First Lie Wins - Ashley Elston - ★★★★

AUTHOR: Ashley Elston

GENRE: Cat-and-Mouse Dramatic Thriller

RATING: 4 stars.

In a Nutshell: An interesting cat-and-mouse drama. Steady-paced, twisty enough, gripping throughout. Recommended, but not necessarily as a fast-paced thriller.

Story Synopsis:

Evie Porter has just moved in with her dreamy boyfriend Ryan Sumner, a rich businessman with a grand family home. Is she excited? Yes, but not as you would imagine. You see, ‘Evie Porter’ doesn’t exist. The identity of Evie has been given to her by her mysterious boss “Mr. Smith”, and moving in with Ryan and learning everything about his business is one of her tasks on this ‘job’. She cannot allow her comfort with Ryan to supersede her professionalism. But when an unexpected surprise reveals itself, Evie begins to wonder if she is on the job, or if she herself IS the job.

The story comes to us in Evie’s first person perspective.

PSA: Go in blind!

Bookish Yays:

😍 The plot: Innovative without being over the top. I like this kind of unreliable narrator story because the narrator isn’t making a fool of us by feeding us false information but by revealing only as much as she wants to. It’s nice to figure out if the con artist is conning someone else or being conned or worst of all, conning us!

😍 The cat-and-mouse factor: The book is very clearly a cat-and-mouse dramatic thriller, but you will keep changing your mind about who is the cat and who is the mouse.

😍 The twists: These come at regular intervals. Some of them, I could guess, and some caught me unawares. But almost all were interesting.

😍 The main characters: Usually in thrillers of any kind, we get a clear picture of which character to trust and which character to doubt. Not in this book though. I kept changing my mind back and forth about Evie and Ryan.

😍 The romantic relationship: As Evie has just stepped into a new phase of the relationship with Ryan, I was worried that their romance would supersede the core story. But the author uses their relationship as an impetus to the main plot rather than making the relationship itself the focus. Their connection is used well.

😍 The character development: The writing is really intelligent, especially at the start. You get a cue of how Evie’s mind functions without any devious sentence from her. It is understated, yet impactful in keeping us on our toes. Well done!

😍 The ending: Really good and fairly satisfying, which made me forgive and forget the minor loopholes in the rest of the content.

😍 The use of the title in the plot: So clever that it is almost like a master class in lying! (Yeah, that’s not really a good thing to learn, but hey, it is a useful skill! 😉)

Bookish Mixed Bags:

😐 The writing structure: Divided between ‘Present Day’ and some flashbacks containing details of the earlier jobs handled by “Evie” for Mr. Smith. I initially felt that these backstories were superfluous and just a way of extending the book, but by the time I reached the finale, I realised how important each story was in the overall plot. That said, a couple of the past gigs were drawn out and boring. Also, the ‘Present Day’ plot was so interesting that it was a bit frustrating to diverge into the past in the midst of the present action.

😐 The pacing: Just as I like thrillers to be. Not so fast as to eat up the details, and not so slow as to kill me of boredom. It is fairly quick and steady throughout. However, if you like your thrillers fast and furious, you might be disappointed.

😐 The complexity: This story being too complicated is both a pro and a con! I still don’t know if I understood the whole of it, but what I understood, I mostly enjoyed. But if you ask me to explain some of the finer points, I’ll be totally lost! 😁

😐 The typical sidekick character – a tech genius who can crack anything and everything without ever coming on the radar or either the police or the villain – is so done to death! I liked the character, but I am bored of characters like him.

Bookish Nays:

😒 There are a few teeny plot holes and coincidences and exaggerations. Some of the character motivations are weird! Then again, these are the features of almost every thriller, which is why I am not a happy reader of this genre.

All in all, I definitely enjoyed this psychological drama as it kept me hooked throughout. I am not a thriller lover by any means, especially as so many “thrillers” these days seem like carbon copies of each other. This book was mostly a breath of fresh air. The pacing might not satisfy all avid thriller readers, so it’s better if you read this as a twisty medium-paced cat-and-mouse drama.

This author is supposedly known for her YA thrillers and romances, and this is her first foray into Adult Thrillers. But as I haven’t read any of her YA works, all I can say is that this book doesn’t feel YA any time, which is great!

I will end with the same advice I give myself before picking up such a story: Read it without overanalysing to enjoy it better. Because of the unique and complex structure and multiple timelines in the past, I wouldn't recommend this book on audio.

I read a complimentary copy of this book through The Pigeonhole. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion.