About the Book
Title: Read Between the Lies
Author: Jesse Q. Sutanto
Series: none
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Contemporary
Pages: 284
Edition Read: Hardcover Library Book
Dates Read: June 2 – 4, 2026
Challenges: GoodReads Spring 2026 Challenge, AAPI Heritage
Blurb: In this claustrophobic psychological suspense from USA Today bestselling author Jesse Q. Sutanto, the line between victim and villain blurs with every chapter. Because in the end, everyone has their own version of the truth—but only one will make it onto the page.
Fern’s dream of becoming a published author is finally coming true. After years of rejection, her debut novel has sold, and she’s ready to join the supportive online community of fellow debuts. But when she discovers her high school bully, Haven, has landed a major book deal and will be debuting alongside her, old wounds reopen.
As the pandemic forces everyone online, tensions escalate in their writing community. While Haven seems to succeed effortlessly, Fern watches her own career crumble. Yet beneath their polished personas lies a darker truth about their shared past—one involving a lost friend, Dani, and secrets neither wants revealed.
Fern isn’t the same person Haven bullied all those years ago. She’s learned that the best revenge stories aren’t written—they’re lived. And she’s been plotting this one for years.
What begins as online rivalry escalates into dangerous obsession. Because neither woman is telling the whole truth about what really happened to Dani…or about who’s the real victim in this story.
Review
Y’all, this book made me feel UNCOMFORTABLE!
I immediately connected with Fern. Ugh, I felt so bad for her! I know what it’s like to have a bully target you, including someone who you thought was a friend. It happened to me in elementary school – I literally had zero friends in fifth grade because a former friend-turned-bully turned everyone else against me. It was AWFUL. My experience is different from Fern’s since it happened to me when I was younger and, since this was over 30 years ago for me, if I were to run into that person again, I don’t think it would affect me all that much. But if it had happened in high school and I encountered them again in my 20s? That would probably have made me completely spiral.
I spent the entire time reading this book, especially the beginning, wondering what was going to happen. What was Haven going to do? Was she going to try and ruin Fern’s life again? In the group chats it seems like Haven is leaving everything in the past, but some of her postings could be read in different ways, seeming sweet and kind, but with a hidden edge. I couldn’t help but put myself in Fern’s shoes – I would be second guessing EVERYTHING Haven said and did.
To be fair: Fern is not entirely innocent. She did a few messed up things, both in school and later during the events of this book. I started wondering if we had an unreliable narrator on our hands. My only complaint about the book is that the ending felt a bit . . . simple? Too neatly tied up? I don’t know exactly how to describe it and won’t go into too many details so as not to spoil things, but it’s the main reason why this is a 4 star read instead of 5.
GoodReads Rating: 4 stars
Categories: Books I've Read
Life With No Plot 
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