Reviews

Liars, Inc. by Paula Stokes

alizalondon's review against another edition

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4.0

4.5 Stars

If you want a book to build up suspense and be perfect but then slap you in the face with a plot twist no one sees coming, Liars, Inc. is right for you.


I was expecting Liars, Inc to be good from the start. I didn’t, however, expect it to be so masterfully crafted, with plot twists coming at you from all angles. While other books have been written with a similar concepts, Stokes takes those familiar elements and gives it that “it” factor, subsequently enrapturing me into the story.

Liars, Inc, as you read in the blurb above, follows Max Cantrell, a normal teen that gets framed for the murder of his best friend. So, with the FBI on his tail, he sets out to find the real killer (with the help of his girlfriend) before he goes to prison for a crime he didn’t commit.

In general, the plot was very fast paced, like what you’d expect from a good cop show. While not always realistic, Stokes puts our Max through many perilous journeys, one of which includes the thievery of some random camper’s pants. ;) The plot definitely contributes to the quality of this novel, as we all know that without a good plot, you don’t have a story.

The characters I was less fond of, especially Parvati, Max’s “girlfriend”. Max himself was a very typical YA teen, one that is found often in YA novels, fulfilling many of the following criteria:

The character has loud, outgoing friends, while being an introvert himself/herself
The character is an orphan, foster kid, adopted, or has been all three
The character has a dark and painful past they are reluctant to reveal to anyone
The character has a love interest and/or friend with a dark and painful past they are reluctant to reveal to anyone
The character runs from the FBI

See what I mean? Well, not the last one as much, but these cliches rule Max’s life. Don’t assume, however, that they are unwelcome. Dark, brooding people are always welcome onto my cast of swoon-worthy characters, I only wanted to point out that these cliches exist in this book. I did like Max, though, he was an interesting narrator. His actions, on the other hand, were quite stupid. His decision to run from the FBI when he knows he’s innocent and then wondering why no one was believing his story made me slap him, but that’s good, because it shows that he’s a flawed character who makes stupid decisions on impulse sometimes.

However, Max’s girlfriend, Parvati, just drove me insane. I can’t say more, because I’m trying to stay clear of spoiler-city, but I spent the entire book wondering what Max sees in her. You may think that this might have made me dislike the romance, but on the contrary, it made me like it. Parvati, while she had a lot of flaws, grows quite a bit character-development-wise, so I liked seeing how the relationship between her and Max developed. Another aspect I liked was the fact that Max was actually in a position where he really liked his adopted family, because they were nice people. (I know, you may gasp now)

One thing the blurb does is reveal that Preston dies too early. It actually takes quite a while for our characters to discover this particular detail, all while us readers are here tearing our hair out in frustration. In a way, this made me like the book more, because it heightened the intensity of my emotions and getting me further into the book. However, once they do discover that he’s dead, man does the plot pick up (and that ending- awesome).

Anyway, Liars, Inc. was a great, fast read, that would have gotten a five-star rating, if not for the few flaws I mentioned above. Stokes has a gift for writing great stories, and I know I’ll be reading more of her works soon.

This review can also be found on my blog at Musings and Books

betwixt_the_pages's review against another edition

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3.0

Max Cantrell has never been a big fan of the truth, so when the opportunity arises to sell forged permission slips and cover stories to his classmates, it sounds like a good way to make a little money and liven up a boring senior year. With the help of his friends Preston and Parvati, Max starts Liars, Inc. Suddenly everybody needs something and the cash starts pouring in. Who knew lying could be so lucrative?

When Preston wants his own cover story to go visit a girl he met online, Max doesn’t think twice about hooking him up. Until Preston never comes home. Then the evidence starts to pile up—terrifying clues that lead the cops to Preston’s body. Terrifying clues that point to Max as the murderer.

Can Max find the real killer before he goes to prison for a crime he didn’t commit? In a story that Kirkus Reviews called "Captivating to the very end," Paula Stokes starts with one single white lie and weaves a twisted tale that will have readers guessing until the explosive final chapters.

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Rating: 4/5 Stars
Quick Reasons: YA mystery; intriguing story, complex plot, characters you can't help but love; a surprising, heart-breaking ending you don't see coming; the author employs a bit of “red herring,” leading readers off the trail with a load of dropped hints and potential clues


If you know anything about me, you know I can't do the “normal” mystery/thrillers because I have a weird aversion to books with cop protagonists. I don't know why this is. But I LOVE a good mystery. I love trying to see if I can sort out the clues before the big reveal scene. I love being taken for a ride on a twisty, turny rollercoaster of doubts and paranoia. So when I find anything that even SEEMS like a mystery, with main characters who don't fit the usual bill, I grab them up.

