This book is on par with the first in series Mask of Mirrors and a truly good read. Writing like this that make you think and feel from great a great story and characters. It has the characters that some will love and those that you hate. It has some action to keep you interested and the intrigue that makes you use your mind to keep up with all the twists and turns. The magic system is still not that clear in some ways for me and it's not the flashy type of throwing lightning or anything. It's the more subtle powers of mind and emotion. I thought Ren was done with romance with the first book but she does find a new romance and one I didn't expect. They did take the story into directions that I didn't would happen but it did clear up a lot of the things that made individual characters closer and more trusting. Just thought they would leave those secrets for later in this book or another book. Now I am wondering how they will end this story and anything that I think will happen I will probably be wrong. As always thanks to netgalley and lovely publishers for a chance to read a good book.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, Little, Brown Book Group, for a copy of The Liar's Knot in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis: The Liar's Knot is the second book in the Rook and Rose series and picks up shortly after the first book ends. The book follows 3 individuals, all of whom have big secrets and webs of lies to keep them. As their lies begin to unravel, alliances fall and an evil corruption begins to take over the city of Nadrezra.

I'm going to start with what I disliked. Like the first book, the first half of this book was very slow. It was a lot world-building and dialog that sets up the rest of the book.

Now for what I liked: everything else! The back half of this book is incredible. The way the author is able to weave so many different storylines together is outstanding. There are multiple religions, magical forging, fortune tellers, evil god-like power, a cult, and vigilantes! This book really made fall in love with the characters, especially Derossi Vargo. Vargo's relationship with Alsius is one of my favorite things about this series. I love how the author really pushes all the characters to their breaking point and forces them to really think about why they lie and if it is worth it.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be reading the next in the series.

Thank you so much to Orbit Books for providing me with this ARC!

The Liar’s Knot was one of my most anticipated books of the year, as I absolutely loved its predecessor, The Mask of Mirrors. While The Mask of Mirrors was one of my favorite books of last year, I found I didn’t quite like The Liar’s Knot as much. I think a big portion of why is mostly sequel syndrome and the fact that a lot of the novelty of the world, characters, and secrets had worn off. Plus, I couldn’t help but feel some large issues were solved a little too easily.

“Half the pretense of her con might have fallen into dust, but the other half had to keep standing.”

One of the biggest draws of the series for me was the long con that main character Ren is pulling. The Liar’s Knot begins with Ren, a gutter rat orphan and con artist, successfully not only being added to the family register of the Traementis House, but also becoming their temporary heir. With this major coup, Ren, known as Alta Renata, is no longer under the major threat of being exposed as a fraud. Though this is a victory for the character, I felt it wasn’t for the plot because it rendered a lot of the tension and danger from The Mask of Mirrors gone. Ren is no longer living in one room in a rented mansion, with few possessions and little money, under the constant threat of discovery.

“She was legally a noblewoman now, and therefore couldn’t be tried for the crime of impersonating a noble…but that didn’t mean she couldn’t suffer other consequences if the truth came out.”

Though there is some danger at being discovered by spies, her frenemy Vargo, and The Rook, they feel more like a distraction or allies than real threats. The way these potential exposures of identity are dealt with are rather anticlimactic, in my opinion, and in the case of Vargo, rather out of character and too easy. It seemed in stark contrast to the cutthroat man who almost let a crane fall on Renata in this novel, and betrayed her in the last. The more secrets that are easily revealed between all the characters in The Liar’s Knot, the less desperately inclined I felt to have to finish the novel. I just didn’t feel the tension of the first novel.

Gone too was the mystery of the identity of The Rook, the masked vigilante who never kills, but seeks justice against wicked nobles. Knowing his identity, which was revealed right at the end of The Mask of Mirrors, and reading from his perspective, meant that yet another captivating mystery was gone. Though I was initially intrigued by the inclusion of an illustrious secret organization filled with Nadežra’s elite, I found quickly that it never really amounted to much more than a few off-page orgies. The mysteries of this cult organization are pretty easily dispelled by Tanaquis, who is trusted very readily again and again by Ren and the rest of the gang for reasons.

“There was no point in chasing an enigma, a shadow she’d given up on seeing through. He might know the truth of her, but she would never know the truth of him. It didn’t stop her from wanting it anyway.”



