The Kiss of Deception (Remnant Chronicles, #1)

by Mary E Pearson

In a society steeped in tradition, Princess Lia's life follows a preordained course. As First Daughter, she is expected to have the revered gift of sight - but she doesn't - and she knows her parents are perpetrating a sham when they arrange her marriage to secure an alliance with a neighbouring kingdom - to a prince she has never met. On the morning of her wedding, Lia flees to a distant village. She settles into a new life, 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. Deception abounds, and Lia finds herself on the brink of unlocking perilous secrets - even as she finds herself falling in love.

• ISBN10: 1250063159
• ISBN13: 9781250063151
• Publish Date: 2 June 2015 (first published 8 July 2014)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Square Fish
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 512
• Language: English

Reviews

[phyllish]

Wow! I loved this story. I can't wait for the rest of the books for this series to come out.

One of the things that I thought was done especially well was the switching of the point of view of the characters. Though the majority of the story was told from the perspective of Lia, some of the chapters were told by others. What was especially brilliant on the part of the author was that the other chapters were sometimes labeled as being told by "The Prince" or "The Assassian", sometimes they were labeled as being by "Kaden" or "Rafe", and you never really knew which of the two was which. It was extremely well done, and I really was never sure which guy was the prince.

I loved the characters, the plot, the telling. I will certainly be reading more books by this author.

[tweetybugshouse]

Wow this book did not hold back any punches with getting you in the gut and making you feel for the characters in the story. The descriptions of the places, the people, and the guessing game of who is who keeps you in suspense for a majority of the book. Then you get to the end and you get to go through some more major heartache with lia and then you get some joy and then thats it what what wait no i need more don;t leave me hanging. Oh book two where are you.

[shannonmiz]

I shouldn't have waited so long to read this, because frankly, I adored it. I will be anxiously awaiting Heart of Betrayal. I need it now. If anyone has a spare… just saying. Also, I prefer Rafe. If you have read this, I need to know your preference. Please and thank you.

[Chelsea]

Quick Thoughts
1. Amazing.
2.Loved the lies and deceptions. It made it so much fun to read.
3. You think you know what's happening but you're wrong!
4. All the characters were really well written. They had tons of details.
5. Pick up this book. Now.

[mary]

I thought this YA fantasy novel was quite different from most YA and that is the main reason I enjoyed it immensely (or maybe I haven't read enough YA yet to make this statement haha).

OVERVIEW

In this first chapter, we learn that Lia, Princess of Morrighan, is about to be married to a prince whom she has never seen, from Morrighan’s neighboring kingdom of Dalbreck. Lia is a first daughter and therefore is supposed to have a gift for knowing the future which is something she will bring to her marriage. However, Lia has never seen evidence of this gift and she is being forced by her parents to marry under false pretenses.

The main reason for the marriage is that the barbarians from Venda are a threat to both kingdoms, Dalbreck and Morrighan. Neither nation can defeat the Vendans alone, but united by this marriage, they would be able to accomplish it.

Lia has other ideas though, and she escapes with her lady-in-waiting Pauline. They arrive in Terravin, a village where Pauline knows an innkeeper who once took her in. In this town Lia feels at home. She decides to take on a new life as a commoner and works as a maid at the inn.

However, Lia does not realize she’s been followed by two men. And this is where the story gets good. One is the Prince of Dalbreck. Injured pride and curiosity cause him to follow Lia alone and incognito.The other man who follows Lia is a young assassin who hails from Venda sent out to kill the princess.

REVIEW

The assassin and the prince’s names are given, but due to occasional chapters in their viewpoints initially titled “The Prince” or “The Assassin,” many readers may not guess which of the two is the assassin and which is the prince for quite a while into the book– a technique that generates considerable suspense when Lia later begins to fall for one of them. And it is up to the reader to guess which is which, and the answer to later revealed in the story. I've never truly seen this in YA before and I really enjoyed reading the views of the men without truly knowing who was who.

At first, I hated the idea that there would be a love triangle in this book, but then things unfolded near the end and all I can say is good job to Pearson for pulling a fast one on the reader.

