This was a great quick read. The story built well and sells it well. Think this is going to be great for those who are just delving into the world of mystery stories.

This is a an excellent well-crafted story that I really enjoyed! It's fast-paced and the twists are really well done! I would recommend this! Special Thank You to Hashtag Press, Denise Brown and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

The premise here is okay. It seems predictable but does a decent job of subverting expectations. The plot turns, on the other hand, rely on some pretty questionable coincidences and secrets. The reveals are more confusing than shocking and it fails to drive

Pearl is playing an innocent game of hide and seek when she finds newspaper clippings about her father finding a baby. She immediately wonders if SHE is the baby, and so starts her journey for answers. Pearl and her friends -- Samantha, Danny, and Leon, take on an investigative role, looking for answers. What they find, only brings up more questions.

For the most part, I liked this. I had my doubts about the storyline because a lot of it seemed to be obvious to me from the beginning, but there was some twists I didn't see coming. But it also felt like answers came to easily to these teenagers who were just wandering around asking weird questions. On that note, I do feel like I still had some unanswered questions, but the big ones were resolved by the epilogue.

It All Started With a Lie delves into the gripping tale of Pearl, whose world is upended when she stumbles upon a newspaper clipping featuring her father cradling an abandoned infant outside a hospital. Convinced that the baby is her, Pearl embarks on a journey of investigation alongside her three closest friends. However, their quest for truth takes an unexpected turn as they unearth not the identity of the abandoned child, but a buried secret that has haunted Pearl's family for years—a revelation that plunges them into the depths of a dark and unsettling mystery. As Pearl grapples with the shocking truths uncovered, she must navigate the tangled web of secrets and lies that threaten to unravel her family's carefully constructed facade.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

I love YA and YA thrillers are up there with some of the best that I have read, and, this one definitely didn't disappoint. It was twisty and left me wanting more - please let there be more

A gripping YA thriller / murder mystery, in the very modern style of popular authors like Holly Jackson. I found this story really intriguing and found myself trying to guess who the baby was, and (light spoiler) I kind of did? I knew it wouldn't be as obvious, and weirdly, it leaves a lot of questions unanswered so I'd hope for a sequel! Really nice group of friends, too, I liked the characters a lot. Great!

This book was AMAZING. It was so enthralling and suspenseful, I couldn't put it down! I loved seeing the plot twist and turn in so many directions, finally settling on something no one would have guessed! It was honestly just so good, and I would definitely recommend it!!

It All Started With A Lie by Denise Brown begins with the main character Pearl finding an old picture of her father holding an abandoned baby in front of a hospital. I am usually a fan of YA mysteries but something was just off. While the premise of the book intrigued me, I wasn't satisfied with the ending.

This is a mystery set in England that bounces between seventeen years ago when everything initially happened and present day, where Pearl and her friends stumble upon some interesting information.

It's a quick read but the mystery is a bit slow to unfold and I never got fully invested into what happened. Mostly because it didn't seem to matter that much except for Ty's involvement. The British lingo sometimes threw me off as well, but that's not a huge deal.

The story had a few interesting turns and wrapped up fairly well all in all. Not a bad story to binge through.

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All opinions are my own. Thank you to Hashtag Press and NetGalley for the copy.

It All Started With A Lie is fast paced and fun to read. The plot kept me guessing and I never saw the ending coming. A perfect mysterious thriller.

It all Started with a Lie is a stunning novel from Denise Brown that looks at secrets held deep within families and the tragedy this can cause when Pearl accidently comes across a pile of old newspaper clippings hidden within her father’s desk draw.
She comes to the conclusion that the stories are about her, the baby abandoned outside of the Hospital. The year is right, the details referred to in the story fit, according to her. She convinces her friend Danny to help her try and discover the real story behind the articles and in doing so they set off a train of events that no one in their quiet neighbour could ever have foreseen.
Murder has been committed and the closer the two friends get to finding out what really did happen the danger increases, ending in a horrific and catastrophic fashion.
Written for the YA age range it is a story that ranges across many generations, as it deals with unwanted and unexpected pregnancy, hiding the truth through fear, failure of family to support their children and the mental anguish caused when truths are hidden and kept hidden.
Fast paced in places, and yet heavy going in others, the story unfolds in layers, the text messages from long ago adding another layer of intrigue, as it becomes important to try and discover which of the characters sent the text messages and who they were sent to. Are they still a part of the community or not?
The final chapters tend to be a little rushed, as so much information carefully hidden within the body of the story is woven into a stunning conclusion. One of the main points within the story is why it is that Pearl, who is very close to her father, does not feel she can ask him about the newspaper articles.
None the less It All Started with a Lie is a story that captivates from the first page, is filled with twists and turns, frustration oozing from the pages, sorrow permeating the narrative, all of which has been carefully and skilfully portrayed in a story woven around family dynamics.

Pearl is playing hide and seek with her little brothers and best friend when she finds something she can’t ignore or understand under her fathers desk. As she and her three friends set out to solve a 16 year old mystery they will learn that obsession is hard to get over and not everyone is who they seem. This was a fast page turner for sure and I was making guesses until the last page, which has a huge reveal on it!!

