Book received for free from NetGalley

So so good. Once I got into it I couldn’t put it down. It’s one of those books you’d love to see another one for but at the same time the ending makes sense. So glad I came across it.

Julie Clark's THE LIES I TELL is my first 5-star review of the year. Centered around two strong, bold women, this novel is the epitome of a cat and mouse game as Kat hunts down Meg Williams (aliases Melody Wilde, Maggie Littleton, and who knows how many more).

Spoilers ahead so read with care!

When I first dove into THE LIES I TELL, I expected your run of the mill thriller. What I got was so much more than that. Clark has woven a truly gorgeous novel about revenge, redemption, and the lengths we go to make people pay for what we've done. In a world where men are allowed to take and take and take, Clark found a way to write a story where women get the pay back we deserve.

I cannot recommend this book enough. Meg is wild and wily, written with care and great depth. Every action she does is planned for steps ahead. Kat is careless, but brave, all heart. Her desire to see the best in everyone is both her greatest asset and deepest flaw.

A great read for anyone who is hungry for justice, for righting the scales, and for reading terrifically written women.

This is not your typical "unreliable narrator" book. I love that Julie Clark developed her female leads beyond alcohol-induced foggy memories.

Two books in and Julie Clark is officially a must-read author for me!

Fans of Julie Clark's first book, "The Last Flight," will certainly dive headfirst into her newest foray, "The Lies I Tell." Clark features two strong female characters in this fast-paced and immensely entertaining novel. Meg Williams returns to Los Angeles after a ten year absence to settle a score with a highly visible politician who wronged her family. Kat Roberts is the journalist who has been waiting for years to expose Meg as a con artist.

In tight alternating chapters, we learn about the many nuanced layers of Meg and Kat as the story vacillates between past and present. Meg learns to be an expert at setting up her "mark" and patiently waiting to ultimately upend their lives. "It starts how it always starts. With me, quietly slipping alongside you..." What looks like a cold, calculating invasion of someone's life actually becomes something much bigger and more meaningful which is revealed later in the story.

Kat Roberts was a junior reporter at the LA Times when she first heard Meg William's name. During an interview she overheard that Meg had conned a predatory school principal into giving her access to all his financial accounts. Intrigued, Kat ends up investigating the angle of a woman con artist and ends up having her life turned upside down. She ultimately blames Meg for the havoc that ensued.

Ultimately, Meg and Kat end up in an unlikely friendship which is peppered with distrust and misgivings. Kat reads into all of Meg's actions believing she is the next "mark." Julie Clark does an expert job in leading the reader along on a exciting ride to the ultimate conclusion. This book is highly recommended and will most undoubtedly be a breakout hit.

Many thanks to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Landmark for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Lies I Tell was a quick, suspenseful read! After living under multiple aliases, con-artist Meg Williams returns to her hometown to get the ultimate revenge on the man that ruined her and her mother’s lives . She meets Kat, a journalist trying to dig into Meg’s past after blaming Meg for an event that upended her life 10 years earlier and the two strike up an interesting friendship. Will Meg get away with her biggest con to date? Will Kat uncover all of her secrets to complete her novel? It all unfolds quickly, with lots of twists to prevent you from putting it down!

Thanks to #NetGalley, Julie Clark, and Sourcebooks Landmark for the e-ARC of #TheLiesITold in exchange for an honest review.

“The difference between justice and revenge comes down to who’s telling the story.” – Julie Clark. Oh, how this quote sets the tone for the story. First the reader meets Meg, who had been dealt a terrible hand of cards for her life and flipped the script to emerge from the rubble to provide for herself. Clark then introduces Kat, who seeks justice for her suffering a decade ago, by attempting to unravel Meg’s latest con. As the story progresses, Clark beautifully blurs the lines with these two flawed main characters, leaving the reader to decide whether it is one of revenge, or justice, or perhaps a bit of both. Highly recommend!

After reading Julie Clark's debut novel The Last Flight, this book was one of my most anticipated reads of 2022, and I’m happy to say it did not disappoint!