But I think one of my favorite parts of this book was the main character Lia, who is a dynamic character. I am looking forward to the rest of the series just to see what happens to her. In addition, another favorite part of the novel for me was the very relatable theme of finding oneself – especially in a world that has already decided who you are, and knows that version of you that they themselves invented

On the other hand the weakest area of the novel was the world building (which seems to be the case for most first books in a series). While the world itself was very rich in sensory imagery and language, the back story of the world – the world building itself, essentially – had holes. What caused the events that lead to the Remnants themselves, and the creation of Morrighan and its neighboring nations?

And finally, the best part of this novel – the sensory language and imagery. This is what really drew me in, aside from Lia’s character. This is what the world rich, the main cast great, and generally, made me want to stick around.

[Molly Freeman]

An interesting story with great descriptions. It was a little slow at times, but well worth the read.

[zarahoffman]

I love the adventure/romance/fantasy genre. Always have, probably always will, but in recent years, there have been a lot of similar books in the YA category (and NA, if I'm to be honest). Thankfully, Kiss of Deception was fresh and original. The plot was a real page-turner from start to finish. The characters were all three-dimensional with complexities that I could relate to.

I'll refrain from rating this for right now because I'm conflicted (3 or 4 stars?). This book was good, but it was only enjoyable in the beginning, making it a solid 3. The book became really good towards the end when things started happening. Finally we were moving somewhere. Action and heartbreak and feelings happened! So, it was definitely good. How good is yet to be determined. I will say that because of the end, I'm now eagerly waiting for the 2nd book.
Full review to come.

[Kim Deister]

The Kiss of Deception is the first book in a new trilogy by Mary E. Pearson. This is my first read by this author and I am a fan! The story line is exciting and intriguing and the characters are fantastic.

Princess Lia is what royalty should be all about. She is strong-willed and fierce, absolutely ready, willing, and able to buck tradition to avoid being forced into an arranged marriage to a prince she has never met. Her best friend Pauline, and her handmaiden, runs with her, pure loyalty and friendship. The two girls flee to a distant land and start over. It is a life that is unlike that which they left behind, but for Lia, it is the happiest she has ever been.

This is a story about not only sacrifice and freedom, but about love and friendship and loyalty. The first half of the book was very much like reading historical fiction. But the second half became more of an epic fantasy read, quests and danger galore! There is no end to the mystery and the intrigue and there are plot twists galore. There are two mysterious men that appear in Lia's life, men that keep you guessing right until the moment that things become clear. There are so many levels of deception in this book, from the little ones conceived in a moment of the best of intentions to the huge ones that are life-altering!

Things to love...

--The mystery between the prince and the assassin. Who is who? There are things about each that are oh, so misleading and that ramps up the suspense!
--The fiercely strong Lia. She is an amazing female lead, strong and loyal and full of honor.

My Recommendation: Fantastic epic-like fantasy! There is love and mystery and intrigue and danger and I highly recommend this read! I gave this 4.5 mugs!

[jnikkir]

This review can also be found at my blog, There were books involved...

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3.5 stars

The Kiss of Deception was one of my most-anticipated fantasy books releasing this year -- and not because of the synopsis and cover (which, while good, both scream "love triangle"). No, this book grew into its "most-anticipated" status because everyone loves it. Out of 26 of my Goodreads friends who have read it, 14 rated it 5-stars, and 12 rated it 4-stars. That's right, not a single 3-or-below rating. This is unheard of.

So yeah, I was properly excited. High fantasy, people loved it, give it to me now. And I did really enjoy it.

Lia is a very strong main character - probably one of the most believably-strong characters I've read in a while. She's put in a terrible position, being forced into a sham and an agreement marry a prince she's never even seen, let alone met. So she decides to take matters into her own hands and run away to start a new life - completely aware that running away means leaving behind her pampered royal life, and she is all for that. She's willing to work hard in order to make her own way, and that's fantastic.

