The Kiss of Deception (The Remnant Chronicles, 1)

TL;DR My review for this is a 4.5 out of 5 stars. I thought this was a great read, with just a few problems to be had. It's definitely a romance fantasy with political intrigue, which aren't too uncommon lately. My misgivings mainly focus at the beginning and wanting more from the POV structure Pearson initiated. The Kiss of Deception is the first book in The Remnant Chronicles by Mary E. Pearson. We follow Lia, who is the First Daughter, the Princess of Morrighan, descendant of Morrighan herself. It is believed that all First Daughters have the gift, a knowing. The lure of such a gift throws her into an arranged marriage to the Prince of the Kingdom of Dalbreck, a man she has never met. But as she flees on her wedding day, a prince and an assassin set out too-- both in search of Lia. Cover: I'm not particularly drawn or discouraged by this cover. I like the scene and emotions it depicts, and I feel that is accurate. I like the typography and the setting of the title on the front. The girls hair is the only thing I didn't find completely true to the story, or at least, what I interpreted from it. Writing Style: At first, I wasn't sure if I enjoyed Pearson's writing style. Sometimes it felt a bit verbose when it didn't need to be. An extra word here or there that would lend little to the narrative. I had also been told The Remnant Chronicles were a read-alike to The Winner's Trilogy by Marie Rutkoski. While I can see the similarities now, they do both stand on their own. Once the narrative picked up, I started to enjoy her writing. It was descriptive, and full of emotions. I felt like I understood the characters, and that made me care for them. Although the book was long (relatively), and the story didn't move exceptionally fast, I still felt like it was a pleasure to read. Characters: Great characters, with an interesting variety. A maid, a princess, a prince, an assassin, and on and on. I appreciated that even the side characters didn't feel as shallow as I expected. I wasn't sure where to place this, but her use of the POV structure here was interesting. We see through the eyes of not only Lia, but the prince and the assassin searching for her. It brings a surprising depth to the narrative and gives an interesting spin to the characters, especially with the little twist of Lia's, and ultimately our, unawareness of their true identities. Plot/Theme/Pacing: The Plot in this is simple enough that all the embellishments bring it alive. I don't like going too far into plot (spoilers!), but the synopsis gives you most of what you need to know. As I mentioned earlier, I like the POV plot device of having the views from both the assassin and prince added in. It wouldn't have worked as well if the mystery of their identities hadn't been kept from us as well. I'll admit that I was wrong about who was who. I flopped back and forth with each new piece of evidence, but yet I was wrong. One of my few misgivings was that I wanted more from this initially. I felt the scenes through their eyes weren't enough in number. But, I think at the finish of this book, I'm okay with how Pearson dealt them out. Having read the prequel ebook, Morrighan, I was privy enough to draw some conclusions about where the story was headed, and once the action I was looking for began, I was definitely intrigued by the revelations. I still have questions-- and that's good, there are still two more books to read. As I mentioned before, the pacing was slow to start, but it definitely picked up, probably about 50-60 pages in for me. After that, I thought the pacing was adequate, giving a good sense of how much time events needed to take place. Recommend? If you've read past my blathering about the POVs, then yes, I definitely recommend this book. I'll be moving on to The Heart of Betrayal next. I have a feeling some things will be turned upside down and our what we know will be tested.

3.5 Stars out of 5 This 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

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 building First 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. Characters As 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. Romance While 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 thoughts I 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.

