Such Charming Liars was another fun mystery from Karen McManus. We enter the book getting to know our first main character, Kat, who has a unique family structure including her mother Jamie, who had Kat when she was very young, and Jamie's employer who blurs the line between found family and employer to her advantage. Noticing this, Jamie agrees to take on one more hiest and then is out. Kat isn't sure what to make of their life changing but decides to coerce Jamie into taking her along on the con so she can find out. What Kat doesn't expect is to run into Liam, who was like a brother to her for about a day when their parents made a brash decision to elope in Vegas. When Liam's father leaves the kids alone and they get lost in the casino, Jamie quickly realizes she made a mistake. Both Liam and Kat's parents are the last person each other wants to see, especially when they realize they're both trying to run a con that weekend at a wealthy family's party. When Jamie becomes suddenly ill, can Kat run the con alone? The alternating perspectives were fun, kept a good pace, and were characteristic of how McManus unfolds her mysteries. It did take a while to set up all of the plot lines and characters which made the first half feel a bit slow. However, the second half was, to me, more characteristic of McManus' writing and more exciting to read. I loved the twists and turns, character development, suspense, alternating points of view, and how it all turns out in the end. Definitely recommend if you like mysteries, McManus' other books, suspense, or teens solving crimes; you'll love it!
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC to review.

Karen McManus’s latest YA thriller is a gripping, twist-filled read that hooks you from the start. It's a standalone, which I appreciate. The packing is exceptional in this heist-mystery. However, Kat was a very frustrating character. I find this a bit in YA, and I'm curious as to what teen readers think.

McManus has a way of writing a YA thriller where you stay engaged and don’t see the end coming. That rings true with Such Charming Liars.
Con artists by trade, a job gone wrong, step-siblings reunited, deception. This book has it all.

McManus returns with a twisty thriller that you simply cannot put down. I have to admit her last couple books were meh for me and this one was more of what I had come to expect for her. I was drawn into the lives of professional grifters and a web of schemes that entangles the characters as the reader works to figure out the pieces. I loved that it was a little different with interesting characters.

The story is narrated by two step-siblings: Kat, sixteen, daughter of Jamie, a thief, who is trying to escape from a dark past only to get recruited by a handful of grifter Gem for years, now she is doing one last job. . But this plan is doomed to fail when Kat decides to join her mom to protect her back as a team, as she's been doing for years, and they realize that Jamie's ex husband( married for only 48 hours), Luke, whom she met in Vegas 12 years ago, is at the same place as her last job with his son, Liam, who is reluctantly living with his conman dad after his mother’s death. He is the other narrator and I really enjoyed his character.
Of course things go wrong, people end up dead and secrets are everywhere. Nobody knows who they can trust.
Overall, especially the last third of the book, was mind-spinning, and addictive. I predicted most of the twists, but they were still well-plotted and smart. I highly recommend this book for YA thriller lovers and devoted fans of McManus. I have already put in my PO for this book in our library.

Thanks to NetGalley sharing the digital copy of one of the most anticipated thrillers of the year in exchange for my honest review, which is highly appreciated.

Ready for a thrilling ride? Such Charming Lies is just the book for you! Ms. McManus has been one of the top popular mystery writers for young adult fiction. This entry does not disappoint. The story has so many twists and turns that keeps the reader guessing on who is behind the death of a Sutherland family member. Not only does the mystery of who committed the murder but what is the real story between her mom and her mom's current boss. Will this be the last job, will her mom finally go straight? With all of the questions, twists and turns, readers will devour this quick page turner.

I received an ARC ebook from NetGalley and the publisher, Random House Children in exchange for an honest review.

Let me tell you, pick up this book blindly and you'll most likely love it.

Theres so many twists and turns and secrets and so much chaos happening that something is sure to keep your attention. I'm being dead serious, there was SO many twists and turns I felt like I was on a merry-go-round.

I took a star off due to how confusing it got at some points, and how there did to be small gaps in the story holes, but it was a really good book. If you like dinner parties gone wrong, you'll love it.

