I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The Heart of Betrayal by Mary E. Pearson
Series: The Remnant Chronicles #2
Published by Henry Holt and Co. on July 7th 2015
Pages: 470
Format: ARC
Source: the publisher
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Intrigue abounds in this hotly anticipated sequel to The Kiss of Deception!

Held captive in the barbarian kingdom of Venda, Lia and Rafe have little chance of escape. Desperate to save her life, Lia's erstwhile assassin, Kaden, has told the Vendan Komizar that she has the gift, and the Komizar's interest in Lia is greater than anyone could have foreseen.

Meanwhile, nothing is straightforward: there's Rafe, who lied to Lia, but has sacrificed his freedom to protect her; Kaden, who meant to assassinate her but has now saved her life; and the Vendans, whom Lia always believed to be barbarians. Now that she lives amongst them, however, she realizes that may be far from the truth. Wrestling with her upbringing, her gift, and her sense of self, Lia must make powerful choices that will affect her country... and her own destiny.

I loved The Kiss of Deception so much – it was one of my favorite books of 2014 – so I was really nervous to start The Heart of Betrayal, worried it wouldn’t live up to my expectations or would have Second Book Syndrome. It picks up right where The Kiss of Deception ended, plunging the reader right back into this amazing world. Despite the slow pacing in the middle of the book, this was an overall enjoyable read.

Lia is filled with sass and fire. Despite everything that happened to her, she remained strong and fierce. She’s determined to play the game and deceive the Komizar, ensuring Rafe’s safety and their freedom in the process. She played the game so well, I almost started to ship her and the Komizar! Though she falls apart a few time and she has some unlikable moments, she has a lot of growth in this book. And that evil cliffhanger…!!!! I NEED book three, like, now!

When I reviewed The Kiss of Deception, it was hard to talk about Rafe and Kaden, since their identities were a mystery (as far as which was the prince and which was the assassin). If you read that review, though, you know that this back-and-forth guessing game left me confused and frustrated and actually distracted me from the overall story. Going into The Heart of Betrayal, I had a lot of trouble remembering which guy I liked from book one and why because of the left-over confusion. So, because I couldn’t remember anything about my feelings for them from book one, I had to rely solely on how I felt about Kaden and Rafe based on their behavior in The Heart of Betrayal.

I’m pretty sure I liked Rafe more and shipped him with Lia in The Kiss of Deception, but to be honest, his chapters in The Heart of Betrayal bored me. And at times, I really shipped Lia with Kaden more. But they both had their moments of bad behavior and I almost got to a point where I didn’t ship Lia with EITHER of them. By the end of the book, I think I was back on Team Rafe – and I say “think” because I’m still not sure how I feel about certain things.

I struggled with my feelings for the Komizar, as well. At times, I couldn’t stand him and at times, I really liked him. I kept waiting for him to open up to Lia and soften towards her. I guess, in hindsight, that may have been a bit predictable and I’m almost glad it didn’t happen. He was the villain and that’s how it should be. The ending was INSANE, though. I kind of expected what happened to happen, but it still came as a huge WHOA moment. But since we didn’t get “final confirmation” on what happened, it still feels very open ended and like anything could happen next. I have a LOT of theories…

Some of my favorite characters – as was the case in book one, as well – were Pauline and Gwyneth. They’re hilarious together and I really want to see more of them! I actually really liked Calantha, even when she was being evil and manipulative. There was something about her character that intrigued me. The revelation of who she is was pretty epic. I also really liked Aster and my heart broke for her at the end. Finally, I really liked Griz and Eben, though it took me a while to remember who they were from book one.

And that leads me to the parts that were confusing… I barely remembered anything about the “ancient” characters from book one, so whenever they came up, it slowed me down while I tried very hard to remember. I think a “Who’s Who from Book One” character guide would have been helpful. And maybe a short page or two on the “History of Morrighan, Venda and Dalbreck.” I couldn’t remember who Gaudrel was from “The Last Testaments of Gaudrel” and it took me a long time to remember the history of Morrighan and Venda.

