Book Review | The Kiss of Deception

Title: The Kiss of Deception

Author: Mary E. Pearson

Publication: July 8th, 2014
Publisher: Henry Holt 
Source: Received from Publisher (Thanks Macmillan!)

Rating: 4.5 out 5 stars

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Synopsis: 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. 

Review: Disclaimer: This is an honest review. This book has been pretty hyped up and I always get a bit hesitant about hyped-up books. When I started reading this one, I couldn't figure out what all the hype was about. While the story was interesting, I just couldn't stick with the story, it'd be interesting and then it'd fall flat for me. I almost put this one down, but I wanted to push through because I had to know what was going to happen and despite my frustrations, I was invested in the characters and their stories. Then I was hit with a brilliant twist. Seriously. This is one of the best twists in a book I have ever read. I didn't see it coming. I was stunned. I was excited. I plowed through the rest of the book. 

I read the big twist in the middle of the night and HAD to talk to someone about it. I woke up my hubs and freaked out told him about the whole story and what just happened. He was such a good sport, listening to what I had to say.... then rolling over to go back to sleep while I sat in complete stunned, wide-eyed, jaw-slacked silence because I couldn't believe what just happened in this story. After a few moments, I picked it right back up and kept reading because now I really had to know what was going to happen next.  

Lia was a rather uninteresting character to be in the beginning of the book. There was nothing outstanding about her in the first half, but things start happening and it was a joy to watch her grow and change throughout the story. By the end of the book, I was not only on her side, I was seeing her in a whole different light - as a strong and able young woman. 

New book boyfriend alert with this read. Be prepared to swoon. I did some swooning over Rafe.  Such a lovely love interest. There were some hints of a love triangle in this book and I reallllly hope that it doesn't become something of substance in the following books. *crosses fingers. The romance  was so well-done, in my opinion. It wasn't the only focus of the book, but it seemed to happen rather naturally as it should, there is no insta-love!

If you pick this book up and are having a hard time with it, please push through, I promise that it's worth it. This book is filled with adventure, action, deception, and a bit of romance. I think this is one of my favorite books of the year. 

Have you read this one and if so, what did you think of it? Let's keep the spoilers out of the comments for the sake of other readers, but if you need someone to talk about the book with, please tweet me @aloveofbooks or email me at thebooksphere6 {at} gmail.com. Seriously I would LOVE to talk about this book with you guys!!!