Lies I Told by Michelle ZinkSeries: Lies I Told #1
Published by: HarperTeen on April 7, 2015
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 352
Source: Edelweiss
Book Details
Rating: ★★★★
What if, after spending a lifetime deceiving everyone around you, you discovered the biggest lies were the ones you've told yourself?
Grace Fontaine has everything: beauty, money, confidence, and the perfect family.
But it’s all a lie.
Grace has been adopted into a family of thieves who con affluent people out of money, jewelry, art, and anything else of value. Grace has never had any difficulty pulling off a job, but when things start to go wrong on the Fontaines' biggest heist yet, Grace finds herself breaking more and more of the rules designed to keep her from getting caught...including the most important one of all: never fall for your mark.
Perfect for fans of Ally Carter, Cecily von Ziegesar, and Gail Carriger, this thrilling, high-stakes novel deftly explores the roles of identity and loyalty while offering a window into the world of the rich and fabulous.
What I liked about Lies I told
- I LOVED the story!! Girl grew up in foster care and finally gets adopted by con artists, who turn her into a con artist as well. Cooool!
- I completely fell for the romance between Grace and Logan. Logan was sooo sweet and I loved them together.
- For most of the book, I really sympathized with Grace’s struggle. On the one hand, she’s been brought up as a con artist. That’s the life she knows. Based on that, she feels like she HAS to do this job for her parents. And even if she didn’t want to, how the hell would she get out of it? It’s not an easy thing to pull out of… But on the other hand, she does crave a different life, especially when she starts to make friends and really falls in love with Logan. It was a tough situation and it made me SO anxious to see the ending! (Which, sadly, was disappointing… more on that below..)
- I really liked Grace’s friendship with Selena. She was such a great character. I really wanted her to be MY best friend! She’s kind of quiet, maybe an introvert, loves reading, is a GREAT friend… Girl, where have you been all my life??
What I didn’t like
- Towards the end in particular, I really wanted Grace to say “Screw this” and abandon the plan. She was old enough to realize that this was wrong and I wanted her to stop participating because of that. That decision should have been made easier by the fact that she was starting to really fall for Logan. I really appreciated her struggle, since these “parents” were the only ones she’d ever known… But I wanted her to make the right choice SO BADLY, and yet she kept not making it!!
- I was very disappointing to find out that this book is the start of the series. At least that’s what I assume based on the ending and the fact that nothing was resolved. I hate going into a book expecting it to be a standalone, just to find out I’m only getting a piece of the story. Grrr. I’m not really in the mood to start a new series.
tl;dr
Lies I Told was a really fun and engaging book! As we neared the end, my heart started POUNDING. I was obsessed with finding out how everything was going to unfold. I was actually kind of terrified because I really didn’t want Logan to get hurt. The guy was soooo sweet, it broke my heart to think of him having his heart broken. *sniff*
But sadly I was extremely disappointed to find out that this book must be the start of the series. There’s no other explanation for having such an unresolved ending. I HATE reading books that aren’t listed as a series, just to find out it is a series. Sometimes I just really want to read a standalone, and I hate it when I expect to get that but don’t get it.. *grumble*
The Verdict
Great review – definitely sounds like an interesting read even if part of a series – going to add to my TBR list – Thanks!
I hope you like it, Grace! 🙂
Ah, I was pretty aware this was a series if I’m honest, I’ve just not heard much about it, but yay for a good review! I love me some crime or con artist books, they’re always fun when I’ve read them, so I’ll be checking out the prices for this book and seeing if I can snap up a copy. Thanks for the great review!<3
Yeah I can see now that it’s marked as a series on Goodreads, but that wasn’t the case when I first received and read this book, so I kind of went into it blind in that regard. 🙁
I do hope you read and enjoy the book though! I think it’ll be much more enjoyable if you go into it already knowing it’s a series. I just hate being blindsided like that, you know?
I do, when you’re settled into reading a book you think is a standalone, you’re ready for the quick, exciting investment, an unexpected series means you feel cheated, it really should have been made clear much sooner 🙁
A friend read this book before me, and she was really irritated it ended so abruptly too. I did some digging for her, and NO WHERE does it mention the start of a series. So I’m putting it off until I know for sure there will be more books. I have no interest in an unresolved ending. Which sucks because everyone I know that has read it really liked it! Thanks for your review!
Sounds really interesting – I love the concept and that it kept you so engaged. But damn that ending 🙁 even in a series I want a degree of resolution. I’ll wait to see how people like book 2 I think.
That is one of my biggest pet peeves…reading a book that I think is a stand alone only to find out at the end that it is the 1st in a series. I will never forget the time I read and enjoyed a stand alone, went on twitter to thank the author for writing a stand alone, had her thank me….and then found out a month or two later that she’d decided to write a sequel…lol!
I SO BADLY WANT TO READ THIS. IT LOOKS AMAZING. Wonderful review!!
I love anything that has to do with hacking, I’m really excited for this one! I heard the ending of the ARC is different than the finished copy. I wonder if they ended up writing a book two because of that because I had no idea this was a series until I saw the cover reveal last week.
Love the new blog design!
You’re kidding, it’s a series? For some odd reason, I thought this was a standalone was looking forward to a quickie read if you get me? But hey, I’m glad it was as rather enjoyable read! The lack of resolution may bother me quite a bit but I guess you can’t have everything, huh? Fantastic review, Ashely!
That’s EXACTLY how I felt Jess! I was looking for a quick book that would have no loose ends, etc.
I hate going into a book expecting one thing and suddenly getting a series. 🙁
It was still good, just not really what I was looking for.
Ugh! I hate (and love) series books… just want to know what happens!!! But what’s great about a story with no foreseeable end?… you get to keep the characters with you for just a little bit longer 😉
I’ve been looking for a new book for the train ride into work… this might just fit the bill!
Thanks!
Yeah I do actually love series! I just like to know it’s a series before I get into it, you know?
I hope you enjoy it. 🙂