Such Charming Liars by Karen M. McManus delivers a compelling blend of mystery and drama with its intricate plot and engaging twists. While the novel effectively captures attention, its execution may appeal differently based on individual preferences for suspense and character development.

Had never read any Karen McManus books before, so was looking forward to reading Such Charming Liars. It did not disappoint, even if I found it a little predictable. It’s about Kat, a teenager who has helped out in jewelry thefts. She is helping her mom with one last heist when things go awry (and she meets her ex-stepbrother Liam along the way). All in all, an enjoyable read!

Real rating 3.5

As soon as I heard there was another book by McManus coming out I immediately added it to my TBR. Was I a little sad that it wasn’t like her others, but still. It has her name on it and I loved it.

Ok so I thought this was going to be very different than what McManus usually wrote, but it actually turned out to be exactly “her” lol There’s a murder mystery and a great group of characters. In this one, the characters are actually my favorite part. They all had something that they excelled in and they came together and used those things to their advantage. And that to me is so cool. Definitely a small found family that made sure to let everyone know they belonged.

The mystery was a bit weird. I felt like it was too much happening. And the ending was entirely too easy to figure out. I knew as soon as I was introduced to someone they were going to have something to do with it. And then the way they introduced that one thing they did? It was immediately obvious. And because of that, I was thinking there was going to be some thing else that happened in the end with her signature like big bang? Yeah I think that WAS the signature big bang. And because it was so easy to figure out, I have to admit, I was a little annoyed. I think I wanted something that was going to make me put the book down and stare at the wall like I usually do with her books.

The plot itself was crazy cool tho. I do think it would have been better if they focused more on the actual heisting tho. I read murder mysteries all the time and they aren’t nearly as stressful as the heist novels I’ve read recently. What made me NOT hate this was the fact that I’ve read like 3 other heist novels just recently too. Maybe this was the best way to go about it lol Give myself a heist novel and not stress myself out too much when reading it.

This wasn’t her usual, but I definitely loved it even still. Do I wish there were some things different? Yes. But I still think it was entertaining enough for (me and) the teens who will be picking this up. I can’t wait for this to hit shelves. My teens love her!

Get ready for a fun mix of a daring jewelry heist, a complex murder mystery, and a tangled web of secrets within a wealthy family’s compound. Oh, and add a dash of romance! I enjoyed how McManus explores loyalty and deception within these families - the rich and the cons.

Highlights:
✨Fun Characters: Grifters, Con Artists, and the Uber rich
✨Teenager sleuths: Kat, Liam, and Augustus make a great team! They create a “found family” of sorts.
✨Narration: Skylar Gallun narrates Liam’s chapters, and Victoria Villarreal narrates Kat’s. Both narrators played these teenagers perfectly, making them likable and most of the adults unlikable.

The story starts a bit slow, but by the midpoint, the action really heats up, racing towards a twisty and exciting ending. As with most thrillers and mysteries, the less you know go into the story, the better. Overall, it's an entertaining YA mystery that will keep you guessing.

Such Charming Liars by Karen M. McManus

Here are the top five reasons to read this book:

1. Intriguing Plot: The story revolves around mother-daughter grifters on their final heist, which turns deadly and personal. The twists and turns will keep you hooked. It is brilliantly written.

2. Complex Characters: The characters, especially Kat and Liam, are well-developed and realistic. Their backgrounds and motivations add depth to the story.

3. Dual-Narrative Structure: The book uses a dual-narrative structure, providing different perspectives and adding layers to the mystery.

4. Fast-Paced and Engaging: With snappy dialogue and a tight plot, the book maintains a quick pace that makes it hard to put down.

5. Themes of Family and Trust: The novel explores themes like family secrets, trust, and betrayal, making it a thought-provoking read.

The title is apt for this book. If you enjoy mystery thrillers with complex characters and engaging plots, this book is definitely worth checking out!

