First of all, thank you NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for the ARC.
Mistress of Lies was a really nice surprise, I didn't expect to enjoy this book so much. From the first page I was hooked (that beginning was insane!). Shan, the protagonist, was such a cunning character, and Samuel, the other main character, was so innocent and good-hearted that sometimes I felt bad for him. I loved the chemistry between them. The others characters, too, were all well defined, each one with a personality different from one another. I appreciated the bond between Shan and her twin brother, she would do anything for him. The queer representation and the romance were great and well developed. The worldbuilding was believable, and creepy sometimes, and the plot kept getting more interesting and intriguing chapter after chapter. A really good read. Can't wait for more!

First of all, many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for granting me a free e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Messy love triangle that is actually a triangle?? When I saw this being mentioned in other reviews I quite literally ran to Netgalley to hit request on it. And while I absolutely loved the poly triad, this novel definitely has way more aspects making it a strong and amusing read.

I mean.. morally grey characters?? Messy families?? Amazing and intriguing world building?? TRANS REP??? And there’s even more, but I cant name it all, you’ll just have to read to find out yourself ;)

4.5 stars cause there was just one thing that kinda bothered me a bit. Not to go into spoilers but it had to do with the actions of a character and how it will be handled in the sequels. Like how is the author gonna fix it??

Well we’ll see in the sequel! I will be waiting in anticipation :) And in the meantime, I will be yelling at my bookclub members to read this

Thank you NetGalley and Little Brown Book group for the e-arc!

When I’ve read the blurb I was intrigued by this book! Yet, I didn't really know what to expect and well, I was into it through the first few pages. The pacing was great, the writing exquisite and the characters everything you want them to be and more. Shan is one hell of a woman, clever and ruthless, she will do everything for her twin brother and the ones she cares about. Samuel was touching, a good-hearted guy mixed in a scheme bigger than him (or so he thinks) and don’t get me started on Isaac. I loved their dynamic. The plot, the politics and the blood magic was also so interesting I wanted to know more about it! (Still do). I really enjoyed my reading of this book. I was surprised by the plot twist at the end but also, not that shocked? And with that kind of epilogue, I will definitely be here when the second book comes out!
Mistress of Lies is dark, bloody and thrilling. Though I loved the atmosphere of the book, I wished the worldbulding and magic system was a bit more detailed. I would say its greatest strength is its characters! Morally-grey protagonists truly are the best. I loved the trans rep (no transphobia, misgendering, or deadnaming).
Now if you happen to love polyamorous romance on top of everything I just said then this book is definitely for you!

I’m obsessed with this story. Samuel and Shan are interesting and diverse in what drives them. Shan is strategic, cunning and loyal within reason, while Samuel is loyal to a fault, smart and genuine. They both bounce off each other in ways you would think would clash but they balance one another throughout this book.

The blood magic and the political elements were unique and interesting. I look forward to seeing what happens in book 2. Book 1 reminded me of the Boneshard daughter and The scarlett alchemist in the best ways.

Thank you for allowing me to ARC read this book - apologize it has taken so long to write this review!

Mistress of Lies follows Shan, the head of a shamed household, moving through political intrigue and back-stabbing, classism both hidden and blatant, magic, and a murder mystery.

While I found this book to be slow-moving in places, while fleshing out characters, and my attention wandered during this, it was always needed to move the story along further and at a faster pace later on when things picked up.

I overall enjoyed this book, and look forward to reading more by KM Knight in the future.