The Lies I Tell is an entertaining and suspenseful cat and mouse tale of vigilante justice. It features two strong woman, Meg and Kat, both con artists on a mission. I believed the struggles and pains, really enjoyed the twists and turns, and found myself rooting for both of them the whole time. I also really enjoyed the writing, the alternating POV's, and the very satisfying conclusion.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for granting my wish for this book in exchange for an honest opinion. The Lies I Tell publishes 6/21/22, add it to your tbr list now!

This is the first book I've read by Julie Clark but it won't be my last. The story is a back and forth between a female con artist and a journalist who has waited 10 years to expose her story. It's fast paced and unpredictable at times; a real page turner. Whenever I thought I knew where the story was going, I typically was wrong. and the ending was totally unexpected. I would highly recommend this book.

What a twisty, complicated story that weaves friendship, betrayal, con artist and mystery! Another hit from Julie Clark after the Last Flight! A journalist after the story meets the career criminal. When the journalist can't decide who to trust and continues to pursue her story, life becomes complicated and frightening. Terrific excitement build with unexpected elements along the way!

Amazing thriller! Not your run of the mill domestic thriller, definitely has a lot more depth and a psychological component as well. Very well written, and the characters are so relatable, funny and even likable. Meg is an all around mastermind, something she had to learn out of necessity, Kat is pretty naive and I didn't like her at first, but she ended up coming full circle in the end.
My favorite thing about this book, was that it had a robinhood/vigilante aspect to the Con. It wasn't so black and white, good guy vs bad guy. Everything came full circle in the end.
I also love that she made the LAPD Officer character have a gambling addiction. Classic.

I loved this book!! This is such a wonderfully tangled, complex web of deception and fraud, centered around two remarkable women, both wanting revenge for different reasons. At the core of the story are Meg, the brilliant con artist and Kat, the journalist who feels Meg destroyed her life. As the story evolves, it becomes evident that Meg also has her own reasons for revenge against someone else. The two women become cautious friends, each hoping the other can further the revenge they seek. The book has two timelines, with the alternating narrators of Meg and Kat. It is a suspenseful, twisting mystery that literally had me guessing until the last page and rooting for both Meg and Kat! It is a superb thriller! Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book.

“Two women working together are a force to be reckoned with!” Truer words have not been spoken! Julie Clark has written a story of redemption, revenge and good ol fashion Girl Code Power! This was a rollercoaster ride of a story leaving you wanting more until the very end and beyond. Meg and Kat are truly Amazing characters and I really hope she writes a follow up to this!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for sharing this digital copy with me for my honest thoughts!

I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy in return for my honest opinion. This is the only book by this author that I have read and the instant I finished I searched for other books that she has written (phew there is one so yah!).

At the end of this book, I wanted to jump and shout “Yah Meg, way to go!” Meg is a con artist that you just have to love and she and Kate, who is entwined in her “past life” though she is unaware of this, become friends. Kate still holds her responsible for what happened ten years prior but they become friends, or do they?

I don’t want to say too much and be a spoiler. Just read it. The character development is wonderful, the plot will keep you on your toes, it’s just a great book.

Thanks again!

This is a decently-written, thoughtful tale with a relatively tight plot line. The POVs and timelines are easy to follow and move the story along without being distracting, while subtle exposition prods the characters through their various transitions. It kept me reading, which is saying something since I have an enormous slush pile and very little tolerance for bad writing. Though I correctly assumed where the plot was eventually going, it didn't detract from the story's impact and packed a few surprises that I hadn't anticipated. In all, well worth the read.

📚 Book Review 📚 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Lies I Tell by Julie Clark

Meg is a con artist who becomes whoever she needs to be to in order to get close to you. Kat is a reporter wants to expose her. What happens when these 2 women come face to face?

“The difference between justice and revenge comes down to who’s telling the story”

Holy smokes this book is so flipping good!! Told from Meg & Kat’s point of view and over the course of 10 years, we learn how one went from homeless to conwoman and the other from reporter to a woman out for personal answers. What we end up with is 2 strong women who what justice! I couldn’t get enough of this book!!! The cameo from The Last Flight was icing on the cake!!!

Mark your calendar for June 21st when this gets released!!! If you loved The Last Flight then you’ll devour this one just like me!!

