Published February 5, 2019 by Tor Teen
e-ARC provided by netgalley
e-ARC provided by netgalley
Pretty Little Liars meets Ocean's 11 in this intrigue-filled contemporary drama from acclaimed author Kristen Simmons.
Welcome to Vale Hall, the school for aspiring con artists.
When Brynn Hilder is recruited to Vale, it seems like the elite academy is her chance to start over, away from her mom's loser boyfriend and her rundown neighborhood. But she soon learns that Vale chooses students not so much for their scholastic talent as for their extracurricular activities, such as her time spent conning rich North Shore kids out of their extravagant allowances.
At first, Brynn jumps at the chance to help the school in its mission to rid the city of corrupt officials—because what could be better than giving entitled jerks what they deserve? But that's before she meets her mark—a senator's son—and before she discovers the school's headmaster has secrets he'll stop at nothing to protect. As the lines between right and wrong blur, Brynn begins to realize she's in way over head.
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{ my review }
♫ ♫ ♫ ¾
HMM.
Listen, this book was yet another excuse to not read King of Scars because I am weak and can’t handle emotions or pain, so if I am honest, I was not. Really. Planning to read this. I mean it was supposed to be a distraction but BOY did that change.
To be Frank: this book was okay. Out of Simmons’ other books that I’ve read, The Deceivers was not my favourite but it wasn’t bad either. For one, it’s got a cool and sorta morally ambiguous main character, and two, a school for con artists, which is like. A dream come true. It was fun and a little angsty at times and I LOVED the romance, but.
But I was not really all that in love with the book.
Part of it was the narration. This is the first time I can remember where I wasn’t a fan of first person POV. Simmons wrote The Glass Arrow and Pacifica in third person and it fit the books super well. So when I found out this was first person, I was both excited and surprised. Definitely different for me but since first person is my favourite, I thought I wouldn’t mind.
But it’s just that. Brynn’s narration was not my favourite part. The writing, I think, in addition to the narration, was my least favourite thing about this book. While engaging at times, the way Brynn’s thoughts were formatted felt choppy and completely unlike what I enjoyed. C’est la vie and all that, can’t like em all.
What I did enjoy was the fun cast of side characters. I adored Caleb and Henry and the other people whose names I cannot remember because I am like That. But they added so much fun to the book! And considering they were all con artists of some sort made it all the better. Simmons really does a great job at layering her characters and side characters are no exception.
I should mention that The Deceivers has a lot going on. From Brynn’s background and her trying to escape her life, to this new school, and finally to her first job—which adds a whole new level of problems for her. It’s exciting in that way you can’t really predict what’s going to happen and also are afraid of what could happen if and when things go wrong.
I adored the romance and yes there is one!! Caleb was a total sweetheart and he and Brynn have some great chemistry. It was sorta lowkey steamy too which I was not expecting!
Overall, I’m... kinda torn? It’s not really a solid 4 but not really a 3.5 and do I really wanna be THAT extra and say 3.75? This is why I hate ratings.
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