The Kiss of Deception: The Remnant Chronicles, Book One (The Remnant Chronicles, 1)

The only things I knew about this book beforehand were: 1) the main character was a princess and 2) there would be a love triangle. Based on this alone, I surmised that this would be the most YA book to ever YA. So I went into this thinking it would be mostly fluff and instead, I was pleasantly surprised by some of the more complex and intriguing elements featured.World buildingFirst off, I was NOT expecting such a lovely map. What's more, the world building didn't stop at the map. Throughout the book there were excerpts from holy texts or poetry that connected to a specific culture from this world. There was also the frequent inclusion of the Vendan language. As a linguist, I am aware of how authors attempt to skirt the task of having to create new languages for their fantasy worlds by merely inserting a few words or phrases here or there and calling it good. For the most part, that's sufficient and what I've come to expect - especially from YA novels. While the Vendan language may not be as complex as other fantasy languages, I was impressed with the efforts the author made concerning it. All of these things provided such a richness to the story and I just loved it.Because so many of the earlier chapters were dedicated to exploring various aspects related to daily life, traditional festivals, and religious practices, there were sections that dragged a bit as these aspects were either explained or experienced by characters. It should also be noted that this fantasy world is light on any magical or mystical elements. There are references to a gift of foresight and mentions of gods, giants, and dragons. However, it remains to be seen how much of this is just lore and what might show up in subsequent books. In many ways, I was reminded of the world of the Winner's trilogy (by Marie Rutkoski) which isn't a bad thing in my opinion. For me, fantasy doesn't always have to include overly complex magic systems or mythical creatures. This author did a good job at creating a unique and plausible world in which to tell this story.CharactersAs I mentioned, I already knew that the protagonist was a princess, but nothing beyond that. I did not anticipate that I would enjoy her as a character as much as I did. In addition to her positive attributes of being brave, determined, caring, fierce, gifted with languages, and even sometimes clever, she also demonstrated a more foolish, naive side with how much she blabbed to anyone who might be listening. All of these aspects fit who she was and made her seem believable. While I liked her character from the beginning, I gained a much greater appreciation for Lia during those last few chapters as she made decisions about who she wants to be. She is quite an admirable and inspiring character. I'm looking forward to continuing her journey in the books to come.When I realized her maid was also her best friend, I was afraid that Pauline would only be present to serve and counsel Lia - resulting in an unbalanced relationship. Instead, they seemed to have a true friendship and connection as they supported each other and kept each other's best interests at heart. Besides Lia and Pauline, I was pleased with the other female characters who were included throughout the story. These women were mentors, friends, and allies to our main characters and I truly loved that. We need more women supporting women in books.I have mixed feelings about the male leads. First off, I have to say that I did NOT expect their identities to remain hidden from the readers for so long and initially I absolutely loved that choice on the author's part. However, keeping their interactions and inner thoughts vague from the beginning made it difficult to connect with them and identify any unique aspects early on. They both felt rather bland and somewhat indistinguishable throughout the first half of the story. Once they were separated, their own personalities started to come out and they became more interesting during the last 30%. I'm hopeful that they'll continue this transition into more complex characters.RomanceWhile I typically love romances in books, the romance aspect here ended up being one of my least favorite parts. Considering I was promised a love triangle, I anticipated way more angst and drama between the three characters. However, it was so obvious which love interest was preferred and this made the whole concept feel weak. There was hardly any tension regarding whether or not certain characters would get together before the end. (Now whether they stay together remains to be seen.) I will add that some of the drama that I expected earlier did show up toward the end and I started feeling positive about the potential for a more compelling romance in the books to come.Final thoughtsI don't want to say much regarding the plot as I think it's better to go in pretty much blind - as I did. I will reiterate that the first half of the book did feel much slower with all of the world building (some of which wasn't necessarily delivered in the most engaging way and certain aspects were still not fully explained), but what we were given was sufficient for now so I didn't mind. While the romance was rather underwhelming to me, I still liked this due to its emphasis on strong female characters, creative writing choices, and immersive world building. I would recommend any future readers to have realistic expectations about what this is and is not. (And having lower expectations is always a good rule of thumb.) Overall, this was really good and I absolutely enjoyed reading it.

