REVIEW: “Kiss of Deception”
Mary E Pearson
Release date: July 2014
I’m not familiar with any of Mary Pearson’s previous work, but this upcoming YA is filled with tropes I’m a sucker for:
- daring sword fights
- magic spells
- a prince in disguise!
No wait, that’s another story.
But close enough. Throw in a run away princess for good measure, and I was bound to sniff this one out eventually.
Set in what is an assumedly post-post-post-post-post-post apocalyptic age, it was enjoyable exploring an eerily familiar yet distant world with Princess Lia on her willing and ultimately unwilling adventure. Her growth as a character is smooth and believable, and her trials the kind the adventuresome crave and the dramatic cling to. Her dueling love interests are not overly played, though they are definitely at the heart of the story. As the title suggests though, this love triangle is full of DECEPTIONS as much for Lia as for the reader.
I mentioned magic as being a part of the premise, but magic in this story treads the line between fantasy and reality. What is magic but something we don’t yet understand? Can something remain natural and mysterious and not be magical?
Overall, this is a fun story with real tread, populated by believable characters, colorful settings, and plenty of swoony moments to delight any young (or less young) romantic. I find myself looking forward to the next volume, I feel it will only get better.
What did I read...?
This is why I need to update my Bl more frequently! I've read at least 2-3 books the past month or so... Better go check the bookshelf haha.
Sigh. I don't think I'm going to be able to finish this arc. The story just doesn't have a real sense of danger for me. :P Which is important for a dystopian based setting.
SOOOOOOOOOOO
Not too far into this one yet but already getting references to figures from Greek Mythology, though not enough yet to truely gauge how they will be reinvented in this story.
But really, I have to say.
WHY ARE ALL THE CHARACTERS FREAKING OUT ABOUT THE HEAT
Dear lord, first few pages and everyone thinks they're about to die because the temperature hits 120 degrees.
REALLY. really. That's it. 120.
These characters need to try living in Phoenix where 100 is a beautiful day and 126 is far from an unusal temperature during the summer. When the mansoon rolls in add some humidty on top of it and there ya go.
For this reason the sense of "danger" in this book is not present AT ALL for me so far nor would it be for anyone who currently lives in the 6th largest city in the US. It makes me laugh actually, but I connect with the main character, Piper, because she enjoys and finds solice in the heat like I do. So I'll keep turning some more pages for her to see what happens, though at this point I'm left wishing the author conducted more research into what constitudes "scary" levels of heat, without the excuse of "Well, I think that's hot."
