Prologue: Everyone's Watching

The novel opens with a police interview: Grayson Sommers, husband of influencer Rebecca "Bex" Sommers, has been brutally murdered. His wife has vanished. The last person to see her is Lizzie Matthews, Bex's estranged college friend and a journalist. The police, the media, and millions of social media followers are all desperate for answers. The story is set in a world where every moment is content, every secret is a potential headline, and everyone is lying to someone.

Old Friends, New Lies

Lizzie, now a struggling magazine editor, is contacted out of the blue by Bex, the college best friend who ghosted her years ago. Bex, now a mega-influencer with a picture-perfect ranch life, wants Lizzie to write a profile on her. Their reunion is awkward, tinged with old wounds and unspoken questions. Both women are performing for each other, hiding their real struggles behind curated personas.

The Instagram Illusion

Bex's online life is a carefully constructed fantasy: six barefoot children, a handsome husband, a thriving homestead, and endless brand deals. But behind the scenes, her marriage is crumbling, her husband is controlling, and her children are managed by unseen nannies. The pressure to perform for millions is suffocating, and the truth is far messier than the feed.

The Conference of Masks

Lizzie joins Bex at MomBomb, a luxury influencer conference. The event is a surreal blend of business, branding, and backstabbing. Every attendee is hiding something: failing marriages, fake personas, and desperate ambitions. Bex is set to make a major announcement, but her anxiety is palpable. Lizzie senses something is very wrong beneath the surface.

Reunions and Resentments

Lizzie and Bex reconnect over drinks, nostalgia, and confessions. Their friendship rekindles, but the past—especially Bex's abrupt abandonment—haunts them. Meanwhile, Bex's husband Grayson is increasingly volatile, and Lizzie glimpses bruises Bex tries to hide. The tension between public image and private pain grows unbearable.

The Perfect Marriage Cracks

Through flashbacks, we learn Bex's marriage began with love but quickly turned controlling and abusive. Grayson's jealousy and need for dominance escalate as Bex's fame and income surpass his. Bex's attempts to leave are thwarted by shame, fear, and the patriarchal community around her. The only person she can trust is her nanny, Katie ("Kiki"), who helps her hide the truth.

Secrets Behind the Screens

Bex's children are spirited away for safety as she prepares to break free from Grayson. She orchestrates her public persona to protect them, using fake names and staged content. Meanwhile, Lizzie investigates the real dynamics of the influencer world, uncovering layers of deception, exploitation, and complicity among the women and men who profit from the illusion.

A Murder in the Barn

Grayson is found dead in the barn, mutilated in a grotesque tableau. Bex disappears. The police, media, and influencer community explode with speculation. Was it self-defense, a crime of passion, or something more sinister? Lizzie is drawn into the investigation, torn between loyalty to her old friend and her duty as a journalist.

The Fallout and the Frenzy

The murder becomes a national spectacle. Bex is vilified and mythologized in equal measure. Lizzie is hounded for information, her own social media following ballooning as she becomes part of the story. The influencer world fractures into camps: those who defend Bex, those who condemn her, and those who see opportunity in the chaos.

The Search for Truth

Lizzie, with help from Bex's lawyer Olivia and nanny Katie, investigates the tangled web of relationships, motives, and secrets. She discovers evidence of long-term abuse, financial manipulation, and a network of powerful men desperate to control the narrative. The deeper she digs, the more dangerous the truth becomes.

The Shadow House

Lizzie sneaks into Bex's ranch, discovering a "shadow house"—the real, messy, lived-in home behind the Instagram-perfect set. She finds Polaroids documenting Bex's abuse, hidden books, and clues to the children's whereabouts. She realizes Bex has been leaving a trail for her, trusting her to tell the real story.

The Power Players

Olivia, Bex's formidable lawyer and manager, emerges as a master strategist, orchestrating media, legal, and business moves to protect Bex and her children. Veronica, a rival influencer and wife of Grayson's best friend Marsden, is revealed to have her own agenda and history of being controlled and abused. The men—Grayson, Marsden, and Dr. Carmichael—are exposed as manipulators, abusers, and conspirators.

The DNA Bombshell

Bex discovers through a DNA test that none of her children are Grayson's; they are the biological offspring of Marsden, Grayson's best friend, via a secret arrangement orchestrated by Grayson and the local doctor. This revelation shatters Bex's world and gives her leverage—but also puts her and her children in grave danger.

The Trap Closes

Marsden, desperate to control the fallout and claim the children, kidnaps Bex. He plans to stage her suicide and take custody of the kids with his wife Veronica. Bex, resourceful and determined, manages to send a distress signal to Katie and Lizzie. Olivia and Lizzie race to the ranch for a final showdown.

The Final Confrontation

In a harrowing climax, Bex is nearly hanged by Marsden in the barn, but Lizzie and Olivia arrive in time. Olivia, ever the fixer, ensures Marsden's death is ruled a suicide, using her legal and media savvy to protect Bex. The truth about Grayson's murder is revealed: Marsden killed him in a jealous rage, and Bex, though not innocent, is a survivor, not a murderer.

Aftermath and Reinvention

With Olivia's guidance, Bex reinvents herself as a survivor and entrepreneur, turning her trauma into a new, more authentic brand. Lizzie writes a bestselling book exposing the dark side of influencer culture and patriarchal power. Veronica, freed from Marsden, becomes a star in her own right. The children are safe, and the women have seized control of their narratives.