I’ve read all of Karen McManus’ books and I’m a big fan. Unfortunately, this book just didn’t hit for me. Besides Liam, I just didn’t care too much about the characters and I felt like the plot moved along too slowly. This could be a me problem, but I didn’t get pulled into the mystery like I usually do.

I loved how there were so many different layers to this story, I thought the author did a really good job at showing the mother-daughter dynamic of Jamie and Kat especially since Jamie was a young mother. I thought the struggle of childhood trauma and grief was handled nicely, and I liked how Liam really stepped up to the plate when it was time. I really did appreciate the murder mystery element was done really well but the heist could’ve been better.

Such Charming Liars is a high stakes mystery filled with deception and lies.

I love a book where you can never fully trust anything and this is one of those, delivered with aplomb. McManus is known as a Queen of YA Mysteries for a reason and she proves it every time. Her books are slick, suspenseful and full of great characterisation and some killer twists. This takes it up a gear with a focus on cons and crimes, with some excellent heist style shenanigans. For me, it was like Ocean’s Eight meets Knives Out, that high octane thriller meets the Golden Age of Crime with a sprinkle of privilege and wealth beyond imagination.

It more than lives up to its premise, delivering a brilliant mystery. I loved the exploration of class and privilege, in the extreme bubble of the Sutherlands. It is like peeking into another world and you get caught up in the glamour and prestige of it all. However, underneath there are plenty of simmering tensions and long held feuds that corrupt everything. It is very much a flawed and fractured family where the pursuit of power and wealth has shifted the moral landscape. Their upbringings have been tricky with tensions that rise to the surface quickly. You get the sense of a ticking time bomb and that’s before you add in the contrasting schemes at hand. It is a giant game of chess, but who’s ultimately overseeing it?

We focus on Kat and Liam, with Kat being brought up in difficult households with a fraught dynamic and a lifestyle reliant on scamming. On the other hand, Liam had some more love and stability, but lost this when his mum died. Since then he’s been used as a tool in his dad’s cons. As a result they’re used to being chameleons and fitting into whatever role the situation requires. This allows for some interesting adaptation and manipulation of their expected roles throughout the narrative. Their pasts have fundamentally shaped them and their long ago crossover brings out some skeletons in the present. It adds so much tension to the narrative and McManus just keeps raising the stakes higher and higher.

Such Charming Liars exposes the gilted, glamorous and ultimately glib underside of privilege where every move is a power play. It is another excellent thriller from a Queen of YA Mysteries.

Kat’s mother Jamie has been a grifter/thief for much of her life, but she’s ready to walk the straight and narrow after one last job. On the way to the site of the job, a billionaire’s birthday party, they’re shocked to come across Jamie’s scammer ex (a Vegas wedding that only lasted 48 hours) and his good-hearted son Liam (who was luckily raised by his mother most of his life). Although they were step siblings for only a short time, Kat and Liam still thought about each other throughout the years.

The carefully detailed plan to steal a valuable necklace collapses like a house of cards when one roadblock after another comes into play, and Kat is left scrambling to carry out the heist on her own. Even though her mother kept her out of the family business for the most part, Kat’s picked up some things over the years and isn’t without skills. But at sixteen years old her judgement isn’t always sound. The sibling-like relationship between Kat and Liam is one of my favorite parts of the novel – they need each other more than they knew. Augustus, part of the wealthy Sutherland family, is a nice addition to the story with his clever humor and witty takes on his relatives. The three of them make a pretty good team as they try to solve a murder while being chased by a killer.

I suspected several characters and thought I had if figured out a couple times despite the numerous red herrings, but the story has more twists than a Twizzler. If you’re a fan of karma, you’ll appreciate the ending – it’s perfect.

McManus has never disappointed, and I recommend this novel for readers who enjoy twist-filled mysteries, heist stories, and found family.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Karen M. McManus can always be counted on for an excellently-tense summer mystery populated by compelling characters, and I look forward to her new releases every year. "Such Charming Liars" is a bit of a departure from her usual, as the central plot involves a jewelry heist, but all of her usual hallmarks - characters to love, characters to loathe, a plot that expertly unfolds in twists, turns, and loop=the-loops where no one at all seems trustworthy - are present. While parts of the climax felt a little out of left field, it wasn't to the point that it seemed totally implausible, and overall, I thoroughly enjoyed it. (Liam, my precious sunflower!!!!)

