Due to a passing in the family a few years ago and my subsequent health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for years after the bereavement. Thank you for the opportunity.

This was not the book for me. I kept it partly read on my shelf for a lot longer than I probably should have. I found the political intrigue element of this too intricate - but I do know that plenty of fantasy readers do love that. I thought the relationships at the core of this book worked really well and I wish I had gotten on with this one better. I really wanted to like it but I just do not see myself returning to this.

City of Lies follows brother and sister Jovan and Kalina, whose family has been trained as poisoners and proofers for their city’s chancellor. Both our heroes’ uncle and chancellor are killed by a mysterious poison, and Tain, Jovan’s bestfriend, inherits the throne. They will all have to investigate these murders, as well as defend their city against a rebellion lead by the common folk.

Firstly, I thought the story was easy to follow and I found it got more interesting as the book went on. I came to care more about the characters as we learned to know them all. However, with the book being multiple POV, I sometimes had some trouble telling all the chapters apart. I did not think that it was easy to differentiate each section as they did not have their own specificities.

I really enjoyed the poison and plants information in the beginning of each chapter, though I would have loved to have more of the poison making/proofing. The whole story felt more like a murder mystery than a poison book. I would have loved to see more from that side of the plot.

Even though it took me longer to complete this book than expected, I still quite enjoyed my time reading it and would definitely consider reading more books from this world and from this author in the future.

A slow paced murder mystery set amongst a vivid fantasy backdrop, City of Lies is a unique entry into the fantasy genre with a plethora of fascinating characters and political intrigue. Following the story of two siblings, Kalina and Jovan, who are thrust into a political climate they are unprepared for, they must uncover the killer of their uncle while trying to navigate an uncertain country on the brink of civil unrest.

I found the world building and plot to be very tightly written and flowed well. It's relatively slow paced, with a lot of exposition that feels necessary to the intricate nature of the political worlds and different cultures. It's a fantasy world without a lot of the fantasy - preferring to draw on the imaginative narrative of a fantastical culture and world with a solid magic system that feels more intrinsic to the daily operating existence of the city rather than its own separate entity. Everything is explained well, and at no point did I feel overwhelmed by the amount of information I was given. As expected, the result of this does make the first half feel a little 'info dumpy' but unlike a lot of times, I didn't really mind here. I felt that instead it made me feel really connected to this world,so vividly depicted.

I also enjoyed the characters - especially Kalina. Rather than resting her brother's shadow, she wants to be seen as an individual someone who's just as good as her brother even while suffering from a chronic illness. There's also a lot of treachery and back stabbing throughout the plot, with the reader never really knowing who can be trusted, and I found this really added to my experience as I felt on edge for Kalina and Jovan throughout.

A truly unique fantasy story that will appeal to those looking for a slow burn, highly political plot and interesting characters.

I loved this book - the world’s first who-sieged-it. Great characters, great plot. The mystery whisked me along and raised so many interesting issues that speak to the real world. More please!

The first line of this novel completely sets the tone for what will follow! It tells the story of Jovan, trained from childhood as a proofer who exists to prevent the poisoning of his best friend, Tain - the heir to the city of Silasta. Throw in a provincial religion that is the source of some discontent in the city and the devious machinations of council members, all of whom have their own agenda, and you have a pretty heady brew. This is a pretty long book and there were parts where I felt the pacing lagged a little, but there were some truly thrilling scenes and the world building is deep and thorough, lending credence to the behaviours and interactions of the characters. There were some wonderful character traits included in the narrative that felt authentic and the shifting point of view allowed for explorations of different aspects of the world. All in all, this was a very intriguing first instalment that has definitely piqued my interest to discover what will happen next.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Thankyou to NetGalley, Amazon Publishing UK, Transworld Publishing, Bantam Press and the author, Sam Hawke, for the opportunity to read a digital copy of City Of Lies in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.
This is apparently the debut novel from this author. What can I say but we are in for one hell of a ride if this novel is anything to go by.
I was engrossed from the beginning. The storyline was well thought out and written with engaging characters. It was atmospheric in description and the plot just never lets you go.
Definitely well worth a read and an author I plan on following. 4.5 stars.

I got this on the premise of it being a sci-fi/fantasy book... and it just took too long getting to that part of the story for me. It starts off like a murder mystery and kind of lost me about 25% through. I unfortunately DNF this book.

