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 neighboring 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, hopeful 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.

The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson

First book in The Remnant Chronicles

YA/High Fantasy/Romance

  3 out of 5 stars

The title of The Kiss of Deception felt as much a description of the book's contents as it was a description of my experience reading it. The beginning hints at an interesting world with an intriguing mythology and mystery that is, inevitably, ignored for the sake of putting romance at the forefront. What little we are given of the culture of this world was enough to keep me wanting more, but it didn't pay off in the end. Whatever remnants of the mystery we're given is dedicated to adding flare to the love triangle. How to make a love triangle not seem like every other YA love triangle? Make the two men involved have ambiguous identities and keep readers guessing about who's who! While some readers have found this 'mystery' to be a riveting aspect of the story, I was more annoyed than impressed. Spending more than half a book not knowing which character is which for the sake of an attempt at suspense was not my cup of tea.

The best that The Kiss of Deception had to offer was the writing style. I found myself wanting to highlight certain passages as I think this is a fairly "quotable" and beautifully written story. The writing wasn't perfect - I found it to be lacking in description of the world - but it was my favorite aspect of the story. While the language of this was up to par for me, I wish the contents were equal in value. 

I think The Kiss of Deception is a decent foundation for the rest of the series, but it didn't leave me wanting to continue. After reading through 400+ pages and getting denied anything besides an uncompelling romance and being left with a ridiculous cliffhanger that offers no resolution, I felt like The Kiss of Deception dedicated too much of my time to a meandering story that wasn't worth it in the end. For readers who enjoy romance with a weak fantasy backdrop, this is the book for you. For any reader wanting more than just a fantasy backdrop, I'd say avoid The Kiss of Deception. At least until more books come out in the series, which could improve upon the foundation this provided... but only time will tell.

Edinburgh, 1844. Beautiful Aileana Kameron only looks the part of an aristocratic young lady. In fact, she's spent the year since her mother died developing her ability to sense the presence of Sithichean, a faery race bent on slaughtering humans. She has a secret mission: to destroy the faery who murdered her mother. But when she learns she's a Falconer, the last in a line of female warriors and the sole hope of preventing a powerful faery population from massacring all of humanity, her quest for revenge gets a whole lot more complicated. The first volume of a trilogy from an exciting new voice in young adult fantasy, this electrifying thriller blends romance and action with steampunk technology and Scottish lore in a deliciously addictive read.

The Falconer by Elizabeth May

First book in the Falconer Series
YA/Paranormal/Historical Fiction/Steampunk

2.5 out of 5 stars
If books were puzzles, The Falconer would be a puzzle made up of pieces borrowed from other puzzles that somehow manage to fit together. While this book isn't necessarily part of genres that I'm an avid reader of - I much prefer high fantasy to the paranormal, and I can't say I read a lot of steampunk - this still managed to feel like something I'd already read before. This is a rather subjective complaint, so I will say that if you haven't read stories like this in the past, you may still enjoy it. There are certainly many readers who have. May allows us to see faeries in a negative light - as deadly creatures, rather than sweet little critters or politicking human-like beings. This does offer a bit of originality that some readers will appreciate.

Aileana, the main character of The Falconer, was a rough character to follow. The Falconer is written in first person POV, and we see everything through Aileana's eyes. Her character is defined by her rage, a trait sparked by the murder of her mother. Before the death of her mother, she describes herself as a pretty average Victorian woman. Her rage permeates the narrative at an annoying rate. We're bombarded with her constant need to murder. Aileana could be attending a breakfast and suddenly, while sipping her tea, become overcome with a need to slaughter faeries. It gets old quickly. The only other trait she really reveals to the reader is her inventiveness - she is very technologically savvy and invents lots of gadgets that she typically uses to aid her vengeful slaughter of the faeries. Unfortunately, her skill seems out of place and unbelievable. Within the context of the world she is living in, it's very unlikely that she would have the supplies to practice her hobby as she does. The creation of any kind of tech, whether it be a new gun or a new locomotive, is portrayed as easy and not at all time-consuming. Planning on going on a murder spree in the afternoon? No problem. Aileana can create a whole new arsenal of weapons the morning of. There were several aspects of this story that were too demanding on the reader to suspend their disbelief, and Aileana's characterization was one of them.