Mistress of Lies is a dark and intriguing story about Shan, the head of a shamed household and her schemes and plots. This is a story with political intrigue, class discussions as well as classism, a murder mystery, a unique magic system and a queerness that was unexpected but appreciated and treated well. Shan discovers a long lost connection to the monarchy with mysterious powers who has lived as an 'unblooded' and now is thrust into a regency-adjacent style society that is based around blood magic and more rules than he ever expected. While this book did have its points where it dawdled, it felt necessary for fleshing out the characters and raising the stakes.
4.5 stars - I really enjoyed this story and will definitely read the next book in the series.
Thank you to Brown Books Group and Netgalley for this ARC.

thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review.

oh, this book was such a nice surprise!

the author has crafted a unique magic system that revolves around blood and that dictates every aspect of this world and its characters’ lives. i’ve seen some people saying this book has vampires because of the blood aspect, but i don’t agree with it. yes, some people need to consume blood to activate their powers and there’s some blood drinking in this novel, but they aren’t really *vampires* in the way we’re used to seeing.

the characters aren’t nice people and they know it. i really enjoyed following shan’s journey and her relationship with her twin brother, anton. i’m very excited to see what will happen between them in the next book! it was hard for me to understand isaac’s intentions and what he was planning—and i loved it! samuel was a good character to balance both isaac and shan; he was the one to bring out the best side of those complex characters.

there’s a little of a poly relationship (!!!!!!! i was over the moon about it!!!!!!!), but the main focus of this book is about the political intricacies the characters are involved with. i didn’t expect all of that from a debut author, but i was so surprised with this book and how much i ended up enjoying it! the angst was delicious and it left me wanting more and more. everything is so high-tension when you consider the characters have different goals, there’s a revolution close to bursting and an eternal ruler who will do everything to stay in power. i can’t want to see what will happen in the sequel :) <3

a beautifully written story with nicely fleshed out and real feeling characters.
I loved the magic system, and the very unique feel of this story.
I can't wait to read more from this world and these characters!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy. I really loved this one. It had everything I like in a book, a complex magic system with immersive world building, complex characters and a nicely paced plot. While exploring the inequalities of society within a fantasy setting is not a novel concept, I did enjoy how in this book different characters had very different ideas of what should be done about it, which created interesting tensions and conflict throughout. Very much looking forward to the the second instalment!

This has the bones of a fairly incredible book. But the meat of it - the blood of it, if you will - didn't quite live up to its potential.

First, let's talk about what worked. And first and foremost in that category is Shan. One of the two POV characters, Shan is an absolute star. She has different sides to her, quite literally with her personas of the Sparrow and Lady LeClaire, she has determination, and she doesn't always make great choices. But that makes for a great character! Yes, too many other characters called Shan clever (often to her face) without her doing anything particularly clever, but I can overlook that for the first five or so times it happened. I thought Shan was captivating and engaging, none more than in the opening chapter - which sounds a bit like, "Oh, it's all downhill from here," but I mean. It was a VERY strong opening chapter.

I also thought the political aspects were very cool and had lots of potential to create a fully fleshed out world over the series. I like political machinations, and this had all the setup for that! I think that's another reason why Shan was such a wonderful character for me, as she was the one involved in the politics and being torn in a couple of different directions between her desires to make her world a better place and to gain power.

While I didn't really care for the romance(s) personally, I did appreciate the poly rep and the lack of love triangle! Cheers for that!

And while parts of the worldbuilding were a bit shallow, such as information about other countries, I think the history of their own country was intriguing and there was some great groundwork laid to expand upon the entire world.

Finally, I liked how different this take on vampirism was. At its bones, it really wasn't that unique of a take, I suppose, but the way it was presented in the novel as a whole and interwoven was refreshing!

What worked less well for me? Samuel, the other POV character, was . . . difficult for me. It wouldn't be fair for me to say that he lacked depth, because I don't think that's true, but he was somewhat boring for me if only because his character just seemed TOO good. He's almost the perfect moral compass with very little lapses into any vices or sins or, you know, complex thoughts. I understand that some of that is positioned in such a way to set him as a contrast to his family and that it's an important part of his character, to be afraid of turning out like his family, but it made it low stakes because there was absolutely no doubt that Samuel would emerge as a beacon of goodness.