However, it was written very well and the descriptions were beautiful so it you are willing to read a bit before you get to the main storyline I would still recommend.

Jovan has trained his whole life to protect the ruling family; but when the Chancellor is poisoned, enemies are everywhere.

I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

That first line definitely caught my interest: <i>I was seven years old the first time my uncle poisoned me... </i>
I mean, that is such a promising start. We meet Jovan, who has been training with his uncle since he was seven years old, to be a poison detector. He has grown up as the best friend of the Chancellor's heir, so no one questions how close he sticks, and his subtle checks of food and drink.

It is written in a way that is beautifully descriptive, but unfortunately slow and lacking any character.
The book's narration is split equally between Jovan and his older sister Kalina (who was originally supposed to have the position of poison-tester, but wasn't strong enough to cope with the training, so had to watch the honour pass to her little brother).
I honestly could not tell the difference between these two. Their voices, thoughts and opinions are so very much alike, that I had to keep flicking back to the chapter header to see who we are supposed to be following.

There's a whole cast of characters that are introduced very early, as Jovan, Kalina and the heir Tain navigate the council and all of the manipulative members. There is no shortage of paranoia and distrust amongst them. And again, they were all very beige. All the names and histories and ambitions blurred into something very bland and long-winded. Nothing and nobody stands out.

There's some very exciting plot points, as the Chancellor is poisoned, and an army storms the gate, and secrets have to be uncovered... It should be awesome, but the lengthy, descriptive style sapped the energy from these scenes.

This book wasn't for me, and I won't be continuing with the series. It is a matter of taste, and if you do like this elaborately-descriptive style, then check it out.

This is an enjoyable fantasy debut by Sam Hawke.

Jovan is the close friend of the Chancellor's Heir, with the undercover job of testing everything he drinks or eats for poison. He's been trained since a young boy for the role. Technically it should've been his sister Kalina's job, but she suffers from an unnamed illness that meant she was too weak to undergo the poison testing.

Jovan and the Heir return to the city one day when the Chancellor - and his poison tester, Jovan's uncle - is poisoned and dies. Now his friend takes the role, and Jovan and Kalina have to figure out who the poisoner is - all while an army lays siege to the city.

Jovan and Kalina are refreshing characters in 'FantasyLand' who managed to avoid many common tropes. However, I did find their voices in their respective chapters quite similar, and I would've liked to get to know them better, a bit deeper I suppose.

This is a city novel - the action largely stays in one spot because of the nature of the emerging threat - and a long time is spent on the various attacks by the army outside and how the city's inhabitants are forced to retreat further and further inside. Again this was quite a nice contrast to many sprawling fantasy epics I've read. But I must admit I did get a little skim-reading-y during the many siege scenes. There are a lot.

Also, one of the central mysteries in the book is why the army (made up of 'commoners' who live around the city) are actually attacking. I got slightly frustrated while we waited to find out the nature of this enemy and the poisoning enemy, but I think this a choice the author purposely made so I think this is a 'me' problem rather than a book problem.

This is the first in a series but very standalone in itself. No cliffhangers at the end, which in itself is quite nice and refreshing.

3.5 stars

I wasn't sure what to make of this book when I first started reading. The first two chapters are intense and there is a lot going on. Once settled into the story though I really enjoyed this book.

The story centers around three main characters, Jovan, his sister Kalina and Tain, when you scratch below the surface the relationship between them is a complicated one. All characters in this book, whether main players or side characters are beautifully written, and it's one of the main reasons I found this book so compelling. When I know what is motivating all the players I find myself more invested in their story.

The main action all takes place in the city - the world building in this story is beautifully subtle in it's telling. You get a real 'sense' of the place as you progress through the book but there are no long passages of description or explanation. It is just interwoven into the fabric of the narrative.

This is a fantasy book, however, the story at it's heart is a good old fashioned murder mystery, but my goodness it's a good one! There is a puzzle to solve right from the beginning and pieces are dropped in along the way to keep you guessing. There are curve balls and misdirection, the pace of the book helps to keep you gripped. Towards the end I was flipping through the pages to find out how it was all going to come together.

There are some interesting undercurrents in this book and I couldn't help but feel that there was a lot here that echoes what is going on in some parts of the world today. What happens when you stop valuing other peoples believes? When minority groups are seen as 'lesser' and the people in charge stop caring and just get greedy? Sound familiar? This adds an extra dimension to an already brilliant story.