The other characters were archetypal but for the most part entertaining. We have a pixie that lives in Aileana's closet and provides some lighter, funnier dialogue to keep the story from getting too dark. There's a faerie love interest that manages to fit the bill of brooding, beautiful supernatural lover that we see so often in paranormal romance type books... but he's not insufferable. And while the premise of the book sounds mature, The Falconer is actually pretty tame. This could actually fit a younger audience, which leads me to reiterate that this book will be best for those new to this kind of story.

My final thoughts are in regards to the plot of The Falconer. May seemed to struggle with raising the stakes. I felt a distinct sense of apathy when reading this, and didn't generally feel like there was any reason to care about where things were going. Problems that Aileana kept worrying over didn't seem like they were actual problems. There wasn't the feeling that something bad might genuinely happen. The ending of The Falconer is also poorly done - leaving us with a ridiculous cliffhanger. It's as if the author got up mid-paragraph during the climax of the novel to go for a bathroom break and never came back. There is absolutely no resolution, and just as the action starts up, the book ends. While a good cliffhanger can leave readers antsy for the next installment in the series, this just left me unsatisfied and annoyed.

And again, while my review was critical, I think many readers will really enjoy this. The foundation The Falconer lays down for its sequels is interesting, and perhaps the following books will succeed where this one failed.

A prince with a quest. A commoner with mysterious powers. And dragons that demand to be freed—at any cost. 
Prince Corin has been chosen to free the dragons from their bondage to the Empire, but dragons aren’t big on directions. They have given him some of their power, but none of their knowledge. No one, not the dragons nor their riders, is even sure what keeps the dragons in the Empire’s control. Tam, sensible daughter of a well-respected doctor, had no idea before she arrived in the capital that she is a Seer, gifted with visions. When the two run into each other (quite literally) in the library, sparks fly and Corin impulsively asks Tam to dinner. But it’s not all happily ever after. Never mind that the prince isn’t allowed to marry a commoner: war is coming to Caithen. Torn between Corin’s quest to free the dragons and his duty to his country, the lovers must both figure out how to master their powers in order to save Caithen. With a little help from a village of secret wizards and a rogue dragonrider, they just might pull it off.

Moth and Spark by Anne Leonard

Standalone

Adult/Fantasy/Romance

 2 out of 5 stars

Moth and Spark was unfortunately a case of a book not living up to the expectations set by the synopsis. While the synopsis prioritizes a fantastical conflict between a prince and the dragons he is sworn to free, the book itself prioritizes romance. The beginning of the novel is promising, but as soon as the two lovers discover each other the plot and the intriguing (albeit familiar) world become non-existent. Leonard starts the book with the building of the story's foundation - one with mystery and magic, but this quickly fizzled out into a story incapable of holding my attention.

Unable to decide what kind of story it wants to be, Moth and Spark ultimately does poorly on all fronts. There is a mystery too easily solved. A romance that accelerated too quickly and persisted throughout the story to provide some attempt at a "forbidden lovers" conflict that wasn't really a conflict, considering there wasn't much forbidden about the relationship. The dragons and the magic took a backseat for most of the novel, and when they did get incorporated into the story, they felt too familiar and unoriginal. Had all of these aspects been fleshed out and better woven together, Moth and Spark could have been a more enjoyable read.

I can only recommend this on the grounds that you go into Moth and Spark aware that the book is mostly a romance, and a simplistic one at that. If you're here for the dragons and political intrigue, I'd say this isn't your best bet. It took me months of struggling with this book to finally finish it, which doesn't seem uncommon based on the reception from other reviewers.

There are several scenes with sexual content, so younger readers should be aware of that.

I won an ARC copy of Moth and Spark in a Goodreads giveaway.

(Summary may contain spoilers if you haven't read the earlier books in the trilogy) The Selection changed America Singer's life in ways she never could have imagined. Since she entered the competition to become the next princess of Illéa, America has struggled with her feelings for her first love, Aspen--and her growing attraction to Prince Maxon. Now she's made her choice . . . and she's prepared to fight for the future she wants.

The One by Kiera Cass

Third Book in The Selection Trilogy

YA/Romance/'Dystopia'

 1.5 out of 5 stars
he Selection Trilogy was never my favorite. They work well as quick, light-hearted (and weirdly addictive) reads, but don't offer much more than that. This is one of those trilogies that should have been a standalone. There isn't enough story to warrant three separate books! If you're reading this review, however, you've probably already invested in this series. I definitely recommend you read this if you've read the first two books, The Selection and The Elite, even if I didn't enjoy this final installment. It's worth at least knowing the conclusion, even if it is ridiculously predictable.

