Reviews with content warning for Car accident - First Lie Wins

Eve Potter has the perfect boyfriend, a beautiful house, and the garden of her dreams. The only problem is that Eve Potter doesn’t exist.

The book is addictive and entertaining. I had a great time reading it. I was expecting a domestic thriller about marriage and domestic abuse. Instead, I found a twisty and engaging plot. A page Turner from the beginning.

Eve is resourceful and intelligent, always thinking one step before the game. That makes her the best con/thief. As the plot develops, we get entries from different jobs that she does for her boss "Mr. Smith." Little by little, they both engage in a game of pursuit where it's unclear who's the cat and who's the mouse. Intelligently plotted with a well-paced rhythm.

I love that the protagonist gives us the information she wants, when she decides it is time. The truth is, I had fun making assumptions about Mr. Smith’s identity and trying to guess what Eve’s next step was going to be.

At the beginning, Eve meets Ryan's friends. I thought they were going to have a big role to play, but they don't have a big impact on the plot.

The ending had a good closure. The last chapters reminded me of the Oceans Eleven movies. It’s a book that would work very well on the screen.

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I rated this book a 7 out of 10. I was pulled into this thriller, and I love the idea of undercover work. Evie shows her cleverness over the years and pulls ahead in work. Some sections felt repetitive, but I liked how everything was revealed for a reason. I wish there had been some character development; the characters themselves were a bit flat.

This story is a quick read, but slow paced (if that makes any sense) game of cat-and-mouse. We watch the back and forth of Evie's work and personal life while she tries to keep it from crumbling.

The major plot of the story is introduced in chapters 1 and 2. We follow Evie in her undercover scheme for the first half of the book. In the second half, we have an altered plot and follow Evie in her con artist scheme. It is a bit basic at times, but the plot keeps pushing forward.

The flashbacks to Evie's previous jobs threw me through a loop a few times. It wasn't always clear why any of those moments were important. Eventually, it all comes full circle, and we understand, but I think they were more randomly distributed rather than strategically placed.

I'1l say it again here: there is next to zero character development. Here's a character at face value, and there is nothing added. I wish there would have been more there (maybe in the flashbacks) where we could understand more about the characters.

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