Top 5 Books with Unreliable Narrators I Want to Read

This Top 5 series started back in October and I kind of lost motivation for making it every week. But it’s back! This is a series of books that I want to read that all have a common theme. Previously on the blog I have focused on witches, werewolves, thrillers, faeries, fairy tale re-tellings, high fantasy and many more. I am going to try and bring this series back for every Saturday.

The Upcoming Schedule Is:

12/27/19 – Books coming in 2020

1/4/20 — Funny Books

1/11/20 — Books Over 5 years old

1/18/20 — Unreliable Narrators

1/25/10 — Books by Favorite Authors

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Rules!

• Share your top 5 books of the current topic– these can be books that you want to read, have read and loved, have read and hated, you can do it any way you want.
• Tag the original post (This one!)
• Tag 5 people

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Unreliable Narrators

Unreliable narrators have become really popular in mysteries and psychological thrillers lately. As a reader I love when I don’t know what to believe and the protagonist winds up being hard to trust. Some of my favorite books with unreliable narrators are: Believe Me by JP Delaney (Read my review here), Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier (Read my review here) and My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing. (Read my review here.)

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She Died Famous by Kyle Rutkin

A gripping psychological thriller about iconic superstar, Kelly Trozzo, and her suspected killer, the author she commissioned to pen her shocking Hollywood memoir.

A Star is Born meets Gone Girl, in this dark and twisted love story with an unforgettable conclusion.

The headline read: “Hollywood Superstar Kelly Trozzo Found Dead.”

With no suspect in custody, authorities turn their attention to best-selling author Kaleb Reed, whose obsessive relationship with the star has been followed by social media and tabloids alike.

In his online confession, Reed claims that his relationship with Trozzo began with a tweet, an unexpected endorsement from the pop star herself. Almost overnight, Reed’s novel garners national attention, and the reclusive writer is thrust into the spotlight. But according to Reed, the endorsement came with a price.

In the days that follow, Reed is invited to Trozzo’s Los Angeles mansion, where he is solicited to write her memoir. Lured by her physical appeal and charisma, Reed delves further and further into Trozzo’s fantasy world, ensnared by a twisted story of betrayal and vengeance.

On the night of Trozzo’s death, Reed finally discovers his true role in this story, as well as the pop star’s alternative ending to his famous novel—one that leads to his arrest.

Set in Hollywood, She Died Famous is an innovative thriller that exposes the dark side of fame and obsession in today’s digital landscape. The story’s shocking twists and unreliable narrator will have every reader asking: Who killed Kelly Trozzo?

There is always an air of intrigue and obsession around celebrities, but a dead celebrity takes that level of intrigue and obsession to the extreme. It’s easy to see how this story could be filled with unreliable narrators. I am really excited that I have a review copy of this book. The only reason I haven’t read it yet is because I’ve been on a fantasy kick lately.

All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda

Like the spellbinding psychological suspense in The Girl on the Train and Luckiest Girl Alive, Megan Miranda’s novel is a nail-biting, breathtaking story about the disappearances of two young women—a decade apart—told in reverse.

It’s been ten years since Nicolette Farrell left her rural hometown after her best friend, Corinne, disappeared from Cooley Ridge without a trace. Back again to tie up loose ends and care for her ailing father, Nic is soon plunged into a shocking drama that reawakens Corinne’s case and breaks open old wounds long since stitched.

The decade-old investigation focused on Nic, her brother Daniel, boyfriend Tyler, and Corinne’s boyfriend Jackson. Since then, only Nic has left Cooley Ridge. Daniel and his wife, Laura, are expecting a baby; Jackson works at the town bar; and Tyler is dating Annaleise Carter, Nic’s younger neighbor and the group’s alibi the night Corinne disappeared. Then, within days of Nic’s return, Annaleise goes missing.

Told backwards—Day 15 to Day 1—from the time Annaleise goes missing, Nic works to unravel the truth about her younger neighbor’s disappearance, revealing shocking truths about her friends, her family, and what really happened to Corinne that night ten years ago.

