The Deceivers by Kristen Simmons
Publication Date: February 5th, 2019
Initially, I was intrigued by this book when it was pitched as “Pretty Little Liars meets Ocean’s 8.” And I’m not sure if that ended up being the general takeaway for me, even though I did enjoy this book. For me, the premise reminded me more of the Gallagher Girls series by Ally Carter, but with a darker theme. Anyways, The Deceivers follows the story of Brynn Hilder, a girl who cons rich people out of their cash in order to save money for college and escape the clutches of Devon Park. When her mom’s drug dealer boyfriend steals all her money and tries to enlist her into his seedy business, she is resigned to follow in her mother’s footsteps. Then she stumbles upon a recruiting party for an elite school she’s never heard. Little does she know that Vale Hall is not what it seems. It’s a school for con-artists.
What I Liked:
- This book is pretty bingable. I mean, it could have just been that I really didn’t want to be reading the book I was supposed to be reading, but I want to believe that the intrigue is what kept me from setting it down.
- I liked that Brynn is clever, determined, and tough. I normally don’t see many characters with these traits. It was refreshing.
- The premise of this book makes it easy to showcase the awful side of side of humanity, and it does it well. I was cringing because of how truly terrible people could be.
- I really love the cover art! I think it’s very striking and eye-catching, without getting overly complicated.
What I Did Not Like:
- My main problem with this book was that I guessed the very ending from like 5 chapters in, which is kind of disappointing. Although a few times it did have me wavering in my conviction.
- On the other hand, a lot of the smaller twists completely blindsided me.
- Not really a dislike but, I was really surprised to find out that this is the beginning of a series. I figured it was a standalone. I mean, how many different ‘big cons’ can there be to pull on powerful people in one town?
Recap:
Overall, I did enjoy this book. The beginning was highly addicting, but the last fourth of the book dragged for me. The characters were well-written and had pretty good chemistry. You really hate the bad ones and really root for the good characters. I look forward to seeing how the rest of the series plays out, and hopefully I’m disproved in my hypothesis. If you were ever a fan of the Gallagher Girls series, I think you would enjoy this book too (and possibly the entire series as well).
3.75/5 stars
xoxo, Bree
*I received this ARC in a publisher giveaway. Thank you TorTeen and MacMillan Publishing.*
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