Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - First Lie Wins

Evie Porter is newly dating Ryan Sumner, a business owner in a small town of Louisiana who is quite an eligible bachelor in his hometown. Much to the chagrin of the girls that are his friends, Evie appears to be a fixture in Ryan’s life now. But Evie is not who everyone thinks she is, and Ryan is hiding his own secrets.

My thoughts:

I really enjoyed this thriller! Every first impression I had of the main characters in play were completely wrong. And I really did not see any of the twists coming. Both of those add up to a satisfying suspense read for me.

Ashley Elston made the jump from YA novels to adult fiction with this book. I think this a great debut for her in this genre and I hope she writes more thrillers in the future.

I really enjoyed the twistiness of this one. I haven’t read many thrillers lately so I feel like I’m extra gullible and it actually makes for a really enjoyable reading experience. Although I wasn’t super satisfied by the ending, I think it’s an overall good read.

Content Warnings

macint0046's review against another edition

Go to review page

mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Great storytelling, a constant weaving of strands that come together beautifully at the end. I typically do not get caught off guard, but the ending was a surprise. Thrilling and engaging with a satisfying ending.

Content Warnings

dilani's review against another edition

Go to review page

mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

it was aight. very twisty and the ending set this book up for a sequel.

Content Warnings

katekatiekait's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Content Warnings

savleigh3's review against another edition

Go to review page

mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

coco78337's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Content Warnings

savvyrosereads's review against another edition

Go to review page

mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Thank you for the free audiobook PRH Audio!

Rating: 4/5 stars

Evie Porter is a con woman who gets embroiled in a high stake cat and mouse game with her boss.

I’m not always a fan of con-woman thrillers, but this one was super entertaining and enjoyable! I listened to the audiobook, which had fantastic production quality and great narration by Saskia Maarleveld, and it held my attention the entire way through.

That said, I thought the way the plot unfolded was a bit difficult to follow at times, and I wish there had been more signposting/foreshadowing for the reader to be able to guess what was going on and predict events. Some of the characters towards the end felt thrown in with very little background, and I had a persistent feeling that I was missing something or hadn’t realized key facts (not a feeling I want to have while reading).

Still, this leaned more towards fun than not, and so, even with the imperfections, I would definitely recommend this one if you want a fast-paced and entertaining thriller!

CW: Murder/death; car accident; mentions of cancer/death of parent

Content Warnings

More...