3.5 Stars out of 5This book is a very enjoyable, classic YA fantasy. Our main character, Lia, is a princess who flees her home with her best friend to avoid an arranged marriage to a prince she never met. She starts her new life in a far off town where she meets Kaden and Rafe. What she doesn’t know is that one of them is the prince she was supposed to marry and the other is an assassin sent to kill her.The unique thing is that we as the reader don’t know which one is the prince vs assassin either. It’s quite cleverly done and actually a lot of fun to read.I enjoyed Lia as a main character. She doesn’t stand out too much from the line up of other YA novel protagonists, but I found her to be a sympathetic and interesting character anyway. I liked that she wasn’t “too much” anything (not too snarky, powerful, beautiful, funny, etc). Other than being a princess she was fairly average, which I was a fan of. She had good chemistry with Rafe and Kaden without being too banter-y (I hate banter). And I really liked her friendship with Pauline too, it felt natural and realistic.The romance is very YA, and by that I don’t just mean it’s clean (which it is), but also that it has a love triangle (I feel like we can all agree that those suck), and lots of scenes with teenagers professing their love for someone they’ve only just met. Though since I’m not the target audience for this book, and 15 year old me probably would have eaten it up, I won’t fault it too much. It also features the classic YA cliche of all the main male characters being attracted to the lead female character, which is over played. Another mild annoyance was that Lia was very quick to forgive a pretty big betrayal and kept crushing on the love interest. But even with those flaws, the romance plot line was still fun.Kaden and Rafe weren’t too cliche for love interests, which is saying a bit for a YA novel. But I did find them to be very similar and almost interchangeable. I think that is one drawback of the reader not knowing who is who, the author doesn’t want to give away too many hints, which results in the characters being written practically identically. I really enjoyed the chapters written from the perspective of The Prince and The Assassin since the author had more freedom to describe their thoughts and actions without us knowing which one it is.Overall, I had a lot of fun reading this book. Despite it being very much written for teens, it was still enjoyable as an adult with just a couple eye rolls. The plot and writing style kept me hooked and the characters weren’t too cookie cutter. I already have book 2 downloaded and am excited to start reading

A runaway princess, a crown prince, and an assassin walk into a bar.... No but really. Lia wants to find love not an arranged marriage with a stuffy prince who wouldn't even come see her before the wedding, so she runs away and ends up in a faraway village's tavern. But by breaking her vows she is followed by the man she was supposed to marry and a man trying to kill her to end peace negotiations. The real question is... who is who and which one will win her heart in the end. The Kiss of Deception was a wonderful read!

Mit dem ersten Band der Trilogie begleiten wir Lia, die vor ihrer arrangierten Hochzeit flüchtet und sich als Unbekannte in einem Gasthof als Kellnerin versucht, und dadurch auch Kost und Logis bekommt.Tatkräftig an ihrer Seite und zu ihrer Unterstützung ist ihre Freundin Paula.Lia ist eine starke Prota, die sich von ihrer Familie nichts vorschreiben lassen will und auf eigenen Füßen stehen will bzw. die Liebe für sich selber entdecken und kennenlernen möchte. Und das passiert dann auch, denn gleich zwei Unbekannte treten in das Gasthaus und somit in ihr Leben: Kaden und Rafe. Weder Lia noch der Leser weiß, was es mit den Typen auf sich hat und welches Spiel sie genau spielen. Wer ist wer? Wer ist der Assassine und wer der Prinz?Das macht die Geschichte spannend, besonders ab der Hälfte, wo auch ein bisschen mehr Abenteuer dann herrscht.Ein toller Auftakt mit starken Protas, und vielen Überraschungen und Wendungen. Ich bin gespannt, wo die Reise endet.Vom Englischlevel her sollte man kein Anfänger sein.

