"Such Charming Liars" was an excellent and unique story about how a protagonist can portray the role of an antagonist. The characters are well-developed with specific traits and their flaws make them even more relatable. The plot was refreshing in a way that pushes the main character, Kat, on a path of uncertainty when her life as a jewel thief's apprentice is in jeopardy of colliding with her and her mother's past. There is a lot of extra drama that created many twists and turns, making it feel almost like a soap opera, but it was played out well and everything was tied up nicely in the end. I truly love and appreciate the choice Karen McManus made in incorporating a close brotherly figure rather than a love interest. On top of that, the brotherly figure, Liam, had a sweet love story subtly woven into the story that emphasizes the natural love connection people experience no matter their sexual preferences. I also have to praise the little mentions of my favorite show and various musicals. The constant guessing and theorizing throughout the story was very realistic. It was acknowledged that there was a lot going on from the beginning, making it connect more with the audience because McManus knew that is how readers would feel. It was quite an enjoyable read that I would recommend to students and friends. Much like Freida McFadden, McManus had just enough mystery and suspense with some predictable plot points, but still managed to throw an additional twist at the end. Very well done! I would say this is one of her better books.

I really enjoyed such Charming Liars. As a fan of this author, I'm always looking for new mystery books that I can use for my middle school classroom. This will be no exception. I appreciated that this book would be appropriate for middle schoolers. It had some drinking at a party but that was it.

The story features Kat who is a soon to be reformed-thief and one last heist before she goes straight. I liked Kat, but she definitely made some stupid choices in the beginning of the story.

The book had some twists and felt a little too wrapped up, but I still enjoyed and I think my students will too!

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children’s/Delacorte Press for allowing me to have an early copy of this book!

“One last heist” goes wrong for Kat and her mother as they attempt to extricate themselves from a life of crime, only to find out that life has somehow brought them back to the beginning: to a grifter and his son, Liam. McManus does it again with a twisty tale that made me race through the pages to solve the mysteries even as I didn’t want to leave the book’s charming characters. Kat is the fierce heart of the book. With her magnetic energy, confident attitude, and protective love for her Mom, Kat leaps into action to problem solve the heist, even as her solutions add to the weekend’s growing problems. Liam, a complicated figure from Kat’s past, is the book’s soul. After his Mom dies, Liam is stuck back with his Dad, Luke, quietly untangling his father’s disceptions, until Luke invites Liam to a weekend with her newest girlfriend and Liam isn’t sure about Luke’s intentions. Caught in between is Augustus, potential love interest and a friend that anyone would be lucky to count on. The action is non stop, the relationships strike just the right balance, and the mysteries only build. Get ready to be charmed.

Thanks to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for providing a copy for review!

Thank you so much NetGalley and Karen M. McManus for the chance to read this ARC!

I am a HUGE Karen M. McManus fan and Such Charming Liars did NOT disappoint!! I feel like sometimes with YA books is hard to find a balance to make sure it isn't too immature or too adult and Karen hits that everytime time! I love the characters in Such Charming Liars and you feel so much for them and so attached! Such Charming Lies keeps you engaged and guessing! I loved this book so much!! 4.5⭐️!

DNF at 52 pages, I just couldn't get into the plot and didn’t find myself connecting with the characters in the story. I loved McManus’ books in the past but I think I’ve expanded my love for mystery towards more adult ones instead of YA.

"Such Charming Liars" is a young adult thriller/mystery from author Karen M. McManus. Kat is a teenager whose mother works for a jewel thief. Her mother promises that she is going to switch to a legal job after one last heist at a fancy party. Kat forces her mother to take her along, but when her mother gets sick, Kat tries to do the job herself. Complicating things is that they run into her ex-Stepdad and stepbrother, Liam who are also attending the party. When Kat witnesses a murder, everything goes even more wrong. Who is trying to kill Kat's mother? Who is the murderer? What happened to the fake jewelry?
This book feels more like a heist story than McManus' past teen drama thrillers, but it is still engaging and will keep readers at the edge of their seats. A recommended purchase for YA collections where thrillers and mysteries are popular.

Karen M. McManus is absolutely killing it with her latest book, Such Charming Liars. It's a thrilling, fast-paced YA novel that will keep you glued to your seat. Imagine a mother-daughter heist duo trying to pull off their final job when everything goes sideways. The daughter, Kat, steps up to the plate when her mother is sidelined by a stomach bug, but their well-laid plans go awry when Kat witnesses a murder. Now, she's on the run, and the stakes couldn't be higher. Strong female leads, non-stop action, and a whole lot of girl power make this YA thriller an absolute blast to read.

Such a hard book to put down. It was typical Karen McManus in a way, but also a bit different. I really liked the con artist/heist type stuff in the beginning. The murder doesn't happen for quite awhile so I feel like we learned more about the characters. I adored Kat, Liam, and Augustus. I would actually love another book with the three of them. The adults all pretty much sucked though. No one was good and everyone had secrets. There were a few twists here and there, but nothing too shocking. The pacing was great for me. I don't really want to say anymore and ruin this. Overall, I loved it the same way I love all the other books by the author.

I gave this book 5 stars.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my earc.

Karen McManus is one of the best twisty-turny thrilling plot writers for YA lit. I usually adore her books, but this one was not my favorite.

