Emotional thriller showcases multiple levels of abuse

Book review

All my lies are true by Dorothy KoomsonPublished by Jonathan Ball

Poppy Carlisle was sent to prison more than 20 years ago for killing her sexual predator teacher, Marcus. Serena Gorringe, who was also groomed by the teacher, escaped imprisonment despite a narrative that the two girls were acting together when the murder took place.

They became known as Ice Cream Girls after a picture of them in bikinis , eating ice cream was published during the widely publicised trial. They were painted as monsters who tortured and murdered a man.

While Poppy served her time, Serena moved on with her life and started a family.

Now Poppy has finished serving her sentence. She’s trying to move on with her life, but it’s difficult. Her family is still bitter about what happened. Her younger brother, Logan, who believes that Serena got away with it, embarks on a vengeance mission for his sister.

He targets Serena’s daughter, Verity. He uses her to get closer to Serena so that he can expose her as the real murderer. However, his plan is derailed when he falls in love with Verity.

Things come to a head when Logan turns up with serious head injuries to Verity’s father’s birthday party. He’s hospitalised and Verity is accused of attempted murder.

Poppy and Serena are forced to work together to get to the bottom of what happened. But first they have to unpack how they are still dealing with the ripple effects of Marcus’ predatory ways.

This emotional thriller, which showcases multiple levels of abuse, is a sequel to the bestselling Ice Cream Girls.