By far my absolute favorite parts of the novel involve everything with the Rook and the Rose, Ren’s crime fighting alter ego. The two scheme together and even plan and carry out an exciting jailbreak, all while flirting. I only wish that there had been more of these exciting ventures of the two kicking serious butt together. Although the flirtatious tension between the Rook and the Rose when they are together makes up for the lack of more adventures under the cover of darkness. I really enjoyed their back and forth banter and the continuous will-they-won’t-they energy that pervades all their interactions. Plus, though The Rook knows The Rose’s identity and readers know The Rook’s, The Rose doesn’t know who The Rook really is. It’s exciting trying to watch her figure it out, and The Rook tries to keep his identity from her, while also reluctantly wishing she’d figure it out. If only their dynamic had been more of the focus of The Liar’s Knot, I would have found it a lot more exciting.

Ultimately, though I enjoyed returning to the same world and cast of characters in The Liar’s Knot, I just didn’t think this follow-up was as strong as its predecessor, The Mask of Mirrors. Be that as it may, I will definitely still be reading the finale to the trilogy, because I still really love the characters, especially Ren and Grey Serrado, and want to know what happens to them.

With the sheer delight that is The Mask of Mirrors, The Liar’s Knot very quickly rocketed to the top of my list of highly anticipated sequels. And man was I not disappointed. Liar’s Knot features all the complex political scheming and rich worldbuilding of book one, along with the return of our delightful main trio of Renata, Vargo, and Gray.

For those who’ve followed my squeeing during Mask of Mirrors or just read that review really will know that totally did not read book 2 for Vargo. Nope. 100% false. Absolutely not true.
Just kidding I totally read this book over in September over every October and November ARC sitting on my Kindle exclusively because I’d get to learn more about Vargo’s backstory, and just bask in his presence really. I’ve already done my fangirling in the previous review so I won’t repeat it here, but let me just say that for Vargo fans, you’re going to love this book.

Of course, Vargo doesn’t exist in a vacuum. There’s a whole host of characters for him to bicker and flirt with! Most important being Renata and Gray (aka the Rook). The three start this book out with rocky relationships. Renata hates Vargo for tricking her in Book 1, Vargo and the Rook continue to have this mutual hatred for obvious reasons, while Renata and Grey have a rockier relationship. I appreciate Carrick for not dragging out the misinformation/misunderstandings for too long. Liar’s Knot is a fast-paced book and new information is always arriving that changes the paradigms.

And that’s part of what’s so fun about this book is that there are six different identities among the three characters, some of whom have complete opposite relationships with the other two. The authors are good about reminding you who hates or doesn’t hate whom, but it was also both challenging and fun to remember who knows what information about each of the identities.

I read book one almost a year ago so I admit to being pretty hazy to all the political groups of Nadežraa and the who’s who of the various factions. There’s a very handy “The story so far” at the beginning that summarizes book one and reminds the reader of the major players. There were still names that took a while to remember even with the quick summary, but nothing that pulled me out of immersion. And really, the places book two goes. There’s much new information in the worldbuidling, with the inner mechanics of the numinatria and Ren’s card reading.

Overall, I rate this book a 5/5. Absolutely no middle book syndrome here. We return to our brilliant trio of Ren, Vargo, and Grey and are taken for one hell of a ride, full of intrigue, flirtation, and murder.

I need the last book! I flew through the first one in order to read this one and now I cannot wait to see where the last book goes. I fell in love with the characters and I liked how this book delved more into the past of all of the characters.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I seriously love this series so freaking much. I think it has to deal with characters and the overall story being told. I've never found myself being bored throughout it all but that's probably because each twist and turn kept me on the edge of my seat. Plus, I've had a ship since the very beginning and anything that happens between them gives me life. They were just so freaking cute that I couldn't help my fangirl moments.

Other than that, so much freaking happens throughout this giant book. Seriously. I felt like I read so much for one chapter or three but then I would look down at my kindle and my percentage would go up by 1 freaking percent. It definitely made me want to read even more which is the ultimate goal.

In the end, I'm still not prepared for the next book but I'm very excited for it. I can't wait for the next part of their journey because they went through so much in this one and ended up a better version of themselves. So, yes, I'm very happy and can't wait for the next one to come my way. I have questions that demand answers but I also need a very happy ending at the same time.

