Teens will gobble up this Karen McManus mystery as they have the others she has written which is why I will definitely be purchasing this title for our library. A sincere thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-ARC copy.

I love books with grifters as the central characters and this book did not disappoint. I was on the edge of my seat and unsure who to trust while reading. Excellent pacing, dynamic characters, and intriguing plot line. Overall, happy that I read it!

(4.5 stars) Murder mystery and jewelry heist; dual POVs; short chapters; action-packed with so many twists; some parts were predictable while others threw me for a loop completely; compelling plot with a lot of components that interweave effortlessly; was so hard to put down

Special thank you to Random House Children’s/Delacorte Press and NetGalley for a DRC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for an arc of this book.


Any book from Karen McManus is an automatic buy for me so I was thrilled when I got approved for this book. I really enjoyed reading this and it felt very different from her other books which was a nice change of pace because I felt like her other books were getting too predictable because of how similar they were. This book is different in a good way. With most of her books I usually end up guessing the mystery but with this one I was not expecting it at all and thought it wrapped up nicely. The only complaint I have is that I really didn’t understand the need for Liam’s POVs. I liked him as a character but this book felt more like it focused on Kay rather than the both of them so Liam’s chapters didn’t feel like they were wholly necessary. I look forward to getting this in paper copy when it comes out.

Definitely not my favorite McManus. However, as a high school librarian, I will be purchasing for my collection, as students adore her (and I usually do!).
My biggest pet peeve about YA thrillers is teenagers putting themselves in extremely dangerous situations in order to "catch" the bad guy. This book is very guilty of that. The main characters- told with alternating chapters in their voices- are long lost step siblings who randomly meet at a huge event put on by a very wealthy family.
Chaos ensues, and they take it upon themselves to solve the mystery. Even though there are murderers and jewel thieves on the loose.
I am also getting tired of the con artist trope.
The book was wrapped up in a pretty big mess of unlikely twists, but don't worry, the 2 main characters will save the day.

It’s just like all my the other McManus reads - I’m thinking it may not be as good a mystery as the others because, let’s be honest, there’s gotta be a stinker in her catalog at some point, right? But, nooooooooo! This story had twists until, LITERALLY, the last paragraph. So good! So much fun to read and just interesting as hell! I dug it!!! 💜📚

The characters in Karen M McManus’s books always feel so REAL despite the crazy plot lines. I loved the protagonists in this story in particular because of the gray areas they lived their lives in.

The plot of this one also felt very different from the plot lines of her other novels. I couldn’t put it down!

I highly recommend any heist fans pick this one up.

Karen M. McManus just never misses, and Such Charming Liars was no exception. In fact, this might be my new favorite of hers. Scammers are in right now, and I thought I had con artist fatigue - but that didn’t stop me from loving this book. When I read a thriller, I’m really there for two things: the characters and the twists. McManus (as usual) nailed both of those. All of the characters—and especially our two narrators, Kat and Liam—were interesting and compelling. Kat and Liam’s dynamic was so refreshing and didn’t take the predictable route that I assumed it might. I also had, in the best possible way, no clue what was going on the entire book. I didn’t see a single twist coming, and there were quite a few of them. I was legitimately sad to reach the end of this book; I would have gladly spent a hundred more pages with these characters. A very clear five stars!

This was my first Karen McManus book. I liked her writing style but the plot felt short for me. The immature/lost parent leading to the child being a hero is becoming an over saturated genre.

Once again. Karen McManus has readers on the edge of their seats with her latest murder mystery!
I always say. I'm not a huge mystery fan, let alone a murder mystery reader but I always love reading Karen McManus' books! They keep the reader guessing whodunit. I kept thinking I knew who it was throughout the whole book. There are so many twists and turns you just can't put it down! It's perfect for middle school and high school readers (and adults too). There's never over-the-top blood and gore or other "ickiness" that some readers may shy away from. There's plenty of non-stop action to keep the reader engaged in the story with alternating voices of the two main characters Kat and Liam.

