This was just not my cup of tea.
I did not like any of the characters much...so it made it hard to follow the story.

This wasn't good. The language felt a bit stilted and everything seemed a bit overdramatic. The way the kids start interfering in things seemed very cliche. I didn't like any of the characters at all.

Thank you NetGalley for this ebook.

this was a really enjoyable read, the characters were great and I really enjoyed reading this as a first chapter in a series. I look forward to more in the series.

I do not read a ton of fantasy, but I kept hearing such great things about this series AND the author is Canadian, so I HAD to read it! McCartney weaves a tale of adventure, intrigue, and it is not short on plot twists!
I found all of the characters to be interesting, likeable/hateable (depending on the type of character they were), and it was a great mix of personalities. I enjoyed the different abilities the characters had, as I do love me some magic!!!!
I did find a couple of the characters did not draw me in QUITE as much as the others and I kept having to ask myself which one had done what in the past.
McCartney is not afraid to kill off her cast and I LOVE THAT! Give me an author who kills everyone over one who just plays it safe any day!!!!
I am certainly curious as to what is going to happen in the next book. The last half was more interesting to me than the first half of this book, and I really feel leaves the reader wanting more!

Heir of Lies is a little boring to be honest, but the writing was fun and fast paced. I did enjoy reading this but I did also put it in my timeout corner for awhile, while I thought it was fun I didn't really enjoy reading about Emory or Adair, I liked the story more than I liked the characters. The world building was a lot of fun but also it kind of felt like I was reading any old fantasy, not a unique one.

Overall I'd definitely recommend this to younger-mid teens, and maybe people who don't have as much experience with fantasy or epic fantasy because of how fun and easy to read it was.

DNF

I just could not get into the characters. The plot felt rushed and hesitant.
The characters felt flat and I had no relationship with them. Normally I would try and push through but I couldn't with this.

I kind of feel like I’m missing something here. I felt thrown in at the deep world in a fantasy world where I know nothing about the world. There was no world building nor was there any explanation on the magic system.
Then there’s a rebellion - why? Without knowing the world or the magic system or even the political system, I couldn’t get behind the rebellion and root for the characters and I think this may have been the reason why I felt zero connection to them.
I eventually DNF’d this book around the 80% mark as I just felt as though it was falling flat.

*provided for an honest review- many thanks for allowing me into your world*

Please note that these are only my personal opinions and are not a reflection on the author or anyone who loves this book.

I liked the book, but I didn't love it. While I liked the backdrop of the book, I enjoyed less the plot and writing style.

The main character in the book is a princess called Emory Fae, brought up in a training facility (run by her parents) for youngsters with magical gifts. Emory needs to be protected against the evil forces in the world so that the kingdom can survive, and is spirited away when those forces rise.

Surrounding Emory are three young men who grew up with her in the facility, and they are all in love with her. One of them is driven to evil by the voices in his head. One tries to win her over by planting bad memories of a rival in her head. One can't express his feelings to her. Slim pickings indeed for a princess...

(Be warned, spoilers ahead.)

What I liked:
*The evil character growth of the villain Adair, and the reasons he turned out that way seemed well done.
*Brokk and his shapeshifter goldenness (eyes, fur, gaze). He was pretty much the only main character that I liked. Maybe it was that there were just too many.
*It wasn't until the middle of the book when Emory is left without her memories that I got more invested in her.

What I didn't like:
*The worldbuilding and storyline seemed messy to me, I did not understand what the different worlds meant to the main plot.
*All 3 of the main male characters were in love with Emory, the main female character, which got a little tiresome.
*I felt like the the reader was being being led to see Brokk as Emory's romantic interest, not Memphis, and then the twist was revealed. Erg!
*Emory's plan at the end was a mystery to me. Sometimes we had insight into the characters' actions, and sometimes we didn't.

To be fair, I did not dislike this book, I just thought it had problems.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for a honest review!

I read the prologue of Heir of Lies and was totally blown away. I liked the start of the world buildning and the magic system. But then McCartney started to introduce all the characters and how they were related - and it was so much. I did not get a face for any of the characters so I had such a hard time keeping up which person who had that typical magic and how that person was related to everyone else. This story is very plot driven, and neither of these characters is any of them that I find really interesting to follow. It was like the author wanted to have every type of magic in this book and it went to be too much.