Como muitas outras pessoas, eu resolvi ler esse livro depois de ver a trilogia em mil lugares diferentes. Normalmente, procuro várias resenhas antes de comprar um livro, mas esse resolvi ler sem nem saber direito do que falava e se as pessoas cuja opinião mais me importa tinham gostado. Para falar a verdade, de vez em quando fico tão curiosa com certas séries, que nem me importo se são realmente boas. Eu só quero ler todos os livros e saber o que acontece. E foi assim com essa.Só depois de já ter os três livros e começar esse primeiro que percebi que ele tinha desagradado muitas pessoas. No primeiro capítulo já, achei isso estranho, porque dava para ver que a autora escreve muito bem. Infelizmente, ter a escrita bonita e saber estruturar uma história são duas coisas bem diferentes, e ela deixou bem a desejar na segunda.Minha primeira crítica é uma que considero grave e é ao começo. Eu sou escritora também e sei que, quando temos uma ideia que nos deixa muito animados para escrever, nossa vontade é pular tudo que precisamos escrever antes e chegar direto nela. Aqui, a ideia principal era a Lia encontrar o assassino e o príncipe e não saber quem eles são - e a gente não saber também, apesar de que eu adivinhei e a revelação perdeu a graça para mim por isso. Tudo que acontece antes de ela conhecer os dois é mera preparação da história. Infelizmente, foi tão corrido, que parece que a autora escreveu só por obrigação, porque não conseguia se aguentar de ansiedade até chegar no que realmente era a base da sua ideia para o livro.O problema no ritmo ficou claro já aí, mas se mostrou outra vez depois da metade, quando o livro começar a ficar tão, mas tão lento, que eu realmente considerei largar e só vender a trilogia para comprar livros melhores. Essa é a minha segunda crítica, essa parte do livro que é tão arrastada e desinteressante, que cheguei a me esquecer de qualquer coisa que tenha gostado antes. Desde a revelação de quem é o assassino e quem é o príncipe até o final, a história ficou bem chatinha. O pior é que tinha cena interessante para ser explorada no meio dessa parte, mas eu já estava tão entediada que nem consegui me importar.O que tinha me agradado antes era de toda a questão de "não saber" quem era o príncipe e o assassino, mas até isso dá para ver que a autora não explorou direito. Ela não se arriscou nessa questão, não criou situações mais confusas, não brincou com a dedução do leitor. Essa foi a parte do enredo que mais tinha promessa e acabou mal fazendo o mínimo. Até o romance estava perto de ser bem interessante, mas acabou indo rápido demais, provavelmente porque a autora tinha a outra parte chata da história para contar e achava que valia mais a pena gastar páginas nela. Que erro.Aliás, preciso dizer que isso da enganação, da Lia e dos caras fingindo serem outras pessoas, foi feito bem nas coxas. A Lia, para alguém carregando um segredo bem enorme, não fez questão de mentir quase nunca, disse o nome verdadeiro do seu irmão, e, pior do que tudo, não desconfiava de ninguém! Para alguém que fugiu do rei e colocou dois países praticamente em guerra, ela não deveria suspeitar de atenção demais, de interesse demais? Essa parte da história, que ainda foi a minha favorita, poderia ter sido maravilhosa, incrível e - a qualidade da qual mais senti falta, - inteligente. E foi só o básico.Tem vários outros detalhes que me incomodaram. Um deles é a tendência enorme da autora de falar as coisas em vez de mostrar. Ela fez isso bem mais no começo do que no final, mas ainda apareceu muito o livro inteiro e isso ajudou a história a ficar bem superficial. Outra coisa foi que a criação do mundo até agora está bem mais aleatória do que interessante, mas isso eu deixo para ela desenvolver nos próximos livros.Outra coisa que me incomodou foi a Lia. Ela era bem incrível na maior parte do tempo, mas às vezes caía no básico de "garota super incrível e super poderosa que conquista todo mundo e é melhor do que as que só se importam com roupas (o que todos aparentemente acham que todas as princesas do mundo são)". Nessas horas, ela virava só mais uma para mim. Sua criação também foi bastante superficial. Ela até teve certo conteúdo, mas eu esperava uma personagem espetacular (em questão de complexidade, não de ser perfeita) e ela é um pouco maleável demais para isso. A maioria dos outros personagens também são bem superficiais, e até mesmo Rafe e Kaden não conseguiram serem explorados pela história como poderiam. Não consigo honestamente dizer que me importo com qualquer um deles.A impressão que eu tive do livro é que seu enredo foi bagunçado e que serve basicamente para levar aos próximos. Sim, ainda tenho muitas expectativas para os próximos, espero que eles consigam me provar que essa trilogia vale a pena sim! Para ser honesta, eu perdoaria um enredo mais incerto nesse primeiro livro se a leitura não tivesse parecido inútil durante uma boa parte dele. E não adianta falar que é porque a escrita é "cheia de detalhes", porque ela não é. A narrativa se enrolou, simplesmente. Eu gosto de detalhes, estilo Outlander, Passenger e até Game of Thrones. Não me incomodo também com personagens que passam páginas inteiras tentando desenvolver um pensamento sobre algo específico (como em Vestígios do Dia, um dos livros que li antes desse). O problema aqui é que a narrativa se enrolou, perdeu propósito e deixou a história arrastada.E, não, isso não foi muito legal, o livro não chega a ser ótimo e tinha muito em que podia melhorar. Mas não é um livro ruim e o que me faz ter esperanças dos próximos serem bons foram todas as vezes em que a Lia se mostrou como uma personagem forte ou a autora teve a chance de provar que sabe descrever cenas bem. Espero que a partir do segundo livro o enredo da trilogia esteja melhor definido e que não me faça sentir que a autora ainda não sabia direito aonde queria chegar. Quer dizer, o terceiro livro tem quase setecentas páginas. Seria simplesmente triste ter que ler até o final dele para descobrir que toda a promessa dessa trilogia nunca chegaria a se tornar realidade.Aliás, eu acho que essa capa está toda errada para a história. Não combinou com nenhum momento, e estou tentando entender o que levou a editora a achar que encaixava. Até o título é um pouco aleatório.