The Liar's Knot - Book #2 in the Rook and the Rose series - was even better than book 1, The Mask of Mirrors. It had me holding my breath in many places. Twist and turns and twists on those every where. You never knew what was going to happen when. SO SO SO GOOD! This book felt like a final book in a series, so I can't wait to see what they have in store for us in book 3. (Booktube review coming soon.)

Following the events in The Mask of Mirrors, the political landscape has shifted and the powerful families of Nadežra are scheming to fill the power vacuum left behind when House Indestor was destroyed. Con artist Ren and upwardly mobile gang boss Derossi Vargo have each managed to attain a measure of power, influence, and wealth, but now they have to figure out how to keep it amidst a society that would love to see them fail. Meanwhile, fear and unrest still simmer in the slums among the Vraszenian community, upon whom the city guard have been cracking down even harder, and Captain Grey Serrado finds it increasingly difficult to balance his competing responsibilities and loyalties. Ren, Vargo, and Serrado each struggle to decide who to trust as they pursue their dangerous plans.

The plot in this book is less tightly focused than in book one, and much of its action serves to set up events for the finale in book three. Still, there's no middle book syndrome here. Where book one was strongly centered on Ren's scheme to con House Traementis, The Liar's Knot explores Serrado and Vargo's secrets and plans and how all the characters' secret identities and hidden motives complicate things for each other. All three protagonists are heavily engaged in investigative activities, both among Nadežran nobility and the Vraszenian street gangs. These plot threads do weave together into a cohesive whole, but it takes some time to figure out the bigger picture.

I loved the character growth and the ways the characters keep having cause to reevaluate their assumptions of each other's character and motivations. It made for a deliciously complex set of relationships and alliances that evolved in fascinating ways. This was, to me, the great strength of this book. I'm having a hard time thinking of another that does so much in one volume to challenge what the characters know and believe of each other, and the authors (Marie Brennan and Alyc Helms writing as M. A. Carrick) pull it off extremely well.

I love this series and can't wait for the third and final book to come out. If you want a lush fantasy world full of petty nobles, clever rogues, cutthroat politics and intrigue, and dark magic, I highly recommend the Rook and Rose series. The Liar's Knot is every bit as good as The Mask of Mirrors and I have extremely high hopes for the series finale.

First off - and this in no way impacted my review but I just got to say it - the covers for 'Mask of Mirrors' and 'the Liar's Knot' are absolutely STUNNING and I truly cannot wait to see what the third book cover will look like.

'The Liar's Knot' - much like 'the Mask of Mirrors' - was not a book I sped through but one that I took my time with, enjoying every single twist, every new complication, and every single POV. I didn't want to get to the end because I didn't want it to be over. The stakes were raised tenfold for Ren, Vargo, Grey, and everyone else and it certainly kept me on my toes. The combined efforts of the authors making up M.A. Carrick really outdid themselves with this sequel. NO MIDDLE BOOK SYNDROME HERE! Honestly, I think if you enjoyed the first one, you're going to love this book - and will be excited to see what comes next for all the characters.

Also, Derossi Vargo has my entire heart and became an instant new favorite character.

Rarely do sequels outshine a strong first in a trilogy but Liar’s Knot totally succeeds and exceeded my already high expectations. There’s no worldbuilding info dumping which helps the pace move faster. I didn’t even realize how much I needed this romance subplot until it happened. This book owes me many hours of sleep back but that just goes to show what a page turner it is.

The Liar's Knot is the second book in M.A. Carrick's* Rook & Rose trilogy, after January's The Mask of Mirrors (my review here). I'm a big fan of Marie Brennan's work (Brennan is one half of M.A. Carrick, with Alec Helms), so I was excited to see how she and her co-author would take on a doorstopper epic fantasy trilogy. And well, I liked the Mask of Mirrors, which essentially was part Fantasy of Manners in addition to Epic Fantasy, especially in its first two thirds, where its con artist heroine dealt with a city filled with treacherous nobles, a past of peoples conquered and still present, and conflicting magic systems. But the book's final third didn't quite come together well for me, as it relied on things I didn't quite care about, even as the book ended on some very interesting cliffhangers.