Don't get me wrong, it was good and it will be good for people who already enjoy McManus’s books. She is great at weaving multiple perspectives, dropping clues and red herrings, and keeping the action moving at an engaging pace. This book does those things (mostly) and with likeable characters in an intriguing setting.

But it just wasn’t as gripping as her others. It started a bit slow for one thing. I wasn’t really hooked in until about 1/3 through the book when the heist started to get underway. And though there were some twists and turns, they were somewhat bland. I was never overly surprised by any turn of events. It felt a little bit like going through the motions at times.

That said, I did enjoy the book. It was entertaining and I will definitely recommend it to my mystery and thriller loving students.

Thanks, NetGalley for the advance ereader copy.

Really good! I like Karen M. McManus books. She has a good backlist and I enjoy that each of her books are so different. I loveee the family vibes and more gothic feeling we get with this one.

A jewelry heist, a billionaire’s birthday party, a wooded luxury compound. What could go wrong? Everything in the most McManus way. While more mystery than thriller, this book is still full of twists and turns in true from what we’ve come to love by this author. This is a crowning jewel for sure!

This was a great read as expected! Super fast paced and while I guessed a few things, it definitely had good twists and turns and revealed them in unexpected ways! Definitely a read to pick up!

This book was fantastic! It was a twisty, tense, and thrilling story, and I loved it. The build up of tension was perfect and I could not stop reading. It had me at the edge of my seat. I loved the relationships and friendships and banter.

Thank you to @tbrbeyondtours, the author, @writerkmc, the publisher, @delacortepress as well as @netgalley for e-arc. All thoughts are my own.



For 48 hours, Kat’s mom was married to Jamie’s dad. It all ended with an epic divorce and Kat and Liam haven’t spoken since.

That changed when Kat and Jamie run into each other at the Sutherland’s. Jamie is a jewel thief trying to go straight and Kat is tagging along. When a Sutherland dies, they realize they might be in danger themselves and the only people they can trust is each other.


The pacing on this one was slow at the beginning and hard to get into, but then things started to pick up and things moved along at a nice pace. Kat and Liam were both interesting characters and they each had some traumas in their pasts. There were a couple of twists that I didn’t entirely see coming and were pretty surprising. There really was a lot going on between all the characters. It was a little difficult to keep track of all the plot points just because of the sheer volume of them all, but they all did work. I enjoyed the epilogue because it wrapped things up nicely and put a nice bow on it all. Overall this one was a really good read, and I had a lot of fun with it.

This book kept me intrigued until the very end. It wasn’t too predictable which I liked and definitely shocked me at a few of the surprises sprinkled throughout. The story follows a mom and daughter who are “completing” one last heist before trying to live a normal life and pretty much anything that can go wrong does.

Thanks to random house for the ARC via NetGalley.

Honestly super great YA thriller. I have been binge reading all of McManus’ books. This one has a great story line with good twists that kept me guessing. I enjoyed this read. The only thing I wasn’t a fan of was Kat’s thinking in the beginning.

This was such a great, twisty, mystery, thriller! Kat's mom and Liam's dad are both con artists who were married briefly twelve years ago in Las Vegas. All four of them end up at a swanky party weekend in Maine, for very different reasons. Told in alternating perspectives between Kat and Liam, the reveals and twists will keep readers on the edge of their seats. If you like con game thrillers, you definitely want to read this! Highly recommended for grades 9 & up.

4.75 stars

A twisty heist-gone-wrong murder mystery to remember!

Kat's mom is pressured into pulling off one more job swiping a necklace for a jewel thief before getting their lives back on track. En route to the Sutherland estate, they run into Liam and his dad, who happens to have been wedded to Kat's mom for 48 hours several years back. When a member of the Sutherland family ends up murdered, Kat and Liam find themselves in the middle of the mystery.

I've loved every single McManus book I've read, and this is no exception. There are so many layers to this story. Kat and Liam each have their own traumas going on while exploring a sibling relationship that apparently never truly went away. The pacing was a little slow at the beginning, but it quickly ramps up and takes a whole lot of twists to get to the end. There's a little bit of queer romance (M/M) which I was happy with. I wish there had been an epilogue to explain what eventually happened to everyone, but maybe there's another book coming with the same characters?

Overall, I loved the book and would highly recommend to readers who enjoy YA thrillers, especially involving heists.

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

This wasn't fast-paced, but it was still full of twists and turns, some more predictable than others - the end was certainly a surprise!
There's a large cast of characters, many of them unlikeable, though I did like Liam a lot! The family dynamics were very interesting, and the fact that these 2 con families with a connected past ended up at the same place, each trying to run their own con, was great.

A jewel thief with a teenage daughter decides to pull off one more heist for her mentor and boss before going straight. But things don't go as planned for Jaimie and Kat at the wealthy businessman's compound and instead of a jewelry heist ; one of the family members is murdered.

This plot has so many twists and turns with ex-spouses, con men, ex-prisoners and duplicitous family members all getting involved that reader's trying to solve the mysteries of who killed the relative, who actually has the stolen necklace and not the fake(s), and what family member was the inside source will be kept guessing until the very end.

The characters of Kat and Liam are well developed and readers can certainly understand the choices they make based on their histories.