This was an entertaining read for sure. It plays with a lot of different themes that are in the cultural zeitgeist right now – cults, scammers, pyramid schemes, corporate colonization, corporate responsibility, etc. – and mixes them together in a really compelling way. The book manages to cover a lot of different ideas and a lot of plot quite efficiently and effectively. While it is a plot driven book, it is also a bit of a character study on Ezra whose perspective the story is told from. Ezra is at times a frustrating character to read from, especially in later chapters. But, it is a different perspective than the typical scammer story is told from, and added a refreshing element. I do think that there are parts of the story that don't fully make sense, but all in all this was a fun read I would recommend.

This was exquisitely fun in the way only fiction about morally bankrupt people can be! Ezra was compelling and human and shitty and complicated and watching him live his life in service of Orson's desires was frustrating and romantic and infuriating at turns and watching people assemble around them, drawn into the magnetic orbit of their grift, was a little bit satisfying and a little bit heartbreaking.

This could only end in the place it begins and I think Frumkin walks a fairly careful line with the way prison is handled here: the way being in Ezra's head shapes the way he sees the people and the experience, the way his fellow prisoners are humanized even as they're made marks. I think they handle the coup similarly carefully, making up the kind of action movie quality country you might expect to see involved in this kind of plot because Ezra was never going to see it as anything else.

Bad guys who never really needed to be bad guys who you kinda like but never really want to win run a powerful scam, ruin some lives, and get got for it. What more could you want really?

Thanks to Simon & Schuster for the ARC and especially for reaching out again when the complete version became available!

Alexa, play Cowboy Like Me by Taylor Swift.

I really enjoyed this book. It’s different than what I usually ready but I was immediately enthralled. In fact, it made me ache for more books about occasional lovers who are con artists.

In a shocking turn if events this is probably my favorite read of the year so far. It’s a perfect mix of Donna Tartt character crafting and writing style, with the absurdity of real life Elizabeth Holmes con man-esque drama. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing these characters start with less than nothing but reach unfathomable fame which made all the nuances of the story even more engrossing.

I loved the first half of this book and then at a certain percentage in the end, I got lost.

I don’t know where the story went and then I skim read a small portion of it at the end honestly.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

A tender queer read that talks about disillusionment from capitalism? Sign me up!! This novel was SO FUCKING CAPTIVATING!!!

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

The category is con men realness. It’s as if the social network married succession and was as gay as the twitter edits make succession seem.

Our main characters are Ezra and Orson. Both sent to Last Chance Camp as teens, our duo meets and knows that they are a match made in scam artist heaven. Orson’s charisma and lofty goals paired with Ezra’s practical smarts and analytical brain allow our pair to con themselves into a better life. When they begin their biggest scam to date, NuLife, things take off and predicaments of catastrophic scale begin.

Our narrator is Ezra, and Frumkin offers such a unique and relatable guiding voice. His love for Orson builds and builds throughout the book, and it makes him one of the most achingly real main characters I have ever had the pleasure of spending time with. Even as our characters get tangled within the evils of capitalism, the root of their relationship has you right there with them until the end.

The second half of the book zipped by, I was so absorbed in the plot. Without spoilers, there was a deliciously rapid decline that had me GASPING ALOUD!!!

Rafael Frumkin innately understands queer desire, and that’s what makes this thrilling novel so exciting yet so raw at the same time. It is queer longing beautifully put to the page.

This novel is a gem, covering and breaking down something so complex as the American Dream and capitalism while simultaneously being an encapsulating story of queer longing.

Confidence is one of the most exciting books I’ve read this year, with a can’t-look-away-from-the-car-crash kind of plot. It was an amazing read, so definitely look out for this one upon its release in February 2023!

Thank you Net Galley for the opportunity to an advance copy to review,

The art of the con is getting someone to buy this book.



Let me say that I wanted to like this book.

The problem is that what I came for was a story and instead I received a lecture. or, in each chapter its own separate lecture



There is potential in this book. The grift was intellectually honest and thought provoking. It reminds one of the greatest con novels ever written, "Nightmare Alley"

The budding insecurity of "is this love" between the two swindlers rang true. Like all true love stories, one party clearly has stronger feelings.

But the denouncement of the world today as what has become a trope of speaking "truth to power" by whining that the world doesn't give itself over to your whim and instead expects you to work for it. Isn't it easier just to call my enemies an "ist" than learn their perspective and recognize them as three dimensional characters?