But The Liar's Knot is very much the book I was hoping The Mask of Mirrors would be. The book leans heavily on its Fantasy of Manners elements, as protagonist Ren deals with what has developed into a quadruple life, while other point of view characters Vargo and Grey deal with their own agendas and secrets that bring them all together and apart. And while the book does eventually get caught up once again in a conflict caused by antagonists using the series' not super well defined magic system, it works a lot better this time and is more directly tied to the series' themes of class, of heritage, of peoples conquered and otherwise living in the same city, and struggles for power, knowledge, and well, for a home. The book even avoids some very typical middle book in trilogy problems, and that combined with its great characters makes this one a real winner, that has me eagerly awaiting the third book to come.

Note: This fantasy world is seemingly Slavic-inspired, including in the names of Places, People, Things, and Concepts, complete with letters with accents/carons on top of them. As I don't have a slavic keyboard and my spanish keyboard doesn't quite accomplish the same thing, I will be spelling these names without the accent marks, and I apologize if that offends somehow.

SPOILER ALERT, including one MAJOR spoiler, from book 1 are discussed below the Jump.

------------------------------------------------Plot Summary-------------------------------------------------------
This is an always has been a city of masks.

When Ren came to Nadežra, it was to run a con - to fake her way as Renata into the seemingly rich House Traementis, con her way into the family register, and make out with all that wealth and safety for herself. It didn't quite go as planned - and after the magical campaign of terror waged by the head of House Indestor, Ren finds her world shook to the core: finding herself caring for the two other remaining members of House Traementis, torn between that and another cover identity as a Vraszenian szorsa Arenza, and of course her old family Tess and Sedge, the only two people who know her for real. And if her grief and struggle of identities wasn't enough, that magical conflict at the Wellspring of Azerais transformed Ren into a new identity, the magical Black Rose, which she has no idea what to do with.

But Ren will not be given much time to rest and figure things out, as people in Nadežra have plans for all three of her identities - the nobles for Renata, the Vraszenian resistance for Arenza, and the Vraszenian clans for the Black Rose - that will find her caught up once more in the schemes of the powers of Nadežra....powers willing to use dangerous unknown magic for their own games, like that of the curse that nearly destroyed House Traementis. And Ren's attempt to navigate all these schemes will find her once again clashing with two individuals with their own agendas - The Rook, the legendary outlaw known for hunting the nobles of Nadežra and Derossi Vargo, the former smuggler now elevated to noble....and who seemingly betrayed Ren to make that climb in the first place.

Can Ren navigate the secrets of Nadežra without her own secrets being revealed in the process to the persons who could use them to harm the ones she cares about? And as it becomes to much to bear alone, is there anyone she can trust to help her figure it all out? And will any of that matter if the noble schemes destroy everything in their path?
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Like its predecessor, The Liar's Knot centers around Ren, from whose point of view most of the chapters take place. This is still her story in large part, as a young woman of multiple worlds - of Vraszenian blood through her mother and birthright (and in the forms of her identities as Arenz and the Black Rose) and of the noble world through her identity as Renata, which began as a con but now is truly a part of who she is because she's come to care for the Traementis family and of her identity as Ren, the former finger street girl who betrayed her sacred oath to her knot leader. At the same time, the story spends a substantial time being told from the perspective of two characters who basically become co-protagonists by the end: Vargo and Grey/The Rook. There are several other minor characters who get POV moments - Tess, Sedge, & Giuna and probably another or two I'm forgetting - but this book mainly focuses on this set of three.

And the twisting ties of these three characters and their masses of secrets works really really well, to keep this story going with momentum from beginning to end. With the addition of the new Black Rose identity to her ranks, Ren finds herself even more torn between identities, especially as she becomes closer to the Vraszenian people (both the Stadnem Anduske resistance and the ordinary people trying to live with their culture and religion in a prejudiced city) and finds herself wishing she can simply be one of them. But Ren can't let herself be so - not just because they would traditionally not like her as a half-blood, but because of her betrayal of her knot as a Finger, even justified as those actions were. And then there's the fact that so many people are starting to know multiple of her identities, like the Rook who knows all of them (and Grey who she knows as both Arenza and Renata, even if she doesn't know he's the Rook), or Vargo, who has met both Renata and Arenza and who she thought she could trust, except she found out he betrayed her at the end of the last book. The stress of all this juggling of identities, of not knowing who to trust, and of not knowing who she is and where she can feel safe eats at Ren throughout this book, especially as she gets drawn further into conspiracies of power.

