First Lie Wins: A Novel | 
pickEvie in the best relationship of her life with Ryan, except none of them are 100% truthful with each other.
A fast-paced thriller which keeps you at the edge, good twists and turns, decent and relatable characters, and a satisfying ending. A few things felt a little far too fetched, but the writer did a great job overall. Mr Smith thing was kinda mid TBH. It is just very satisfying to see when the title actually makes sense in the book.
4/5🌟
pickAn interesting thriller book. Evie works for the mysterious Mr. Smith, going wherever he sends her and doing what he asks of her. As we discover what her current assignment is, we also get glimpses into her past assignments and aliases. Towards the middle of the book, things start to get crazy and the twists and turns happen rapidly. Evie is in trouble, and she needs to use all her abilities to make it out alive.
I read two romances in a row, so I'm switching gears and starting this thriller.
pickWe follow Evie whose in a relationship with Ryan and we quickly realise that neither one of them are being completely honest, but whose playing who?
I was fully invested in the lives of these characters. As much as I tried to guess the twist and turns, I was wrong every time.
If you're looking for a fast paced thriller that doesn't rely on sexual assault or unreliable female narratives to be thrilling, this is a good option.
"Older neighborhood" ouch ??
pickAnother of my #oldlangspine2025 selections from @BennettBookworm this time one I least had on my kindle - honestly @monalyisha is so good at the pairing! I really enjoyed this swisty take on a reliable / unreliable narrator and stayed up far too late last night to finish it. If I had any complaint it finished quite abruptly. A note - set across the southern US states I loved the sense of place and clear love the author wrote with
so-soRead this through audiobook and I‘m thinking maybe it would‘ve been better if I had the physical book? Lots of skipping around in time and having the book to turn back the pages would‘ve helped me keep up. I did enjoy the plot, characters, and ending. I just didn‘t love it or feel overly impressed by it. It‘d make a great movie!
so-soI really liked this in the beginning. It grabbed my attention and I was excited to read it, but the story wasn‘t what I expected and it did lose my interest as the twists were revealed. I think it was a little drug out in spots and I just didn‘t love the premise of this one. Good ending. Not bad, but I didn‘t love it.
My husband gave me an early Christmas present !!!! He knows me so well! 🤩🥰🎄
pickEvie Porter, professional imposter and con artist finds herself on a job that feels different than those that came before. When it starts to unravel, she has to cook up a scheme not just to save the job but also herself. This is a fun, twisty thriller that weaves around in the time of Evie‘s employ for the shady Mr. Smith and kept me guessing all the while. Recommended!
Was so great to see these amazing authors in person to talk about their books and process. Love a book festival! #texasbookfest
so-so⭐⭐⭐
My rating shouldn't be taken against the author or this book. It was alright, some might even say it was really good- I dunno. For me though, I just had a hard time getting into it. Nothing about the storyline or characters hooked me. I stuck with it because I hate DNFing a book unless absolutely necessary, and I didn't hate this one so kept listening (#audiobook). It just fell kind of flat for me.
#wonderouswednesday @Eggs
1. Done
2. Paper books
3. Romance or cozy mystery
@Mommamanzi @KateReadsYA @Pageturner1
“There's an old saying: The first lie wins. It's not referring to the little white kind that tumble out with no thought; it refers to the big one. The one that changes the game. The one that is deliberate.”
pick⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ four stars for the entertainment. A quick and easy cat and mouse read. This was the author‘s first in this genre, I hope she continues writing thrillers!
pickDeliciously twisty and utterly compelling… couldn‘t put this one down!
pickThis was a quick read. Another psychological thriller. Enjoyed the writing. The story focuses on a con artist hired by a mysterious employer to infiltrate the life of a handsome businessman.