Victimhood is never a salve to make you feel guilty when challenging why an author makes the choices they do. In short, it makes for poor writing

As my favorite author (Rafael you may want to look him up as you both graduated the Iowa Writer's Workshop) says, "I don't trust novels with points, do you? If a novel is only about a point, the writer should just say it in as few words as possible so we can take it in and go back to watching 'The Bachelor' on television."

~William Lashner

This was the sorty of 2 cons, getting conned..and on and on it goes. Humpirous and heartbreaking in equa measures. Thank you NetGalley for thr ARC.

Story of two boys who meet at a summer camp for troubled youths and develop a romance for conning people out of their money and sometimes for each other. As adults, they develop a machine to “synthesize” people, a quick way to provide the benefits of meditation without the effort, that purely relies on placebo effect. For being a coming of age story about a series of cons and schemes, I actually found the pace to be a little slow. Furthermore, I found the symbolism of Ezra becoming blind and having glaucoma to be a little too obvious for my taste. However, as a millenial who closely followed the Theranos story and appreciates gay representation, I did enjoy watching their company explode and their personal relationship develop.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for the advanced copy.

I got about halfway into this book, which I really wanted to like, and could not finish. This book has a great premise: a con man and his adoring assistant. But I found the writing very frustrating- the assistant’s desire for the con man, which allegedly was what drove his actions, was mainly discussed in fade-to-black scenes, and this failed to set the audience up to understand the betrayal motivating the assistant later. I wanted to love this! I love scam stories. But this wasn’t the one.

I loved this!!! I'm excited to see people clamor to develop a movie script for this. I liked the pacing, the vibe, and the overall. story never felt too muddled despite everything going on. My main critique is that the characters were really indistinguishable from each other after a while, because so many names were tossed around. The Orson/Ezra dynamic more than made up for that, though. Frumkin really knocked it out of the park with this one, and I'm excited to see what he writes next.

From their first meeting at Last Chance Camp, the "final stop before juvie", Ezra Green and Orson Ortman had an undeniable bond, a connection few would understand. But this bond creates a lot of trouble for the pair, as they become inescapably linked through the scams they run together. They start small, just to make some extra cash, but Orson quickly grows bored and antsy for more. Desperate to keep Orson close, Ezra does everything possible to satisfy him, escalating the scams into wildly more complex, risky, and profitable operations. But soon NuLife, their long con, grows into a monster larger than they ever could have anticipated.

Oh boy... I really wanted to love this one, but this was just not the book for me.

I seriously enjoyed the first half of the book! Watching Ezra and Orson grow up together and develop a deeper relationship was truly engaging and I loved both characters so deeply in the beginning. The first half was fast-paced and intriguing: the cons they ran in the beginning were interesting, crafty, and fun to read about. Ezra and Orson began as flawed, but deeply lovable characters that I rooted for. Their relationship and shared intelligence made them a truly inseparable powerhouse pair. Ezra's narration was funny, quirky, and perfectly unreliable. I absolutely flew threw the first half of this book.

But, the second half of Confidence was another story. Once NuLife was introduced, the story quickly became repetitive as Orson continually wanted more and Ezra scrambled to please him. This cycle continued on and on and lost it's charm very quickly.

At this point, both Ezra and Orson developed into characters that I found absolutely insufferable. Orson became a power-hungry and selfish cult-leader, who pushed Ezra away as soon as possible and took him for granted at every turn. Once an independent and intelligent person, Ezra turns into a helpless follower, chasing Orson around like a puppy-dog and falling victim to his manipulations. Ezra makes terrible decisions for no discernible reason, such as neglecting to treat his failing eyesight, and then acts victimized by the consequences of them. Both main characters quickly devolve into unlikable people, who feel so disconnected from how they are in the beginning.

In addition to his character change, Ezra's narration also changes drastically as he becomes numb to the world around him. The narration becomes unbelievably boring and dull, which makes it an absolute drag to read. There is no suspense, no tension, no emotion to keep me engaged in the book. Many of the shocking events and unexpected twists fail to land and do not illicit a response from the reader, due to Ezra's disconnected narration.

Overall, this book had such a promising start and I was excited to read on, but the repetitive storyline, decline in characters, and boring narration. I tried so hard to enjoy this book, but it really lost me in the end. Took me twice as long to read as a normal book because it felt like such a drag.

TLDR: Extremely engaging book through the first half, with interesting characters and a creative plot, but drops off immensely in the second half in plot, characterization, and narration.