Rating: 3.5/5 After Lia escapes an arranged marriage to the prince of a neighboring kingdom, she finds peace and contentment as a tavern maid in a small village. However, her life becomes complicated with the arrival of two men, Rafe and Kaden, who she comes to care for. However, little does she know that one is the prince she left at the altar and one is an assassin meant to kill her. As Lia finds herself falling in love, she also finds herself uncovering secrets about her heritage and the history of her kingdom, and also the power she has within herself. Okay, now, I truly enjoyed this story. The reason my rating is not higher, is for reasons I can only attribute to personal preference. There were issues I had with some of the technical choices Mary E. Pearson made but I understand that not everyone will feel the same. I will be discussing them in detail down below, and there will be spoilers. *SPOILERS* . . . . . For the first half of this story we are not meant to know which man is the assassin and which one is the prince. It is supposed to add to the mystery and suspense of the situation, and I assume we are to route for one or the other, based on their own merits, rather than how they progress the story. However.... I found it almost laughably easy to figure that Rafe was the jilted prince and Kaden the assassin. For two reasons. 1. Their physical descriptions. Rafe is described with darker features, where as Kaden is the lighter of the two, with blonde hair. I instantly knew Rafe was the prince because no way anyone would believe a man with lovely blonde locks would be a vicious assassin. I feel that it was a plot device used by Pearson to throw us off the scent. 2. Because Lia's attentions were only for Rafe. Rather then give both Rafe and Kaden equal attention during this portion of the story, Rafe almost instantaneously became the focus. This not only made it hard for the reader to care about both of them equally, but again, it made it obvious that Rafe was the prince. Why? Because no self-respecting, hard-core assassin would let himself be so easily and completely taken by a target. Sure, Kaden grew feelings for Lia, which was what ultimately kept her alive, but he wasn't out snogging her and completely forgetting his mission. Going back to their physical appearances, I felt myself distracted by the plot device that Pearson used to manipulate our opinion of which man was the assassin or the prince. Why? Because I wanted Kaden to be that dark, brooding man you would believe the assassin to be. So that is how I kept picturing him. Another personal struggle I had, was trying to pay attention to the politics and history woven throughout the story. There was so much focus on Lia and her relationship with these two men, the snippets of history and the things Lia uncovered almost felt secondary and unimportant. This read to me more like a historical romance rather than a fantasy. Finally, there was a portion of this book that dragged a great deal. When Lia and Kaden are travelling back to Venda, this seemed to go on endlessly and, in my opinion, slowed the momentum of the story. Though it did end with a bang, I feel there probably could have been about fifty or pages cut out. So yes, that is quite a few gripes. But I did enjoy the overall story and found it to be a quick and engaging read. I was always interested to see what happens next and with that ending, I am definitely to see how Lia and Rafe's fortunes fair in Venda

Ugh. Words fail me. This book was so so so so good! So I hope that this review turns out somewhat coherently so that you can understand my feels. Lia is the princess and First Daughter of Morrighan. She is about to marry the prince of Dalbreck to secure and alliance between their two kingdoms. But Lia has other plans for her future and she takes off with her best friend Pauline right before the wedding. They go to the little village of Terravin to try and set up new lives for themselves. Things are going well for them when two handsome young men show up in the tavern they're working in. One being the prince Lia was meant to marry and the other being the assassin that was sent to kill her. So her budding relationships with them certainly make things interesting! Where do I even start?? THAT PLOT TWIST MAN! I was positive I must have read something wrong. So I went back and flipped through the pages and it turns out that Mary Pearson totally got me. It completely floored me that I had everything wrong. But it was so awesome! I really enjoyed the world that was created in this book! I loved getting all the history of the kingdoms and getting so much information on the religion of the kingdoms. It made everything feel so much more real to me. I liked seeing the differences between the Morrighese and the Vendans. I liked Lia a lot. It seems like I spend a lot of time after reading books gushing about how much I love the main character. I'm just so easy to please and Lia pleases me a lot. She is smart. She is patient and fairly good at biding her time. She is stubborn. She is compassionate even for those who don't show her any compassion. She is loyal. She doesn't want to be a princess in an arranged marriage, but she eventually chooses her kingdom over herself. She is kinda mouthy, but uses that mouthiness for general good. She is just awesome. Kaden and Rafe (the assassin and the prince) were pretty great too. This book has the feel and the makings of a love triangle, but I didn't feel like there was one. For which I am very grateful! I really liked Rafe. A lot more than I liked Kaden. Kaden just kept getting in the way of my Lia/Rafe time. Unacceptable. Both of them have feelings for Lia. For one of them, the feelings are unrequited. They both do everything they can to help Lia. While I can see where Rafe's help is infinitely more brave, I can see where Kaden is doing what he can to be helpful while also not getting himself into too much of a pickle. I really enjoyed the romance in this book. It was kinda hot/cold at the beginning, but it was so sweet and turned out in a way that has deeply pleased me so far. I usually am not such a fan of books told in too many points of view. But I liked this one with Lia's, Rafe's, and Kaden's points of view. I don't think this book would make quite the same impact without all the different points of view. But I didn't really see the purpose of the one random chapter in Pauline's point of view??? I am really wanting to know more about this mysterious gift that Lia has and that her mother has apparently tried so hard to hide from her! And I also want to know more about Lia's weird encounters with tigers. Maybe she's the tiger whisperer? I want to know more about the other kingdoms as well! I really truly loved this book! I can't think of a single thing that I disliked about this book. This series will EASILY make my top five favorites. These is a sweet romance, lies, deception, betrayal, and ploT TWISTS!!! This book was so amazing, if you haven't read it, I don't know what you're waiting for, get on that immediately! I am personally very glad that I waited til I got The Heart of Betrayal to read this.

