A Forgery of Fate is a breathtaking, East Asian-inspired romantic fantasy that blends mythology, artistry, and fate into a mesmerizing tale of love, sacrifice, and destiny. With lush world-building and evocative prose, Elizabeth Lim crafts a spellbinding story that will captivate fans of Beauty and the Beast.

Truyan Saigas is an unforgettable protagonist—an artist with the rare ability to paint the future, burdened by her family's struggles and the weight of her own impossible choices. Her fierce devotion to her sisters makes her instantly relatable, and her journey into the depths of the Dragon King’s realm is as thrilling as it is poignant. The underwater world Lim creates is stunningly immersive, filled with rich lore, dazzling descriptions, and an eerie sense of wonder. From grand palaces to perilous court intrigues, every setting feels alive and brimming with magic.

At the heart of the story is Tru’s slow-burning romance with the enigmatic Elang. Their dynamic is beautifully layered with longing, mystery, and heartbreak. As secrets unravel—including a shocking revelation about Elang’s true identity—their relationship takes on even greater emotional depth. The tension, the yearning, the impossible stakes—it all builds to a stunning climax that left me breathless. And the ending? Utterly devastating and yet achingly beautiful.

Beyond the romance, A Forgery of Fate is also a tale of resilience, fate, and the unbreakable ties of family. The sibling bond between Tru and her sisters is one of the novel’s strongest elements, grounding the story in deep emotional stakes. The themes of destiny and sacrifice are woven seamlessly throughout, making this a novel that lingers in your mind long after you turn the final page.

Elizabeth Lim once again proves why she’s a master of fantasy storytelling. A Forgery of Fate is a luminous, heart-wrenching tale that enchants, devastates, and ultimately leaves you longing for more. A must-read for fantasy lovers.

I'm not sure what happened, but I seemed to get 1% of this book, and so unfortunately I am unable to review.

Having never have read anything by Elizabeth Lim before I can say I was pleasantly surprised. First of all how gorgeous is this cover? An amazing creative twist inspired in the story of beauty and the beast, a great heroine and a great hero.
Everything about this book was magical.

I'm in love with everything Elizabeth Lim writes.
And the bet part is every book seems to get better and better. I loved this so much!

5/5 stars 🌟

Once again, Elizabeth Lim had created yet another masterpiece, a beautiful story that whisked me away. The way she writes is so masterful and enchanting, from the vivid descriptions and the lyrical prose, everything was so tastefully done.

Truyan, the main female character, uses art forgery as a means of work to support her family, with the ability to also paint her visions. She is smart, passionate, dedicated yet always remembers to show kindness. The prince, Elang, was also such an interesting character, enigmatic and mysterious, and we slowly see him open up to Tru, which was so heartwarming to see. We see her fall in love with the beauty of the underwater world, as well as her falling for Elang. Their relationship was so beautiful and heart wrenching to read about, from the angst to the tension, it was all worth the wait.

The plot pace remained steady throughout, and there was never a dull moment whilst reading this book. This story also had elements of the beauty and the beast, but it was so much more as well. Her world building is truly mesmerising, and we see this through her creation of a whimsical underwater world, where the story mainly takes place in.

This epic fantasy deserves all the praise, and there’s no doubt that this is and will be one of my top reads of this year. Such a refreshing and magical read, would definitely recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children’s for providing me with this arc for an honest review.

This one was just not it for me.

I found the story to be not only boring and predictable, but too unnecessarily long. There was so much setup leading to Tru and Elang's deal, and the 300 pages afterward was spent trying to convince me that these two had romantic chemistry and the curse is a tragedy that kept them apart. I just did not care for these two, nor the family or any of the side characters. The inconsistencies with Tru's powers were also very annoying. Why could she pant fast with some visions but takes forever with others? Other than to stretch the page count, I have no idea. I only stuck with it simply out of sheer stubbornness.

The writing had some pretty descriptions and phrases related to Ai'long, but it also felt juvenile, too. Demon turds was thrown out as a curse at multiple points, and it also turned me off to the story more and more with how childish it felt. I was also able to guess so many "twists" that the characters were too dumb to catch on themselves, but I was too bored out of my mind to care too much about it.

All in all, this just was not for me. This'll definitely be a hit amongst people who already love Lim's previous books, but I will not be amongst them.

A Forgery of Fate is a vivid and masterful Beauty and the Beast retelling combined with Eastern mythology. I’ve never read the authors works before but a few of her books are on my never ending TBR and this has given me the push to pick them up!

There were so many things I loved about this book. Our FMC, Tru, is an art forger who has the ability to paint the future who delves into a fake marriage with cursed (and grumpy cinnamon roll) dragon lord, Elang, as they join forces in his underwater kingdom to take down the Dragon King and save her father.

The standout of the story for me was the world-building, meticulously crafted and jam-packed with whimsy. What do you MEAN there are phoenix demons and talking turtles?! The setting in this was simply stunning.

Many thank you’s to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an advance copy, this will not be the last Elizabeth Lim book I read in the not too distant future.

