Read Between the Lies Summary: A Razor-Sharp Publishing Rivalry

Last Updated: August 25, 2026

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TL;DR: A Publishing Rivalry Turns Deadly

Read Between the Lies by Jesse Q. Sutanto sits between psychological thriller and publishing satire.

It follows two debut authors who share a dark history.

Fern Huang has spent ten years resenting Haven Lee, the childhood bully who became a food influencer.

When both women sell debut novels in 2020, the pandemic locks them inside the same online author community.

Fern’s obsession escalates from online stalking to physical sabotage.

Two debut authors share a buried secret about their best friend’s death.
A small book deal collides with a seven-figure deal, reigniting old wounds.
Cancel culture, lockdown isolation, and public shaming drive the rivalry to tragedy.
The ending flips the victim-villain narrative twice before the final confession.

Read Between the Lies Summary

SPOILERS AHEAD. This section recounts the story chronologically, including the ending.

The novel opens in high school. Fern Huang and Haven Lee are called to the principal’s office and told that their best friend, Danielle “Dani” Wilder, has been found dead.

Police investigate a possible suicide. Fern silently blames Haven for the death after years of cruel bullying.

Ten years later, in 2018, Fern lives a small, unhappy life in New York City. She works as a demeaning assistant for wedding photographer Annette and has no real friendships.

Her only companion is a sourdough starter named Doughlores. She spends her free time hate-watching Haven Lee, who has become a massive food influencer with over a million followers.

In 2020, Fern lands a two-book deal with Harvest Press for a modest $16,000 advance. Her joy collapses when she learns that Haven Michaela Lee has also secured a debut deal—a seven-figure one with film rights.

Both women are placed in the same “2020 Debut Authors” groups on Facebook and Slack. The COVID-19 pandemic soon hits, and Fern moves back to her sterile childhood home in California after being fired by Annette.

Unemployed and living with her emotionally distant parents, Fern spirals. She becomes convinced that Haven is subtly sabotaging her inside their online author community.

Fern drives to Haven’s house and rips out the power and internet cables from the fuse box. Her temporary feeling of power turns to guilt when Haven posts that her diabetic father’s insulin is at risk because of the blackout.

To atone, Fern organizes a group care package. It includes an expensive espresso machine and a box of her own sourdough baked goods.

But while sitting in her car outside Haven’s house, Fern watches Haven throw the entire box of bread into the trash.

Fern shares photos of the discarded bread with her friends Lisa and Jenna. They expose Haven to the whole debut group, and Haven is initially canceled by her peers.

Haven retaliates by releasing security camera footage that identifies Fern as the person who cut her power. Fern loses her agent, her publisher cancels her book deal, and she becomes a pariah on BookTwitter.

In a last desperate move, Fern writes a viral BuzzFeed op-ed titled “How I Turned from Bully Victim into the Bad Guy.” She confesses to her crimes but details the decades of psychological torture Haven inflicted on her, including the hissing cockroaches placed in her locker.

Public sympathy shifts back to Fern. The backlash against Haven becomes so severe that Haven dies by suicide.

The ending reveals the truth about Dani’s death. During a physical fight between Fern and Haven on a cliffside, Dani tried to intervene and was accidentally knocked off the edge.

Haven convinced Fern to cover it up as a suicide. Six months after Haven’s death, Fern’s memoir is a #2 New York Times bestseller, while Haven’s posthumous novel is #1.

Fern visits Dani’s grave and decides to come clean to the police and Dani’s family. She accepts that she may face prison time or a civil lawsuit.

Characters In This Book

Character	Role
Fern Huang	The narrator; a struggling writer and photographer’s assistant whose trauma fuels a dangerous obsession with her former bully.
Haven Lee	Fern’s nemesis; a food influencer and author with a calculated, cruel streak behind her online image.
Dani Wilder	Fern’s childhood best friend whose death at age eighteen is the central secret shared by Fern and Haven.
Annette	Fern’s demanding boss in New York who fires her during the pandemic.
Lisa and Jenna	Fellow writers in the 2020 debut group who help expose Haven.
Poppy	Fern’s first literary agent, who drops her after the sabotage is revealed.
Rachel Reed	Haven’s agent, who later offers to represent Fern’s memoir.
Fern’s Parents	Distant real estate agents who value property over emotional connection.
Julia	Fern’s second editor at Salt Books, who champions the memoir.
Terry	Fern’s loud neighbor in NYC who is laid off during the pandemic.