This is up there as one of the best fantasy stories I have read this year and I highly recommend it. Many thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for a honest review.

https://lynns-books.com/2018/08/30/city-of-lies-poison-wars-1-by-sam-hawke/
My first thought on reviewing City of Lies by Sam Hawke was 560 pages! Really? It didn’t feel like it – for me, right there is a big surprise. I don’t mind a book being long, or epic – I just mind, very much so, if it feels that way whilst reading. So, kudos straight away. I literally had no idea this was such a chunkster *cue happy applause*. Secondly, this is a great first in series that shows not only a lot of promise in terms of going forward but also manages to provoke that feeling of ‘epicness’ whilst in actual fact providing a story that is much more focused on the inner workings. This isn’t a book with thousands of people battling it out on the bloody fields beyond the city walls – or at least, yes, okay, there is action going on out there but that’s not where Hawke chooses to shine the stagelights. Instead, this is a story of mystery and intrigue where the reader follows a select few as they endeavour to uncover what’s really taking place whilst also trying to stay alive.

So, why City of Lies as a title? Well, this novel is based in the City of Silasta, a shining beacon of virtue, a city of knowledge, learning, art and culture, literally a place that everyone can feel proud of. Except of course if you look beneath the structure of any large city lurking beneath will be a quite different feeling and experience. Obviously, I don’t want to give too much away here but I was fascinated by the way that so many people in this story, living their rather spoiled and privileged lives had very little notion of those residents within the city walls who kept the place ticking over or, more to the point, the way in which they live Even more so for the outlying villages that provide the much needed labour and crops that the city relies upon – even whilst their city counterparts harbour superior views about their poor country cousins. Anyway, that’s a relatively small point that I wanted to mention – really because I felt like this story delivers a very strong sense of place.

I loved the start to the story where we meet Jovan. The story shares two narrative view points in Jovan and his sister Salina and their own characters and sibling rivalry, not to mention their strong affection for each other and their childhood friend, Tain, really shines through. The introduction to Jovan was a really good one for me. It just worked very well in the way that some stories do to pull you in immediately. Frankly, any story that virtually starts by more or less saying ‘I was seven when my uncle first poisoned me’ pretty much secures my attention from the get go, colour me intrigued and curious to know more. Jovan and his family are proofers to the chancellor. Of course in a city that is ‘perfect’, where everybody is happy as can be, well, that role has to be hidden, because sure as eggs is eggs surely nobody would wish to poison their beloved Chancellor when all is so splendid and hunky dory – would they? It’s a pretty awful and thankless task isn’t it? Not only do you have to spend the majority of your childhood either being poisoned or trying to build up immunities and expertise in how to recognise these dangers but you then have to dive in and put yourself constantly at risk – and, in a way that nobody suspects you are doing so. Talk about your danger money – just no.

I really liked Jovan and thought his strong friendship with Tain helped to reinforce why he felt so strongly about his role. In fact he suffers from constant self doubt and also seems to suffer from some sort of OCD compulsions that he has to undergo in order to keep his feelings in check – I’m probably not really describing that very well in which case apologies. On the flip side of course, the friendship between the two is so strong that Tain feels guilty over the constant risk that his friend has to suffer. To an extent Salina’s character suffered a little bit as a result of Jovan getting off to such a good start. In fact Salina is, in a way, living in her brother’s shadow in more ways than one. Salina was originally to be the family proofer but following an almost fatal poisoning when she was young her health never fully recovered. The two tippy toe around the fact that Jovan supplanted Salina and there is a little bit of resentment bubbling beneath, but, the affection they both have for each other is much stronger than the rivalry. As well as that there’s the fact that Jovan had an immediate appeal for me as a reader. I liked his story telling voice which possibly made me a little resentful at first when I had to switch pov. But, Salina did eventually work her magic and I found myself totally in her corner, particularly as she was so frequently underestimated. On a number of occasions I could have happily slapped a few other characters, including Jovan, upside the head, for their casual dismissal. So, talk about your turn arounds.

You may have noticed that I’m saying very little about the plot. It’s difficult to do so without spoiling the story somewhat. This is a mystery in more ways than one and so to elaborate here would be to ruin the read imo. Fundamentally this is a murder mystery story that just so happens to fall into the fantasy arena. Using poison and intrigue and scattering a few red herrings it pulls you into a story of a city in danger.