Elizabeth Lim's work constantly captivates me and transports me to other worlds. In the early pages, I was grieving for Truyan's family, but only without revealing anything, which made me even more excited. I LOVED all of the characters and they grew on me. Truyan is unlike any other female lead in Lim's past works. What draws me to Truyan is her eagerness to provide the best for her younger sisters and family. Her family totally had me laughing and crying at the same time, and I just love how Truyan is so blunt—it makes her even more charming!

Even though I wasn't especially interested in the romance at first, I ended myself crying over Truyan's sacrifice to be with the man she loved LOL IT WAS QUITE ROMANTIC. OOH, the twists and turns are so surprising. I was assuming who the true villain was and it turned out to be wrong, and I loved it. The world-building is amazing and still ties back to the earlier books, so it feels like I'm coming home :’)

This was my first Elizabeth Lim book and i will immediately be going through her back catalogue 🫡
such a beautiful, atmospheric piece that felt like i was fully immersed inside the book. the food descriptions made me hungry, the water descriptions made me want to jump in the ocean and i just love love love dragons forever🐉

thank you @hodderbooks @netgalley for the opportunity to read this early!

thank you very much to the publisher and netgalley for the e-arc!!

i will frame this review by saying i do read a number of east asian fantasies but this is my first book by Elizabeth Lim (the rest are still on the tbr), and if i had to describe this in a word, it would be 'breathtaking'. there is not a single part of this story that didn't capture my heart.

first off, Tru's family. i started reading this on the bus after work, and god, the start with her family during the good times when all they had to worry about was Fal being vain and Tru's blue hair, before everything went wrong. and when it did, i was tearing up and trying not to cry. this feeling was a little like the first ten minutes of Up.

i loved the bond between Tru and her sisters, especially Nomi. we have the painter, the fashionista (of sorts) and the tinkering bookworm. i especially enjoyed reading their dynamic, even with their mother whom i warmed up to later in the book.

i also have to comment the worldbuilding, Ai'Landi and Gangsun were so vivid they felt real, even the kingdom underwater and the realm of the merfolk and all their festivals. i want to live in it. the jostle between Nazayun and Elang was phenomonal as a political and also mystical battle.

okay, now my favourite part, the tragic romance between Tru and Elang. (being chinese i did understand the play on words with Elang's name, which could mean the second son of the family, but in this case, probably second in line for the throne, or second class compared to the other dragons. am i reaching? maybe.) the slowburn of it was intense and i loved every single moment of it!! you'd think it was them falling for each other slowly, and sure enough it seemed like it, but only Tru's end. (spoilers from here on!!) i loved the reveal of Elang being Gaari who has been friends with Tru for years.

the YEARNING simply leaps off the page. i swear. that ending and reveal that Tru IS his heavenly match and her heart houses his pearl and only one of them can live shattered me. i saw this coming but good god it hurt. the timeskip felt so worth it. i nearly died when he didn't recognise her, but thank goodness for the powet of the red string of fate.

" my heart, my home — they are yours. they always have been. "

" every word we exchanged, every glance, and every moment where i didn't have to pretend... it meant everything — to me. "

he planted her a field of waterbells, her favourite flower. i am in PAIN.

OMG, I was needing something so addictive like this.

First of all, thank you Netgalley, the author and the editor for the opportunity to read this book. I simply loved it.

It has romance, magic, DRAGONS… only things for me to love.
Before this book, I hadn’t read anything by Elizabeth Lim but now I’m super interested to try her other books.

“The only paintings he loves are yours, Lady Saigas.”

In this one we have a spark of Belle and the Beast and the Little Mermaid and honestly it was simply amazing.
Loved the main characters, Elang and Tru, and also some other ones who are presented to us throughout the book.
I hate the King of Dragons, that one I really hate.

“Were I a bit more delusional, I might have thought he’d missed me.”

I also really liked the way everything was linked. Some information could look unimportant but in the end it was linked to something big.

It also have an arranged marriage and a little enemies to lovers, for those like me loves this trope.

It was an addictive book that I’ll be recommending because I’m a really big fan of romantasy and this one made me cry and laugh.

elizabeth lim, in my opinion, is peerless in the young adult fantasy romance space. each of her books sparks such joy in me when i read them. a master at remixing old folk and fairy tales, never doing something as simple as a retelling. i loved all of the elements here. she's just the best at this.

*actual star rating is 4.5*

This was such a beautifully written story, the descriptive language used conjures such wonderful imagery.

We have a forced proximity arranged marriage situation with Tru and Elang and they hate each other which leads to some brilliant dialogue, with lots of back and forth, trying to wind each other up and press each others buttons.

I loved all the other creatures featured in the story and I was particularly fond of the sass we get from Shani the water demon.

There were so many twists and turns in this book, right up until the end, that I did not know where this book was going and it kept me guessing the entire time.

A Forgery of Fate, the newest fantasy from Elizabeth Lim, follows the art forger Truy Saigas as she strikes a deal with a dragon lord for the safety of her family: her hand in marriage and her service as an artist.

