Very enjoyable, quick read. The look at life through the lens of an individual with synesthesia was fascinating and the mystery was intriguing and unique.

This book did lean toward the typical teen melodrama found in a lot of YA, but I thought overall it was a solid read with some really cool plot points. I’d be open to reading more from this author.

3.5 Stars
This was an interesting concept for a book in general, with synesthesia and a big mystery to solve. The whole book takes place over just a few days and was a lot of information and angst crammed in a short amount of time so I think I struggled to connect to the characters. There was not a lot of character development, more plot with people thrown in. Also there are hints of a romance but we don't actually see it develop, we are just supposed to know it is there as kind of a given. The mystery was wrapped up too quickly and easily for my liking, there was never any actual mystery to it since there were only the one guilty suspect. I think the author did a great job being descriptive and bringing the main character's synesthesia to life, I just feel a little like everything plot and relationship-wise was rushed and I would have liked more detail. Overall this was a super interesting idea and I would be willing to try other books from this author in the future.

I loved this story! I loved the use of her condition and how it was looked at as a super power and I loved all the twists and turns along the way. The color of lies kept you guessing through to the end. The strength and power of love was a beautiful story wrapped up with the mystery and murder of it all. This is the first time ive read this author but will look into more from them and will be purchasing this book for my home library

A solid YA novel that was a good purchase for my library. Students have read and enjoyed it, and I purchased it because of this review copy.

This emotionally-charged murder mystery has a distinctive twist that adds to its appeal: Ella has synesthesia, which allows her to see the intentions of others through the images and colors they radiate. Alec has no aura, which is troubling, but his interest in digging up Ella’s past, which is he claims has a violet twist of which she is unaware, makes his sudden appearance more questionable. Readers will wonder, as Ella does, who she can trust, and root for the sweet romance that develops between the two.

(originally written for the now defunct Hope by the Book review magazine)

Ella’s life is anything but ordinary. Her parents died in a fire when she was just three years old, she has synesthesia, which allows her to see other people’s feelings and emotions as colors and she is being raised by her grandmother, uncle and godfather. Although life might not be what one would consider “normal,” it is still pretty boring and predictable. Until a cute stranger shows up and Ella’s entire world comes crashing down.

The Color of Lies is a pretty good read. It is different from a lot of other mystery books in that the romance doesn’t overtake the mystery, the family dynamics are non traditional and it doesn’t feel like a story written for young teens. The end was very fast paced and kept me engaged but about three fourths of the book felt slow and hard to keep up with. It was also very predictable. I figured out the majority of the mystery before I was even halfway through, however, the part that I didn’t figure out was big enough to keep me happy with the ending.

Altogether, I enjoyed this book. It wasn’t the best or the worst, but it was a solid read and if you’re someone looking for a quick and easy mystery, this one is perfect.

I got this book through NetGalley primarily so that I could do research on published books that include characters with synesthesia, like one I've written with a synesthetic main character. My book's science-fiction/fantasy, so, for some reason, I expected that this book would be similarly genre-oriented. It was not. It is, in fact, a mystery, a YA mystery, and a very good one at that!

Because I don't write mystery, or read many books in that genre, I don't consider myself an expert in its conventions. I am familiar with them, however, and very familiar with the specific qualities of books that make them a joy, thrill, or education for me to read. The Color of Lies is written in an intense but moody style that pulled me along and put me easily into the head of Ella, the main character, as she discovers, first, that all is not right with her cozy little world, and second, that there might be many things very wrong with it. Its pace is not breakneck, nor is it slow; it's just right for the genre and the age and maturity of the POV characters. And, of course, at the climax, it picks up rapidly. And while I deduced who the probably villain was about 60-70% of the way through the book, the way that Ella discovered it totally surprised me.

The writing was crisp, the plot perfect. If I could give this book 4.75 stars, I would, the lacking .25% only being due to the desire I had to understand Alec's (the second POV character) motivations a little better or more deeply. That isn't necessarily a fault with the book itself, though.

All in all, a great read!

Loved this book! Quite often YA books seem to repeat themselves but not this one. I enjoyed it and it kept me guessing until the end.

Thank you netgalley for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Ella is a classic good girl, who lives with her grandmother and uncle after her parent's died when she was very young. While Ella would be a pretty boring person, since she takes care of her family and doesn't push back on much, her family is one with various forms of synesthesia. Her gran sees sounds, her uncle tastes words, and she sees auras. This makes it difficult for the family to interact with others and makes them pretty great lie detectors. Ella doesn't ask for more than what she has, until a cute journalist shows up and begins asking hard questions about her past. He thinks that her parents were murdered, but Ella's family doesn't want to back to that hard past. Ella begins looking for answers on her own, which opens up a new world of secrets.

The ending was predictable. The romance was solid. The characters and plot were defined.