I got around 20% in to the book and I finally started to keep up with all the characters and was interested in the story. It was hard to put the book down and I enjoyed myself reading it. I started to care a little for the main characters and it was very fun to read this fantasy adventure. Then, around 50%, the atmosphere completely change for the book and I found myself thinking that the book soon would be over. At the 50% mark the book started to slow down and it felt that I read the same pages all over again.

I would have appreciated for the author to turn around the story, to have the first 50% reduced and to have them as flashbacks for the rest of the 50% of the book. I think that would be more intriguing, more easy to follow and also would not feel repetitive.

Overall, I did enjoy this idea of the book but the execution of it was not for me, unfortunately.

Honestly i made it 10% through the book and then had to give up as i just couldn't get my head into it.

This book was breathtaking. The world-building was so good, the characterisation made you care about each and every one. You experienced Adair's struggle to find himself, only to lose himself. Emory was a credible MC - not perfect but compassionate, loyal and kind. The way the battle for power writhed and twisted along was evocative of the corruption at the heart of the Academy. I genuinely can't wait for book 2!

Let it be clear, I'm only rating it 2 stars because I couldn't get my head in the book. It's definitely not because it was bad. However, I can't rate it higher because I just got bored reading it, due to me not feeling it.

I usually start my reviews with a little summary of the book, but I only read thoroughly until half of the book, so I won't try here. Just know this is a (high) fantasy series debut, which involves a lot of magic, crossover with the modern day world, and several main characters.

The multiple characters put me a little off my game when I started reading. I don't usually enjoy multiples POVs and this time was no exception. I couldn't bring myself to care for all the characters. I DID enjoy some of them though. Adair is definitely the most intriguing character of the book (at least in the beginning since I haven't read the whole book), and I would have loved longer chapters about him. Longer chapters in general even. Every chapter is the POV of someone else, and it just went too fast for me.

That's another thing that put me off : the pace of the book. Even though I loved the author's writing, I just couldn't keep up with everything she wanted to convey. Waaaaaaaay too much was happening at the same time, or in a short span of time. My brain just couldn't process it all. I actually think that book could have been 2 books. For real. I only managed to focus until 50% of the book, so this might have benefited from ending here and starting the second half of the book as the second book of the series.

However, as I said, the writing is pretty good, and in some way, that book reminded me of the way the Game of Thrones books are built : with many characters and a lot of action. And guess what, I had a hard time reading the first two books of GOT and I have given up finishing the series for now. And yet, it is loved by many people, and is really interesting when you really get your head into it.

That's why I think the main problem while reading this book was me and my brain. I didn't realize at first that this was a high fantasy book, and I happen to not be a huge fan of this genre, so that was a first obstacle for me that might not be one for you. I also tried to read it while having a ton of other things to do/think about, so I probably wasn't in the best place to love this book as much as it should be.

If you love magic, having a lot of plot twists during your read and enjoy detailed action, this could definitely be for you ! I actually believe that if you liked the GOT books, you should give it a try when it releases ! I certainly hope you'll give it the love I wasn't able to give !

It isn't every day I find a book that I think; you know what? It hasn't quite hit my favourites, but yeah, that deserves 5 stars. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It drew me in to it's unpredictable storyline, fantastically written characters and beautifully written scenery. It took me by surprise and honestly, couldn't fault it. I earmarked so many pages for quotes I wanted to add to my review, I lost count.
The story was told from multiple perspectives, Nei the Queen of Kiero with her introduction 15 years prior creating the foundation of the Acedemy, Brokk the orphaned shapeshifter who possesses a dark secret power he doesn't understand or quite care to, Memphis the telekinetic telepathic who struggles to control his ability, Adair the dark and brooding royalty with no title who is able to possess others which makes him feared by his fellow classmates, and finally the princess of the pack, Emory Fae who we don't actually get to fully appreciate her point of view until 20 chapters in, which I must say I respected the author for. Usually I'd find it maddening to not know who our princess has eyes for with romance being the main factor in most fantasy I read, she keeps her emotions to herself for the most part and I liked how well it worked for all of the characters. Whilst romantic attraction was always present, it didn't have to overcompensate for the story to remain interesting. Quite frankly, I wasn't too bothered with who liked who, each character was engaging in their own part with their own story to tell to keep me occupied.
I do have to say, I would have liked to have seen more of Emory's ability, we had a good glimpse of it at the start when she was playing the detective with her friends, but after that it felt a bit lost and useless. She stands her own without complaint which made up for it. I found Adair fascinating, it was interesting to see the perspective of a character being pulled into the darkness and how he reacts to every painful choice and reminder of what everyone around him thinks about him, even as the hero for a few short pages he still feels the turmoil of torment and isolation.