Summary by Chapter

SPOILERS AHEAD. The novel contains 28 chapters plus a prologue and an epilogue-style final section. The chapters are grouped below into six narrative movements.

The Weight of the Past and the Assistant’s Life

The prologue introduces Dani’s death on a cliffside. The story then jumps to Fern’s unhappy adult life in New York, where she works as a pre-wed photographer’s assistant and stalks Haven’s influencer success online.

Fern receives her first small book deal. Flashback chapters reveal how Haven once stole Fern’s friends and sabotaged her school clubs.

The Online Community and the Seven-Figure Shadow

Fern joins a private debut author group, hoping for a safe space. Her world is upended when she discovers Haven has secured a massive seven-figure deal.

Forced to interact on Slack, Fern becomes convinced that Haven’s public niceness is a calculated mask. Tension rises as Haven dominates the online spaces Fern worked hard to build.

Lockdown and the Escalation of Paranoia

The COVID-19 pandemic forces Fern back into her sterile childhood home in California. Isolated and unemployed, she spends her days doomscrolling and watching Haven’s content flourish while her own career stalls.

Fern begins to suspect Haven is secretly talking to her only friends, Lisa and Jenna, to isolate her again.

The Sabotage and the Failed Atonement

Fern drives to Haven’s house and rips out her power cables to force her offline. Her guilt leads her to organize a group gift, but she catches Haven throwing her handmade bread into the trash.

Past memories reveal Fern once tried to poison Haven with laxatives as a child, setting up the lifelong cycle of retaliation.

Mutual Destruction and the Cancelation War

Fern exposes Haven’s behavior to the debut group, leading to Haven’s public cancelation. Haven strikes back with security footage of the sabotage, causing Fern to lose her book deal and reputation.

With nothing left to lose, Fern writes a viral op-ed about the lifelong trauma of Haven’s bullying.

The Tragic Victory and the Final Confession

The op-ed brings Fern a major memoir deal, but the triumph collapses when Haven dies by suicide under the weight of public backlash. Fern becomes a bestseller while haunted by the deaths of Haven and Dani.

In the final pages, Fern visits Dani’s grave and decides to file a police report about the night on the cliff, accepting the legal consequences.

The Novel’s Deeper Ideas

Theme	How the book presents it
Cancel culture	Both Fern and Haven are publicly shamed online, with consequences that spiral beyond their control.
Publishing industry pressures	The story contrasts a modest debut with a seven-figure deal and shows how quickly publishers drop authors.
Childhood trauma	Fern’s adult decisions are shaped by years of bullying, including cockroaches placed in her locker.
Toxic rivalry	The two women repeat a cycle of retaliation that began in high school and never stopped.
Social media obsession	Both characters craft online personas that hide their real damage and escalate the conflict.
Grief and complicity	Dani’s death binds Fern and Haven in a shared secret neither can escape.
Isolation during the pandemic	Lockdown strips away Fern’s independence and healthy routines, intensifying her paranoia.

FAQ

What happens at the end of Read Between the Lies?

At the end of Read Between the Lies, Haven dies by suicide after public backlash, and Fern becomes a bestselling memoir author. Fern then visits Dani’s grave and decides to tell the police the truth about Dani’s accidental death on the cliff.

Who dies in Read Between the Lies?

Three characters die in Read Between the Lies. Dani dies in high school after falling from a cliff during a fight between Fern and Haven, and Haven dies by suicide near the end. A client’s father also dies of COVID, which leads to Fern’s firing.

What is the secret about Dani’s death in Read Between the Lies?

The secret about Dani’s death is that she was accidentally knocked off a cliff while trying to break up a fight between Fern and Haven. Haven convinced Fern to cover it up as a suicide to protect their futures.

Does Fern get a book deal at the end of Read Between the Lies?

Yes, Fern gets a second book deal for her memoir, I Didn’t Mean to Do That, after her BuzzFeed op-ed goes viral. The memoir becomes a #2 New York Times bestseller.

Is Read Between the Lies based on a true story?

No, Read Between the Lies is a work of fiction. It uses realistic settings like the publishing industry and BookTwitter, but the characters and events are invented.