And then there's Grey and Vargo. Grey - who the last book revealed in the end to be the current Rook - actually does know all of Ren's identities...but he's not supposed to, and he doesn't want her to know she's the Rook either, which makes him have to juggle his own way around her, especially as he encounters her as Grey as both Renata and Arenza, who he's not supposed to know are the same person. To make matters worse, the identity of The Rook isn't just a costume, it's a role with a power and mind of its own, which conflicts with his own personal desires for vengeance for his brother at times against Vargo. And Vargo himself is conflicted in ways that surprise - while he's guided by the spirit in his spider Alsius in a quest to do something to the nobles, now that he's risen to their ranks he finds himself perhaps out of his own depth and losing touch with his allies in his street gang, and hating himself all the more for all the people who have gotten hurt due to his mistakes. And so when Ren is tricked into revealing how she now hates him for his betrayal of her, he finds himself even more alone and disgusted with everything (even as he finds himself encountering the Rook and Black Rose more and more for various purposes).

The above are a great trio of characters, all dealing with various guilts, identities, and secrets, and the plot continues to place them in a setting and circumstances that challenge their attempts to do what's right. Even more than in the first book, the Liar's Knot very much focuses upon the issues faced in Nadežra by the fact that this is a city that was conquered and remains held by peoples who weren't its original people, the Vraszenians. The Vraszenians are hardly all innocent, and the resistance movement of them is now led by bloodthirsty people who would do more harm than good, but their culture and traditions and wish to live in their own ways do not deserve the way that the Liganti nobility treat them - and the removal of one prejudiced noble has only given rise to even worse ones, who are now creating their own police force to oppress the Vraszenians for their own purposes.

Each of our main trio has some connection to both the old (Vraszenian) and new peoples (Liganti), and the story's magic systems shows how the Vraszenian magic system of Pattern (a form of Tarot reading) is more connected to the Liganti system of Numinatria (number and sigil magic) than any of them realized. And as the plot moves forward, with the main trio investigating a secret society devoted to the study of Numinatria magic in ways that were not thought possible before, they discover that these connections are very dangerous and tied to forces and past beings who were long thought past.

I'm sort of babbling here, which I do with books I really like that have themes that do come together really well in the end, which is very much the case here, as the themes of Empire and peoples living on top of each other with different cultures explode into a finale that forces each of our main characters to make choices, a finale that works much better than the first book's finale, which didn't really feel as connected to the conflicts of scheming and plotting and the characters' conflicts - an issue that is not the case here. And in a surprise for a second book, this book does NOT end on a massive cliffhanger, although plenty ends unresolved, and the main trio's secrets are mostly revealed by the end of the book,, something that I expected to be drawn out into the third book. And this book works all the better for it, and winds up a very satisfying package.

If you like epic fantasy and fantasies of manners, with schemes and fun characters and dialogue to go with some serious themes, well The Liar's Knot is basically almost everything you could hope for. The book has some flaws - there are SOOO many characters, especially among the nobles who represent potential major antagonists, that I found myself often losing track of who was who among them. And yet the main characters and themes were so strong that I didn't really care too much. A Strong recommend for me.

Ok so....... there was A LOT going on in this book. There were parts I had to go over again just to be sure I really read and understood what happened. This was definitely not a favorite. I enjoyed it over all but be prepared to give this your full attention and if you get distracted you best believe you'll need to go back a few pages to go over everything again. 3.5 rounded to 4⭐

The first book in this series got me out of the worst reading slump of my life and I am beyond happy to say that the second one lives up to that hype.

Unfortunately this was not the book for me… I enjoyed the first one relatively soo and was excited for a second book but things just keep getting more and more complicated without a feeling of coming together. I wanted to love this but it just fell flat for me…

The Liar's Knot picks up right where The Mask of Mirrors left off, with Ren being officially adopted and inscribed into the Traementis family register. I empathized with Ren's struggles with her identity, as the strands of her four personas, Ren, Renata, Arenza, and now the Black Rose, become more entangled. As a reader, it was sometimes confusing to keep track of who knew who's secret identity or persona, but I think that might have been the point. The themes of identity and belonging were the strongest part of the book, for me.

Again, the magic system of numinatria was a little confusing and not fully realized, though I really enjoyed getting to learn more about pattern. I also loved reading more from Vargo's and Grey's points of view, though I wish Tess and Sedge could have played bigger roles in this volume. Excited to read the next one.