Otherwise, the main thing that kept me from being drawn into this book was simply the writing. It was perfectly serviceable. It was fine. But it just didn't work for me. I think that's in large part because there were so many paragraphs and pages that would be describing things, telling you things, and often not broken up by dialogue. Which can be a stylistic choice, to be sure, but the style of the prose didn't work for such a choice for me, and instead, those paragraphs and paragraphs just came across as a writer who was still finding their voice and falling into telling over showing. I think some more writing experience would help better flesh out the characters and the world as well.

There were a handful of other things that I could nitpick, but ultimately, those were the big things that I think impacted my enjoyment of the book. That said, both are things that can easily be fixed in future books in this series, and I hope they are as I think this book and this world have a lot of potential. Plus, that cover is so gorgeous that I'd love to want this series on my shelf, and let's not underestimate that. So, overall, a fantastic concept whose execution couldn't quite live up to its full potential - but there is potential in this creative debut.

3.5 stars.

Thank you to the publisher, Orbit, and to NetGalley for the ARC.

I need more Shan, Samuel and Isaac in my life right now.

This book sunk its claws into me and I am begging to know where this trilogy is going to go. I absolutely adored this story and Shan is such an intelligent main character - I struggle when authors call their characters smart without anything to back it up, but that was not the case here at all. I loved learning about her, the network she created and felt truly connected to the characters. There was so much depth to each one and the writing was lush!

I want to be back in this world as soon as possible! Highly, highly, highly recommend!

Thank you to Orbit and NetGalley for my digital review copy.

3 stars.

This book was good.

The approach to blood based magic was what drew me into this book and sadly, I came away from it wishing the magic had more development.

The first chapters of this are very promising and instantly show us what type of character Shan is (I absolutely support women's rights, but more importantly, I support women's wrongs.) Shan is someone who will do absolutely anything to get what she wants and I love her for that.

We start out strong with Shan scheming and there's a background plot of murders, so this book has some murder mystery notes, but then the main plot gets pushed to the back burner whilst we focus on more on the relationship side of things between Shan, Isaac (a childhood friend), Samuel (a crucial part of her schemes). I did come away from this wishing that the murders weren't pushed so far back for a large stretch of the book.

There's a lot of representation in this book! We have a transmasc character, multiple mixed race characters, polyamory!

I did enjoy this book by the end and I'm interested to see what happens next, though I did wish the magic system was more developed.

Thank you for this ARC! The following review will be published on Goodreads on August 1st.

A magician heiress of a fallen family trying to find her place in a court full of conspiracy and blood.

I really liked the magic system of this world, it was dark and seductive, and felt like a unique spin on vampire lore. The worldbuilding of Aeravin, with its Unblooded and Blood Workers, was strong, and having two POV characters from opposite sides of the world really helped illustrate the inequality—especially as Samuel rises in the world and is horrified by the contrasts in their society. The intersectionality of Shan and Isaac’s specific experiences also made the world feel more real and complex, as well as being an important topic to discuss.

The prose was good, though a little too much more showing than telling for me. In a fantasy book with complicated world-building I’d rather have things told to me explicitly than end up confused, but I do think Enright could trust his readers a little more.

I really enjoyed the central trio’s relationship. There was probably more focus on the romance over the rest of the plot than I tend to want in a book, but I still enjoyed their dynamics and the sexual tension was delicious.

I think my biggest critique was: I wasn’t entirely sure what either POV character wanted. They both seemed to have relatively vague goals (for Shan, raising her family’s reputation, replacing the King(but how?), for Samuel, surviving the new world he’s thrown into) but I feel like most of the time they were treading water, or being passive. Passive characters can be interesting, and make sense in a world where society is strictly structured, but at the same time I want characters to want something—especially Shan, who is set up to be this super ambitious, determined character, but you’re never 100% sure what exactly she’s ambitious for, or how each of her actions tie into her overall plans. Did she have an overall plan? I’m still not sure.

Despite this, I still enjoyed the book, and especially liked the murder plotline. The ending felt well-judged, and made me want to pick up the next book!

