A review by mmarlborough
The Lies I Tell by Julie Clark

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

5⭐️ alert!!!!! Hands down, this is my favorite thriller of the year so far (and it will be hard to top.) I flew through this book because of the short chapters and multiple cliff hangers. If you loved the film “Promising Young Woman,” read this book! 

Meg Williams is a con artist. Skilled at doing her research, she infiltrates a community expertly to get what she wants. She has been doing this for a long time, working her way up to her ultimate con. Journalist Kat Roberts has been onto Meg for years. She has a personal stake in seeing Meg fall and strives to have a front row seat to her demise. The two women engage in a high stakes cat and mouse game that will keep the reader guessing until the end. 

This is what Marissa Stapley’s “Lucky” strived to achieve: a reader caring for a con woman due to her troubled past. But Clark does it so much better on all fronts. I cared about both flaw and real women here and the dual perspectives/nonlinear timeline worked so well to keep the puzzle pieces falling into place. This is my first book by Clark and now I can’t wait to get my hands on “The Last Flight.”

✨Trigger Warnings: Parent Death, Cancer, Sexual Assault, Adult/Minor relationship