The Kiss of Deception by Mary E Pearson – Book Review

This book was a gift by my lovely friend Aaliyah who I met through bookstagram. She raves about it all the time and so I went into this book with high expectations and it did not disappoint! I really loved this book and I cannot wait to continue with the series.

Rating: 4/5

If you don’t know what this book is about then here is the synopsis from Goodreads:

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.

One of the main reasons why I had put off reading it for so long was because I could see an obvious love triangle and I’m not a fan of them but this is not your average love triangle and had such an interesting twist that I just couldn’t stop reading once I had started!

We are told that Lia runs away on her wedding day and ends up spending time with both the prince she was supposed to marry and an assassin sent to kill her. But we don’t find out which is which until well over halfway through the book! I spent half the book thinking that I’m just going to read just one more chapter just so I could continue trying to figure out who is the assassin and who is the prince. Who do I like more? Which team am I on? For the record I’m team Rafe! What is even more interesting is that the story is told through all three points of view so we can see what each one of them is thinking but it still left me guessing who was who.

I really loved the writing style too, it flows really well and it kept me hooked from the first page. I mean even the first sentence had me intrigued and wanting to instantly know more. The way that the characters identities were kept secret from us until it was revealed later in the books was done really well too.

Today was the day a thousand dreams would die and a single dream would be born

I loved that all the characters were complex and each had their own secrets which made them mysterious and interesting. Even the secondary characters had backstories that we slowly learn small details throughout the story and I’m really looking forward to learning more about all of them.

Lia is a really great character, she lives in a patriarchal society and is given no choice in her own future so she decides to take her future in her own hands. She is brave and smart and is so resilient despite everything that gets thrown at her. She’s also incredibly loyal and caring especially to her friends and brothers. She also knows that despite what she wants she has responsibilities and she doesn’t hesitate to fulfil them. She is also witty and sassy and I just loved how she stood up for herself and didn’t allow anyone to speak down to her.

Who was this girl who thumbed her nose at two kingdoms and did as she pleased?

Both Rafe and Kadan are mostly a mystery, we do learn a little about them but I think we will find out a lot more in the next book. I’m also looking forward to seeing more of Pauline who is an amazing, loyal and brave friend to Lia and more of Gwyneth who I know has a lot of secrets.

Pauline is such a wonderful character, she is brave and strong and so resilient. She leaves everything behind to help Lia escape and then risks her life to help Lia by going back to Morrighan, knowing she could be killed for helping Lia escape. She also has to deal with hardships and perseveres even when she thinks she can’t go on. Her friendship with Lia is just so beautiful,, I love seeing truly amazing female friendships in books instead of women hating each other. They truly care for each other and make sacrifices on each other’s behalf. I hope we get to see more of them together in the next book.

Maybe there was no one way to define it. Maybe there were as many shades of love as the blues of the sky

This book was such a wonderful surprise and I’m so glad I read it. It’s a story of friendship, of self-discovery, of living life on your own terms and adventure. It’s full of people who for one reason or another hide who they are and deceive those around them. The second half of the book is a little slow for me at times but the story was still so interesting and full of plot twists I wasn’t expecting that I still wanted to continue reading. Really looking forward to what will happen next in the next book.