🦎Hippogriff: a book you flew through - Expiration Dates
🦎Repairo: repaired relationship -Love Lettering
🦎Dementors: includes a kiss- Funny Story
🦎Hogwarts, a History: includes history - The Phoenix Crown
🦎Switching Spell: read in print & audio - First Lie Wins
🦎Rubber Ducky: makes me nostalgic - Sunny Side Up
🦎Parseltongue: fictional language - The Tainted Cup
(Faves of this batch are pictured!)
pickThis. Was. FLAWLESS! Started audio, hated the narration, couldn‘t stop listening, then scored a hard copy for the end 😂 OMG. I loved this for the same reasons I loved Sign Here, even tho they‘re so different:
🤫Genre bending—not just a psych thriller
🤫Made me go wait WHAT?! Multiple times
🤫The way the author uses flashbacks & doles out info at just the right moment—genius
🤫Flawed people, yet totally makes you believe in the goodness of people
pickOooh, this was fantastic!! So much more going on than a typical thriller. It was fun trying to keep up with all the twists and turns and I was really rooting for the main character. Highly recommend!
pickUnique plot with lots of clues to follow. You definitely have to pay attention to this one if you want to connect all the dots. So much going on in this story it‘s hard to sum it up so just go read it! ☺️
💚📚🧑🏻🎤🧤🐸🌳🌿🍏🥦🫑🔋🔫🧼📗✅💚
“You can tell a lot about a person by the way they act when they are left waiting too long…”
#Green
#CoverLove
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
pickOmg, you are going to like First Lie Wins. A little slow in the beginning and then it picks up speed with lots of spin. Pay attention to catch the clues. Loved it and can‘t say more without giving it away. 5⭐️
pickI‘ve never read a book quite like this. Very unique premise and very engaging book. It was very twisty and lots of characters/aliases so at times I had to pay close attention to who was who and what was going on but I was invested and loved it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
pickThis gave me La Femme Nikita vibes, had some twists a good summer read
ReadAway2024 book 23
pickThis book follows the story of a devious protagonist who becomes caught in a series of lies and deceit. The plot twist kept me engaged and waiting for what would happen next. Ashley writing is smart and mysterious, making the storyline surprising and eventful......
Full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6535847423
pick4✨This was a book club pick not on my radar, but so glad it was picked. We have our main character who pretends to be a bunch of different people under an alias for her boss Mr. Smith. When a lady that looks very similar to her using her actual name she sees major red flags! The chapters are well titled so you know when and who she is in each chapter. That is a struggle point for me with all the alias‘ and time jumping. Necessary for the story.
pick4.8 ⭐️ I enjoyed it… But I expected more. Though it did throw me off because my chapter 5 I really thought I had it and I did not.
Thanks so much for having a spontaneous #Two4Tuesday #TuesdayGiveaway @TheSpineView !!!
I'd be tickled to receive any of the books my to-read list, but lately I've kind of been in a thriller mood, so I'd love to read the tagged book soon!!
pickI really enjoyed this - wasn‘t what I expected though. A lot about relationships and enjoyed the development of the main character and her back story.
pickI did not want to put this one down! It‘s a wild ride and if you like con artist stories, I highly recommend this one!
#bookspinbingo - free space
pickThis twisty read was so much fun! A con woman finds herself in a tricky spot and the plot flashes back & forth with other identities and jobs she's taken over the years. A smart protagonist, tons of surprises, and kept me interested the whole time. It was fun to read and just what I wanted. I cared what happened to Lucca and Ryan. Thrillers often keep me interested in the plot, but not the characters, so I appreciated that.
pickThis one‘s a page turner! Our narrator, Evie, is caught between her past and her future, doing jobs for a “Mr. Smith” while trying to stay alive herself. If she‘s going to get through this, she‘ll have to figure out his identity and work out a plan to come out on top. I was rooting for her every step of the way and you will too.
pickWow! This was a great read. A fast paced thriller about Evie who is pretending to be someone she isn‘t. There are twists and surprises galore which made this so fun to read! 5 stars! #FirstLieWins #BOTM
pickThis finally came in for me at the library, and by then I had almost forgotten what I had heard about it. I thought I was a really fun read, especially if you like stories about con artists. There were some interesting twists but what I liked the most was how the MC became a new person for her assignments. Like a lot of Reese‘s picks, I think this would be a fun TV show.
pickI never could have guessed where this story was going! I didn‘t read the synopsis before starting so I had no idea what to expect. There definitely were a lot of twists, almost too many as it was sometimes hard to keep track as an audiobook (that can happen when characters have multiple names throughout the story 😆). I fun cat-and-mouse mystery! 🌟🌟🌟🌟