The blurb for this book immediately grabbed my attention, so when I found out it was on sale on Kindle a few weeks back, I was quick to snatch a copy. I'm so, so glad that I did.

The characters are quickly defined for readers, bold and at odds with seemingly the rest of the world. They stand out, both on their own and as a whole. They break the mold in subtle, intriguing ways. This immediately helps set the mysterious, secretive tone the novel takes on—already, readers are wondering who these characters are, what their stories will share, where exactly they're leading.

When the story REALLY begins, with the disappearance of one of our main characters, a few clues have seemingly already been dropped: I found myself almost immediately looking at a fellow classmate as the guilty party, and in fact was expecting the novel—based solely on hints and “foreshadowing” I found laced throughout the text—to end with this person being outted as the killer or grand scheming mastermind, setting up Max, going to all this trouble to pin the blame on somebody else. Paula Stokes is a MASTER, apparently, at red-herrings; she planned out EXACTLY where to drop the hints, how to stack the clues, how to make readers follow a blind lead down the wrong path to keep them from guessing the truth. She knows how to write mystery, definitely—I was fooled until the reveal scene, just as she wanted. And I LOVE that.

The prose is easy to follow, the character's voice seeping clearly through the words. There are no apparent plot-holes or unanswered questions; everything comes back full circle, leaving readers satisfied and just a smidgen perplexed (at least, if they're anything like me, they'll be left wondering how they DIDN'T see that coming at all).

This was a fast-paced, enthralling read; I was hanging onto every word, reading into the shadows for clues, gripping the edge of my seat with the need to know, the need to find the answers. There's a breathless feeling to the writing, as if time is running out and readers are rushing, rushing, right along with the characters toward the ending—it works beautifully for this story.

This was an enjoyable, twisty-turny rollercoaster, and I loved every second of it. I'd definitely recommend to lovers of “classic” mysteries, as well as shows such as ABC Family's Twisted or Pretty Little Liars. Can YOU guess the ending before the big reveal?

ladywestfall's review against another edition

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4.0

"It kind of sucks having nothing to lose, but it sucks even worse having everything good taken away from you. Or to realize it was never yours in the first place."

This book totally hooks you up from the very first page. The plot is interesting and the way it was written was really engaging. I love the mystery and suspense on it, however, the last part kinda fell flat for me. The twist was good but I was kinda expecting...more? It kinda felt a little weak for me. I don't even remember reacting to it while reading it. I was just, yeah ok. Basically, Adam (aka Preston) was just all about revenge and stuff and he was just a highschool kid. How could you even think of murder in highschool? It just seems like a typical motive for me. And the protagonist, Max, didn't connect to me that much so I wasn't so attached to him too. Even Parvati.

But overall, the book was good and enjoyable.

per_fictionist's review against another edition

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4.0

4 stars for this book for the last 100 pages. Because they were phenomenal.
I was hookedddd.
Although I took 3days to read the first half of the book, I was flying through the second half.
And gaaaaahhhh, the plot twist.
Surely, reading more from Paula.

alicemlake's review against another edition

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4.0

If you like mysteries this is a great book. All my guesses on what was going to happen were wrong and all the plot twists actually shocked me. Kept me on edge the whole time. Very good!

nagam's review against another edition

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4.0

Super trippy and OMG WHAT IS HAPPENING. Kept me on the edge of my seat. I love thrillers so I sort of take pride in figuring out elements. My mind was constantly coming up with scenarios and I did figure out a few things at the end. Since I read an ARC I'm going to check out Paula's article about a few changes made in the final book to see if that would have made it more complex. I don't mind that I figured things out; Liars, Inc. was really well written. One thing to note: it's not as much about the actual business they start. There's so little emphasis on that and maybe 15% of the book is dedicated to an inkling of that storyline. The majority focuses on the disappearance of Preston and the search to find him.

allibruns's review against another edition

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4.0

This a really good ya mystery. It's different from typical ya mysteries, the ending isn't obvious from the first chapter, the story is told from a male pov, the love interest is a sexual girl who makes no apologies for her bad girl ways. The male pov is realistic and it was fun being in Max's head.

I loved the The Art of Lainey and this is so different. I will definitely be reading the next thing written by Paula Stokes.

sarahplainandtall's review against another edition

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2.0

Too many plot twists that caused the book to feel like it was trying too hard to shock me with the plot rather than just tell a good story.

mickeyreadsbooks's review against another edition

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5.0

The book started slow but had very likeable characters, and I found the deeper I got the more I couldn't put it down and I wanted to know the ending and how Max would find the killer. This book had it all: lies and murder and conspiracy and the questions of guilt vs innocence, who are your really friends & can you trust anyone. Really I loved it.