The Kiss of Deception

The Kiss of Deception - Mary E. Pearson I wasn't overly impressed with this book but honestly I heard so much hype around it and so many misleading reviews that I don't think my expectations were realistic, therefore, I guess I kind of set myself up for disappointment. I heard that this book had an amazing plot twist and the author did such a phenomenal job deceiving her readers so I was totally looking forward to be deceived and that absolutely DID NOT happen (pouty face). The 'major plot twist' turned out to be relatively minor in the grand scheme of things and completely transparent, not to mention predictable. Maybe it appeared that way for me because I was expecting to be deceived and therefore over analyzing and over critical to what was going on, which is unfortunate because I like a good surprise plot twist as much of the next reader. Just a word to the wise...if you pick this book up based on all the hype, expecting epic deceit, prepare to be let down.

Having said that, this wasn't a bad book in it's own right, nor can it be blamed for the hype surrounding it, or for my disagreeing with other reviews. It was the average ya fantasy/romance novel. It certainly wasn't high fantasy, at least not so far in the series, but there were definitely some magical elements going on. This was a story about a princess, called Lia, who was betrothed to a prince from another kingdom whom she was to marry without ever having been introduced, for the sake of political alliance and peace between the two nations. However, she didn't agree with this idea so she ran away and went into hiding, living as a common peasant, meanwhile, the prince and an assassin hired to kill her are both tracking her, each with his own, very different, agenda.

My other major complaint with The Kiss of Deception is the ending. I thought it was so inconclusive that I cannot rate this higher than three stars because I am so aggravated! I knew this was book one in a series of at least three books so obviously I didn't expect everything to be wrapped up, cut and dried, at the end of the first book but I felt like the conclusion was so inconclusive that it doesn't feel like the book even ended and I got little to know satisfaction after reading nearly 500 pages! Not cool. I hope book two is an improvement because if it's any worse I won't be reading any further into The Remnant Chronicles.