This was my first book my Karen M McManus and it definitely won’t be my last. This was such a fun read. This book starts off with two grifters, a mother and daughter, Jamie and Kat. While on the heist, Jamie and his dad, Kat’s former stepdad show up. I was immediately hooked, and had to find out what was going to happen and if they can pull of the heist. Would definitely recommend.

I'm always a fan of Karen M. McManus books, and this one was no exception. It was an overall quick read, about a teenager who attempts to join her mom's con/heist, only to find her ex-stepbrother and his father are staying where everything is set to go down. There are a lot of secrets, lies, and of course a good Karen M. McManus story couldn't happen without a little murder. I liked the ex-stepbrother/stepsister dynamic and the two protagonists trying to figure out if and how to trust one another, and how to get out of the madness alive. In some ways the story felt like it was over a bit too fast, but I think overall it had a good ending. Not a super surprising twist but satisfying, and a good quick read if you're in the mood for a mystery/thriller. 4/5 stars.

Karen M. McManus has firmly cemented herself as one of the most well-known young adult mystery/thriller authors. Such Charming Liars is her 8th release, and it delivers on things that you’ve come to expect from a McManus book — family drama, a fun mystery, and some crazy shenanigans. While not my favorite McManus book, I had fun reading this one.

I liked the heist/con artist aspect of the book as that’s not something McManus has done before. I appreciated her trying something new and I think it made the character dynamics more interesting; plus, I like somewhat morally gray characters in a mystery/thriller.

The book’s highlight for me was the relationship between Kat and Liam. I love found family and thought the two of them were so sweet. Liam, while a bit naive, especially with his father being the way he was, was my favorite character. I found him very endearing and appreciated the way that he looked out for the people he cared about. Liam was such a good-hearted character, and it was clear from the beginning that he really cared about Kat, even though it’d been 12 years since they had last seen one another. With the two growing up around liars and con artists, it was really lovely to see them genuinely trust and support one another and I enjoyed watching their bond grow.

The little trio that they developed with Augustus was so fun, and I particularly enjoyed the interactions with Augustus and Kat. Liam and Augustus were cute together and I was rooting for them, but I wasn’t particularly invested in them — they were fine, but I could’ve done without a romance in this one. However, I did appreciate that the main couple wasn’t heterosexual and that McManus didn’t find someone to pair Kat off with.

I had my theories throughout the book and some panned out the way that I expected them to. As I’ve mentioned before, I don’t think that’s a sign of a poorly executed novel; I always think that means the author did a good job of planting clues and concluding the story in a way that makes sense.

The downside of this for me was that the pacing felt off. It wasn’t until about 70ish percent that I felt like things really picked up. However, I will make a slight caveat to that statement with the fact that this could’ve been a me problem because I wasn’t able to read this one as quickly as I would’ve liked due to personal reasons. Normally, a book this length and type I’d read in a day or two, but it took me 8 days to finish because I didn’t have the time or energy to read. So, while the pacing felt off to me, it might not for others who are able to read it straight through/fairly quickly.

While this wasn’t my favorite of McManus’ novels, I had a fun time with the heist element of the story and found both main characters to be likable and interesting to follow. Such Charming Liars had pretty much everything I’ve come to expect from a McManus mystery, so if you’ve enjoyed her other books you’ll likely enjoy this one as well!

SUCH CHARMING LIARS, the latest young adult mystery from prolific author Karen M. McManus (One of Us is Lying), received starred reviews from both Booklist and School Library Journal. I was extremely disappointed to learn that I had overlooked the NetGalley archive date for this novel. No worries – it is on my TBR list and likely on the list of McManus’ many fans. Enjoy!