I hate giving reviews under 3 stars but I gotta do it. This one was disappointing. The writing style was just kind of meh, and the conclusion left me wanting. It had so much potential to be good, but it was just boring. I rarely DNF ARCs but I’m wishing I wouldn’t have wasted my time on this one. I held out in hopes that it would be a very satisfying ending, but alas, it was pretty awful.

Thank you Netgalley for the chance to read an e-ARC.

The story follows Lydia as she arrives on an island to spend time with an exclusively elite crowd. Little does anyone know that Lydia is not who she says she is and her main motive for all the lies is to take revenge on those responsible for her mother's death. She has hatched a plan of revenge and she plans to execute the same.

The premise of the book was interesting enough for me to pick it up to read. However, I felt that the story was rushed and the suspense did not hold my attention as much as I had hoped. There was not enough of a development in the plot to ensure that the reader was invested in the plot or that they empathized with Lydia in any way.

Some parts of the story were good and this helped push the story along. However, the ending was also a bit of a let down and in the end, I felt that the purpose of Lydia's plans and her need for revenge seemed childish and downright petty. This is a one time read for fans of YA mysteries and thrillers.

Ugh, I hate leaving bad reviews, especially when I don't finish them. This was just not a book that I could get into.

I was excited to read this book but it was a super let down. I did not care about the characters, did not care about the plot, and the end of the book felt like it came out of nowhere.

Shannon Jones is out for revenge. She swaps places with a socialite friend named Lydia Cornwallis for the summer, taking on her identity to get closer to the elite Harrington family. Shannon believes the Harrington daughters killed her mother, and she wants to make them pay for what they’ve done. Shannon is able to play the part of Lydia well for a while, but when the facade begins to slip and the sisters become suspicious, Shannon has to adapt quickly to finish her plan.

The plot of this book is so promising, but the execution is disappointing. The pace is excruciatingly slow, and very little happens for 80% of the book. The big plan that Shannon executes is anti-climatic, and the ending feels super rushed despite the plot building for so long. Thanks to NetGalley, Sourcebooks, and Sue Wallman for this free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Great story line, I didn't have issues with trying to remember the characters or get names mixed up which can happen when someone is playing another person. I loved how upset Shannon was when the others were rude to people it showed she wasn't interested in being them but rather teaching them a lesson. I was loving the back and forth and how nasty the girls were it really let you feel for Shannon and made you feel like they deserved it. Hoping for a second book!

This suspense thriller moved much too slowly to hold my interest, though I did put it aside at 30% and come back and read until 70% of the book. Hardly anything happened, aside from the main character meeting friends and texting. There was a hint of a wrongful death, and the MC kept saying she wanted vengeance, but nothing happened for most of the book. Even when she would clearly have been caught, the other characters chose to believe all was well.

I don't think this would hold the interest of teens and they may not be willing to give it a shot when there are no twists until nearly the end.

Sue Wallman has written an excellent novel that shows how deceptive some people truly can be. I enjoyed this novel and will recommend it to my friends and students to give it a read.

This book was an all around flop.

The characters were underdeveloped, the gardener plot had no purpose and didn't seem relevant to the story, and the big reveal at the end was pointless and seemed like a last minute thought.

Do yourself a favor and stay away from this one.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

I thought the premise was a good idea, but the execution was just kind of all over the place. I had a hard time following along with some of the story because I don't think it was fully fleshed out.

I know this is a YA thriller but there were so many holes in this plot and the pacing was so slow that it made it painful to read. 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫

Hi Again!

Today’s review is going to be slightly different as I DNF’d this book. I was reading it as my Kindle read and got about halfway through (I think a little over halfway according to my Kindle) but after getting that far, I just felt like my attention was not being caught by this story. So let’s talk about why that is!

SPOILERS AHEAD

I am not going to give a synopsis for this story, since I DNF’d it but I will talk about what specifically took my attention away from the story.

