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.
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.
The first thing that I noticed about story was the writing. Mary E. Pearson's writing is phenomenal! It's descriptive and lush and beautiful and so many other things. It made me fly through this book easily and not once left me feeling confused.
Another thing, was the setting. Terravin, the little village in which the princess heads to so as to start a new life, is up in the list of fictional places I would not mind living in! It's basically a small little town outside the kingdom that everybody seems to ignore it exists which grants the residents a peaceful and easy-going life. Which happens to be exactly what our princess needs!
This book is also told in three perspectives. Lea's (who is the narrator of the story), The Prince's and The Assassin's. Did I mentioned we don't know who is who? The Boys' names are Rafe and Kaiden but we have no absolute idea for at least half the book who is the Assassin and who is the Prince. I really liked that. I think it made it easier for the reader to connect with Lea as we go through almost the same journey as her since we actually get to know those two characters in the same way she does. Of course, it really killed me not knowing who was who! I kept trying to find any hinds in their PoVs that might lead me to a conclusion and when i thought I was on the right track something would happen that made go like "Nope, that's not it..". Needless to say I belong to the group of people that didn't get it right.... Oh well!
The story is also, I would think, separated into two parts. The first half of the book leans towards historical fiction while in the second part the story takes a more journey-like, adventurous turn where most of the character development happens since this is where our Main Characters goes through some more dark situations and starts being more connected with the element of magic and prophecies and her supposed destiny.
Lastly, I also loved our main characters! Lea was such a brave, loyal, stubborn and clever character with a bit of recklessness running through her veins (but we wouldn't have it any other way) and I loved seeing her grow through the book from an unsure princess that yearns for a little freedom to a strong female character who has the potential to be a great leader. The Assassin and The Prince were both very complex characters with unique personalities. They were both very strong male characters (although I liked the Prince more).
The romance was really sweet and although a lot of people say that the love triangle took centre stage throughout most of the book i think it was not really that much of a triangle and nevertheless, Pearson managed to beautifully wove it with the story.
Overall, this story was beautifully written and heartbreaking at times, with amazing characters and swoon worthy male interests! I really do think this is the beginning of a great series!
Book info:
- Paperback, 489 pages
- Published, July 8th 2014
- Publisher: Henry Holt
- Genre: Fantasy, Romance
- Rating: 5/5
Green Cover = Kiss of Deception
Brilliant review. I didn't like this one myself, for lots of reasons, but I am so happy to see you loved it so much. I got frustrated with the fact I didn't get to know who was who when it came to the guys, haha.
ReplyDeleteThank you :) I know many people did get frustrated by that too but i kind of found it to be a really strong aspect of the story!
Delete