Nets & Lies by Katie Ashley

Jenny: 4.5 stars
Gitte: 4.5 stars

Jenny:  Every now and then you pick up a book, start reading it, anticipate something bad is going to happen and immediately get the urge to skip to the end.  Not because you’re not enjoying it, but because your stomach is in knots and you need to know the characters you’re invested have survived their ordeal relatively unscathed. Such were my feelings whilst reading Nets & Lies.

I started this book and couldn’t put it down.  I got to a point of no return, emotions were high and I was anxious to finish it because I needed to know how it all turned out.  I finished it in one sitting.  How about you Gitte?

Gitte: Yes, I have to say I found this story to be absolutely gripping. I read it in one sitting as well Jenny with my heart in my throat and the tears ready to fall. I was sucked into the story from the get go wanting to know it was all going to be okay. It was a story of sexual abuse, emotional trauma, surviving and overcoming personal suffering.

Jenny:  Nets & Lies is the heartrending story of two girls whose lives are changed after a tragic event and is told through alternating POV’s from two people who couldn’t be more different.  Melanie, who is sweet, in love with the gorgeous Will, is varsity team captain and she always plays by the rules.  Melanie and Will are devoted to one another and have a future mapped out together.

Then we have Jordan, the polar opposite of  Melanie.  These two girls are night and day.  Jordan uses her sexuality, breaks all the rules and is sexually active with Coach T, a married older man.

After a traumatic event, one chooses to keep a gut wrenching secret, one makes a claim that could ruin the reputation and livelihood of a well-respected and loved Coach.

For me, hearing from both Melanie and Jordan via the alternating POV’s allowed me to feel first hand the depth of the emotion and pain they were both experiencing.  Although both situations were different you couldn’t help but empathize with both, though it was Melanie who absolutely broke my heart.  What this girl went through crushed me and the aftermath was devastating, she dealt in the best way she knew how.

Gitte: Yes, the two girls sure where from extreme ends of the scale, yet I felt for them both for different reasons as the story progressed and we got to hear more of their individual voices.

Mel was a sweet dedicated and diligent young woman. She knew what she wanted out of life and planned it accordingly and she was honest and good to the core. Jordan was her polar opposite in the sense that lying, cheating and sleeping around where a means to an end despite the consequences of her actions.

Both get caught up in a horrific event that changes their paths; their lives forever.

For Mel this changes everything; her path in life; changes her personally; her relationship with her boyfriend Will. Deception? Lies? Or the Truth? Each comes with a price and the loss of normalcy and love.

For Jordan, in life, what comes easy through lies, dis-honesty and deception turns her hand and her path deviates to one of redemption and forgiveness. This girl was a victim too in her own right and has a mountain to climb with the surprising guidance of a chance encounter.

Jenny:  This book was such a different read and I felt the subject matter was handled really well.  You really felt the despair and emotion first hand right along with Mel.  I have to say thought, that I also felt so much for Will in this story.  He had to cope with so much on his young shoulders and under the circumstances, what a tower of strength he was for Melanie. Will showed loyalty and devotion well beyond his years and my heart went out to him because at the same time he had his own conflict to deal with.

The two relationships in this book, one developing, one dealing, were told so well through both girls eyes, two very different people, each with a heartbreaking story to tell.

“you fuck up your life. It’s what you do to change it”

Gitte: Absolutely Jenny, it was a very different story and I agree; the Author handled the sensitivity of the subject matter really well with her excellent writing. As I said my heart hurt and the tears threatened throughout the whole story.

Now despite the Author making this story primarily Mel’s and Jordan, I really felt for Will. His world was rocked too and I felt that despite him being in the crux of the traumatic event through no fault or involvement of his own, his healing; his own personal and emotional tragedy was somehow only touched upon. Therefore once I read the epilogue and heard his voice I felt he was truly given the justice he deserved. Will is mature beyond his years and his strength immeasurable. This guy’s whole life was put in jeopardy yet he was so strong and loyal and I honestly thought Will was pretty amazing and he dealt tremendously with the hand he was given.

So yes, this was a really well written emotional story and it had some poignant messages in it. In the end I felt satisfied that everyone got their salvation; their redemption, the happiness they deserved. I needed to know they were going to be okay and continued to overcome the obstacles and hurdles this traumatic event brought into their lives.

Jenny:   This was indeed a heart wrenching story and there were definitely tears.  It’s a hard subject matter to deal with but I felt the author did a very good job of relaying the despair, loneliness and guilt Melanie and Jordan were feeling and handled the subject delicately.   This is a story of dealing and moving on, about claiming your life back and never ever letting anyone have the power to destroy your life.  I had become so invested in these characters, I had to know how they fared.  I wanted to know how these life changing, tragic events had shaped them.  I wanted to know if they were happy, if they received closure.  In the end, like you Gitte, I was satisfied.

“I’m not that person anymore……and neither are you.  We’re human, we make mistakes”

Arc supplied by the author for an honest review

 You can purchase Nets and Lies here
Nets and Lies