Review: The Kiss of Deception – Mary E. Pearson

Posted July 30, 2015 by Andi in Books, Review / 3 Comments

Review: The Kiss of Deception – Mary E. PearsonThe Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson
Series: The Remnant Chronicles #1
Published by Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Published: July 8th 2014
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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.

I had put off reading The Kiss of Deception for a long time. I bought it after I heard a lot of rave reviews but I was scared to read it because of all of those reviews. But finally, I went for it. Honestly, I had no idea what I was in for. I knew what the book was about, but I thought Lia was the deception part of the story. Man was I ever wrong. This book was so much more than Lia hiding from the life she didn’t want. Basically, it was pretty much AMAZING!

The Kiss of Deception is the story of Lia, a Princess to the Kingdom of Morrighan. Lia lives in a world that is filled with tradition, and one of those traditions is an arranged marriage. Forced to marry a prince she has never met before Lia decides she has only one option, to run. Taking off with her friend they start a new life for themselves. But when two new strangers arrive Lia is drawn to them and doesn’t know why. She also doesn’t know that one is the prince she was supposed to marry and an assassin sent to kill her. When Lia starts to get close to one she learns of things happening in the kingdom and decides she must return home and be the princess she was raised to be. Only things aren’t as easy as they seem. And when Lia is taken prisoner Lia must figure out how to fix her world that is falling apart and not to lose the man she is falling in love with.

I’ve said this over and over again, but The Kiss of Deception is an extremely clever book. When I first started reading it I was confused and wondering if, as a reader, I would get to know who was the prince and who was the assassin. But as the book continued and it was never made clear until it was time to be made clear, I realized the beauty in that writing tactic. By doing that Pearson made me part of the story. She made me as clueless as Lia. Sure I was able to make a guess based off the small amount of information I had, but I knew when Lia knew and I LOVED that. It made the book fresh and interesting and intense.

There was also the fact that the two guys, Rafe and Kaden, were so completely different. I mean one is a prince and one is an assassin. Yet Pearson wrote them in a way that made them interchangeable even with those differences. I had a feeling who was who, but as I read I would question my gut and ask really who was which one. It kept me on my toes and I appreciate that in a book.

The plot was also really well thought out and done. I loved Lia’s story and how she wanted to be able to love her own life but how she understood duty. She wanted a voice and had to run away to find it, but it didn’t make it any better for her. She knew in her heart what her place was, she just needed to come to terms with it.

The Kiss of Deception was a twisty, turny book of deceit and secrets that sucked me in from the beginning. I loved all the characters and the plot twists. I loved the story of Lia, Rafe, and Kaden and I loved how everything unfolded. The end left me wanting more and it will make you want the same. A definite must read.

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3 responses to “Review: The Kiss of Deception – Mary E. Pearson

  1. I admittedly didn’t love this one the first time I read it, though I found it very intriguing. But the second time? I liked it a lot better! I think Pearson has written such an interesting, twisty tale – and it gets even more twisted in the next one. Glad you wound up enjoying this book!

    Alexa S. recently posted: Screens & Scenes: June-July 2015
  2. Valerie Pennington

    The pretty! I just pet this book sometimes because it’s so wonderful. I loved that she kept us in the dark though at the time of reading it I was going crazy not knowing. It’s really just a wonderful book. I haven’t read the sequel yet but EVERYONE says it’s better. WHAT? I’m so excited.

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