Emoji-Aesthetic: 🐉🥮🧧🎍🌊🧜‍♀️🐢

Listen to…
🎶 Monster - dodie
🎶 Ordinary - Alex Warren
🎶 Daylight - David Kühner

I was absolutely swept away by this story. It focuses on family and sisterhood, and friendship. There is a romance, and it is a main storyline, but the focus is on love that has multiple layers.
This story ripped my heart out and then sewed it back together. The way Tru finds her strength, the way she stands up for her friends, for her family and for herself, was amazing to read.
I also really loved all of the side characters and how multidimensional they are. Mailoh has my whole heart. Oh and I want to try literally every dish that is described in this book. They all sounded delicious.
~~~
I received a complementary copy of this book. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

A Forgery of Fate - Elizabeth Lim
5⭐️

This book was a gorgeous blend of East Asian culture and the western stories I grew up with, like Beauty & The Beast, which this is a (loose!) retelling of. We see our FMC, Truyan Saigas, as she enters a deal with the mysterious Elang in order to repay her mother’s gambling debts and save her family. This deal takes them under the sea, to a watery world, where Tru must use her artistic ability to help overthrow the Dragon King 🐉

This book had absolutely everything I love in it - a marriage contract with a grumpy half dragon lord with a secretive history, a strong, protective FMC and the SLOWEST most delicious slow burn to ever slow burn. This is an epic adventure, combining themes of family, love, art and culture and I was invested from the get go📖

Elizabeth Lim does an incredible job of creating worlds, and I had to use the absolute bare minimum of my imagination to see the setting and events of this book unfold. I was transported to a vivid world of dragons and demons and merpeople and had no trouble at all seeing exactly what Lim was painting for us. The only word for what Elizabeth Lim does here is enchanting🫧🌊
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If you’re a fantasy lover who wants to be whisked away to a new world, this is absolutely the book for you. 🐉

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Releasing June 5th 2025 🗓️

Thanks to NetGalley and Hodder and Stoughton for providing this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

It was so wonderful diving back into Elizabeth Lim’s work with this gorgeous slow burn romantic fantasy!

I absolutely adored Tru and Elang, but Shani is by far my favourite of them all - what a menace!!

I highly recommend checking out this book when it is released!!

I’m absolutely obsessed with everything about this book I sobbed I had the odd giggle ! I read it within 2days I just couldn’t put it down . The absolute heartbreaking turmoil through out this story had my heart twisting left and right! It starts with baba going missing and the rest of family scrambling to save their lives and survive by the oldest daughter forging paintings. What you don’t expect is blackmail death magic and destruction wrapped up in watching an unconventional love story unfolding in heart stopping moments of sadness and splashes of joy . An absolute 10 out of 10

this might not be my fav Elizabeth Lim’s book, but Truyan is now my fav MC from the Legends of Lor’yan universe.

Truyan is an art forger, an eldest sibling, loves soup noodles, and that alone speaks deeply to me lol. she’s also determined, selfless, responsible, basically the exact opposite of Shiori’s personality (this isn’t a slander to Shiori, I love her too). then there’s Elang, an aloof and mysterious half-dragon who offered an arrangement that would benefit both of them if the goal is fulfilled.

this book was just as magical as the rest of Lor’yan books, this time it’s mostly from Ai’long’s perspective. i enjoyed the story, especially Truyan and Elang’s dynamics. the plot twists were layered, there’s some betrayals, but the food galore and light humor and sarcasm balanced the tension. there’s also a cameo of my second-favorite character of the Lor’yan books🥰

unfortunately for me the final action scene felt confusing and the ending felt like missing something. still had a great time reading this! since this is also Lim’s first standalone book that is completely separated from other Lor’yan books story-wise, i think she did well.

I'm always yearning to return to Ai'long, and I trust Elizabeth Lim to enchant me once more.

This story is placed in the same world as the Six Crimson Cranes dilogy, and one of the main characters is the cousin of Seryu, the one from Dragon's Promise.

And again, it's mythology enriched with fairy tales and so much imagination. A truly great FMC that can paint the future and The High Lord of the Westerly Sea in a marriage contract that is both danger and promise. I'd say the romance is badass x grumpy, but in a way that absolutely made me root for them.

This book definitely has everything I wanted from it: sea dragons, pearls, magic, red thread, heartache, destiny. And even though I didn't like the main plot twist at first, I absolutely warmed up to it.

What can I say? I gladly succumb to the magic of Elizabeth Lim's book. And I want more!

4,5/5 stars

#AForgeryOfFate #Netgalley #Bookstagram

*thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*
Absolutely stunning!Elizabeth Lim has done it again—A Forgery of Fate is an absolutely breathtaking story that weaves magic, fate, and emotion into something truly unforgettable. From the first page, I was completely lost in this world, feeling every hope, every heartbreak, and every triumph alongside the characters.

The storytelling is rich and immersive, with stakes that feel so real. The characters are beautifully complex, their struggles deeply moving, and their journey one that lingers in your heart long after you turn the last page. There are twists that took my breath away, moments of quiet heartbreak, and scenes so powerful they made my chest ache.

This book is more than just a fantasy—it’s about resilience, love, and the choices that define us. If you want a page-turner that will leave you utterly wrecked (in the best way), A Forgery of Fate is a must-read.