I felt that this book fell in more of a YA category, which is perfect for my high school students. I feel this is a book they would really enjoy. I found it to be a little young for me, but I'm glad I read it so I can recommend it to my high schoolers!
I also like that this book is about a person who sees/experiences the world differently than the average person. As a teacher of students with special needs, including Autism, I really liked the main character and feel that my student might relate to her on some level, as they take in the world differently as well.
I liked the suspense of this book and it was fun reading until the end of it . Thank you Blink Publishing for an Advanced Reader copy in exchange for an honest review

*thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this free copy in exchange for an honest review*

First off, the main character has synesthesia, a little known condition that sometimes causes your senses to read on other frequencies than their own. I am a synesthesiac...I hear music in color. It’s a beautiful life but also a bit cumbersome.

I liked the thriller element of this story and the feeling that Alec & Ella we’re going to bust their whole investigation wide open in the next turn.

Was a fast read and didn't feel overly YA. Kept me reading and finished it quickly. I will definitely read this authors work again.

It was a great novel. I liked the writing and the characters. I would recommend this to other readers and students.

Honestly, I was really not into this book...at first. It ended up getting me at the end. The majority of the book was mediocre and the characters relatively bland. The book is written between Ella & Alec's perspective, which is something that I enjoyed. The suspense kept me reading and the ending is what brought on my rating.

First of all, synesthesia is fascinating. It's a condition we don't really understand but at the same time is helping us to learn more about the brain and the science of thought. So making it a central part of a mystery is a pretty cool element. That's pretty much the only part I like, though. I found some of the plot elements tired, The final twist had me guessing for a while but I found I wasn't really engaging with the plot in a meaningful way.

I received a digital copy of this book from Netgalley for an honest review.

Since reading the author's other book "Broken" and really liking it, I was pretty disappointed that I found this one so lacking. Probably the biggest let down to me was the characters. They were just so bland and awkward. The whole first half of the book all they do is just keep apologizing to each other and getting no where. Even the description of Ella's medical condition got old. It felt like it was brought up every other sentence This one wasn't for me.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

Dang! I was not expecting this book to be what it turned out to be. Ella is a girl who had a horrible tragedy happen, her parents died in a fire when she was a kid. Now as a senior in high school she lives with her family that gratefully took her in after the tragedy. When Alec shows up in Ella's life though he turns her world upside down. I really had no idea how this book would go. I wasn't expecting that ending at all, but I enjoyed it. The author managed to write a captivating story about one girl and her family. The novel will keep you reading and question everyone until the very end.

What if you could see people's auras? Like ghosts of color around each person, dependant on their mood and personality. I loved hearing about Ella's synesthesia. What an interesting story that CJ Lyons penned!
This book was a two-day read. Very entertaining! Plus, it was perfect to start a 2019 reading challenge! I had to know what was going to happen! I drank coffee, felt jittery, craved cinnamon rolls, and wondered what color my aura would be... A fun read with enough mystery to keep me interested. Definitely entertaining and enjoyable! I would recommend to friends.

A young woman who can literally see the emotions of people around her, a family who lives with synesthesia, and a young reporter looking for answers combine to uncover truths long buried.

When Alec asks Ella questions she didn’t even know needed answered, everything she’s believed her entire life becomes suspect. What is the real story behind her parents’ deaths? And who, exactly, is Alec?

C J Lyons delivers a cast of interesting and memorable characters—from Ella and her family to her friends. And even though this story is categorized as YA (because Ella is eighteen), it never felt like I was reading in that genre.

The mystery moves the story along until the intense conclusion, and the immediate attraction (romance is pretty much non-existent until the end) and connection between Ella and Alec is palatable because it has a solid base readers will learn as the story progresses

I receive complimentary books from publishers, publicists, and/or authors, including NetGalley. I am not required to write positive reviews. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

With Color of Lies being a YA book, I was not confident I would enjoy or even like it. As it turns out, I loved it! Loved it enough that I will be recommending it to my 17 year old granddaughter.

Blessed, or maybe not, with the gift of synesthesia, Ella Cleary has been reading people her whole life. Like her mother before her, she sees colorful auras about people, auras that can change with moods, auras that keep her somewhat isolated as being “different” leads her to have few friends.

Following the death of her parents in a fire that swept through a beach cottage, Ella was raised by her grandmother, Helen, her Uncle Joe and godfather, Darren, Ella is thrown into a season of confusion, anger and fear when a stranger enters her life.

Confused by Joel, whose aura is the first she is unable to see, Ella somehow finds that a part of him trusts him. And his off the wall story about the fiery death of her parents, well that cannot possibly be true, can it? Her parents died in a fire, it was an accident, they were not murdered as Joel says.

Surprised by how much I enjoyed this book; I’m older than the author’s average reader. To me, that says a lot about an author’s storytelling abilities, to be able to entertain a cross-section of more than one generation is an outstanding example of good writing.