Review: Loving the Liar

Loving the Liar

by Lola King

Silver Falls University #1

Dark Romance

Although I have spent years reading romance at this point, there are still some sub genres that still manage to surprise me. One of those is the sub genre of dark romance. Dark romance is such a vague term meant to encompass so many caveats of this area of romance. It’s a growing sub genre and every day there is a new content warning I hadn’t heard of before.

So, reader, before you keep going with my review, let me be clear about my own limits so that you may understand my opinions about Loving the Liar by Lola King. I definitely read content warnings - partly because of curiosity and partly because the writer took time to write these warnings so it only makes sense that I take the time to read them. However, I don’t necessarily look for content warnings nor do I feel I need them. That is just me - I can understand why others would want content warnings. To those who need content warnings - please listen to them if you truly need to. We all have our limits, please listen to yours accordingly.

Now that I’ve covered my POV on content warnings, let me say that Loving the Liar was quite a surprise read for me. When I first started the book, I was annoyed by the main female character Ella. She seemed arrogant and snobby - too much for my taste. However, that quickly took a turn and, honestly, I was shocked at how quickly my view of her changed. I’m very much a character-driven reader, so I had feared that not liking Ella was going to deter me from liking the story. I was very wrong. I very much enjoyed Ella and her flaws. I found it refreshing that Ella was honest in her inner monologue (and outwardly too) how she felt about herself. I have never read a character to be so honest in how she feels about herself - flaws and all. Ella is the personification of what happens when you grow up in an environment where you are emotionally abused and manipulated.

I have conflicting feelings about Christopher. This stems from most of the conflict I have surrounding dark romances. Christopher is not a good person - but almost no one in Loving the Liar is a “good person”. The reader has been placed in a ruthless atmosphere where we grasp at any of the good feelings that are afforded to us even though it is definitely by unscrupulous means. Fictional reading is meant to engross us in fantasies and sometimes, the inexplicable, right? I can’t say I completely hate Chris…much like Ella, he drew me in, but whatever good he does make us feel - does not erase how very toxic his character can be.

Regardless of my conflicted feelings, it does not erase the fact that Loving the Liar drew me in and kept me for all of its 572 pages - that is a feat! But again, take heed of the content warnings. This book contains instances of emotional abuse, manipulation, toxicity, murder, and violence. If you’re sensitive to any of these, take care of yourself. As for me? It was a truly intriguing story that kept my attention from beginning to end.