The Gimmick of Deception

*Warning: Due to the nature of this book, I found it impossible to review it without discussing important plot points that occur late in the story. I have tried my best to mark all major spoilers, but there are still some minor (When plot twist happen) unmarked spoilers in this review. * 

        Some ideas sound amazing on paper, but after it is executed all my expectations fall as flat as the results. The Kiss of Deception revolves around this gimmick. We don’t know who the prince or the assassin is, and that’s really cool. I don’t doubt this was hard to write and I applauded the author for her efforts. However, there are two major problems with this gimmick. The story could’ve been told just fine without it. If the chapters written without the possible prince’s and assassins’ narrations (Which were often very vague and I felt described more of what the character was feeling than an event), their identities would still be a secret. They still would have been two mysterious travelers our heroine, Lia, doesn’t know. 

      Good narration is sacrificed in the name utilizing the gimmick. I’m getting into spoilers so if you haven’t read this book please skip over the next paragraph. *Spoilers* I disliked the part where Lia told Pauline what happened to her lover. Not because of the decision Lia made, but how this scene was executed. It started out strong. Lia doesn’t know what to tell Pauline and is really dealing with a moral dilemma. This was actually a high point as I felt Lia's confusion as she agonized over what to do. The chapter ends with Lia telling Pauline they need to talk. The next chapter shifts to Rafe’s (The prince’s) point of view where he ends up eavesdropping on Lia and Pauline because he cannot leave the barn they are in without them noticing him, and then the next chapter is Rafe helping Lia carry Pauline, who passed out from shock. We didn't get to see how Lia broke the news to Pauline or how she felt as she was telling her friend which I found to be very disappointing because the build up to this point.  *End of Spoilers*

     Another instance of good writing being sacrificed, is the plot and writing becoming tedious as most of the chapters are spent on Lia interacting with the two mysterious men and her rising suspicions about them. 

     The world building is painfully slow. I’m not a fan of info dumps, but this world is revealed to us so slowly some things seem very out of place by the time they are revealed. *Spoilers* After the 70% point it is revealed that there is a prophecy. I am not a prophecy hater and sometimes I enjoy them. However, the only clue something like this existed in this world were the little snippets of poetry at the start of every other chapter. *End of Spoilers* The first part of the book wouldn’t be so long if there wasn’t so much focus on the would-be prince’s or assassin’s true identity. In fact, the pacing may have been better if there wasn’t a chapter from Lia’s point of view and then another from either Rafe’s and/or Kaden’s perspective that was often exactly the same as the first scene only with a different narrator. 

      I suppose it is unfair for me to say how the story would’ve been better without the aforementioned gimmick. After all, I don't know what the book would be like without it, except for one factor: once it is revealed who is the prince and who is the assassin the story becomes ridiculously better. *Spoilers* I would guess this is because the plot doesn’t actually begin until the festival. Here we learn a huge amount about Morrighan’s culture and why the first daughters are so important. We learn what the gift of the first daughters' is like. There are also some consequences for Lia’s actions that do more than only affect her. Some of the more minor characters get moments to shine, like Gretchen and Berdi. We also finally get to know why there were all those cryptic poems at the beginning of every other chapter. 

     However, the latter half of this book isn’t without its faults. When Lia finds out the men she had been traveling with are responsible for her sister-in-law’s death, she has one moment of seething anger and then kind of accepts it when Kaden tells her all innocents die in war. I don’t disagree with what Kaden said, innocents dying is one of the infinite reasons war is bad. However, Lia kind of becomes more sympathetic towards Kaden and thinks he probably doesn’t find it easy to kill, and I don’t recall her ever holding her sister-in-law’s death against him for the rest of the book. If I was traveling with a party who was directly responsible for a relative of mine’s death I would not just go “Oh, innocents die in war, and these guys didn’t exactly like killing the person I love so it’s all good.” This didn’t ruin the story for me, but it was still annoying. *End of Spoilers*

      If you have patience or don’t mind slooow beginnings, I would say it is worth it to get through the first half of the book to find the good stuff. However, this still isn’t my absolute favorite book or the best one ever written so if you aren’t a fan of slow moving plots then I would say this book might not be the best pick for you.