Now, a whole bunch of potential issues crop up with the "running-away-from-an-arranged-marriage" situation - arranged marriages are awful, but when the marriage could potentially save an entire kingdom? Idk, I like the character to wrestle with this decision - she's decided to let her country fend for itself, it should be tough. At first, Lia just runs away to escape the marriage and doesn't think too hard. She's made her decision and sticks with it. But she grows tremendously, and goes through periods of doubt about whether she ever should have abandoned her kingdom, which I appreciated.

As for the assassin and the prince, both who are trying to find Lia for their own reasons... Argh! I can't say much about them. I really liked both of their characters, though I would've really liked more development (more on that in a sec). There really wasn't what I'd call a "love triangle". Yes, these two guys are potential love-interests - but Lia obviously favors one over the other, and she spends almost no time trying to "decide" between the two of them once she starts to get to know them.

The main thing that really threw me off in this book, was the way the characters' identities are hidden from us. The Kiss of Deception is written from three perspectives. The main narration is Lia's, but there are also chapters from the assassin's and Prince's POV's. Lia's narration is un-labeled, but subheadings indicate chapters from "The Assassin" or "The Prince". We don't even learn their names, until they give them to Lia. One is Rafe, and the other is Kaden. But which is which???? Because once you have some names to deal with, the chapters get really intense. Lia still narrates, but we also have narration from "Rafe" and "Kaden" -- which includes no details to give away which is the assassin or which is the Prince... BUT! We still also have chapters from "The Assassin" or "The Prince", which don't give away names! AHHHH!!!! *cue hair-pulling*

This drove me insane. You don't find out who's who until about 60% through the book. I'm not a reader who likes to actively speculate about plotty things while I read - I'd much rather just find things out when the author tells them to me outright. So having to deal with NOT knowing who was who? Torture. The chapters are, essentially, from five different POV's representing only three people... The chapters from The Prince/Assassin/Rafe/Kaden forced me to search for little details while I was reading, ANYTHING to indicate who was who. I made my guess pretty early, and was actually correct, but this didn't even help; with every passing POV, I kept doubting myself, trying to sort out all the details in my mind, and it was just... not how I like to read a book.

I also think this took away from the character development, or at least, it took away from the feeling that you're getting to know a character as the book progresses. Because for 60% of the book, you don't even know who half the characters are. The chapters from "The Assassin" or "The Prince" dealt mainly with the characters' motivations - because they could talk about their background and why they were interested in Lia. "Rafe" and "Kaden" dealt solely with emotions (without any of that background knowledge) and Rafe's and Kaden's views of one another. This type of split-perspective is unique, yes, but it also killed any kind of complete picture I was trying to form in my head of either of those characters.

Being a character-oriented reader, this was not ideal for me. Some people might find the final "reveal" mind-blowing, depending on what their guesses were about Kaden/Rafe/Prince/Assassin, but I just saw it as an enormous relief. Thank God the torture was finally over!!

*sigh* Okay, so, I know I've written too much already, but I really haven't seen a lot about the POV's in many reviews, so I felt like I needed to address it, and my issues with it. I did have a couple other "ehh" issues... First, I felt like the beginning dragged, and not just because of the POV issues. Not a lot of plot-related stuff happened, just a lot of setup, really. And then once you hit 60%, the action picks up, but this wasn't really my favorite thing either... There's a lot of traveling and running away and attempted escapes and more traveling... I felt like the last 40% could've been cut down quite a bit.

 
In conclusion...

Gosh, it sounds like I really didn't like this book... and that's not the case! 3.5 stars is not a bad rating. My hangups over the POV, and then what I felt like could've been a much-compressed "ending" (the final 40%), really skewed my feelings about this one.

I really liked Lia, and I loved the teasers we got of the magic system... And the world itself is awesome! I loved the worldbuilding, and am super excited to learn more about it in the sequel. Did you know this is technically set in a post-apocalyptic America? OH YEAH. "Post-apocalyptic fantasy" (idk, is there an actual category for this?) is one of my favorite things ever, so when I realized that, I was over the moon.

So, yeah. I did enjoy this one, and considering how many other people loved it, I'd 100% recommend checking it out.

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There were books involved...