Basically City of Lies has heart. It reads as a standalone novel and yet the ending has me champing at the bit to pick up No.2 and I find myself with a number of characters that I’m rooting for – which makes me all that much eager to find out what comes next.

I received a copy, through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher for which my thanks The above is my own opinion.

If a book is about poisons and food tasters, it's a guaranteed buy for me, so when I read the first line of City of Lies I knew I was in for a treat. Poison is front and centre in Sam Hawke's debut, but so is an extremely original look at the complexities of siege warfare, and the difficulties of governing a city filled with different religious beliefs. 

The two main characters of this book are Jovan, the taster for the Chancellor's Heir, and Kalina, his sister, who failed her taster training due to a weak constitution. Their perspectives alternate for most of the book as they cope with: the poisoning of the Chancellor; the accession of their friend Tain, the Heir; a peasant army besieging the city; the rumbling discontent in the cornered city; and of course, their own personal issues with themselves, each other, and the roles they have been forced into.

I loved Jovan's perspective, and I particularly liked the fact that the author noted and did justice to the main characters' inexperience and youth. No-one expected Tain to need to become Chancellor so soon, and so neither he nor Jovan have fully mastered their arts. Watching them navigate the tasks they have to take on is made so much more tense by their awkwardness, and I think this was captured really nicely. Nobody expects a bunch of teenagers to make the right decisions all the time - they are stripped of basically all the adults they trust, and experience the same kind of panic many of us feel when we come across an issue, wish for an adult, and then realise, 'oh wait, *I'm* an adult.'

Jovan has what he calls 'compulsions', which read to me as OCD traits - I can't personally speak to how accurate the representation is, but to me the inclusion of this seemed consistent and natural. I liked that Tain and Kalina knew how to help Jovan when he had gotten inside his head - it worked to cement their relationships and was a lovely detail.

I took longer to warm to Kalina's perspective, because the bookish bluestocking in the shadow of her more popular sibling is such an overdone trope. I could name you five I've read in the last two months. She's also not quite as immersed in the action as Jovan is, so you have to wait for a while before she starts playing in the main game. I liked her very much by the end of the book, though I would have liked her to have a voice that was slightly more differentiated from Jovan's, as I sometimes lost track of who was doing what.

I've never read a book before that was set entirely inside a besieged city, and I think this worked both for and against the plot. On the one hand, we had a really interesting mystery to solve along with Jovan and Kalina, but on the other hand, the complete lack of information on the attacking army's reasoning meant that the first 25% or so of the book was very repetitive. Characters bumbled round in circles pondering their situation and patching up small problems, which I suppose is very realistic in an unexpected siege, but dragged somewhat in the telling. The second half of the book, after we learn what the siege is about, is a lot better-paced and more exciting than the first half. 

A few world building notes:

- The plants and poisons were worked into the story very well, but I would have liked more time to be spent on the actual uses and effects of the poisons so that the reader had a better sense of how the antidotes worked. One plot line hinges on Jovan finding an antidote, and that was really fascinating - but what about the dangerous effects of the antidote itself? More of that would have been great! I'm just a big plant nerd.

- The main swear-word for 60% of the book is 'Honor-Down', which is somewhat explained by the obsession with honour as a concept (though it took a while for me to stop reading it with the same meaning as 'I swear down'!). After this point, the characters seem to use the F-word interchangeably with 'Honor-Down', which I found super jarring. I have no problem with swearing in fantasy or YA, and no problem with made-up swears to get around it, but pick one and stick with it. 

- Huge praise for writing a fantasy world in which zero sexual violence is necessary. It's really appreciated, and it sucks that it's so unusual.

One thing that I thought was interesting was the depiction of the Darfri religion, which is very much viewed by the city-dwellers as old and somewhat barbaric. It felt like, particularly with the events towards the end of the book, that the author wanted to prove to the reader that this was the 'real' religion, showing magic being done via Darfri rituals. I found this a little clumsy, to be honest, and more like the author had a point to prove, than being part of the plot itself. I would have preferred it if both sets of people, the religious and the non-religious, had just had to tolerate each other without knowing if any way of life is more correct than another.

