Once Upon a Lie Themes
by Max Monroe
Underneath its plot, Once Upon a Lie wrestles with how love, loyalty, and identity survive when everyone is hiding something. Shane's undercover pose, Valentina's family pressure, and the town's constant scrutiny keep asking whether intimacy can be real when so much is staged or controlled.
This page breaks down deception and hidden identity, family control versus independence, fairy-tale romance versus real love, vulnerability and forgiveness, surveillance and privacy, and grief and chosen family. You'll see moments like Shane's stakeouts, Tommy's tax paperwork demands, Valentina's bold ask to Shane, and Alfred's advice not to close herself off, plus symbol analysis of the Hole Story, fairy tales and 'Once upon a lie,' Fourth Wing, and Avalyn's memory and wedding dress.
Major Themes in Once Upon a Lie
Deception, Hidden Identity, and Betrayal
The novel repeatedly places intimate relationships against undercover operations and family secrets: Shane poses as a disgraced cop to get close to Valentina, Nico is secretly CIA, and Tommy hides gunrunning and money laundering under Cordone Freight. The emotional cost falls on Valentina, who must reconcile love with lies after learning Shane's assignment and her father's crimes.
- Shane is assigned to go undercover as a disgraced cop and get close to Valentina Cordone, while only Dom, Captain Leonard, and Benedict Maddox know.
- Shane photographs Teeny's financial documents while she sleeps and calls it the ultimate betrayal.
- At the gala, Shane reveals he was an undercover cop and Nico reveals he is CIA, and Tommy reacts with disbelief at his son's betrayal.
Family Control versus Independence
Tommy and the Cordone family try to direct Valentina's life by pushing Leonidas on her, demanding tax paperwork, and interrogating her love life, while Valentina asserts independence through The Hole Story and refuses a life lived under a thumb. Nico both pressures and protects her, and the resolution lets her leave the Cordone business behind.
- Tommy pushes Valentina to let Leonidas take her out, calling him trustworthy and able to protect her, but Valentina refuses and thinks it sounds like a slow surrender to life lived under a thumb.
- Tommy calls Valentina demanding her quarterly tax paperwork be ready tonight and sends Leo to pick it up, forcing her to cancel her date with Shane.
- Valentina says she prefers bagels to working with family and later vows to leave all the Cordone business at the end of the driveway.
Fairy Tales, Lies, and Real Love
Fairy-tale language frames Valentina's view of romance: she says fairy tales are not for girls like her, then wonders if they begin with 'Once upon a lie' after Shane's betrayal and the gala gunfire. By the end she moves from idealized or guaranteed happy endings toward a real, flawed love story with Shane.
- Valentina says fairy tales are not for girls like her and later concludes maybe they start with 'Once upon a lie.'
- Teeny internally insists she will DIY her own fairy tale with bagels and books.
- At the end Valentina reflects that fairy tales are not for her and decides to focus on real love stories, like a cop who fell in love during an undercover case.
Love, Vulnerability, and Forgiveness
The book contrasts fear of vulnerability with the risk of love. Alfred urges Valentina not to close herself off, Valentina boldly asks Shane to the Cordone Ball, and even after learning of his deception she tells him she loves him after he is shot protecting her.
- Alfred tells Valentina that love is an honor and urges her not to close herself off from receiving it, while Valentina admits she reads romance novels because a guaranteed happy ending feels safer.
- Valentina says she is putting her vulnerability on the line when she asks Shane to the Cordone Ball.
- After Shane is shot protecting her, Valentina tells him she loves him and later thanks him for showing her forgiveness is worth it.
Surveillance, Scrutiny, and Privacy
From Shane's stakeouts and dumpster search to Rita's HOA enforcement and Magnolia Connect gossip, the novel repeatedly shows characters watching, rating, and regulating one another. This mirrors the federal surveillance of the Cordone organization and makes Valentina's need to be seen on her own terms central.
- Shane surveils Valentina at Magnolia Condos and searches her trash, finding a note signed 'Alfred.'
- Rita issues Valentina a pink $50 HOA violation and calls her out by unit number in the Magnolia Connect app.
- The customer studies Teeny 'like he's trying to read between the lines,' and she thinks she has never liked being read without offering someone her book first.
Grief, Remembrance, and Chosen Family
Loss and memory shape the novel's emotional resolution: Alfred's devotion to Avalyn models enduring love, while Dom and Hannah's newborn and Alfred's house show chosen family as a source of home. Valentina and Shane ultimately inherit Alfred's home and Pip, turning grief into continuation.
- Alfred commemorates Avalyn's birthday at her favorite park and grave with balloons and calls her his soulmate.
- Shane watches Dom and Hannah with Abby and thinks, 'This is what it looks like when someone gets it right.'
- After Alfred dies, his lawyer reveals he left Valentina his house and Pip in trust, and Shane and Valentina move into Alfred's house.
Symbols and Motifs
The Hole Story
Valentina's self-built identity and refuge, but also the innocent-looking surface under which her father hides criminal money; it represents independence and hidden criminality beneath a clean surface.
- Teeny says of owning The Hole Story: 'this place is the part of me I trust the most.'
- Mike suspects Valentina's bagel-and-book shop may be a money-laundering hub.
- Nico reveals that Tommy laundered seven figures through The Hole Story, while Shane sees legitimate small-business receipts and concludes Teeny is likely unwitting.
Fairy Tales and 'Once upon a lie'
A motif for romantic illusion, betrayal, and Valentina's movement toward a real love story rather than a guaranteed happy ending.
- Valentina says fairy tales are not for girls like her and later concludes maybe they start with 'Once upon a lie' after Shane's betrayal and the gala gunfire.
- Teeny says she will DIY her own fairy tale with bagels and books.
- At the end Valentina decides to focus on real love stories rather than fairy tales.
Fourth Wing
A book that becomes a symbol of flirtation, intimacy, and connection between Valentina and Shane.
- Teeny recommends Fourth Wing to Shane and insists he read it, and he buys it despite her offer to give it as a gift.
- Their thank-you bagel date includes banter about Fourth Wing, dragons, and sex.
- They discuss Fourth Wing again when Valentina brings lasagna to Shane's condo.
Avalyn's Memory and Wedding Dress
A symbol of enduring love, remembrance, and chosen-family inheritance.
- Alfred, Valentina, and Shane visit Avalyn's favorite park and cemetery with balloons and Tootsie Pops, where Alfred calls Avalyn his soulmate.
- A bench plaque reads 'For AVALYN, WHO MADE ORDINARY DAYS EXTRAORDINARY.'
- Valentina wears Avalyn's wedding dress when she marries Shane in Avalyn's favorite park.