Scan barcode
A review by kathywadolowski
First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Oh look! Another underwhelming thriller!
"First Lie Wins" was ok, but certainly not memorable and not as thrilling as many reviews have made out imo. I didn't feel strongly connected to any of the characters, and I found the writing a bit annoying—I hate when a story is told in first-person, and said first-person teases information that they could just give us right then. Like, why do they have to build suspense in their own narrative? It's a silly point to get hung up on, I know, but hey we've all got our things and this is mine.
I also didn't love the framework the book used, jumping back in time through some of Evie's past jobs. This setup can and does work well in other novels, but I just don't think it was well-executed here. While a few flashbacks would've been helpful to build her backstory (and her relationship with Mr. Smith), there were actually a few too many and the most formative moments became a bit lost in minutiae. A number of past characters were important to the present timeline, sure, but I think we could've spent less time on some of those stories and focused more in-depth on the jobs that really forged her character and the evolution of her feelings about Mr. Smith. After a lot of detail and build-up, I then found the conclusion—and the final revelation of Mr. Smith—to be somewhat rushed and anticlimactic.
I will say, though, this revelation and several other moments throughout the book did take me by surprise in a good way. But those rare good moments were sandwiched between too much extraneous detail and bad characterization, and that breakdown led me to a middle-of-the-road 3-star rating. You won't hate it, but given all the hype I was disappointed in this read.
"First Lie Wins" was ok, but certainly not memorable and not as thrilling as many reviews have made out imo. I didn't feel strongly connected to any of the characters, and I found the writing a bit annoying—I hate when a story is told in first-person, and said first-person teases information that they could just give us right then. Like, why do they have to build suspense in their own narrative? It's a silly point to get hung up on, I know, but hey we've all got our things and this is mine.
I also didn't love the framework the book used, jumping back in time through some of Evie's past jobs. This setup can and does work well in other novels, but I just don't think it was well-executed here. While a few flashbacks would've been helpful to build her backstory (and her relationship with Mr. Smith), there were actually a few too many and the most formative moments became a bit lost in minutiae. A number of past characters were important to the present timeline, sure, but I think we could've spent less time on some of those stories and focused more in-depth on the jobs that really forged her character and the evolution of her feelings about Mr. Smith. After a lot of detail and build-up, I then found the conclusion—and the final revelation of Mr. Smith—to be somewhat rushed and anticlimactic.
I will say, though, this revelation and several other moments throughout the book did take me by surprise in a good way. But those rare good moments were sandwiched between too much extraneous detail and bad characterization, and that breakdown led me to a middle-of-the-road 3-star rating. You won't hate it, but given all the hype I was disappointed in this read.