I feel like I'm being very critical of this book, but I did very much enjoy it. All the points I'm raising are very minor, and this is a stellar debut with some really brilliant world-building. I'm excited for the next book, which I'm hoping will focus on the rebuilding of the city and its government, and think that Sam Hawke is definitely an author to watch! Four out of five stars!

A Wee Summary

The Bright City of Silasta has seen peace for hundreds of years. It’s from here the Chancellor and his Council (compiled of representatives from the six Credolan Families, and the six Guilds) rule the country.

Jovan and Kalina are brother and sister, their Uncle Egan, or their ‘Tasha’, is Chancellor Caslav’s closest advisor. What many people don’t know though is that he’s also the Chancellor’s proofer – it’s his role to prevent the Chancellor from poisoning. It’s a family duty, with each generation producing a proofer with exceptional knowledge of poisons, antidotes, and a developed tolerance to poison, to protect Caslav and his familial successors.

Kalina had been destined to fufil the role of Proofer for Tain, Chancellor Caslav’s heir. However, her body is weakened by illness and not suitable for proofing. Consequently it’s Jovan who has trained to perform the secret role for his best friend Tain.

Tain and Jovan find themselves needing to step up from their ‘heir’ positions sooner than anticipated. Together with Kalina, they find themselves in a city under siege, and not entirely sure who exactly the enemy is that faces them.

My Thoughts

There’s a lot to like about City of Lies – action, intrigue, politics, mystery, poison, but what I loved the most about it were the characters, Jovan and Kalina, from whose perspectives the story is told, and Tain too.

While I was captivated by the story with its lies, betrayals, twists and mysteries, it was the siblings who made this story for me.

Why? I’ll attempt to explain.

Jovan has a need for order and experiences compulsions which grow in proportion to his anxiety – measured, balanced pacing, fingers tightening in sequence, counting. It was something that I could relate to, and fantastic to see it being woven into a story without being the story.

If I could relate to Jovan, then Kalina’s character was like a revelation. A character who is constantly fatigued, in pain and at the mercy of her weak body. No-one know what causes it or how to cure it.

Many of you know that I suffer from a chronic illness that greatly impacts my life, with some symptoms very similar to Kalina’s. I also have a similar attitude to Kalina, where I constantly hide how bad I am from those around me. So you can imagine how much I loved to see such a character on the page – a character whose health was central to her story but wasn’t the story!

I highlighted many passages while reading but this one stood out to me

they couldn’t see what was wrong so they assumed it was not real

Kaline represents so many people with invisible illnesses, and Hawke writes her so well. It’s refreshing to find characters that I can relate to in this way, but whose personal struggles aren’t the story of the book. It feels representative of real life – a world which keeps on turning and you need to make the best of what you’ve got.

It’s also so reassuring to find a character who still gets to contribute so much to a story without their health issues.

I could talk about this aspect of the book ALL DAY, but I’m sure you get my point. All of this, within an epic fantasy tale!

I really enjoyed this story, overall. I had a few issues getting my head around some of the layouts of the City and the action scenes – but I’m sure that was down to my foggy brain.

All in all, this is a very impressive debut that ticked so many boxes for me. I’ve barely touched on the actual plot, but let me assure you, it will keep you reading long into the night!

four-half-stars

City of Lies is an incredible fantasy whodunnit novel by debut author Sam Hawke. It’s the kind of book that starts off with a simple premise – the Chancellor has been poisoned in a closed room – then gradually picks up, with problems and mysteries stacking up until you hit a critical mass of questions and everything starts to fall into place.

City of Lies is hugely character driven throughout and would have suffered if not for it’s refreshing main characters. Jovan is the Chancellor’s secret food proofer and chemist. His, and his family’s, job is to check any food the Chancellor is to eat and detect possible poisons within. He is devout in his duties and takes great honour (a central tenet of their culture) in putting himself in harm’s way for his friend. Jovan also suffers from quite serious OCD that requires him to move and act, such as counting steps, in groups of eight and can debilitate him when he loses control over his impulses.