As I started reading, I was very interested in why she had to fake her identity and what happened to her mother. However, as the story started to unfold more and more I felt like our main character was just kind of becoming one of the crowd and sometimes thinking about revenge for her mom’s death. I also felt like it was taking a very long time to get any answers even small ones about what happened to her mom. It just overall felt like the story was progressing slower than I would have wanted it to. Those are my two biggest reasons for setting the story down. One positive note before we wrap up this review, the cover was giving all the summer vibes and I think maybe if I were to give this another try I would want to take it to a beach or pool day. If you have read this one and know if it picks up let me know in the comments (maybe I would consider giving it another try)!

Goodreads Rating: 2 Stars

loved this romance and how the journey stated and ended. loved the friends and all of the trials that they went through on the journey. loved the cast and i can't wait t read more.

I think the concept for this book was wonderful but I don’t think it was executed very well. The ending was ever underwhelming and the last handful of pages honestly felt like a different book. Romance fell flat. I wish there was more character development.

Honestly this was kind of ridiculous. The last like 50 pages were packed with so much plot while the rest had a lack of plot. And I think it really fell into the problem that a lot of YA books of similar theme fall into: we are supposed to believe this girl is excellent at what she does (in this case scamming people), and yet she constantly makes bad choices and misses the obvious things. It's fine if she's only sort of good at what she does! Don't try and make her perfect because then every single mistake she makes seems more glaring. This was also really confusing at times, and I think it needed a few more editing pass-throughs to get the timeline and the overall plot more streamlined. Not a bad book necessarily, and maybe the finished copy has a bit more editing, but not the best.

I really enjoyed the start of this book and the premise would make any thriller lover want to pick up this book, unfortuately it just fell so short and I didnt enjoy it as the book went on

2 stars

Well this was interesting…😅

I’ve been really into scammer stories this year (I’m trying to chase the high of Stone Cold Fox), so I thought a YA scammer-mystery would be a great next step. But, this book unfortunately was not it and felt like an episode in the final season of an ABC Family/Freeform drama series.

The main thing that made this a miss was how confusing it was. As an avid mystery/thriller reader, I typically love books that are shrouded in mystery and reveal their secrets as the story unfolds. This is where Such A Good Liar struggled. Characters were mentioned as if the reader should already know them, but when I flipped back, I couldn’t find any mention of them. Motives were never quite clear and the stakes felt quite low despite all of the build-up. I can’t say this was my favorite, but I’m sure some readers will enjoy it.

Such A Good Liar is out now. Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Such a Good Liar follows Lydia who is staying on a rich Caribbean island populated with the ultra rich. There’s is just one thing Lydia isn’t really Lydia. She is pretending to be her to get revenge.

This book was very YA. This book had a lot of drama in it and frankly that was boring. Most of the drama was super unnecessary. This plot had a lot of potential, but it felt a bit flat for me. I also felt like the end was very rushed. I wish that the thriller parts were focused on more rather than the drama.

I chose this title based on the vibrant cover and summer vibes. I was also intrigued by the title and it immediately made me think of my favorite show "Pretty Little Liars." The concept of this story reminded me of Netflix's "Inventing Anna" which is similar in theme to the main character who must fake her social status. I love how the idyllic setting of a tropical paradise was contrasted with the storm hitting the island. This was a great way to relate the plot (storm) to the inner motivations of the character (revenge). I also liked the element of a ticking clock for the main character to exact her plans, which was a great tool for pacing.

Keeping in mind this book is written specifically for a young adult audience, I will try my best to keep my review within the scope of YA expectations. This book was fun! It wasn't necessarily earth shattering or ground breaking. However, I did enjoy reading it and trying to predict what was going to happen next.

Here's what I think works really well:
The concept. Such an intriguing idea! Revenge, a taste of the high life, a dash of suspense. Honestly, who wouldn't want to read this novel from the blurb?
The setting. The island feels real and lived in. It's consistent throughout the novel.
The author's use of foreshadowing and suspense. There are moments sprinkled throughout the novel that clue the reader in that something is not as it seems. The author treats the reader like they are smart. I truly appreciate that since so many do not in the YA genre.

The positives are a bit dulled by the feeling that the author simply did too much. The last 15% or so is absolutely wild. Even for YA, it felt a bit overboard. A bit of trimming would have helped the pace and drama of the novel without relying on outlandish solutions once our characters have been painted into a corner.