Mistress of Lies (The Age of Blood, #1)

by K. M. Enright

[Quirky Cat]

Book Summary:

Shan LeClaire is a talented Blood Worker - the only thing holding her back is her father. She fixes problems and creates master plans, so naturally, her father can only be a problem for so long. Time moves on, and so do Shan’s plans for revenge and change.

Meanwhile, Samuel Hutchinson has been in hiding his whole life. He knows the “gift” in his blood is more like a curse and that horrible people would use it (and him) if they knew about it. Unfortunately, there’s another secret of his blood he’s been unaware of his whole life until Shan walked through his door.

My Review:

Oh. I’m torn. On the one hand, I really enjoyed Mistress of Lies. On the other hand, I do feel like it didn’t quite live up to its potential. Wait, let’s step back a moment. Mistress of Lies is a thrilling book of lies, deception, love, and blood magic. It’s dark and dangerous, and I can see why readers are talking about it.

This book consists of three perspectives, but the main two are Shan and Samuel. They counter each other nicely—one character is fully immersed in a world of blood magic, and the other is new but full of potential.

I loved things about this book and things that could have used a bit more work. For example, I loved how the main characters played against one another. Their back-and-forths did an excellent job of portraying multiple motivations (and how these can change over time).

Unfortunately, Mistress of Lies had a show/tell issue. One of the most prominent examples is Shan’s character. We’re told time and time again (seriously, I lost count) that Shan is a master plotter. But we never actually get to see her in action. At least not with any competency. Instead, we see her easily manipulated (both by the king and her own emotions). It almost felt like she was two characters.

All things said and done, Mistress of Lies is a decent read. Considering that this is a debut novel, it’s all the more solid. Personally, I intend to follow up on the sequel, as I want to see how the story ends.

Highlights:
Fantasy
Blood Magic
High Fantasy
Multiple POVs
LGBTQ+

Trigger Warnings:
Blood
Human Trafficking
Racism/Classism

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