"The Kiss of Deception" von Mary E. Pearson zählt für mich persönlich zu einer der Lese-Überraschungen in diesem Frühjahr!Inhalt: Arabella Celestine Idris Jezalia, Erste Tochter des Hauses Morrighan soll mit dem Kronprinzen von Dalbreck verheiratet werden, um die für beide Länder so wichtige Allianz zwischen ihnen zu verstärken. Lia, wie sie sich selbst nennt, hat für diese Zwangsheirat aus politischen Gründen jedoch wenig Verständnis. Der Gedanke einen ihr völlig fremden Mann zu heiraten, den sie weder liebt geschweige denn bisher zu Gesicht bekommen hat, ist für sie untragbar. Aus diesem Grund flieht sie am Tag ihrer Hochzeit gemeinsam mit ihrer treuen Freundin Pauline."I closed my eyes againts the thought, knowing that soon the day would cleave in two, forever creating the before and after of my life, and it would happen in one swift act that I could no more alter than the color of my eyes."Unterschlupf finden die beiden Ausreißer bei Berdi, der resoluten Tante von Pauline, die in dem weit entfernten Fischerdorf Terravine einen eigenen Gasthof besitzt. Schnell werden Lia und Pauline dort heimisch, während sie ihren Lebensunterhalt - fernab jeglicher königlicher Etikette - durch Mitarbeit in der Taverne von Berdi verdingen.Doch entgegen Lias Hoffnung bleibt ihre Flucht nicht ohne Konsequenzen. So kommen eines Tages zwei junge Männer in das Dorf - mit völlig unterschiedlichen Absichten. Der Eine ein Prinz, im Stolz verletzt, dass seine Zukünftige ihn hat sitzen lassen und doch fasziniert von jenem Mädchen, dass gleich zwei Ländern ihre Stirn geboten hat."I was angry because she'd had the courage to do what I didn't. Who was this girl who thumbed her nose at two kingdoms and did as she pleased? I wanted to know."Der andere ... ein Auftragskiller, ein sog. Assassine. Er kommt aus dem Nachbarland Venda, das in der nun gescheiterten Allianz zwischen Morrighan und Dalbreck neue Chancen sieht, Unruhen im Grenzbereich zu stiften beginnt und die geflohene Prinzessin ein für alle Mal aus dem Weg räumen möchte.Natürlich ist dem Leser von Anfang an klar, dass eine solch riskante Flucht, wie sie Lia durchzieht, nicht ohne Konsequenzen bleiben wird. Doch die daraus resultierenden Ereignisse sind hervorragend miteinander verkettet und keineswegs vorhersehbar. Auch bleibt es lange unklar, wer der beiden Männer der Prinz und wer der Assassine ist (eine Ahnung schwingt beim Lesen mit aber ich lag mit meiner Vermutung falsch :-)).Neben dem gut gewebten Handlungsstrang, der langsam - mit kleinen Spitzen - aber zielsicher auf den Höhepunkt zusteuert, lebt "The Kiss of Deception" durch seine wunderbar authentischen Figuren. Nicht jeder mag mit der Flucht Lias einverstanden sein, doch verdeutlicht er nur ihren Hunger nach Selbstbestimmung - und wer kennt das Motiv nicht? Pauline, stellt als als engste Freundin eine beständige Stütze für Lia dar, trotz ihres eigenen Schicksals. Zudem ist es Mary E. Pearson sehr gut gelungen, die inneren Konflikte der beiden männlichen Protagonisten herauszuarbeiten, in dem ein regelmäßiger Pespektivwechsel zwischen den beiden sowie Lia erfolgt.Fazit: "The Kiss of Deception" ist für mich ein Buch, das alles zu bieten hat, was das Leserherz begehrt: Abenteuer, Drama (oh ja ich hab auch mal das Taschentuch herausgeholt), Spannung, Romantik und eine gute Prise Humor - und das alles in einem sprachlich sehr ansprechenden Stil.Ich kann nur hoffen, dass die Zeit bis zum 7. Juli schnell vergeht, denn das ist das geplante Veröffentlichungsdatum für den 2. Teil der Remnant Chronicles "The Heart of Betrayal".

