“Today was the day a thousand dreams would die and a single dream would be born.”
Mary E Pearson- The Kiss of deception
Publication Date: June 2,2015
Publisher: Square Fish
Genre: YA Fantasy
Pages: 486
Dates Read: June 6-7, 2019
Format: Paperback
SYNOPSIS FROM GOODREADS
📖”In a society steeped in tradition, Princess Lia’s life follows a preordained course. As First Daughter, she is expected to have the revered gift of sight—but she doesn’t—and she knows her parents are perpetrating a sham when they arrange her marriage to secure an alliance with a neighboring kingdom—to a prince she has never met.
On the morning of her wedding, Lia flees to a distant village. She settles into a new life, hopeful when two mysterious and handsome strangers arrive—and unaware that one is the jilted prince and the other an assassin sent to kill her. Deception abounds, and Lia finds herself on the brink of unlocking perilous secrets—even as she finds herself falling in love.” 📖
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
4.5 STARS
Wow. First I just want to say that this novel truly swept me away!
This is the story of Princess Lia of Morrighan, who when we first meet her is in the process of getting ready for her wedding to the Prince of Dalbreck (the neighboring kingdom) that she’s never met. This is not the life that Lia wants, and with the help of her friend Pauline, she flees the palace. They settle in the small town of Terravin and really start to live their own life. But our past always come back to haunt us, and so two strangers join the mix. The Assassin, who needs to kill the runaway princess, and The Prince who wants a glimpse of his runaway bride.
This girl is not your average YA princess character. She is strong, brave, compassionate, independent, and fierce. I truly loved her character- Yes she makes mistakes, she is only 17 and just now finding her true independent self. But even while I say that, know that at times she truly shows a maturity well past her age, and knows her own mind well enough that she can make good decisions. This is truly a story of one girl’s desire for free-will and independence and it is truly captivating to read.
Lia’s adventure is fascinating, and Pearson has created a very cool and intriguing world. The world-building is truly spectacular. She has interweaved the story with these snippets and previews of the world that came before (woven with Mythology and Intrigue) and that tugged at me and made me NEED to know more and more about this world. This world is portrayed as far from perfect and just, but also full of magic and wonder.
This fantasy combined with the plot truly sucks you in and holds you captive. The one and only complaint I will have is that the beginning half of the book had little to no action, which could make for slower reading at first. I believe that this is made up to you by the unique way that Pearson built the story. As we continue on in our story, we meet ‘The Assassin’ and ‘The Prince’ both nameless to us as the reader, which pulls in this element of mystery that keeps us guessing. The plot just builds and builds until we reach the peak of this mystery and then the book really picks up.
I won’t tell you which boy is which, but I loved both Rafe and Kaden and I was thoroughly convinced that I had figured it all out. But the twist was BIG and for me it was a shock that came out of nowhere. It was truly a surprise and I feel that it really propelled this book forward.
The romance- I’m sure you’ve heard something about this if you’ve read other reviews. This is a love triangle and it has some mixed views. I personally loved it. There was deception, secrets, swoons, and a certain intensity about it that sucked me in. I found that I truly loved both of the boys vying for Lia. I will say that one of the boys will rip your heart out and crush it, and i’m hoping that Pearson will help me recover in the second book. While the betrayal is damaging, it is also bittersweet and somewhat understandable as the line between love and duty is hard to navigate.
Even though I did love them both, I did have a favorite and I am excited to see how this story progresses through the other two novels. I am wondering if Pearson can change my mind now that we know which boy is which? We will see.
There were so many things that I loved about this novel. The characters were well done, even the secondary characters. They are strong and well written. I especially loved the character of Pauline. She was just as strong and brave as Lia, and I don’t think she gets enough credit in the book. The world building was phenomenal and I can’t wait to explore it more thoroughly. The story was intriguing and yes, while it is romance based I honestly didn’t mind it. The writing style was beautiful and enchanting. It flowed nicely and even switching between the 3 POV’s was seamless, which can be hard to achieve.
I look forward to the next two books, and can honestly say that if the story stays the course, this could be one of my favorite series.
Alicia Reads It 