This is a four for now, based on the ARC ending. Michelle confirmed via twitter the final published edition would have a different ending (though how different I din't know). When it comes out I'll update this to reflect how I feel about both.

For now I'm a ball of grief for what happened, though it felt a somewhat abrupt. Will there be another book to resolve the dangling threads? Does the published ending resolve them better?

Grace is at times hard to feel sympathetic for. She may not have been born to this life but she continues being part of it. And as she admits the only truly unforgivable thing is being naive. As this is from her point of view (and knowing something goes badly) it's hard to see the signs. ( )

[b:Lies I Told|20983351|Lies I Told (Lies I Told, #1)|Michelle Zink|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1404495816s/20983351.jpg|40360375] is a fun heist mystery story that looks at morality and family.

Pros:
-Each family member has their own reasons established for their involvement in the heists.
Grace want to be part of a family, to have that connection that was missing before her adoption. Parker wants to freedom, saving enough money will buy him a new life where he can be his own person. Renee loves creating a new image and self with each grift, playing the appropriate part. Cormac loves the challenge each heist presents. This helps set up the relationships in the family.
-Parker is a wonderful brother and cares about Grace so much. Even though he becomes heavily disillusioned by the heist games in the book, he is steadfast in his support of Grace.
-The Marks: Logan, Selena, and the other friends Grace makes during the con are kind, welcoming, and warm. She starts to experience true friendship for the first time and begins to question her actions and role in the con.
-The ending was dramatic, full of tension, and surprising. The lead up and fall out will have major implications of our characters and their lives going into book 2.

Cons:
-What the hell is up with the neighbor? There are so many unanswered questions surrounding who he is, why he was so sketchy and is he actually crazy.
-Rachel is a little underdeveloped as a antagonist for Grace. Even though she is smart, she can come across as a little too mean-girl stereotype, and not as well developed as the other secondary characters.
-Parents SUCK as people. They are the definition of abusive. They adopted young and impressionable foster children and then groomed them into a life of crime after they were given a home and family.
-Grace is naive. She is so focused on supporting the family and making her parents proud that she doesn't question them or stand up for herself at all, despite numerous warnings from Parker.

Overall, I really liked the story and most of the characters. The characters were well established for the roles they played in the story and had both flaws and strengths. The story was engaging and carried real consequences for the characters. I will definitely read book 2. ( )

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: This book was suspenseful and atmospheric, and I enjoyed the lush setting.

Opening Sentence: Looking back, I should have known Playa Hermosa was the beginning of the end.

The Review:

Grace and her adopted family move around the world, never staying in one place too long. They are con-artists, sinking into a community to get close to people for the intel they need before taking their money and throwing away their fake identifies for new ones. Grace’s brother, Preston, isn’t a fan of this lifestyle, and Grace isn’t sure if she is either. Every time they move around, she has to be a fake, plastic version of herself, until she is no longer sure who she is. And the lies keep stacking up — she can hardly see the truth now. The guilt, regret, and doubt are weighing down on her. But with all that she has done, is there really any way to redeem herself? And how can she get herself out of this situation?

Then Grace’s family arrives at a small, beautiful California town where a paranoid man has stockpiled twenty million dollars in gold bars. This will be their biggest con yet, if they can achieve it, but also the most dangerous. Grace’s job: get close to the man’s son, Logan, and learn more about the house to discover where the bars are hidden. Grace is good at being social and faking her way into the right groups of friends. But this time is different. She suddenly can’t ignore how the lies are stacking up, and the unmistakable feelings she has for Logan. These feelings are dangerous. Before starting Lies I Told, I had read quite a few reviews, and they were generally positive. That being said, I moved into the story with an open mindset and some set expectations. For the most part, it impressed me, though I had a couple of problems with the book as a whole.

Grace was the main character and narrator of this story. I liked her — she was strong, but also a realistic character with plenty of guilt, regret, and doubts. Being in the situation she was in couldn’t have been pleasant, choosing between her “family” and being honest. She felt trapped, a lot. She also often doubted whether all the moving, all the lying, all the layers of herself that she had built for jobs, was worth it. Their “parents” used her brother and herself to help in the charade. I think that they did love them, but not enough to let them make their own decisions. Yet she managed to retain her moral compass through the book, and that made me respect her character. She was an easy enough POV to sink into, and I liked how she could appreciate the beauty in different things and people.

Logan and Grace’s connection was instant. Okay, I don’t know how many times I’ve said this, but I’m sort of done with the whole “love at first sight” thing. It happens way too often in YA books these days and isn’t very realistic. I’m clearly not a fan. Logan’s a nice kid, and he and Grace are cute together, but the insta-love spoiled the whole relationship for me. Every time they kissed I was irritated. Also, I wish that Grace had given Logan some sort of warning, a hint, that she was not to be trusted. It wasn’t fair to him, the whole situation. It was upsetting to me that all that Logan ever had done was open up his heart to Grace in the most sincere ways, while she kept feeding him lie after lie.

Altogether, I found Lies I Told to be a satisfying first book. I didn’t even realize that it was in a series until the last couple pages, when I saw that there was so much left unresolved. The cover for the second book has been revealed, and I’m interested to see where Zink takes the story next, since it could go in any number of ways: it was sort of left up in the air. The characters were done well, though I wish Grace had developed a tad bit more (we’ll probably see that in the second book). There was a plot twist at the end that I did not see coming and further proved the point that Grace owed her “parents” nothing. I loved the beautiful imagery of the California setting, and how the words appealed to all five senses. One thing I also wish had been more present in the novel was humor. A good laugh might had bolstered my thoughts about it higher. Anyone looking for a thought-provoking story with suspense, action, and a strong tone will enjoy this book!

Notable Scene:

“Selena Rodriguez.” My mom repeated the name. “Was she in the subject files?”

I shook my head. “I needed a place to sit and ended up at her table. She’s nice.”

She smiled. “I’m glad you’ve made a friend. Maybe you can use her.”

I flashed on Selena’s clear brown eyes, her unguarded smile. Something twisted in my stomach, and I immediately regretted mentioning her. “Yeah, maybe.”

FTC Advisory: HarperTeen provided me with a copy of Lies I Told. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. ( )