This book seems to evoke both ends of the emotional spectrum for most, and starting this book, I was a little hesitant on whether I would fall into the negative side, considering how Pearson's earlier books were not quite my type of read. But fear not, this book caught me hook line and sinker, with the kind of intensity I was not expecting. It's a slow read, like a flower unfurling its petals, and at a point I can't particularly pinpoint, I was fully immersed in the characters and their unwinding fates. If I could only reach out and touch the stars, I would know everything. I would understand. As someone who feels particularly negative towards romantic polygons, I was wary of the hint of the two decidedly male characters who appeared in the synopsis, all but declaring that there would be a love triangle. Fortunately, the suspense of the mystery behind the identities of both males made the first part less odious than expected. Call me morbid but having an assassin around more often than not sparks up some interesting dynamics in the character relationships, especially in conjunction with a prince. I spent a good deal of the book anticipating and speculating over which of the characters was which, and I'm happy to say that I was rather taken by surprise and the two males are quite difficult to pinpoint, with clever character development and intriguing appearances all the more better to disguise their true intentions. "Some things last."I faced him. "Really? And just what would that be?""The things that matter." But of course who is a commendable love interest without a worthy partner? Lia, our heroine is a brave-hearted girl, despite her slightly wishful tendencies, and at heart she is true and fierce, making her a worthy candidate for her illustrious title. She had my sympathy from the start with her political bindings, and while she may seem rather too winning in her new-found role after running away, there is a strength in her that brought out admiration and love. Even with the introduction of potential romance between some of the characters, she never seems flighty, and her earnest belief in the power of love touched my heart. Towards the end, we see Lia tap into her inner strength, and I am excited to read the sequel in hopes of seeing more of that aspect shown. "And if one can't be trusted in love," I added, "one can't be trusted in anything." Of course I have a favorite character, and in hopes of keeping the surprise of his identity intact I will not mention names, but the assassin has slowly crept into my heart, which is not surprising, with my tendency to develop a soft spot for morally unsound souls and their various shades of gray. As for the prince, he is equally handsome and charming, it is almost unfair how these two must be put in the same book for readers and Lia to favor one over the other. Loyalty and love, both emotions run deep into this book and propels the trio towards a rather compelling finale, with dangerous stakes teetering on each side. Maybe there was no way to define it. Maybe there were as many shades of love as the blues of the sky. There is also the fantasy of the magic that whispers and echoes through the book, which was not explored too much due to reasons, but has laid out a solid groundwork for the sequel to build upon and introduced roots of history that revolve around Lia. Speaking of history, the cultures within the different regions in the book are developed carefully and reflect the dangerous power dynamic fraught with tensions well, reminding me of some of my favorite fantasy books. The writing while leisurely paced, did not mince with the blades of tension and danger, thrilling the inner fantasy lover in me. While it is written in first person, which usually deters me in fantasy I enjoyed reading this book once I became accustomed to its stride and speed. This book sharply veers into much more dangerous territory towards the latter third, and I am quite pleased with the implications of these actions. The less you know the better, but as always, power and deception are quite the pair, with aftereffects that are catastrophic beyond repair. It is a relief to know the sequel is within grasp and I cannot wait to return to the world of the Remnant Chronicles.

At first it was hard for me to get into this book. I felt like I was just tossed into a world and I had to figure out heads and tales of everything right away. Nothing made sense and I almost lost interest. But once Lia runs away, that is when the story gets good. Everything that happens in Terravin, where she is hiding out, keeps me enthralled into the book. Lia runs away from an arranged marriage and is trying to live a simple life, one not of royalty like she was brought up to be. But as she is trying to live this simple life she meets to men. Rafe and Kaden. One is secretly the prince who she was arranged to married and the other one is secretly an assassins. As readers, we are to guess which one is the assassin and which one is the prince. It isn't pointed out until the middle of the book. And I guessed which was which wrong! Which totally messed up the book for me because each person has there own chapters in the book: Lia, assassin, prince, Rafe, Kaden. So when I read the assassins chapter I would read it as I thought it was one of the two guys and it wasn't so her interactions with that person was all wrong! I had to reread parts of the book! After you find out who is who, the book gets even better after that. And the ending leaves you in a cliffhanger which I am glad I can just start up on the next book and not have to wait to read. Lia is strong willed and interesting to read about. The book has a lot of sad parts, and a little bit of romance. Overall I really enjoyed it. Not a lot of books almost make me cry, but this one did in one part. There is a lot of emotion in this book, a lot of raw emotion that gets at you. And makes you really feel for the characters in the book, even for characters that you despise.

