After just a few chapters, I was hooked on this book! This was the perfect mix of romance and fantasy.

The Liar's Dice Tournament was different and something that initially caught my eye and it did not disappoint. It was very different from other magic systems I've read about before.
I absolutely loved the tension and the banter between the Liar and Lola. Just loved the Liar overall. Excited to see where Lola goes from where we left her at the end of the book.

I am excited to see what happens in the next book!

Would definitely recommend this book to fellow fantasy fans!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks for the arc! I truly believe this was a highly anti read for me and I’m so glad I received it!!

The characters in this book truly connected and flowed through each other very well. The tournament itself had me on the edge of my seat. I definitely was confused on how this story was going to go after 45% but it didn’t let me down.

Recommending to friends and family!

"A young thief attempting a daring casino heist during a high-stakes tournament is torn between two warring brothers in Den of Liars, a thrilling YA fantasy romance by acclaimed author Jessica S. Olson.

Lola St. James is the world's best kept secret. When her father's loss in the Liar's Dice Tournament - a high-stakes competition where players are forced to gamble with their deepest secrets - made her a target, she was rescued by the Thief, the notorious leader of the Tentacles. But the Thief's kindness came with a price: Lola's heart. In the years that followed, she and the Thief formed a bond like no other, able to feel each other's emotions because of their shared heart.

Now, living under the pseudonym Astra, she is determined to prove herself and become a full-fledged Tentacle. But when a critical heist goes sideways, the only way forward is for Lola to compete in the Liar's Dice Tournament herself. Lola is confident in her ability to pull off any heist, but the Thief's mysterious brother, the Liar, runs the game and he turns out to be more than she bargained for. As her attraction for him grows and illusions run wild, she will be forced to confront the secrets of her past, the truth of the brothers' shared history, and the lies she tells herself."

I mean, dice isn't a game I'd ever play. It's too risky. Reading about other people playing it though? Yes please.

Thank you Macmillan Children's Publishing Group / Netgalley for approving me for this arc!

3.75 /5 rounded up to 4 stars.

This was a very fun book that really ended up pulling me and having me on the edge of my seat! I'd recommend this book to fans of Caraval and Six of Crows, though this does get a bit deeper and darker.

I enjoyed this book more than I initially thought I would! This book is primarily told from the POV of Magnolia St. James, the daughter of an infamous crime lord who gambled and lost her as his deepest secret during the Liar's Dice tournament which results in her kidnapping and rescue by one of the Devious, the Thief. Now going by Astra, she enters the Liar's casino for a heist to earn her place as one of the Thief's Tentacles and ends up competing in the Liar's Dice tournament herself four years later. From there, she must win three increasingly dangerous challenges in order to keep the secret she bargained and win the Liar's prize. As she competes and uncovers other's secrets, she realizes what she thought she knew may not be the truth. As her attraction to the Liar deepens, she must figure out if she can trust her heart or if its the effects of the Liar's glamours. Did I mention the Liar and the Thief are brothers??

Though this story was plot driven, I would say it was more character and relationship driven. I enjoyed the character development of Lola and how her relationship with the Liar evolved throughout the book. There was a lot packed into this book and the pacing was definitely quick. As I got closer to the end, this book as harder and harder to put down!

I will say, sometimes the plot was a bit predictable but I didn't mind it as it didn't ruin the story. The magic system was unique and fun and the vibes were immaculate. The writing wonderfully paints a picture of unique scenes and settings.

Tropes featured: enemies to lovers, forced proximity, miscommunication, betrayal.

This does end on a cliffhanger and I look forward to book 2!

4.5 stars- I enjoyed this story so much and look forward to the next book! Olson’s descriptive wording, beautiful world building and fun magic system allowed you to be immersed into the world. Some parts were a little slow but I always wanted to know what happened next. If you liked Six of Crows and Caraval, I think you’ll love this story!

Thank you to Macmillan Children's Publishing Group | Feiwel & Friends and NetGalley for the Arc. All opinions are my own.

What an unique and captivating fantasy that held my attention to the end. Life has been hard for Lola and she finds herself torn between two brothers who are at odds with each other. Who is telling the truth and who is manipulating Lola? Set in a world of intrigue, magic and fantasy Lola must determine who she can trust. This book is definitely a must read for those who love fantasies. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I want to thank NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to review this book.


