Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - First Lie Wins

Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston

162 reviews

amateur_bookworm's review against another edition

4.25

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

My summary:

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

monicabach's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

What a fun read!!! I really enjoyed it.

Content warnings: many F bombs, frequent cursing; no sexual content.

Content Warnings

macint0046's review against another edition

4.0

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

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

anniesbooknook's review against another edition

5.0

mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

rochelleisreading's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

Content Warnings

dilani's review against another edition

3.0

mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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

Content Warnings

katies_bibliotherapy's review against another edition

2.0

slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: N/A

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I fear this is another case where I feel like I read a different book than everyone else. I tried reading the physical copy but couldn't get into it, so I switched to the audiobook, which I did like more. It was bingeable and I listened to it in two sittings over one day. But, I can't say I get the hype. It was a slow-burn and maybe this is a case of "all vibes, no plot" because I feel like nothing really happened. I didn't care about the characters and felt very underwhelmed by the story.

Content Warnings

savleigh3's review against another edition

5.0

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

Content Warnings

coco78337's review against another edition

3.0

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Content Warnings

savvyrosereads's review against another edition

4.0

mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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

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