This was a beautiful story, and I loved the independence of the main character. I think there's a general rule with YA Fantasy that one must suspend any expectation of reality, and so I definitely did. We are abruptly introduced to a world that has seemingly barbaric rules, when compared to all the feminist hoopla of our society today. Princess Lia flees her kingdom and life as she knows it, and finds herself in an idyllic countryside setting. It's very different and she has to work harder than she ever has before, but she relishes the freedom that she gains in this new life she's creating. Along come two handsome strangers, who we immediately learn, have their own agendas. The prince, who portrays himself to be a melon farmer, and the assassin, who claims to be a pelt trader, closely follow Lia in her new world. She is unaware of their true identity, though they both know hers. Perceptions change as they begin to get to know one another, and as various obstacles come up. Without giving any spoilers, something happens that makes them all question their own and one another's true identities, as well as what their intentions are. I enjoyed this book very much, but wish some of the details were elaborated. Some transitions seemed abrupt, and where great detail and care was taken to describe a particular scene or event (for example, the very beginning when her back is being painted) and then we abruptly move forward, skimming over those details. This happens with landscapes, clothing, and descriptions of people fairly frequently. Overall though, the story is engaging and fun. I did have to flip back a few times in the first chapters so I could clarify who was who- the prince or the assassin. If this was done on purpose, it was great, because you find yourself in a similar position as Lia and each male are in- not really being sure of who is whom.

So, I think the story line of this book was really good. I loved the way how this book started and then the gradual character development was quite compelling. It is about Princess Lia who escapes on her wedding day, though I do feel that the escape could have been written and explained a little better… The way she escaped was way too easy and reckless for a princees specially on her wedding day. It looked kind of absurd and I actually thought maybe she had some special powers. Lia has been portrayed as a strong female character fighting for her freedom till the very end of this book. The enigma of Kaden and Rafe was wonderfully written and made a sure point to confuse its readers until it was finally revealed. I did make a guess (of which I was sure I’ll be right) but I was shocked when I finally realized “who was who“. I am sure the suspense made all the readers ravenous for the answers and would have been near impossible to put this book down. This book reached it’s apex in the second half which was very well-developed. Even though the pace of this book was very fast, it succeeded in making an impression in our minds. Rafe and Kaden, both of their personalities were kept well hidden and their parts were so impressive that it literally took a while for me to figure out whom I liked better. All the side characters were given equal importance. This book was very riveting and kept us in its grip till the very end.. I’ll give it 4.5/5 stars. (THESE REVIEWS ARE MY POINT OF VIEWS, AND YOUR OPINIONS MIGHT BE VARYING FROM MINE) Sincerely, Reader. xxx

This was so good, I thought my head might explode. The characters are right on, the plotting as perfect as it gets. It might be the best book I've read in the last year. Absolutely perfect! Pearson is a talented writer, but this work has surpassed all others of hers that I've read.

One of my favourite books, finished it in 3days, amazing story I just loved it

I feel like this book was so long and the romance was kinda rushed and got kinda lost in all the history of this world. I didn't enjoy this book as much as I enjoyed the second one. And it's a little sad that I'll have to give this book a lower review then the second one bc I did enjoy it but there was something that could have been cut out and it was just so much description about history and world building that I didn't feel like this was a romantic fantasy book. It was just a lot but after reading the second book which was soo good it's Turing out to be a really good series.

The Kiss of Deception [by Mary E. Pearson] arrived in great condition with no damage. The story itself was even better. A runaway princes, fleeing her wedding to a distant town where she meets two strangers: the prince she was supposed to marry and an assassin sent to kill her, but the reader has no idea which is which. Overall, I am pleased with the product, its quality and the accompanying service.