Lola is connected to Enzo by the heart they do many thieving jobs together. The one that is the biggest is at the Liars Den where Enzo’s brother Nic owns. The story has many twists and turns, I love how the main character Lola has a lot of heart felt emotion through out the entire story. Enzo and Nic are enemies but Lola is on a mission not only to discover the truth but find truth that she did not bargain for. I think this book is an excellent read for young adults as well as adults.

When I first read the description for this book, I honestly got so excited to read it. Thieves? Casinos? Magic? It's like Jessica Olson took my favorite things to read about, and wrote a book about all of them!

This book starts off right in the middle of a heist. This is where we meet two of our main characters: Lola and Enzo. Enzo (also known as the Thief, the leader of a group called the Tentacles) rescued Lola from a kidnapping years ago. However, his rescue came with a price: Lola and the Thief now share a heart, meaning they can feel all of each other's emotions.

Lola wants to prove to Enzo that she is capable of joining the Tentacles, and sets off to do so through a competition called the Liar's Dice Tournament. Throughout this tournament, players are given various people to lie to and convince of scenarios that never happened. To do so, they are given magic dice, which can make the truth seem like a lie, create a glamour, twist emotions, and sense lies. At the end of each round, players are eliminated, and their secret is either revealed by the Liar (Enzo's brother, who runs the game), or saved for later. Lola enters the game with the plan of winning, and finding the location of the moonshard, a magic piece of voratium the Liar used to curse the Thief.

I feel like my favorite part of the entire novel was the characters' relationships with each other. I was so happy when I found out that Enzo and Lola were best friends (I'll admit---I was scared of a love triangle), and even happier when I saw how close of friends they were! Their inside jokes and games were so sweet, and I'm glad the author chose to show male/female friendships.

Lola herself has got to be one of the best characters I've read about in a long time. She isn't afraid to voice what she wants, like telling Enzo that she's going to enter the tournament. However, she's genuinely kind, and cares about her friends, as well as her marks during the tournament. I especially loved how she wasn't afraid to apologise when she made mistakes, and how she changes and grows throughout the book. 10/10 character development!

On the topic of characters, I have to talk about the Liar. While I did hate him at first, as the book progressed and we got his POV, and saw his interactions with Lola, he definitely became one of my favourite characters. He reminded me a bit of the Villain from 𝘈𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘝𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯 by Hannah Nicole Maehrer---but at the same time, he was entirely his own person. I found his POV chapters to be some of my favorites in the novel.

Overall, I feel that I cannot give this book any less than a 5-star review---It's one of my favorite books I've read this year!

𝘘𝘶𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘐 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥:
"I am more than a pawn to be used and cast aside as soon as I think for myself:"
"If you spend your life hiding from the monsters you think live in the dark, you'll miss the stars every single time."
"Some secrets are intricate tapestries impossible to disentangle. But when you do, the world unravels."

When you get to the end of a REALLY great book and there’s A CLIFF HANGERRRRR 💀💀💀💀💀

I’m physically and mentally unwell from all the twist and turns this book had me taking. This book is like oceans eleven meets peaky blinders meets the inheritance games. PLUS MAGIC. It’s literally got everything!

The banter? Top notch.
Hot mmc? Ya… BROTHERS 🥵
Pacing? Perfection

Will be waiting outside of Barnes and noble to buy this on pub day! She better be at her desk writing book two right now…….👀👀👀

*I received this as an ARC read through Netgalley*
I absolutely devoured this book. Made me feel so many things! Another book I'm going to have to get my hands on a physical copy it was so good.

I found this book to be just okay. The premise sounded great and I thought it would focus more on the heist than it did.

Oh my gosh this was SO MUCH FUN!! I could not put it down and I had to physically drag myself away from my kindle to cook food and be a grownup (while staring longingly and forcing myself to finish my tasks before I could read again). I need the next book IMMEDIATELY!

This story follows Magnolia St. James aka Lola aka Astra as she navigates a high stakes tournament and finds herself caught between the truths and lies of two brothers. Who will she give her trust to? Who can she believe? What does it cost to give your heart to someone? What is truth?