“The longer this situation went on, the more the compulsions built up…there were five different patterns: pacing, hands squeezing, toes scrunching, thighs tensing and teeth clicking. Counting sets of eight for each muscle group took all my concentration”

Kalina is Jovan’s elder sister and would have originally been the proofer in the family if it wasn’t for her chronic weakness. She tires very quickly and cannot stand up to gentle poisons. Throughout her chapters, it’s clear that this affects her mentally and along with Jovan’s well meaning but sometimes overbearing nature, she is always pushing herself to do more and proving her worth. Both characters have these serious illnesses and it could have been so easy to write them in a shallow way, as if just adding flavour, but Hawke pulled off the representation with aplomb. Being inside both characters’ heads lets us see that they are always affected by these conditions which are manifesting repeatedly and often at quite inopportune times. It becomes clear that Kalina and Jovan have some level of control over their illnesses and will never stop pushing against their limitations.

Interestingly while the Chancellor, Tain, doesn’t have any POV chapters he’s still very much an equally main character. It’s a testament to the authors skill that the reader can be as attached to him as the other two while only seeing a third-person view of him. All three characters work excellently together – none have a secret agenda and they’re all genuinely good people who want the best for everyone (going to great lengths to achieve peace, with patience to rival monks).

I have a couple of minor issues with the book, the pace suffers a bit just over half way through. There’s an army on their doorstep and everyone keeps reminding each other that they could crash through at any time but fortunately the army just chills outside for days. It’s never fully explained why they sat back for about five days but it was awfully convenient for the main characters as they had some serious in-house problems at the time.

There’s also some romance angst that’s just not needed. The romance in general is done well and the platonic friendships between the siblings and between them and Tain are excellent. It could have been easy to add some romance subplot between Tain and Kalina but keeping them as close friends was a breath of fresh air. However, there’s this angsty section that feels so unnecessary, it didn’t add anything to the relationship and made my eyes roll out their sockets.

Regardless, these issues are hardly worth worrying about since City of Lies is sublime in every other respect. It touches on some real-world issues like xenophobia and us-versus-them mentalities without getting preachy. The book highlights how easy it is to ignore the suffering of people not in your vicinity then just shut them down as lesser once they’re forced to turn violent.

“They had looked healthy enough, and had waved back so, nothing had challenged my basic assumption that an oppressed people would look thing and cowed and starving”

Throughout the book, the main characters are trying to find an explanation to the mysterious death of the Chancellor. Right off the bat, there’s only so many suspects but with barely anything to go on, the three characters are baffled. With occasional poisonings and red herrings, and despite some solid deductions made by the three, the mystery kept me guessing up until all was revealed. I’m not too versed in the mystery genre but that plus the mysterious is-it-real-maybe lore and the good, honourable characters made City of Lies a thrilling read. A sequel to this book isn’t strictly necessary but if there is one, I’ll be first in line.

This was a good introduction to this new fantasy series. I liked that these characters specialised in poison but they are not assassins - their job is protect against poison, not poisoning others. I've not really seen this in other books and liked that aspect of it. Although I enjoyed the plot overall, I found this quite a slow read and it dragged in places. My main issue with this one though was that I wasn't invested in the characters. I can't really put my finger on why but something about them just didn't quite click with me. The world building was good, if a little lacking at times. Overall I enjoyed this and I would recommend checking it out, if especially if you are a big fantasy reader.

For the most part, I really enjoyed this. It is a slow-burn fantasy, and it does take a little while for the pace to pick up, but it wasn't that big of a deal for me. I enjoyed the murder-mystery aspect of it and all of the intrigue and deception. There were a few things that I guessed correctly, and some things that were glaringly obvious or cliché, but it was an enjoyable read overall.
I will say that I wasn't a huge fan of the romance though. It was basically insta-love and I knew it was going to happen as soon as the love interest was introduced. So, that was a little disappointing.
The ending of this book felt a little like the story could be left there and this could be left as a standalone, so it'll be interesting to see what the author has in store for the sequel.

Sam Hawke writes an impressively accomplished debut in the first of her Poison Wars series in which she creates and establishes a remarkably complex piece of world building with echoes of the many issues that plague and divide our contemporary society. It begins with a killer first line 'I was seven years old the first time my uncle poisoned me', Jovan is fulfilling the family tradition of being a proofer, a poison expert and tester for the ruling family of Sjona in the so called bright city of Silasta, perceived to be an advanced and progressive place. This behind the scenes role was meant for his older sister, Kalina, the natural heir of this family tradition, but she was left chronically physically frail after the first time she was poisoned. Jovan and Kalina are the primary narrators, their authentic sibling relationship, infused with love and irritation with each other, at the heart of the story. It begins with the death of the Chancellor from an unknown poison, along with his proofer, Jovan's Uncle Etan. With the revolutionary forces comprising of the common people at the walls of the city, Jovan and Kalina battle for the Chancellor's heir, Tain, and Silasta.