The majority of the issues I had with this book are identical to those I had with the first two books. While these books are labeled as dystopia, the dystopian elements are superficial in their influence on the story. We're given a caste system and some people who don't like it and boom! Dystopian qualification obtained. The world-building was lacking in favor of the petty conflicts faced by America and her two love interests, which may be fine for some, but left me unsatisfied. The relationships between the characters were equally as shallow as the world-building, but were given much more attention in all of the books. 

While I found the first two books to be somewhat fun, The One didn't live up to that. After awhile, the conflict caused by characters refusing to communicate properly over the span of multiple books, the laziness shown towards the world-building and towards the plot points developed surrounding the 'rebels' (which is not at all resolved, at least not in a satisfying or plausible way), and the out-of-character behavior shown by some of the main characters for the sake of adding drama to the story... The One was more aggravating than enjoyable.

Again, I still recommend this to those invested in the series, as a lot of readers really enjoyed this last installment. I just wasn't one of them.

Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom-all because of a foolish bargain struck by her father. And since birth, she has been in training to kill him.With no choice but to fulfill her duty, Nyx resents her family for never trying to save her and hates herself for wanting to escape her fate. Still, on her seventeenth birthday, Nyx abandons everything she's ever known to marry the all-powerful, immortal Ignifex. Her plan? Seduce him, destroy his enchanted castle, and break the nine-hundred-year-old curse he put on her people. But Ignifex is not at all what Nyx expected. The strangely charming lord beguiles her, and his castle-a shifting maze of magical rooms-enthralls her.As Nyx searches for a way to free her homeland by uncovering Ignifex's secrets, she finds herself unwillingly drawn to him. Even if she could bring herself to love her sworn enemy, how can she refuse her duty to kill him? With time running out, Nyx must decide what is more important: the future of her kingdom, or the man she was never supposed to love.

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

Standalone novel

YA/Retelling/Fantasy

 4 out of 5 stars
Cruel Beauty is one of the books that are incredibly hard to thoroughly review without being spoilery, so I'll have to leave some points alone for the purpose of not ruining the book for those who haven't read it.

Cruel Beauty takes place in the most unique world that I've read in YA fiction, and possibly in fiction in general. This is both a strength and a weakness for the story, and the way it will be received depends entirely upon the reader. A lot of readers go into this expecting a Beauty and the Beast retelling, and there is much more to it than that. The additional inspiration for the plot and the world-building is drawn from numerous sources and, as such, may be confusing or jarring for some readers. While the aspects of retelling are not confusing (where we reference Beauty and the Beast, Rumpelstiltskin, Bluebeard...) as you don't need to understand or recognize the source to know what's going on, the world-building is largely built on information that is not common knowledge and may be hard to digest for readers unfamiliar with the source material. 

The world and magic system is built upon two major things: Greek mythology and Hermeticism. The world itself seems to be an alternate version of a Greco-Roman world, and works as if hundreds of years ago, something happened that made it differ from what we would see today. This world is cut off from the rest of the Earth and isolated, and the gods of Greek mythology are part of the traditional belief system. While I'm not the most knowledgeable of Greek mythology, I did think Hodge did a decent job of explaining what everything meant while incorporating it into the story. I'm not sure I think the handling of Hermeticism was as good, however. I'm familiar with Hermeticism and the Hermetic principles as they stand in our reality, and Hodge uses Hermeticism as a magical system. There are a lot of principles just outright said but not explained to the reader, and while I understood what was going on, I think it might be more than some readers can handle. A lot of readers seem to not know that Hermeticism is something that actually exists, and those who are unfamiliar with it may be confused by it. I would say that readers will get the most out of Cruel Beauty if they have some understanding of Hermeticism or Greek mythology, otherwise the amount of world-building may seem daunting and confusing. 

The plot drifted enough from the original story that I didn't feel like everything was completely predictable, as I've found with some retellings. It wasn't entirely unpredictable however. There was what I think was an intended plot twist that I saw coming in the beginning, but as it was something that I was hoping would happen, I didn't mind the predictability. (It was a bit of a relief to see I was right, actually.) The best part of Cruel Beauty, for me, was the romance. The chemistry between Nyx and her love interest was to die for. I think some readers may be troubled by the romance in the beginning, for reasons I cannot explain because of spoilers, but all I will say is hang in there before giving up on it.

In the end, Cruel Beauty is dark, strange and beautiful. I would recommend it to those willing to spend a bit of time wading into a bizarre other world, and ready to read through lots of romancy bits.