Prinzessin Lia hat noch nie wirklich in ihre Rolle gepasst. Anstatt geduldig, liebenswert und ergeben zu sein, spürt sie die Abenteuerlust in sich. Sie kämpft, spielt und trainiert mit ihren Brüdern, bis dem ein jähes Ende gesetzt wird. Sie muss endlich die Rolle der ersten Tochter, der Prinzessin einnehmen. Jahre danach wird ihre Ergebenheit auf eine weitere Probe gestellt. Sie soll den Sohn des Nachbarkönigreiches heiraten, ohne ihn vorher gesehen zu haben Zu viel ist zu viel. Mit ihrer Freundin Pauline schmiedet sie Pläne zu flüchten …Ich habe eine kleine Weile gebraucht, ehe ich das Buch durchgelesen hatte, was vermutlich auch an den fast 500 Seiten liegen könnte, aber es war auch die Stimmung des Buches. Sie war sanft, leicht und plätschernd. Man begleitet als Leser Lia auf eine Reise, in der sie sich selbst finden muss. Zudem gibt es noch zwei wundervolle Männer, die plötzlich in ihrem Leben auftauchen und die machen es einem wirklich nicht einfach, sich zu entscheiden … xDDer Schreibstil hat mir ausnehmend gut gefallen. Jedes Wort war gesetzt und passte perfekt zum Rest des Satzes. Vielleicht wollte ich ja auch gar nicht durch das Buch rasen, gerade weil es mir so gut gefallen hat.Zur Mitte des Buchs gab es schließlich eine Hammer Auflösung, die mich echt von den Socken gehauen hat. Mehr möchte ich dazu nicht sagen, um niemanden zu spoilern. Also eine klare Leseempfehlung von mir :D

The Kiss of Deception was a wildly imaginative jaw-dropping addition to my favourite fantasy novels of all time list.The world of Terravin is utterly breathtaking, with well thought out familiar structure and unpredictable magic. To have the first daughter be as powerful as they are in The Kiss of Deception was a bold move on Pearson's part. I say this because Pearson then had to make sure that every influence her protagonist, Lia, came in contact with had to either keep a secret or expose the fraud. Deception is right Mrs. Pearson.Pearson absolutely killed the character game. Lia is an absolute gem of a main character. Brave, defiant, and head strong, Lia doesn't lose herself to the world going on around her. She knows what she wants and will do anything to get it, while also understanding the importance of friendship and the allure of romance. I loved her relationship with Pauline, who I hope has a better go of things in future novels, and I hope that she is able to evolve some more platonic relationships in both The Heart of Betrayal and The Beauty of Darkness.It isn't often that I can't say who I want to win the love triangle war. First one of the draws of The Kiss of Deception is that the Prince and the Assassin are written in a way in which the reader doesn't know which is which. Second, both the prince and the assassin have their problems. One set out to confront Lia and the other set out to kill her, but both lied about their motives only to find that they couldn't do what they had initially intended. I think what I want to say is that both are incredibly flawed but have enough insight to realize they are flawed and want to do anything they can to be there for Lia. Good luck girl, I do not envy you.I was absolutely distraught over the ending of this book. Lia and the assassin witness a massacre of a small group of soldiers at the hands of a larger Vendans army and Lia decides it is her mission to bury each and every one of the fallen. Besides crying ugly tears I understand why Pearson chose to make this her ending. Each of the main characters goes through a metamorphosis as a result of the massacre which allows the reader a hint of what is to come.