What an absolutely phenomenal title. I was so impressed by the prose and the storyline. Queer Filipino American author Enright weaves a highly political vampiric tale full of court intrigue and mysteries left and right. I was blown away

“Mistress of Lies” is the first installment of “The Age of Blood” , an adult fantasy series written by K. M. Enright and currently in progress. A book for which I had very high expectations, but which in the end unfortunately did not convince me.

The dark, intricate and extensive world building fascinated me a lot. The story takes place in a realm dominated by Blood Workers, creatures that essentially constitute a peculiar reinterpretation of vampires. The realm is controlled by the powerful as well as mysterious and ambiguous Eternal King, run by a council and marked by deep disparities between those who possess blood magic (the Blood Workers) and those who do not. The former are rich, privileged and favored, while the latter live off the crumbs, amid perennial hardship and injustice. A tense situation, made even more difficult by the ambition and power games of the nobles. I found it a well described setting, with the right amount of information provided, which in my opinion is lost on the magic system. I don't know, the explanations of blood magic (but not only) seemed rather nebulous, so much so that I struggled to understand how it actually works.

The narration proceeds alternating between short and long chapters, characterized by captivating and evocative prose and a fast pace. Two elements that kept me glued to the pages, despite the fact that the development of the story did not convince me. I don't know, despite the dark and ominous atmosphere, I didn't feel any sense of real urgency. On the other hand, I perceived numerous convenient situations, plot holes, with events happening too hastily and easily. The mystery part seemed to me to be more of an outline than anything else, a background element, gaining some importance only in the second half of the novel.

The characters disappointed me. I found them shallow, cold and detached. Not on the level of personality, but precisely on the level of writing. I could not bond with them, they conveyed nothing to me, and I'm sorry, because on paper they had the potential to win me over. The romance as a result left me completely indifferent, although I admit I found the LGBTQ+ representation really well done and interesting!

All in all, “Mistress of Lies” is a book with an intriguing premise and pleasant prose, which unfortunately did not convince me in terms of development and characters.

Thank you to the Publisher and NetGalley for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the start of this book, it really enraptured me and I was so excited to learn more about this world. But I found that after the first few chapters the writing didn't flow as much, and conversations between characters often felt forced. I also thought that the difference between the blood workers and unblooded was not explained that well so it took me a while to understand how they are different. Overall I think this book just wasn’t for me but was good.

Summary: Shan LeClaire, a master of blood magic, seeks revenge and power, entangling Samuel in a deadly plot to protect her brother.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book, all thoughts are my own.

Didn't like the overuse of the phrase "blood and steel", but overall the book is so intriguing with its the magic system, character dialog and tension and all the twists and turns I can't wait for book two to see how it all plays out.

This was a fine book; K.M. Enright is an incredible writer and that first chapter is one of the best openers I've read in a long time. The prose was tight, the world was fun, and there was some truly delicious dark imagery throughout. That said, I guess I hyped myself too much. I wanted more moral greyness and complexity from the characters, especially from Shan, and the M/F/M romance felt a bit rushed. Hopefully, Mistress of Lies will find its right audience, it's always exciting to see Romantasy with trans and Asian rep thriving in the book community!

What a fantastic start to a new dark poltical fantasy series. its absolutely horrifying how easy to was to relate the things happening in the book to the real world. what dark and twisted world we live in.

besides the storyline and the atmosphere of the plot, i loved how unperfect the characters were, everyone was flawed which made them even more real. in addition to that, i loved the way the love triangle turned into a "real" triangle. i love the recent trend of poly relationships in books!

i can't wait to find out what happens next!

I think we can this book by its name: romantasy. The murder mystery plotline is just a backdrop to have the three main characters interacting and there's hardly any investigation going on (starts at around 40 percent, when female mc looks at a dead body).
I would categorize it as new adult with the characters being in their twenties (also filipino and trans rep). The simple writing style makes you fly through, but it had pacing issues. After the first quarter of expostion follow another 10-15% of romantic exposition, that could not keep me engaged. Although I like the new take on vampires and I enjoyed reading the story from two perspectives, world building and atmosphere are lacking.