Thank you NetGalley, Sourcebooks and Julie Clark for the advance readers copy of this amazing book!!!

#TheLiesITell #NetGalley #netgalleyreads #netgalleyreview #elizabethreviewsbooks #julieclark #Sourcebooks #sourcebookslandmark #thelastflight

After reading The Last Flight, I became a huge Julie Clark fan. I wasn't sure her new book top that thriller extraordinaire. Well, rest assured Clark fans, The Lies I Tell sure does! The Lies I Tell gives you perspective from two different women, with two varying yet intertwined storylines. Are they really "friends?" It is hard to choose which one to love. This story is unputdownable! There are twists and turns, suspense and a game of cat and mouse. I was sad when I finished. The Lies I Tell is a brilliant thriller!

Many thanks to NetGalley, Sourcebooks Landmark and Julie Clark for the chance to read this eARC.

I loved this book!!! I received an ARC copy from NetGalley and am so glad I did!!! This book reminded me of Catch Me If You Can but with a female con artist! It was a book that I could not wait to get back to when I was at work!!! You’ll laugh and get angry, but then will see why Meg does what she does for her ultimate con. It publishes in June and I cannot recommend it enough!!! It is listed at 320 pages and does not feel like it is that long because of how good it is!!

How do you sift through the daily lies of a con artist to find the speck of truth that may make her your friend? Meg is back in LA to complete the final con. Kat wants her to pay for a call she made ten years earlier that changed Kat’s life forever. Will their meeting now be the bomb that explodes the past to all or a tie that will bind them even closer?

This is the first book that I have read by Julie Clark. I am anxious to read one of her other novels. I found this book to be entertaining, suspenseful and well-written. I enjoyed the building of suspense, while deescalating the tension with tidbits from the past. I found the characters to be true to themselves, even if they lied to everyone else. The women were more similar than they realized and yet different as a mentor and student might be. The men were stereotypical but with just enough saving grace to make you think the women may have it wrong.

The story itself was slow to build to the finality of Meg’s mission. It did not become apparent until the end what her plan was and how she would accomplish it. Even Kat was left to wonder. The side stories filled in any areas where the build may have seemed to slow.

Highly recommended. I read it in one day.


I received an ARC from Sourcebook Landmark through NetGalley. This in no way affects my opinion or rating of this book. I am voluntarily submitting this review and am under no obligation to do so.

I am a big fan of Julie Clark and this may be my favorite book yet. A tale of two women each 'conning" each other. Kat, determined to get revenge after after 10 years and Meg having no idea what she has done to her. Full of twists and turns, I loved it!

The Lies I Tell by Julie Clark is a twisty, fierce domestic thriller.

Meg Williams. Maggie Littleton. Melody Wilde. Different names for the same person, depending on the town, depending on the job. She's a con artist who erases herself to become whoever you need her to be—a college student. A life coach. A real estate agent. Nothing about her is real. She slides alongside you and tells you exactly what you need to hear, and by the time she's done, you've likely lost everything.

Kat Roberts has been waiting ten years for the woman who upended her life to return. And now that she has, Kat is determined to be the one to expose her. But as the two women grow closer, Kat's long-held assumptions begin to crumble, leaving Kat to wonder who Meg's true target is.

The story follows two complicated women, fueled by revenge as they navigate the glitzy Los Angeles landscape in search of those who wronged them. I always enjoy domestic thrillers with strong female protagonists and this book checked all the boxes. Clark has created two very compelling characters with unique backgrounds that kept me frantically turning the pages. I found both Meg and Kat believable and likable (in their own ways), as the story gripped me throughout, carrying me to a satisfying end.

One of my favorite scenes described a TV in the background, broadcasting images of women marching in the street and holding up signs displaying the MeToo hashtag as both protagonists confided in each other regarding past experiences. It was a powerful tool to use, highlighting themes of sexual trauma that drive the plot. I found the pace steady, naturally ramping up toward the end. Clark's writing style is vivid and impactful, her voice extremely compelling, pulling me inside the character's minds where I found myself rooting for each of them.

I recommend this book to readers who enjoy a steady pace with strong female protagonists, and a highly entertaining thriller that isn't too dark.