My Reaction in a Nutshell: 
 A book about thieves is surprisingly emotional. 
 The Long Version: 
 Sometimes I like to spend hours on Goodreads looking at reviews. One night I began reading reviews and was looking at this person's account and saw the title The Lies of Locke Lamora. I thought it was a funny/catchy title and clicked on the name. When I read the synopsis I saw the words "Ocean's Eleven" and thought, I really liked that movie so maybe I will really like that book! Normally I don't like (or trust) when books are compared to other author's works (or in this case a movie), but nonetheless I decided to give it a go. And boy, do I not regret it. 
 This is my first fantasy novel that isn't young adult so it was interesting to see the world development. Lynch did a fabulous job of describing the world without making the reader feel like it was information overload. A few times I had to google images of types of clothing described to get a better idea in my mind of what the outfits look like, but overall Lynch's descriptions were nice. 
 I really enjoyed how every other chapter was an "Interlude" that (for the most part) told the story of Locke as a child being trained in the art of how to be a great con artist. Most of the Interludes were about Locke, but occasionally they would revolve around Jean or some other event that happened long before the events of this book. During the times that the interludes had nothing to do with the Gentleman Bastard, they were still crucial to the plot. Oftentimes telling the story of Camorr and therefore telling the story of its people and how they behave. It was amazing how great the past and present go together in Lynch's novel. 
 Locke is the mastermind of his gang. Stealing is something he has always been good at. His gang members look up to him and his apprentice Bug wants nothing more than to prove himself worthy of being a Gentleman Bastard. All of the members of Gentleman Bastard are very likable. I enjoyed the group's banter and their scheming. With the exception of Bug, all of the Bastards grew up together and truly seem as close as brothers. I loved reading how Jean and Locke's friendship came to be in the Interlude chapters. 
 I loved the twists and turns that happened in The Lies of Locke Lamora there were many times that I though Locke was going to get caught, but he has a knack for scheming and weaseling his way out of impossible situations. I also enjoyed how he doesn't always immediately know what the plan is going to be. Sometimes he needs a few days to come up with it, sometimes he needs a few minutes, sometimes the plan doesn't work and he has to try again and again and again to get what he wants. His "failures" make me seem more human rather than some cookie cutter perfect con man. I love how later in the novel we see how much he has grown from the child we saw in the Interludes. Locke isn't good at everything. But the other members of his gang have strengths where Locke has weaknesses. They all balance each other out and work well together. And even when shit hits the fan they are all in it together. 
 I really enjoyed The Lies of Locke Lamora but if I am being honest I feel more like this should be a 4.5 star rating instead of 5 stars because (view spoiler)[ while Lynch does an excellent job of having strong women in power (example: The Spider) Lynch also kills off three of the five main women in the book. When there are so few female characters it's hard to not be angered when a majority of them are killed. (hide spoiler)] 
 I can't wait to buy the next book in the series. I loved the twists at the end. I remember thinking around page 500 how in the world can Lynch have 200 pages of material left because it felt like everything major had already happened, but boy I was wrong. The last half of the book is packed with action, especially those last 200 pages. This book kept me on my toes. The great thing about Lynch is that he answers all of your questions. Sometimes he doesn't answer them until the very end of the book, but they are all answered. Well, at least all of mine were answered (except for two, which I hope will be talked about in later books). 
 Some questions to ask yourself before reading The Lies of Locke Lamora to make sure it is the book for you: 
 Do you like swearing? 
 Do you like thievery? 
 Do you like con men? 
 Do you like plot twists? 
 Do you like getting your heart ripped out and stomped on? No? Well, too bad because it is going to happen. 
 In summary: this book is amazing 
 ***TRIGGER WARNINGS: death, murder, torture, characters are forced to do things against will through magic/blackmail, there is brothel scene/mentions