A must-have for all middle school and high school libraries!!

Great twist and fun characters although at times the chars (esp fmc) are a little weak at decisions. The premise was intriguing and it lives up to it. Thanks for the arc

#NetGalleyARC Ih this was so good!! The writing is captivating and kept me guessing until the end. I love the ending, I hope it means this is going to be a new series because it definitely sets it up for that possibility. A must read!

I'm a big fan of McManus's writing. Her stories move fast because there is a lot of action and mystery. I liked this story because it was about mothers/daughters. As always, McManus's writing entertained me and I found the plot to be thrilling. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

A classic Karen McManus ya thriller! Such Charming Liars has all the twists and turns I’ve come to expect from her novels. Like her other stories, there’s the featured POVs (2 in this case), but all the other characters are still so fleshed out and shine through in those perspectives. I was drawn into the plot right from the start and couldn’t get the movie Heartbreakers (Sigourney Weaver and Jennifer Love Hewitt) out of my head. Such a fun and quick read!

Thank you to Netgalley, Delacorte Press, and Random House Children’s for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Kat & her mom, Jamie were “rescued” by and now work for Gem, a jewelry conartist (for lack of a better term). The last heist to get clean and out of the business is a big one! And Jamie takes it to get her and Kat out of the business.

Then Jamie’s 48 hour husband from Vegas and his son show up threatening to blow Jamie’s cover and all she works for. One thing after another happens to make things more and more difficult but they’re determined to make this heist happen.

I loved the twists and turns, especially figuring everything out at the end! I will be buying a copy for my classroom and recommending it to my students!

Thanks NetGalley for the advanced readers copy in return for my honest review

Thank you to Random House Children’s Publishers for the arc of Such Charming Liars!

Quick summary: Sixteen-year-old Kat’s con artist mom takes on one last heist before going straight for good, but the job takes a deadly turn.

I was very excited to get an advanced copy of this July 2024 release. One of Us Is Lying has been a top ten checkout for the last two years in my high school library. I choose books for our school-wide reading initiative and order them at the start of July, so this arc gave me the opportunity to decide if I want to include it in that July order.

I think readers will gravitate more towards this title more so than McManus’ other works outside of OOUIL simply because it has a similar title, and that’s okay! The only McManus title I haven’t read is The Cousins.

Personally, I would have liked a bit more realism to this work, with descriptions a bit more vivid that “ruby necklace” for jewelry thieves. Overall, it’s an easy read with a decently memorable plot.

Wow, another great book from Karen McManus! Kat and her mom, Jamie, are sent to a wealthy family's New England compound to pull off a jewelry heist but the entire trip seems to go awry from the beginning. There were lots of twists and turns, and I thought they were pretty captivating! I read it in about two days.... great book for fans of this genre!

Such Charming Liars has all the hallmarks of a classic McManus novel— alternating points-of-view, a trio of friends that become family, and an unputdownable mystery.

Kat is the daughter of a jewelry thief with the goal of leaving crime behind and Liam is the son of a con-man. They’re also long-lost step siblings who by a seeming twist of fate end up at the same party on a billionaire’s compound. The billionaire’s son is murdered, and with his nephew in tow, the duo works to save themselves and solve the crime in the process.

This may just be my favorite of hers yet. I love the way the drama is the same between the adults and the kids. No separation. Who is good? Who is bad? Is everyone corrupt?

Fans of her work and fans of the genre will like this one, for sure!

Thanks to Netgalley, Random House Children’s, and Delacorte Press for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve loved every book that I’ve read by this author, and this upcoming release was no exception. I had so much fun with the unique premise and characters, and the pacing really suited what I look for in a bingeable popcorn thriller. I definitely will be recommending this book to my friends when it comes out!

Will I buy this book for my library? Absolutely. Did I love this book? No but I also didn't hate it. I liked the twist at the end but some of it felt a bit predictable. I also found Kat to be an incredibly bad decision maker and that really frustrated me. I would say this is a 3.5 star rating from me.