The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson Series: The Remnant Chronicles #1
Published by Henry Holt & Co (7.8.2014)
Genres: High Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult
Format: eARC, 492 pages
Source: NetGalley
A princess must find her place in a reborn world.
She flees on her wedding day.
She steals ancient documents from the Chancellor's secret collection.
She is pursued by bounty hunters sent by her own father.
She is Princess Lia, seventeen, First Daughter of the House of Morrighan.
The Kingdom of Morrighan is steeped in tradition and the stories of a bygone world, but some traditions Lia can't abide. Like having to marry someone she's never met to secure a political alliance.
Fed up and ready for a new life, Lia flees to a distant village on the morning of her wedding. She settles in among the common folk, intrigued when two mysterious and handsome strangers arrive—and unaware that one is the jilted prince and the other an assassin sent to kill her. Deceptions swirl and Lia finds herself on the brink of unlocking perilous secrets—secrets that may unravel her world—even as she feels herself falling in love.
My thoughts
Oh good flippin’ lord. I’m quite proud of myself for making it 65%, honestly. (Keep in mind that this book is FOUR HUNDRED AND NINETY TWO PAGES LONG. Almost five hundred pages of NOTHING.)
This book was slow. Painfully so. There was absolutely nothing happening in the entire first half of this book. It was just Lia being a bartender and talking to thinking about the *adopts high-pitched breathy voice* two handsome, swoon-worthy gentlemen that stumbled into the tavern. Seriously.
The romance was RIDICULOUS. Absolutely and positively ridiculous. First of all, what are the odds that both dudes are going to walk into Lia’s tavern together, at the same freaking time? I found that to be a bit too convenient. Second of all, you’re telling me that BOTH of them just forgot their reason for finding her because they were so starstruck by her beauty that they couldn’t bear to harm her? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! The assassin, who of course is supposed to KILL Lia, was the most ridiculous. What kind of assassin are you?! How many opportunities did he have? I’m sorry, but a real assassin would not care about beauty. Oh, but no, Lia is different. She’s a super speshul snowflake. *eye roll* And the Prince. Like, what is even the point of tracking her down? I thought that was a little bit silly.
I mean, I might have liked the overall idea of it if I hadn’t been so freaking annoyed by the god-awful romance, but by the time the “twist” came I was so done with this book that it didn’t make any sort of impression on me. View Spoiler » But still, at that point I just wasn’t impressed.
Oh, and on top of a (pointless) love triangle, there was also instalove. Yes, that’s right folks. At 46% (and about a whole three interactions), Lia is upset about Rafe and is all, I had thought he was different. Everything about him seemed different, every way that he made me feel. I’d thought we had some sort of special connection. *barfs* Special connection? You don’t even freaking know him!!! ARGH. Then he comes back and is all, “Because ever since that first day I met you, I’ve gone to sleep every single night thinking about you, and every morning when I wake, my first thoughts are of you.” YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW EACH OTHER.
I also found the characters to be rather vapid. Especially Lia’s servant, whatever her name was. I didn’t care about either love interest because half the time I couldn’t tell them apart. They didn’t have much personality to speak of other that “broody” and “nice.” *eye roll again*
Honestly, if you want to read a review that sums up my feelings of this book better than I can sum them up myself, check out Khanh (Clowns, Nightmares, and Bunnies) or Emily May‘s reviews. They are perfect!
Overall Assessment
Plot: 0.5/5
Premise: 4/5
Writing style: 2/5
Originality: 1.5/5
Characters: 1/5
World-building: 0.5/5
Pace: 0.5/5
Feels: 0.5/5
Cover: 4/5
Overall rating: 0/5
Sorry it didn’t work for you….
I feel like everyone got the Prince and Assassin backwards! I was certain I had it right too. Sorry you didn’t enjoy this one. I do think that the world building was better in the next one.
Oh yikes! Sorry this didn’t work out for you. Been iffy about this book so not sure if I’m going to pick it up after all. I would have those issues too. I don’t like draggy stories or too much gimmicks. Thanks for your honesty.
I just got this in the mail today. My brother thought I would like it. Now I am questioning his tastes, because he thought it was amazing. He liked Twilight too though… maybe I should start side-eyeing his tastes.