As I’ve mentioned a few times, the ending was an EPIC INSANE CLIFFHANGER OF INSANELY EPIC PROPORTIONS. I can’t even wrap my head around it and I finished reading it like a week ago! The ending almost makes up for the slow pacing and confusion in the middle of the book. I’m very excited for the third book and can’t wait to get my hands on it to see what happens next!!!

I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson
Series: The Remnant Chronicles #1
Published by Henry Holt and Co. on July 8, 2014
Pages: 492
Format: ARC
Source: the publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

In this timeless new trilogy about love and sacrifice, a princess must find her place in a reborn world.

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 had everything I love reading about, all in one book. I love books that take place in the past – specifically, in 1800s England. I love books that take place in similar time periods, as well. I also love books set in the distant future, in which all technology has disappeared and it seems as though the plot takes place in 1800s England or a similar time period. That was a lot of babbling, but hopefully you guys understand what I’m trying to say! Basically, I LOVE the time period this book is set in. I love the characters, the plot – Pretty much everything about this book pulled me in and kept me reading (I read it in two sitting and in the second sitting, I read 375 pages without stopping!).

Barely 60 pages in and I was already in love with the world, as well as Lia’s character and voice. There’s a fine line between her wanting to live her own life in her own way, and her being kind of selfish for running away and abandoning her duties as Princess. But I understand why she ran and, if I were in her position, I would have run, too. I knew it was too good to last, but I enjoyed the life she made for herself and the people she met. I admired her, though, for knowing when it was time to go home. In that particular moment, I could really see the character growth, that moment when she finally acknowledged her duties and responsibilities and realized she couldn’t run from them. It took a lot of maturity to come to that conclusion.

It’s really difficult to talk about the prince and assassin without giving anything away. This was the biggest mystery in the book and one of the very few things that annoyed me a little bit. Trying to guess who was who was a fun mystery at first, but after awhile, it started to distract me from the story and it became very confusing. I focused so much of my attention on trying to figure it out that I’m pretty sure I missed some key plot points and revelations. It was also a lot of back and fourth, thinking “Well, I love the assassin/prince… But I love _______. I hope they’re the same person! But what if ________ is the assassin/prince? I don’t like him as much!” (Sorry for the confusion! Leaving out the male character names to avoid spoilers or even a hint of a spoiler!)

After a LOT of going back and fourth, I finally just tried to enjoy the story as it was told to me. I tried to stay in the moment and avoid thinking about it, though several hints are dropped and some are hard to ignore. But, thankfully, the “name” that I loved turned out to be the “title” that I loved so it all worked out in the end!

I adored Pauline. She was a faithful servant and friend to Lia. She didn’t have to do what she did and she didn’t have to abandon everything she knew and everyone she loved. But she stuck by Lia through everything. I also loved Gwyneth. She was that person who can be your best friend or worst enemy and she tells it like it is, whether you want to hear it or not. Sometimes, Lia needed Gwyneth’s brutal honesty in order to see things clearly. Another great character was Berdi. She was the much-needed mother figure for Lia, Pauline and Gwyneth. She was strict when she had to be, but caring when she needed to be.

The “journey” at the end was interesting at first, though it began to drag and I grew bored with it. I just wanted it to end or something to happen. There were some epic character and plot revelations sprinkled into the journey, though, so it was still worth-while in the end. It also showed that Lia was tougher than she gave herself credit for. She endured a lot throughout the journey. She also suffered terrible heartbreak, but she still pushed on. She didn’t bow down to her enemy, not once.

Overall, despite two things that bothered me (the annoying back-and-fourth of who was who and the too-long “journey” that dragged), I loved The Kiss of Deception so, so much! It had all the elements of a perfect book (in my mind, at least) and it was everything I love to read about, all in one book. The ending was incredible and a complete cliffhanger! I can’t wait to get my hands on book two! Mary E. Pearson is an amazing writer and a masterful story-teller. She created an incredible, believable world filled with wonderful, complex characters. I highly recommend this book!