Review: First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston

Title: First Lie Wins

Author: Ashley Elston

Year published: 2023

Category: YA nonfiction (thriller)

Pages: 176 pages

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Location: (my 2024 Google Reading map): USA (NC, LA, TN, MS)

Summary: Evie Porter has everything a nice, Southern girl could want: a perfect, doting boyfriend, a house with a white picket fence and a garden, a fancy group of friends. The only catch: Evie Porter doesn’t exist.

The identity comes first: Evie Porter. Once she’s given a name and location by her mysterious boss Mr. Smith, she learns everything there is to know about the town and the people in it. Then the mark: Ryan Sumner. The last piece of the puzzle is the job.

Evie isn’t privy to Mr. Smith’s real identity, but she knows this job will be different. Ryan has gotten under her skin, and she’s starting to envision a different sort of life for herself. But Evie can’t make any mistakes--especially after what happened last time.

Because the one thing she’s worked her entire life to keep clean, the one identity she could always go back to—her real identity—just walked right into this town. Evie Porter must stay one step ahead of her past while making sure there’s still a future in front of her. The stakes couldn't be higher--but then, Evie has always liked a challenge...

Review: The cover of my book glows in the dark! How fun is that?!

This is one of those books where I thought I knew the players and what was going on, but as the story progressed, more was revealed, with each bit shocking me more than the last. The twists and turns kept me turning pages and I read this book in just two sittings.

Evie is a smart character, brave, and cunning. I like that she is (mostly) a step ahead of everyone else and that she has a wonderful partner in Devon, her tech guy. They are both careful, sneaky, and really good at their jobs. I also felt sorry for Evie as life was not easy for her from the very start. But, no character is one dimensional so it's good that Evie also has fond memories of her childhood that work their way into the story.

The ending was satisfying, didn't come too quickly, and worked with the pace and storyline.

Challenges for which this counts: