Review: The Kiss Of Deception by Mary E. Pearson
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.
Review by Ella!
The Kiss Of Deception is a fast paced novel with a clear world and plot twists. Although this book was very good it lacked a few elements that I wish it had involved.
The things I loved:
The world was very easy and light to get settled into making the novel a quick and easy read. I also loved how Morrighan (and surrounding lands) had their own religion that Mary E. Pearson created. This was fantastic because not many YA novels touch this subject but The Kiss Of Deception did (although it could have been developed more) I also loved the plot twists that you never saw coming and an abundance of exhilarating scenes that kept you on your toes!
Things I did not love:
Even though this book had very many redeeming qualities it still wasn’t a perfect book. The main characters seemed to be mostly YA tropes which made me roll my eyes (a lot of times) Some of the tropes that this book has included: The "sweet" Prince The "rebel" Princess who is misunderstood and "hates" her life as a Princess. The "scary" assassin The "inspiring" and perfect best friend
Even with many tropes, I still liked the characters there just not the type I am going to look back on and be amazed at the author's ability to craft them.
The biggest problem I have with characters was the main character, Lia. She was supposed to be seen as rebellious, brave and sassy but I saw her as somewhat rebellious and a little annoying. I liked Lia but she would have been better as a side character. I felt that she didn't have reasons for a lot of things she was doing. She didn't have a reason to not be the "perfect" princess and I wish that she had a more concrete or complex reason to flee on her wedding day. She also threw a precious family heirloom into a river:
The love interest in this book was okay and sometimes I liked him, sometimes I didn't. Lia and Rafie's relationship could have been better without a love triangle shoved in the midst of their relationship or just no insta love. I also felt that this book could have been awesomer (is that a word?) if it focused more on Pauline and Lia's friendship because as the Disney movie Frozen taught us friendship can be just as amazing (if not, better) than romance!
If you have read The Kiss Of Deception did you enjoy it and if you haven't do you plan on reading it?