In C.J. Lyons’ The Color of Lies, protagonist Ella Cleary is an eighteen-year-old girl with synesthesia, a rare condition that runs in her family. Synesthesia causes her to see people’s words in a colorful aura and tell when people are lying. Ella, who lost both of her parents at a young age due to a tragic fire, lives with her grandmother Helen, whose synesthesia causes her to visualize sounds.
The novel begins on Ella’s eighteenth birthday, when she meets college journalism student Alec Ravenell. Ella instantly discovers that she can’t see Alec’s aura, which makes her feel both relieved and distrustful. After Alec, a journalism intern working for an author who specializes in true crime, reveals that Ella’s mother was murdered, the pair work to find the truth and eventually discover that Ella’s entire life has been a lie. Over the course of the book, Alec and Ella overcome hardships and lies to ultimately fall in love.
The Color of Lies is a well-crafted and interesting story due to the characters Alec and Ella, who are both troubled but fundamentally good people. Author C.J. Lyons was able to balance plot twists and profoundly emotional moments to create a thought-provoking and engaging novel. Although the book was at times slow-paced, I enjoyed that it was divided between Alec and Ella’s perspectives, allowing me to connect to both of them individually.
The book begins with Ella’s perspective, providing insight into her tragic past and the shock and disbelief that overcomes her when she first meets Alec and learns that her mother was murdered. Over the course of the book, Ella, who is portrayed as sensitive yet hardened, constantly doubts that Alec is telling the truth about needing to gather research about her parents’ deaths for his job. Due to a misunderstanding, Ella even accuses Alec of setting her studio on fire while she is trapped inside, which readers are shown is not true through Alec’s perspective. Although splitting the book between the two characters’ points of view made the plot more intriguing, it also made me feel less sympathetic toward Ella as she accused Alec of committing terrible acts despite his pure and kind personality.
Despite Ella not trusting Alec throughout the book, their relationship is actually very sweet and balanced. Alec helps Ella gain more confidence and eventually saves her from her grandmother Helen, who is revealed to be a con woman who wants to kill Ella. In return, Ella helps Alec gain more confidence and come to terms with his decision to leave home for college. At the end of the text, Alec and Ella visit Alec’s family and enjoy their first Thanksgiving together, providing some closure to the story. However, I felt that this ending was insufficient considering the consequences that Alec and Ella faced throughout the book. After Ella was betrayed by her so-called adoptive family and Alec risked everything to save her, I believed that they both should have received more fulfilling endings besides falling in love and gaining more freedom.
When I first started reading this novel, The Color of Lies seemed like another cliché combination of romance and mystery. Upon finishing it, I learned that it is much more than that–the book is simultaneously a medical mystery and family drama with emotional moments of romance and thrill that don’t always fit perfectly into the text. Through her descriptive writing, Lyons shows readers strength and confidence, which Ella gains throughout the story through her relationship with Alec, does not always need to come from one’s own self. Despite Ella being with Alec, The Color of Lies also shows us that we cannot always trust others–Ella’s family is revealed to consist of con artists who have been manipulating her for years to gain access to her family’s fortune. Finally, Ella’s ability to see lies did not prevent her from being manipulated by her family members, demonstrating that what we see is often affected by what we believe.
Overall, The Color of Lies was an impactful novel that explores complex themes of trust and family. Although the book may seem boring at first and has its faults, it is very heartwarming and delves into the idea of what it means to have freedom. The novel’s emotional intelligence and authenticity make it a powerful and inspiring read that I would recommend for lovers of both mystery and romance.
