Reviews

First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston

jessicasilfenroy's review against another edition

5.0

4.5⭐️A clever, twisty and super bingeworthy cat- mouse thriller. I was told to go in blind, and I 100% agree. The less you know the better! If you are a audiobook fan, the narration was excellent.

Read if you like:
-Cat/mouse stories
-Action-packed plots
-Morally gray characters
-Con artists
-Stone Cold Fox
-Adult debut novels

kindle_and_crossstitch's review

adventurous challenging tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I do love a twisty thriller to curl up with in the Winter and this cat and mouse tale has more twists and turns than a mountain road. 

The main character, Evie (that’s not her real name) is a con and a bloody good one. Her boss, the mysterious Mr Smith, sends her a new identity for each job, information about the mark and her task. Except this time, she’s falling for the mark and then somebody turns up who looks just like her and is using her real name….

I enjoyed reading the story play through; it was clever, sassy and the style was reminiscent of Colleen Hoover. There were a few plot holes and places where believability was stretched, but it added to the overall fun and entertainment. 

The ending is very clever; it played though in my head like an Ocean’s 11 montage where the truth gets revealed. 

books_by_the_bottle's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

readingmom_jess's review against another edition

4.0

Rating this one is difficult. I wasn't excited to pick it up, probably because it's full of shady characters. But it was done well with some smart twists. I liked the second half better than the first and the ending was worth it.

travelsalongmybookshelf's review

tense medium-paced

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

5.0

‘There’s an old saying: The first Lie wins….it refers to the big one…And once the lie is told, it’s what most people believe to be true.’

THIS book! I got a bit consumed by it, I have to admit, grabbed from the start and unable to look away. It’s full of tension and suspense, pacy and got my brain whirring straight away. Do I like Evie, can I trust her? My perception kept reframing as I read.

Even in the first few chapters I knew this was going to be good, I had a little bubble growing as I read, expanding as the tension ratchets up and a glimmer of a smile, I want the deception to work, I’m on Evie’s side, the outsider, but doing what?

‘The first lie has to be the strongest. The most important. The one that has to be told.’

It’s so masterful the way things written to keep you wanting more. It reminded me a little of Mr & Mrs Smith initially, the Jolie/Pitt film where they dance around each other, neither knowing what the other does. There’s a fantastic undercurrent between Evie and Ryan. I mean what does he do and why is she watching him and inveigling herself into his life. Then blam! The twists start coming thick and fast and I was gleeful reading this, who is this woman who IS Evie and what does she want. It’s like some crazy spy film and I LOVED it!

‘Even though I expect his lies, does he expect mine?’

I raced though this, it’s a fabulous read and now hearing it’s going to be made into a TV series - hopefully by Hulu Octavia Spencer and Krista Vernoff my mind is whirring about who I’d love to see in it!

susan_loves_stories's review

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

sophs93's review

slow-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

4.0

trinny's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

An interesting read and a concept I haven't read about before. Evie Porter is just one of a number of characters that she has used in her working life after being head hunted by the mysterious "Mr Smith" to work as a hustler. He decides on the "victims" and sends Evie to do his dirty work. However this time Evie finds it more difficult as she experiences the life she always dreamt of.
Although I fairly enjoyed the book I did find it dragged in places, I thought at the beginning there were scenarios that didn't necessarily need to be written but found by the end I was wrong as everything began to fall into place

cassiecat's review against another edition

mysterious slow-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

My first read by this author, this is her first book aimed at adults. A book friend was seeing early rave reviews, so naturally I didn’t want to miss out. 

We follow Evie, except that’s not her real name, she is a mystery woman working for an even more mysterious boss. 

The reader is immediately drawn into Evie’s world, it’s fascinating waiting for things to be slowly revealed. It started strongly. 

It’s told in different time frames so that the reader learns more about Evie. 

The pace is fairly slow, the initial intrigue kept my attention for quite awhile, but I found that there’s a large section where there’s very little tension and it began to feel pedestrian. 

I was hoping for a big finale, but it didn’t materialise, although it was a satisfying ending. I felt the book premise leant more towards an action thriller. 

I had some reservations about the authenticity of the boss and his motivation. 

nicknick920's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective relaxing slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

5.0

5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ stars!  Such a great psychological thriller!  Evie and Ryan have the best relationship, and one that Evie has always wanted.  Except, her name isn’t Evie and she is on a job where she has to get something from Ryan, but she’s not sure what it is yet,
but when she finds out she has to give this info to her boss. Mr. Smith.  But something is different about this job, and she needs to find out what it is.  Evie is trying to figure out what is going on and Ashley Easton takes us in the past and present in order to figure out what is going on before it’s too late for Evie.  Highly recommend this book!!