Thank you to Orbit and Netgalley for sending me this e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

Mistress of Lies is a dark fantasy novels that follows Shan LeClaire, a blood worker and a noble who is trying to get her family out of shame after her father turned them to ruin. She follows her own plans to protect her non-blood worker brother. We also follow Samuel, who is a bastard with high morals, and he’s conflicted many times throughout the story.

I’m really sad about this book. This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2024. I feel like there was a lot of potential and the story started with a bang. However, I lost my interest really quick, and that’s probably because this book had a problem with telling, not showing. For example, we’re told Shan is a very good spymaster and mastermind, but we never really see this in action. Samuel was supposed to be a kind-hearted person who would always fight for the poor people, but we also don’t really see that. I think I couldn’t connect to the story and the characters because of this. I also didn’t really like the romance between the characters. It felt very insta-lovey and based on lust and that’s not the kind of romance I like. In terms of the plot, nothing really happened until the ending.

Overall, I feel like this had a lot of potential, but it ended up disappointing for me. The book probably needed more time to be properly fleshed out. The author is definitely talented, but this just needed more.

Mistress of Lies felt like a mix between Master from Secrets from Game of Thrones and The Nightshade Trilogy characters.

I will say that as having just completed The Nightshade Trilogy before starting this book has put it as a disadvantage due to all the comparisons I was drawing throughout the book between the two stories - MMF romance, god like powers, evil king, the distrust between the main characters etc (can't say more without spoilers).

Even with that said, I did not particularly like any of the characters or feel the connection between them. The romance felt forced upon us, the plot felt weak and the ending felt rushed.

I was so looking forward to reading this book and had it on my TBR for a while so I guess I expected more from it. Disappointing.

2/5 ⭐️ because I still finished it, hoping for it to redeem itself.

Thanks to Netgalley and Orbit for providing this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was really on a roll with some great books, but sadly this one has thrown it off, and I have DNF'd it.

The writing style just did not work for me, the characterisation felt flat, and it could not hold my interest. This is so frustrating, because the book has such a cool premise, and poly rep, so I was hoping for a good time, but it just was feeling like a slog to me.

If this book's premise sounds interesting to you, give it a shot and you may enjoy it, but if your taste is similar to mine you might not have the best time with it.

A Blood Worker and a mysterious young man must work together to uncover a murderer and take down their corrupt king at the same time. Part murder mystery, part political thriller, with themes of racism and classism. Pacy and has a lot of potential, but the book suffers from telling not showing, with numerous things happening off page. A number of things in the plot and world were hinted at then never followed up on, like why Shan wants to topple the government. And, just in case you missed that this is a romantasy novel, everyone is horny all the time. Not one for me.

I enjoyed the premise and world building- the idea of blood workers was a great interpretation of the vampire myth. However I felt that the character of Shan was under-developed, we met her at this strong, ruthless woman who had risen from the ashes of her distraught childhood but by the end she was almost simpering, powerless and had completely taken her eyes off the goal that we were led to believe was intrinsic to her being.
I think other people would really enjoy this book but sadly the character change was just too much for me to get behind.

I'm nothing if not a supporter of women's wrongs, so with Mistress of Lies opening up how with does, I was bound to have a great time.
I loved Shan's complexity, the slow peeling back of layers to reveal what she does for the people she cares about (although admittedly she does make a few questionable decisions for a spymaster at times), and how well her personality worked with Samuel's, at times so different from one another and yet so similar, but Isaac, I'll admit, is my favorite out of the three, and I'm very curious to see what the author does with them next because Mistress of Lies lays opens up so many juicy possibilities.
The take on vampires and blood magic felt refreshing and was one of my favorite aspects of this book, though the magic-system was a bit hard to follow at times, mostly since there didn't seem to be too many set rules, and sometimes I got the sense that characters got certain abilities because it was convenient. I have one major issue with something that happens with one of the character's powers because, for the build-up, it got it was resolved a lot quicker and easier than I expected, but I won't go too much into that because of spoilers.
Mistress of Lies will likely appeal to readers who greatly enjoy character-driven stories and don't mind too much when the plot isn't as tight as it could be, which is where I happen to sit.
The vibes and viciousness were on point.

Thank you, NetGalley and Orbit, for the ARC.

this book ruined the demure trend for me, because ofc Shan was confident and bold, but she had to pretend to be demure and soft, and in some company she had to put a mask and be demure and i don't know if you understood, but she had to act demure - like gosh did this book went thru any editors? anyone heard of synonims?

same thing with reputation- it was constantly drilled into my mind that reputation was everything, that they had to maintain perfect reputation, that reputation was not only clothes you wear, but also how you act and that reputation was the most important thing - I UNDERSTOOD FOR THE FIRST TIME

it was Samuel who was slow and and constantly bitching that, oh no, I'm rich now, i don't belong here, I'm just a normal guy, i want to wear my old clothes and don't want to learn how to use my scary power, I'm a monster🥺👉👈, he was created to be the most "innocent" of the trio, but he was just naive and ignorant af

the whole world felt lacking and plot felt lacking, there was this murder mystery, but it was in the background and up front was what Shan was wearing today and how she was smarter and scheming and lying to everyone, because she was the only smart person there who understood how power play works

I would like chapters from Isaac pov, cus he seemed the most interesting character in this book

Thank you Netgalley for providing digital advanced copy in exchange for honest review.