˗ˋˏ ♡Thank you Denise Brown and NetGalley♡ ˎˊ˗

Wow wow wow wow, honestly loved this book. It was really easy to reaad the writing style made this possible, it is nothing overally descriptive. It was also a real page turner, I could not put it down, well expect for when I was in school. However, when I was reading it I could not put it down, I was scrooling and turning to the next page just waiting for what was next and wondering what would happen. I was hooked from the first page, I knew that this sort of plot would not be one of the most orginal but I will always eat it up. However, I did feel that the climax and the real mystery being founf out came very qucikly and sudden towards the end.

Pearl was a good narrator, but sometimes it did feelt that she was being dramtic over things and when she kept regretting looking into the the whole mystery it was a bit annoying. But I do like her overall. Danny, I liked him at the start, but I did not like how he just started to blabber his big mouth about Pearl's problems to Samatha & Leon. Like it was not his place to speak on it at all, and then he started being distant with Pearl and not telling her things, even though he said he would be with her every step of the way, but overall he was alright. Samatha, I did not enjoy her character at the start, I felt annoyed when she just came and started asking questions out of nowhere know it problay wasn't any of her business, and it also felt that she was only in the group to get with Danny. In the end I did like her character as she did help with the case and I do feel bad for her due to the end of the book. Lastly, Leon at first I did not like him that much but I do not even know why, however I grew to really like him, he really did care for Pearl and he was also very helpful.

The way the story was structured was very nice, I enjoyed gaining the text messages between Bex and Boo in the past and then the present moment. It really kept you thinking about what exactly was the truth. And the truth was very suprising but also made sense, when it was found out all the things discussed in the past made sense, it all fell into place.

Overall, great book!

It All Started with A Lie is a fast-paced novel with a great group of characters and a suspensive plot. If you love YA mystery books you will love this. I thought this was a great easy read mystery book with lots of twists and turns

This was such a well thought out thriller, with plot twists that would shock you and such detailed layers of past and present dialogues. I enjoyed how descriptive this was and how the reader was constantly drawn in with audible gasps at what was happening. I look forward to reading more of this author, as I found the writing style to be so captivating!
Thank you to Netgalley for the chance to read this ARC. All opinions shared are of my own.

This was a great book. I loved every paragraph, every sentence and every word of this masterpiece! I read it in 12 hours, which is a lot for me to do! It had everything and more laid out in the novel! I sure hope There is more to come from this author! I am totally hooked!

Thank you to Netgalley and Literally PR Ltd for this ARC of ‘It All Started With A Lie’ by Denise Brown.

I loved this book so much! I was immediately pulled into the story, it’s fast paced and extremely gripping. I read it in one sitting and really enjoyed it. I just had to know what happened immediately!

It All Started With A Lie by Denise Brown is a great Teen/YA mystery that kept me intrigued and flipping the pages.
An engrossing and suspenseful story that was such an irresistible, fun and thrilling book to read.
It’s a well written, fast paced, compelling and gripping page turner from beginning to end. And the characters are outstanding.
I was immediately sucked in and devoured every single page of this wickedly entertaining book.

Thank You NetGalley and Hashtag Press for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

It took me some effort to get into this book—I knew it was a mystery but, at first, I struggled trying to understand what it was about. That the transition between the opening scene and the next chapter is a bit jarring, only added to my generalized confusion (I think the very British lingo didn’t help me either, but that one’s on me).

However, once I got into the story, things moved fast and I enjoyed this multilayered mystery enormously.

The book, both in style and subject matter is firmly anchored in its YA category. The overly dramatic teens, themes central to teen identity like pregnancy and romantic obsessions, not to mention wanting to be treated like an adult while still struggling with feeling unwanted by one’s family… it all plays perfectly into YA.

The story develops in two parallel timelines. A past one, involving two sisters, Bex and Boo, is presented as the text message exchange between them. There’s nothing else to explain this timeline, and yet we get enough—and cleverly delivered—information to start picking clues about the present time. I found this timeline intriguing but also a bit frustrating, mostly because I wanted to know more about the sisters. In general, the effect of that text-only narrative does add to the feeling of mystery that surrounds our main character, Pearl.

Pearl’s timeline represents the present time. Pearl has twin young brothers and a best friend and neighbor, Danny. Pearl has a mother that seems not to like Pearl very much but she also has a very supportive father. Or course, like in any good mystery, appearances are not to be believed.

When Pearl discovers a newspaper clip about her father founding an abandoned baby, she, like the overly dramatic teen she is, jumps to the conclusion that she is that baby and that her parents had been lying to her all her life.

And that’s how they—Pearl, Dany, Leon and Samantha—start investigating what happened in the days before that baby was found.

What follows is a twisty mystery involving lots more people that one would think are capable of keeping a secret. Yet, the story feels believable, and the ending is super satisfying.

Three-and-a-half stars. This one is a round-down to three stars, mostly because of how hard it was to get into it at the start.

The ARC I read was provided by Netgalley.