'He had always loved how as soon as he passed underneath the trees, it had seemed like he had stepped into another world. One consisting of weathered bark, mossy ground, and above all, mystery. 
"Come find us, come find us, come find us." 
The whispers on the wind pulled at his heart, at his betrayal, his pain. Those chilling voices from his nightmares pulled into the heart of the woods.'

My favourite character was definitely Brokk, there was so much more to him that we really got to know, his confused emotions towards those around him, his determination to not be used as a weapon at the Academy and whilst he knows how powerful he is, he intentionally suppresses it to have control over his life and choices. His innocence and loyalty make him all the more appealing. 

You felt for every character in every circumstance, whether it was the tension of war at the very start, the peace but slight suppression felt growing up within the walls of the Academy and the untroubled childhood discovering the hidden passages and secret hiding places, the fear and darkness and it's powerful destruction, as well as the slight glimmer of hope that there will be light at the end of the tunnel throughout the midst of war against evil. The author does a wonderful job at bringing the emotions to the surface of her writing. 
Be prepared, the story is very long, the author could have easily made this into two books. It's too long to read in one sitting but it's definitely worth the time with the amount of detail thrown into the story. I never felt like it was too much either, the pacing was perfect, even with the '6 years later' thrown into the mix, it just worked. I've already downloaded the next part of the series 'Queen to Ashes' as I'm keen to find out what happens next. Yes this book does end of a cliffhanger, but it's a good one!!

ARC from NetGalley

I only made it to 3%, so I'm not going to rate this.

The writing in this book is not good. There is ample telling, little showing. The sentences are badly structured and possess more information and more commas than any sentence needs. I was trying to give this book a chance, but I reached a block of telling that had me roll my eyes and think to myself, 'not again.' I realized at that point, that I have a finite amount of time on this Earth, and I decided it was time walk away.

Interesting new world and story. Only downsides are that this probably could have been split into two books rather than one epic, and that there are a few questionable grammar choices/errors that got on my nerves. Still, I've already started the next book in the series, so it can't have put me off too much!

This book was amazing!! I liked all the characters and the plot twists the author cleverly placed in key parts of the story. The story takes place in a faraway world, run by a monarchy, Emory Fae is a beautiful girl who has spent most of her life at The Academy, a school for unique, talented people. As soon as she starts lectures, she makes friends, but there is one that will be her number one, Adair Stratton. The boy is a mystery, no one knows what he really wants, but he's feared because he wants to design his own future and soon he starts questioning the Academy's methods. One day, the Academy receives the visit of the heir to the throne, Marquis Maher with the purpose of elaborating a new treaty. However, Adair and Emory do not trust this treaty, they're going to investigate in order to discover the truth, of course, they'll have to experience many exciting and dangerous adventures. I really liked this book because it kept me intrigued on what was going to happen especially to Emory Fae, she's easily my favorite character of the entire book. I liked the narrative and the fast paced rhythm of this story, the development of the characters and their interaction was very interesting. I definitely recommend it!
Thank you to NetGalley and to MMBooks for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

"Heir of Lies" started off really well, but it kind of lost me half-way through before picking up again. The writing is good, the story is great - it's just too long for me to give it more than 3 stars. I think readers aged between 14 and 18 (approximately!) will get a lot more out of this book than I did.

My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advance copy to review. This review is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.

The Black Dawn series is re- releasing and “Heir of Lies” (book one) is coming April 21 2020! This edition will have an exclusive map and bonus content!

This book was received from the Author, and Publisher, in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

“Years ago there was a girl with an unusual ability. Her name was Emory Fae.”

This captivating Fantasy all begins with a prologue set fifteen years before, that gives the reader a good background and sets the reader up for this engaging fast paced richly texturized fantasy.

