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A review by actuallyjusthanne
Such Charming Liars by Karen M. McManus
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I have read every book by this author, and I am mainly glad that she is finally fully branching away from the high school drama/thrillers! I was really intrigued by the premise of this book and the jewel heist/scamming aspect of the book.
I was really invested in the first half/two thirds of the book, with how the characters were meeting and their backstories and premises. I really love the concepts of jewel heists and was really excited to see this book exploring it, especially with the stakes that it has.
The friendship developing between Kat, Liam, and Augustus was super fun! I wish we got to see more of Augustus' backstory--part of it is because he didn't have a perspective, and he was more of a minor character (or at least, he was meant to be). My favorite perspective was Liam's perspective: I thought that Kat's perspective was meant to be written as though it was supposed to be an unreliable narrator, but then it never got pulled off correctly, and her voice just turned out to be annoying and not a good storyteller. It was unfortunate, because I really liked her perspective at the start of the book, but then she started making one bad decision after another, and then it was reinforced that she was 16 and should really not have been in charge of doing all that, and the whole thing kind of fell apart.
My main issue with this book is that it seemed as though there was a lot of the story that was plotted but never explicitly said. I felt like the set up for the book wasn't ever particularly clear, and I had to gain backstory from reading the back blurb. The whole 24 hour marriage in Vegas thing was made the most clear in the back blurb, and all the characters of the Sutherland family were introduced in one fell swoop, which made it really hard to keep track of. Also, during the second half of the book it seemed like there was backstory and ties that were being connected together that the reader would have never been able to figure out, because it was never made explicit earlier in the book.
The whole role that Gem was playing was SO deeply unclear: I really liked the parts of the book that she appeared in at the very beginning of the book, and I was hoping to see more of her. I don't think that her character was well developed enough to be believable as the antagonist: it isn't a plot twist if the reader has no clue to expect it. The same thing happened with the whole thing about Jamie getting sick . . . we had no way to expect it being sabotage until Kat figured it out . . . way too easily it appeared??? and it just felt really jarring. Also, the role of Morgan in the whole heist/family dynamic didn't really make much sense. All in all, it just seemed like there should have been set up for the story when there just wasn't.
Also, what happened with thenecklace??? like...that is the crux of the story and we all just kind of collectively chose to ignore it?? . I thought that the things that were supposed to have a lot of weight weren't given the gravitas that they were supposed to have, but then there were full scenes that didn't end up connecting with the main story, like Gem bringing Kat to scout out jewelry, and giving all the backstory on how they chose their targets, without that information ever paying off or the whole scene about Liam and Luke painting??? wtf was that about
There was a lot of heavier topics that were discussed, which I thought was good, but it was really only briefly mentioned. I also don't understand why the48 hour marriage wasn't just annulled?? like how did it become a whole plot point that they never divorced??? and why did it not come up until very far into the book?? and if they hadn't divorced, why hadn't it come up with Kat or Liam for that long???
Overall, I thought this book had a lot of potential but it ended up a little half baked. The book wasn't even that long, and I think it would have really benefited from taking some more time to explore the backgrounds and motivations of all the characters, and it would make the story so much more hard hitting. This book was a fun read but all the storytelling did was make me frustrated.
I was really invested in the first half/two thirds of the book, with how the characters were meeting and their backstories and premises. I really love the concepts of jewel heists and was really excited to see this book exploring it, especially with the stakes that it has.
The friendship developing between Kat, Liam, and Augustus was super fun! I wish we got to see more of Augustus' backstory--part of it is because he didn't have a perspective, and he was more of a minor character (or at least, he was meant to be). My favorite perspective was Liam's perspective: I thought that Kat's perspective was meant to be written as though it was supposed to be an unreliable narrator, but then it never got pulled off correctly, and her voice just turned out to be annoying and not a good storyteller. It was unfortunate, because I really liked her perspective at the start of the book, but then she started making one bad decision after another, and then it was reinforced that she was 16 and should really not have been in charge of doing all that, and the whole thing kind of fell apart.
My main issue with this book is that it seemed as though there was a lot of the story that was plotted but never explicitly said. I felt like the set up for the book wasn't ever particularly clear, and I had to gain backstory from reading the back blurb. The whole 24 hour marriage in Vegas thing was made the most clear in the back blurb, and all the characters of the Sutherland family were introduced in one fell swoop, which made it really hard to keep track of. Also, during the second half of the book it seemed like there was backstory and ties that were being connected together that the reader would have never been able to figure out, because it was never made explicit earlier in the book.
Also, what happened with the
There was a lot of heavier topics that were discussed, which I thought was good, but it was really only briefly mentioned. I also don't understand why the
Overall, I thought this book had a lot of potential but it ended up a little half baked. The book wasn't even that long, and I think it would have really benefited from taking some more time to explore the backgrounds and motivations of all the characters, and it would make the story so much more hard hitting. This book was a fun read but all the storytelling did was make me frustrated.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse and Abandonment