Cover Image: The First to Lie

The First to Lie

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Ripped from the headlines. keeps the reader guessing until the last page. Everytime I thought I knew the outcome I didn't know. Loved every page. hank deserves all the acolades

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WHAT THE HELL I JUST READ? My head is spinning and I already start to suffer from dissociative identity disorder. I don’t know who I am right now. I think I’m redhead, writing and reading to live and breathe with big weakness for French and Californian wines, silly dance moves and Tom Hardy! Okay: it is still me! But I cannot say the same for the characters in this book.

I think writing a review without giving any spoiler is the toughest thing about the story because at the beginning I thought there are two POVS:

Nora: redhead, presentable, over confident, passionate sales representatives of one of the strongest drug firm Pharminex with secret agenda but what she aims to do! Why she stops by at the doctor appointments and interrogate the patients acting like friendly and sharing the same fate with them: suffering from infertility? Why does she try to dig up?

And we’re also introduced Ellie, ambitious reporter, working at TV channel. We’re also introduced Meg, Ellie’s assistant and her neighbor next door, who is acting like she wants sniffing around and prying Ellie’s investigation about the same firm for taking her job.

Then a few pages later we’re introduced a new POV! Wait! What? Okay, let’s say hello to Brooke: 15 years old daughter of Vanderwald family. She is so close to her brother Travis

Hodor I mean hold the door because there is another POV is coming up: we’re also introduced Travis’ soon to be wife Lacey who seems like a cold hearted bitch and sociopath (Satan and Lilith’s abandoned baby girl) Lacey is so ambitious to be accepted by Vanderwald family, already viciously making future plans as Brooke suffers from a big tragedy which is unacceptable and result with the end of her relationship with her own parents.

I thought why the hell there are so many characters in this book and I decided to draw a scheme to memorize their connection but a few pages later…BAMM! And yes another few pages later another BAMMM! I don’t want to give spoilers but the author threw so many bombs on my lap and some of them might have been exploded. That’s why my hair in the air and I sniff smoke during my reading.

I got numb in the end: because there are also two big revelations that I didn’t see it coming but I think there were so much surprises and twists make you paranoid and question your reality! Nothing as it seems and everybody lies in this book and the lies are three dimensional. I know you didn’t understand what I mean: Let me explain: This book is Inception movies’ another version: There are lies hid inside the lies (like matryoshka dolls : you open up a lie and find out there is another lie hiding so you keep digging and forgetting your own reality!)

I always adored brain cell fryer, mind number, batshit crazy stories like this! But two things made me cut the points: 1)There are so many twists and at some parts I wanted them stop because the revelations turned into extremely illogical and unreal! 2)Ellie is reporter and quite brilliant at scheming and manipulation but she cannot see things before her eyes and acted like moron at some parts! I wanted to scream at her face: because some of the twists are so predictable from the beginning and she acted like blind not to see the truth. And the part she couldn’t remember somebody till the end of the book: nope, I didn’t buy it! It was ridiculous!
I’m shutting up right now! I might have given too much clues!
I’m still giving 3.5 stars and rounding them up to 4! Because even though there are plot holes and over exaggeration about the conclusions and twisty parts, it was still gripping, mysterious and so much entertaining page-turner made me addictive and also exhausted because of overthinking! And it is not fair to give only three stars to this unique, extra ordinarily smart story

I’m looking forward to read more Hank Philippi Ryan books ASAP! I enjoyed the smart, brilliant, exciting and whirlwind writing style.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Tor/ Forge for sharing this head spinning ARC in exchange my honest review.

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Hank Phillippi Ryan keeps getting better and better as she keeps upping her game and trying new things.; cozies, traditional mysteries, suspense, thrillers and psychological suspense. The woman does it all - beautifully!

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How far would you do to get revenge? Would you be willing to sacrifice everything you hold dear? One woman will risk exposing her family’s darkest secrets in order to get the revenge she believes she desires above all else

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