"'The world, it breathes you in . . . it knows you, and then it breathes you out again, shares you. You’re not contained here in this single place alone. The wind, time, it circles, repeats, teaches, reveals, some swaths cutting deeper than others. The universe knows. The universe has a long memory.'"
My Rating: ★★★★≛
Genre(s): Young Adult Fantasy, Dystopian, Romance
Publication: July 8, 2014 (Henry Holt & Co.)
Synopsis:
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 escapes 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:
The Kiss of Deception is a completely charming, mysterious, and enthralling start to one of my new favorite series. It is full of mystical, ethereal, post-apocalyptic fantasy vibes with a bit of a rustic flair, and I had no idea how much I loved that combo until I read this book. Pearson's writing is beautiful, her characters are dynamic, interesting, and easy to like, and the story builds toward something entirely unexpected.
“'Don't be afraid, child.
The stories are always there.'”
To be honest, I expected to like this book well enough, but I didn't think I'd love it as much as I do. I think it was because of the love triangle, as I typically do not like those, but this one was perhaps the most well-executed love triangle I've read. There's not much wishy-washy, back-and-forth nonsense on the part of the main character, Lia, and yet there is still a complicated intermingling of love, friendship, and unrequited feelings that Lia has to navigate. It was very well done, and I was very pleasantly surprised.
“I will find you.
In the farthest corner, I will find you.”
Lia is such a likeable and relatable protagonist. She is fiery, stubborn, and iron-willed, but she is also highly naïve about the world. Her ignorance can be frustrating from the reader's perspective, but as this is the story of her first foray into the world beyond her kingdom, it is totally understandable, and I think a lot of people, particularly younger readers, could relate to her journey toward becoming a more open-minded and worldly person.
“Who was this girl who thumbed her nose at two kingdoms and did as she pleased?”
Rafe and Kaden, the other two-thirds of the love triangle, are great characters in their own right, though one is more likeable than the other for reasons--reasons other than the fact that one is the prince whom Lia left at the altar, and the other is an assassin from the barbaric kingdom of Venda sent to kill her. Pearson does this amazingly clever thing where she does not reveal who's who, and she lets the reader draw their own conclusions before she finally reveals their true identities. I don't want to spoil anything too much . . . but I was well and truly bamboozled (does anyone say that anymore?).
"'I see only reminders that nothing lasts forever, not even greatness.'
'Some things last.'
I faced him. 'Really? And just what would that be?'
'The things that matter.'”
There is a mysterious magic to this world that is both chilling and captivating despite the fact that not much is known about it. On her journey, Lia learns that she has what is referred to as the gift--a way of sensing the future. However, it's not something as overt as foresight or psychic ability. Instead, it is a way of knowing--a feeling deep within oneself, or a whispered voice in the back of one's head--but it's not just a gut feeling. I usually like to know all that I can about magic systems, but I actually enjoyed the fact that this one was so vague. It added to the ethereal nature of the book, and I think it was an excellent choice not to overexplain the ability. The gift becomes instrumental in the political turmoil and intrigue that Lia inevitably becomes swept up in, and it only serves to enhance that particular plotline.
“It can take years to mold a dream. It takes only a fraction of a second for it to be shattered.”
At its heart, this story is about a woman's free will versus the powers that seek to control, use, and own her. The Kiss of Deception is the beginning of Lia's journey to take ownership of her life in the face of the kingdoms and men who seek to possess her. I've never read anything quite like this book, and I very quickly fell in love with the world of the Remnant. Though it's labelled a romance in part, it is so much more than that--don't be discouraged by the love triangle! Please--read this book!
Content Warnings: kidnapping, murder, death, violence, suggested sexual assault
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