Like nothing you’ve ever read before, All the Missing Girls delivers in all the right ways. With twists and turns that lead down dark alleys and dead ends, you may think you’re walking a familiar path, but then Megan Miranda turns it all upside down and inside out and leaves us wondering just how far we would be willing to go to protect those we love.

This is a review copy that I’ve had FOREVER now, yet I still haven’t read it. I don’t really know what to expect in this book, but it seems to be quite popular so I would like to read it relatively soon.

Beautiful Bad by Annie Ward

In the most explosive and twisted psychological thriller since The Woman in the Window, a beautiful marriage turns beautifully bad.

Things that make me scared: When Charlie cries. Hospitals and lakes. When Ian drinks vodka in the basement. ISIS. When Ian gets angry… That something is really, really wrong with me.

Maddie and Ian’s romance began with a chance encounter at a party overseas; he was serving in the British army and she was a travel writer visiting her best friend, Jo. Now almost two decades later, married with a beautiful son, Charlie, they are living the perfect suburban life in Middle America. But when a camping accident leaves Maddie badly scarred, she begins attending writing therapy, where she gradually reveals her fears about Ian’s PTSD; her concerns for the safety of their young son, Charlie; and the couple’s tangled and tumultuous past with Jo.

From the Balkans to England, Iraq to Manhattan, and finally to an ordinary family home in Kansas, sixteen years of love and fear, adventure and suspicion culminate in The Day of the Killing, when a frantic 911 call summons the police to the scene of a shocking crime

This book is one that I keep meaning to read, yet I always wind up picking up something else. This twisted psychological thriller sounds like it might get pretty dark.

This Lie Will Kill You by Chelsea Pitcher

Tell the truth. Or face the consequences.

Clue meets Riverdale in this page-turning thriller that exposes the lies five teens tell about a deadly night one year ago.

One year ago, there was a party.
At the party, someone died.
Five teens each played a part and up until now, no one has told the truth.

But tonight, the five survivors arrive at an isolated mansion in the hills, expecting to compete in a contest with a $50,000 grand prize. Of course…some things are too good to be true.

Now, they realize they’ve been lured together by a person bent on revenge, a person who will stop at nothing to uncover what actually happened on that deadly night, one year ago.

Five arrived, but not all can leave. Will the truth set them free?
Or will their lies destroy them all?

I will read any book that is compared to Clue, but this book sounds SO great. It’s filled with an entire cast of unreliable narrators and sounds like the kind of book you whip through in a matter of hours. I need to get my hands on a copy because I need more books like this in my life.

The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

When you read this book, you will make many assumptions.
You will assume you are reading about a jealous ex-wife.
You will assume she is obsessed with her replacement – a beautiful, younger woman who is about to marry the man they both love.
You will assume you know the anatomy of this tangled love triangle.
Assume nothing.

Twisted and deliciously chilling, Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen’s The Wife Between Us exposes the secret complexities of an enviable marriage – and the dangerous truths we ignore in the name of love.

Read between the lies.

I read An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen (Check out my Review!) and found that I love this author duo. This book was their debut as a duo and I have been dying to read it since finishing An Anonymous Girl, but the fact that it has an unreliable narrator only makes it more enticing for me.

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Check out Other Book Blogger’s Top 5!

Nen & Jen @ Nen & Jen — Top 5 Sat: Unreliable Narrators

Dini @ Dinipandareads — Top 5 Saturday: Unreliable Narrators

Becky @ Becky’s Book Blog —I don’t believe it! Top 5 Saturday

Susan @ Novel Lives — Why You Lie? Why You Make me Lie? Top Five Saturday- ON A SATURDAY!

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Tagged!

Dominique @ Dear Dominique

Allie @ Alliee Reads

Vicky @ What Vicky Read

Nicole @ Adventures with Words

Mina @ Stacked Reviews

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Let’s Chat!

What are some of your favorite books with unreliable narrators? Have you read any of these books? What did you think? What do you love about unreliable narrators? Are there any books with unreliable narrators that you’re dying to read? Make sure to comment below so we can chat about books with unreliable narrators.