an exclusive, prestigious all-girl prep school in Virginia after her parents tragically pass away. At first Ash simply wants to focus on her studies and ignore what came before, but her fellow classmates are drawn to her and befriend her. She even gets called on to join a secret society. Then tragedy rears its ugly head once again, and students start to die. Ash’s secret, that she’s hoped she has left behind is suddenly exposed, and Ash looks to be the clear suspect in their deaths. 

Ellison’s strength in her writing is clearly her pacing. Good Girls Lie starts out slowly, and as the novel moves on it starts to speed up, and you find yourself reading it faster and faster. The characters in the novel are pretty common in most cases, from the preppy, rebel popular girl, to the hot, yet nerdy teacher, and the meddling mother, but the character of Ash is pretty interesting. The narrative around her though makes it pretty obvious she’s not telling her whole story, so much so that you know there are twists coming. Perhaps it might have been better not to have written the chapters from the perspective of the character the chapter is following, and just written the entire thing in the same voice. It might have made hiding Ash’s secrets a little easier. Still, the novel does hold your attention throughout and you keep reading to find out what happens next, which is typically the sign of a good book..

Good Girls Lie may not be the best novel to come out this year, but it’s a good read, and one you will find plenty of time to enjoy. It can be found in bookstores everywhere, start December 30.