Fast forward to fifteen years and this swift movingly storyline unfolds with stunning atmospheric details that I transported to Mallory McCartney imaginable immersive fantasy world.

This is a stellar fast paced story with an incredibly world building universe. I felt completely immersed and transported within this vibrant storyline. Seamless writing with multiple POV’s points of view, that was incredible easy to follow and flowed perfectly. The dialogue was spot on and you feel invested in the well developed, fleshed out three dimensional characters. An enjoyable complex plot line with riveting action keeps you entertained all the way through. The ending has you screaming for more.

I am patiently waiting for the next installment in this engaging tale.

Perfect for those who love captivating fantasy fiction with captivating with an enriching storyline and engaging cast of characters.

'Heir of Lies' by Mallory McCartney left me absolutely conflicted, so bear with me as I work through the things I'm feeling. There are about two quotes in the entire novel I find worthwhile to ever repeat.. and I will share one of them with you.

"He was a darkened duet of body and ability, the two forces creating a lethal harmony."

Sadly, the writer mostly falls back on cliche television statements most of us have made jokes with.

"Naturally, you have to understand I can't tell you where that is located, or I will have to kill you."

The story is about a.. well.. it's sort of a soap opera. The main character is a princess named Emory Fae. She's a girl with an extraordinary gift, in a world where some have special abilities and others have none. Like any society, of course, the majority of one group looks down on the other. All told in the longest, most convoluted way you can imagine, and for the first 30% or so of the book.. also the most mind-numbing. If our grandparents were right and rolling our eyes or making faces too many times might freeze them that way, I'd be dealing with the aftermath of that right now.

There is.. and this is going to sound strange.. an overabundance of text within the spines of this book. What I mean by that is.. the author has a tendency to go on and on, throwing a lot of lovely words onto a page.. often without any real sense of direction. Long drawn out sentences, which by the time you're finished reading, fail to make any real sense because many of those words feel like they're simply there to fill the book. Such an effort made to use descriptors, that the statements become absurd. Like, "..revealing Nyx's uncanny ability to have stone cold features." Really? Being able to remain sober faced is an uncanny ability.. in a place where characters can possess others, take another's abilities, or control the elements? But she's straight-faced.. so.. that's uncanny.

Another thing this story suffers from is overkill. Quite like the last twenty minutes of The Departed. I realize the title is 'Heir of Lies,' but nearly everyone in this story is hiding something major, and it's not even interesting most of the time. One group brings about horrible things because they lied, the next group is aghast at such behavior. That group follows the same path and surprise, the next situation is reacted to in the very same way. It's actually so repetitive that it's ridiculous.

I feel like maybe at one point the author was moved by a series like 'Game of Thrones,' where literally no character is ever really safe.. and while that can be really interesting over the course of years, several books, seasons, what have you.. within one title it's such a narrow window of processing time that it feels a bit desperate.

In fact, this might have made an all right tv series. It's got a really good core. Deep down below all the fluff and missteps, the idea of the story is intriguing. Some of the characters are charismatic and interesting. Brokk, Marquis, Roque, Nei, Adair.. all characters with a ton of flair and fascinating backstories. All characters with a ton of potential. And there are glimpses of an author who understands how to develop them, but they're fleeting. Unfortunately, the main character isn't interesting at all. She's mildly annoying at best and often useless.

More than most titles, the few days I spent reading this book, felt like weeks. Not because so much occurred within it, nor because years and years passed by in the timeline. Though, those things are true too. But because with the exception of a handful of scenes centered mostly on the characters I named above, it was just delivered in a way that bored me to death. Things would occur and then someone would conveniently explain why they happened that way. Oh, there was some secret they didn't tell before.. or.. some thing they didn't realize was important until the moment, but that just meant it read like the author also didn't know how to develop the story properly. It became, show the situation, download the excuses to the reader. Over and over.. and over. And then, after spending what felt like weeks reading the story, to find it end in the middle of the resolutions with a cliffhanger.. was just kind of frustrating.

I've said it before, there are times when cliffhangers work, even are necessary.. but they're few and far between.. and this wasn't one of them. There's no way I'd willingly read a second book to find out what happens. I'm just going to pretend things went the way I think they should have.. and move on.

Honestly, if a really good, really experienced editor took this writer aside, it might even be fixable. But as it is, I can't in good conscience recommend it.