The magic system here is SO COOL and unique. The setting is dazzling, the side characters are likable, the tensions are high. And I just LOVE that she wears glasses!! How in my entire life have I never read a book where the hardcore main character scales buildings, is a skilled fighter, and is all around a force to be reckoned with WHILE WEARING GLASSES!! That was so cool! As a nearsighted person who almost exclusively wears contacts this gives me hope that I could survive dangerous situations while wearing my glasses (I’m not nearly as skilled so probably not but I can dream)

This was such a fun read and I’m excited to see where Lola’s story goes!! Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Children's Publishing Group | Feiwel & Friends for this e-ARC. All opinions are my own :)

This is my first book I’ve read by Jessica S. Olson and it did not disappoint. This is a dazzling blend of fantasy, romance, and high-stakes intrigue. It follows Lola St. James, a thief who enters a perilous tournament where secrets are the currency. The story weaves magic, deception, and emotional depth into a story that keeps you guessing. It’s a thrilling ride that explores the complexities of trust and identity. I highly recommend this one and I plan on reading the rest of this author’s backlist.

A good premise and story, but was unable to really dive into the story. The characters felt a bit flat and didn’t seem relatable. There wasn’t enough depth to the story to really make me feel for the characters or feel involved.

This story was utter perfection. I knew it would be a 5 star from the first chapter. I was instantly hooked on the fast moving plot. The plot: so good. I love a good thief story, and this was that and more.

I loved how Jessica managed to turn out these beautiful worded phrases and still keep the imagery going. I was hooked on every page, clinging onto every word.

I feel so connected to the characters that I'm definitely hungover. I need more of this world and them. I can't wait to see how everything turns out. So if book 2 gets here quickly, that would be great.

This was an experience that I encourage everyone to fall into. It explored lies and love and trust. It also explored a person's agency and self worth. So it wasn't just a book with a plot from A to B. It had a lot of growth for Lola and even Nic. I'm eager to see where it goes in book 2.

If you love romantasy (ya) with a really fun and fast moving plot and in depth characters, this is for you.

Never have I ever read a character with the exact same eye/vision problems I have had since childhood. The only difference between us is that I was fortunate to have the corrective surgery as a child that the FMC did not. I still experience everything else, though. It was pretty cool, and at times personally humorous, to be able to relate to all the ways it affected everything for her. She is what I would be like if I attempted some of these moves.

All in all, this was just okay, though. It felt like it could have been amazing. The opening act and the last half were great. The magic, the secrets, and the romance were all delightfully fun to read. Unfortunately, I trudged a bit through the first half leading to me feeling like it was unnecessarily long. The pacing felt slow after the opening act and there were times some things felt a little repetitive to me with the characters' thoughts and such.

I truly think the story and its magic are great, though. I want to love it more. And I'm still interested to see where the author takes it all in the next one.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this digital ARC!

I absolutely loved this book. I didnt realize it wasn't a stand alone and I am now crushed. 😭 thank you net galley.

Den of Liars hooked me quickly with its high-stakes atmosphere and the promise that no one—not even the narrator—was entirely trustworthy.

I was drawn to the main character right away. She's layered, flawed, and constantly walking the line between vulnerability and ruthlessness. I didn’t always agree with her choices, but I understood them, and that made her feel real. The pacing kept me engaged, and the twists genuinely surprised me more than once.

My only critique is that I wanted just a bit more emotional depth in a few key moments; some of the character dynamics could have hit harder. But overall, this was a sharp, gripping read that delivered on its promise of drama and deception! Den of Liars is absolutely worth picking up! Thank you, NetGalley!

The book “Den or Liars” sets the tone for a vivid and imaginative world about betrayal, love, and loss.

This immersive story will have you turning the pages on the edge of your seat waiting to see what comes next. I truly enjoyed the world building and the uniqueness of the author’s writing style. There were high stakes, magic, and dice! All around a great story that I’ll definitely be recommending. Can’t wait for a potential sequel, fingers crossed!

Thank you Jessica for writing such an intriguing book and thank you Feiwel & Friends and NetGalley for my Advanced Reader’s Copy!

3.5⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and Feiwel & Friends for an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The premise was really interesting and it took a while—until the middle of the book—for me to understand what was going on and to really get my feet underneath me. The cover is stunning though so that piqued my interest from the start.

The pacing is fast. You’re dropped in and it’s hard to get your bearings in a new world with new characters that you’re learning slowly. The magic system and characters were interesting once I got a gist of what was happening. The concept of rolling dice to deceive people and having dice store memories and powers was a delicious detail.

I just wish we could get Magnolia (which threw me when the chapters kept saying Lola and I don’t remember seeing the protagonist being referred to Lola until a good chunk in), really fleshing out her relationships with other characters. The world didn’t feel as immersive and the conflicts didn’t feel as high stakes as I would’ve liked; I still have questions. The dual perspectives would’ve been nice if it felt more balanced.

I look forward to the sequel novel to know what happens next.