Epilogues: New Narratives

In a series of epilogues, Bex marries Dan (a fellow influencer), Lizzie finds professional and personal fulfillment, and Veronica emerges as a powerful, independent figure. Olivia remains the puppet master, pulling strings behind the scenes. The influencer world moves on, hungry for the next story, but the women at the center have reclaimed their power—at least for now.

Characters

Rebecca "Bex" Sommers

Bex is the novel's emotional core: a woman who transforms herself from a wild, working-class college student into a mega-influencer and "perfect" wife and mother. Her psychological journey is one of trauma, resilience, and reinvention. Trapped in an abusive marriage, she uses her intelligence and social media savvy to protect her children and ultimately herself. Her relationship with Lizzie is both a lifeline and a mirror, reflecting the costs of female friendship, ambition, and survival in a world that demands perfection and punishes authenticity.

Lizzie Matthews

Lizzie is Bex's former best friend, now a struggling editor and mother. Her role as both confidante and investigator puts her at the center of the story's ethical dilemmas. Lizzie's psychological arc is about reclaiming her voice, confronting her own envy and wounds, and choosing to tell the truth—even when it's messy. Her journey is a meditation on the power and limits of female friendship, the seduction of online fantasy, and the courage required to break silence.

Grayson Sommers

Grayson is Bex's husband: handsome, controlling, and ultimately broken. His need for dominance is threatened by Bex's success, leading to escalating abuse and manipulation. Grayson's psychological profile is that of a man raised in privilege and patriarchy, unable to accept a woman's power. His death is both a tragedy and a liberation for those around him.

Marsden Greer

Marsden is Grayson's lifelong rival and the secret biological father of Bex's children. Charismatic but deeply insecure, he is driven by jealousy, entitlement, and a need to possess. His actions—culminating in murder and attempted murder—are the ultimate expression of toxic masculinity and the dangers of unchecked power.

Olivia Jackson

Olivia is Bex's attorney, manager, and protector. Brilliant, ruthless, and enigmatic, she orchestrates the women's survival and reinvention. Olivia's psychological complexity lies in her ability to navigate and manipulate systems of power, always staying one step ahead. She is both savior and shadow, raising questions about the cost of winning in a rigged game.

Katie "Kiki"

Katie is the only person who truly knows the reality of Bex's life. Her loyalty and care are the glue that holds the family together. As both an employee and a surrogate family member, she represents the invisible labor and emotional intelligence that underpins the influencer fantasy.

Veronica Smith Greer

Veronica, Marsden's wife and a fellow influencer, is both a competitor and a victim. Raised in a patriarchal, controlling environment, she is forced into marriage and motherhood, but ultimately reclaims her agency after Marsden's death. Her transformation from tradwife to empowered entrepreneur is both a critique and an embrace of the influencer economy.

Alice Sommers

Alice, Bex's eldest, is a gifted musician and the child most aware of the family's dysfunction. Her safety and future are Bex's primary motivation. Alice's presence in the story is a reminder of the generational stakes of abuse, secrecy, and survival.

Dan (@SingleDadDan)

Dan is a widowed influencer who becomes Bex's partner after the dust settles. His easygoing nature and willingness to let Bex lead offer a contrast to the toxic masculinity of Grayson and Marsden.

Dr. Carmichael

The local doctor who facilitates the secret sperm donor arrangement, Dr. Carmichael is a stand-in for the complicity of institutions—medical, religious, and social—in perpetuating harm against women.

Plot Devices

Dual Narratives and Shifting Perspectives

The novel is structured through alternating chapters from Lizzie and Bex's perspectives, interspersed with police transcripts and social media posts. This device blurs the line between public and private, truth and performance, allowing the reader to piece together the real story from competing narratives.

Social Media as Greek Chorus

The constant presence of Instagram, TikTok, and Reddit threads serves as a modern-day chorus, reflecting and shaping public opinion. The plot is driven by the tension between what is seen online and what is hidden offline, with social media both exposing and obscuring the truth.

Foreshadowing and Red Herrings

The novel is rich with foreshadowing—bruises glimpsed, cryptic messages, and rumors swirling. Red herrings abound, as nearly every character has motive and opportunity, and the truth is only revealed through careful unraveling of clues.

The Shadow House

The discovery of the "shadow house"—the real, messy home behind the influencer set—serves as a powerful metaphor for the duality of women's lives under patriarchy and capitalism. It is both a literal hiding place and a symbol of the cost of perfection.

The DNA Reveal

The DNA test that reveals Marsden as the father of Bex's children is a classic plot twist, upending relationships and motivations. It is also a commentary on the ways women's bodies and choices are controlled by men and institutions.

The Fixer Archetype

Olivia's role as lawyer, manager, and fixer is a nod to the archetype of the behind-the-scenes power broker. Her ability to pivot, spin, and control outcomes is both a source of salvation and a reminder of the moral ambiguity required to survive in a corrupt system.

Analysis

Everyone Is Lying to You is a thriller for the age of Instagram, but its themes are timeless: the violence of patriarchy, the cost of female ambition, and the hunger for authenticity in a world built on illusion. Jo Piazza uses the influencer economy as both setting and metaphor, exposing how women are forced to perform perfection while hiding pain, and how systems—familial, religious, corporate—conspire to keep them small. The novel's greatest strength is its refusal to offer easy answers: every character is complicit, every narrative is curated, and every act of survival comes at a price. In the end, the women seize control of their stories, but the machinery of spectacle grinds on, hungry for the next drama. The lesson is clear: in a world where everyone is lying, the only way out is to tell your own truth—even if it's messy, incomplete, or dangerous.

Last updated: July 23, 2025