The American Dream is a scam. One that Ezra and Orson plan to take full advantage of. The two young men meet at 17 and instantly bond over potential schemes. They both came from very humble means and share a common goal-money. Ezra falls fast and hard for Orson and his signature charm. Together they go from small scams to a grand venture that quickly makes them very wealthy.

It’s from Ezra’s POV and is tinged with his seemingly unrequited love. Ezra has also suffered with eyesight deteriorating since childhood. Instead of taking preventative measures seriously he brushes off his Doctors’ warning. The whole plot was witty, humorous but also a social commentary on capitalism in America. I really loved this and the whole time I was reading it I was thinking about how great a movie adaptation would be! The author has a great personal voice and I loved the writing style. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Well, that was different! This novel tells the story of two male con artists who meet as boys at "Last Chance Camp" and come together and drift apart perpetuating various cons over the years. There are moments of humor and pathos and you feel for one of the men, Ezra, who has spent a good portion of his life slavishly devoted to his friend/occasional lover Orson.

Oh I loved Ezra and Orson. They really work, if they feel a bit... forced, at times. Which is no fault of the author -- Ezra's desperate to please Orson, so it sometimes makes things feel a bit uneven, and it's written deliciously. This was an insanely fun read, I don't think I've read anything quite like it (similar, yes, but this feels soooo fresh and new), and I cannot recommend it enough.

Thank you, NetGalley for the ARC, and high kudos to Rafael Frumkin. Well done.

The cons were delicious and sparks between Ezra and Orson were undeniable. Also, not to mention, that the heights these two reach in their climb are vertigo-inducing and that the spiral that follows is lush with thrill.

I wasn't ready for it, but the pain I felt for Ezra was deep. Ezra's greatest fear was becoming a mark, and I can't help but think that he was exactly that for Orson all along. I wish there had been at least one honest conversation between the two of them, but then I suppose you never really know where the truth is when two conmen speak.

The first half of this book is great. The way in which Orson and Ezra meet is a great introduction into Orson’s quick-wittedness. Orson gets bored of whatever they’re doing despite how much money they make. Ezra is desperate to please him and follows him everywhere. Ezra’s codependency never shrinks nor does his love for Orson. I enjoyed Brianna and Elaine’s relationship to Ezra. I like the way they took care of him. Orson progressively gets worse as a person. It makes me question if he lacks enough empathy to be considered for having a disorder.
Unfortunately this book is very repetitive. It stays stagnant. We constantly read about Orson wanting to make his products bigger and available in new countries. His cult following grows and Ezra continues to hide money.

This book answers the question, what if the kids from Holes became Holmes? Elizabeth Holmes, that is. This was a thrilling story of Ezra and Orson as they scammed and frauded their way to the top. I loved the capitalism commentary, plus I'm always a fan of Robin Hood-esque stories.
Ezra was a likeable character, that even though he was doing some highly illegal and immoral stuff, made the book enjoyable. I really enjoyed seeing his relationship with Orson, and it gave a lot of depth and insight into his character and why this plot continued to thicken.
I don't read many thrillers, but this book was fun. I never knew what they were going to do next, and it was fun to watch them make bad decision after bad decision. The book starts out with Ezra in prison at the end of the scam, so you spend the entire book knowing that this going to end poorly. If you're someone who always reads the last page of the book before starting, this book is great because it tells you how it ends.
I liked all of the characters and plot lines. The author could've very easily lost control of the plotlines, but this book always felt like a dogwalker with several dogs. There were so many plots, but it felt in control to the reader. Not to Ezra though, he was quickly losing control.
TLDR; Holes meets Elizabeth Holmes, a lot of plot that overwhelms, but in a good way.

I enjoyed this book. The characters were great, and I love a good conman in my books. Despite the heavy topics, the book was hilarious at times, which is hard to do. It was a faster read for me simply because I didn’t want to put it down.

#Confindence
#NetGalley

4.25/5
A fun read where our main characters are con-artists. Right from the beginning, all the way to the end, they show us what kind of men they are. At times, you fall in love with them; while other moments, you couldn't care much for them. But over all I loved them for two-thirds of the novel. Around the midpoint, I thought they took on too much and were in over their heads. I really wanted to have those two end up together, and in a way they did--but this read was worth it. You should pick this novel up and read it; I wouldn't say it's a light read, but it keeps you turning the page. For me, it was to see why they ended up in the big house. Right in the beginning, you learn they are in prison. You learn at the end, and it surprised me. Might surprise you as well.