This is a multilayered story of political intrigue and machinations, secrets and lies, the murder mystery of whodunnit, and the return of the ancient spirits. Hawke provides a wide array of diverse characters in terms of race, mental health issues, disabilities and more with all the consequent tensions, prejudices and challenges this gives rise to. Amongst the privileged ruling classes, including Jovan, there is a blindness as to the fate of the lower classes, with their erroneous beliefs that they are happy and a failure to appreciate and take responsibility for the repercussions of their decision making. The lies underpinning the facade of the city are exposed to reveal the murky underbelly of Silasta. In this thought provoking novel, I particularly loved the character of Kalina, whose physical frailties meant that her intelligence and considerable abilities were often underestimated.

Interspersed in the narrative, poisons and their characteristics are outlined, along with how a proofer might discern that they are being used. This is brilliant and unforgettable storytelling from Sam Hawke, an author who has definitely made her mark with this novel that I highly recommend. Many thanks to Random House Transworld for an ARC.

[this review will be up on my blog on August 20, 2018]

City of Lies is one of the few books longer than 500 pages whose pacing isn’t actually terrible. That’s the thing I liked the most about it: it never dragged, and even when the story itself wasn’t really captivating – but it usually was – I always wanted to keep reading, because the mystery element was really intriguing.

In all the other aspects, this book was a solid debut, but I can’t say it stands out. I really appreciated that, despite being set during a siege (and we see the story from within), it didn’t stand out for being incredibly depressing like other hyped 2018 debuts, but I feel like it could have been so much better.
It wasn’t bad, I just wanted more from the characterization, the worldbuilding and the ending.

City of Lies follows two PoVs, Jov, the new Chancellor’s poison taster, and his sister Kalina, who didn’t become the poison taster herself because she was too sickly.
I really appreciated seeing disabled characters in a fantasy novel (Jov has anxiety and OCD, Kalina is chronically ill), but as characters they were pretty unremarkable: Jov is anxious and loyal to his friend Tain, now the Chancellor, and knows a lot of poisons; Kalina is physically weak but also mentally strong and very stealthy – and their characterization never becomes more than that; the characters of a book of 500+ pages should be much more developed.
I liked seeing their friendship with Tain and with each other – I love stories about siblings – but as I said, that wasn’t enough.
Also, I wanted more poisoning! Each chapter starts with the description of a poison (and I always loved these parts), but most of them were never relevant to the story and that was disappointing.

The worldbuilding had some aspects I absolutely loved and some that didn’t work as well as they could have.
Let’s start with the good: City of Lies is the only book I’ve ever read whose worldbuilding was explicitly not amatonormative, as in, families aren’t based on romantic love and people don’t marry – instead, people raise their children with their own siblings, and it’s considered bad luck for men not to have sisters because that means they won’t have nephews to raise. It’s a very interesting set up, and I really wish it was explored more, possible bad consequences included (if you have an awful blood family, you’re stuck with them, even more than in our world?)
This book also explores themes of privilege and religious hate, but does so only from the point of view of very privileged characters. Yes, there’s a relevant side character who is not, and I liked her, but I can’t say this is a kind of narrative I’m that interested in.

Another thing I liked was that there wasn’t any homophobia in this world – there are women who are in relationship with women and men who like men – and many of the side characters were queer, but: all of them were really underdeveloped, and when all main characters are straight (or: it isn’t stated that they’re queer, I don’t know if heteronormativity is a thing here?) and the only relevant romance is m/f, I really don’t want the traitor character to be (explicitly, this time) queer.
Also, the villain was very underdeveloped, and so were their motivations – from what I knew, they didn’t make that much sense. The mystery wasn’t predictable for me, and I usually love when that happens, but the political intrigue here managed to be underwhelming anyway.

On the more positive side, I can say that while I wanted more from this world and the characters, I did like them, and I loved everything about the poisoning plotline but its resolution – enough that, for most of the story, I didn’t want to put the book down.

Such a good fantasy read! It had 2 POV of a brother & sister involved in a very political storyline. I really liked both POV. The story kept me interested the whole way through. Would definitely read more from this author.