M. A. Carrick is the DREAM TEAM of authors. They captured my heart and adoration with the first book of the Rook & Rose series earlier this year and just cemented their place in the top tier of beloved fantasy authors.

I am always a bit afraid of the sophomore book: Will it continue the magic from the debut? Will it be a replay of the book one or will it have its own unique story that adds to the greater one spanning the series?

The Liar's Knot SNAPPED. It was outstanding. In The Mask of Mirrors, we met all our characters, learned about our setting and some of the magic - in The Liar's Knot, we get unbelievable character development, more of the magic system revealed, the intrigue amongst the Houses was off the charts! I'm just speechless with all that happened...M.A. CARRICK DON'T OWE ME NOTHING, Y'ALL! There were things that took place that I loved so much, I didn't even know I wanted them to happen and when they did, I was just melting in my chair.

I ran through so many emotions reading this: fear, happiness, sadness - moments that were bittersweet, others that were laced with dread, still others where I literally held my breath with anticipation. I could not ask for more from a book or series. I've read The Mask of Mirrors twice this year alone and plant to reread The Liar's Knot when I get my physical copy next month.

I cannot wait until the next book releases. I will buy ANY and EVERY single book M.A. Carrick will throw at me. I am in awe with the intricacy of this story....how so many things were turned on their heads...changed my entire opinion on characters, cemented others. I cannot stop thinking about this book!!!!!!

The Liar’s Knot – M.A. Carrick

I waited a while before writing this review, as I wanted time to absorb The Liar’s Knot by M.A. Carrick. I liked its precursor, The Mask of Mirrors, but the second book of Carrick’s “Rook & Rose” series deserves to be on an even higher pedestal. It should be on a throne, a league all its own. I still didn’t enjoy it as much as Matthew Ward’s “Legacy” (sorry I compare every fantasy novel to these books, but I adored them), but The Liar’s Knot is a creative, imaginative, and original work of fiction. Each page unfurls more of a mystery and more excitement as Carrick takes readers back into Nadežra.

I fell even more in love with the characters in this novel. Ren, Grey, Tess, Vargo…all of them became more real—Vargo, especially. Derossi Vargo…was not my favorite in The Mask of Mirrors. I questioned all his motives, thought he had little to no redeeming qualities. He had a good sense of humor, but I still did not like him. A good author—or in this case, authors—can make a reader change his/her opinion. Through revealing more and more of Vargo’s history, he grew on me. And that’s something I never thought I would say. I touch a lot on characters in my reviews because they are so important to me. A book cannot exist without its players. I want them to grow. Characters need to have weaknesses; they need to be imperfect and, in some manner, unlikeable. Well, Carrick delivers.

The Liar’s Knot builds on The Mask of Mirrors exceptionally well. And once again, the title is perfect. This novel has flirtation, comedic moments, sword fights, magic, and…well, evil. In many novels, the antagonists’ motivations seem…forced, like the characters themselves are afterthoughts. This is not the case in The Liar’s Knot by M.A. Carrick. And even with the overarching plot—which I won’t reveal, because SPOILERS—there are entertaining stories beneath it. As an example: Readers know the identity of the Rook, but the other characters do not. But come to find out, there’s a bigger story behind the Rook that’s beyond what readers could’ve thought. One character in particular desires to know the person behind the mask…and I won’t say anymore, because it’d give away too much.

I will say this: I wasn’t expecting any hint of a romance in The Liar’s Knot, but Carrick slips it into the pages in such a pleasing manner. It isn’t overwhelming. It isn’t in your face. The plot doesn’t revolve around it, but the romance is rather one more spoke in the wheel. I read a lot of books—and yes, many of them are romance novels, but that isn’t the point. Few of those books, however, lead me to talk aloud to characters. The Liar’s Knot did it. I told the characters to “FIGURE IT OUT!” And “YOU CAN TRUST HIM, JUST GET IT OVER WITH.”

I kept having to remind myself that, as a reader, I glimpsed into all the characters’ minds—they couldn’t see each other’s. There are many qualities about The Liar’s Knot that could have made it confusing. It is a very complex story with many twists and turns. It is tense—enough that at times, I found myself chewing on a fingernail. As the cords of the plot’s knot unravel, everything makes sense. I never had questions due misunderstanding. Never did my brow furrow as I wondered, “Wait, what?” Marie Brennan and Alyc Helms—who write jointly under the pen name “M.A. Carrick”—are masters. I reread passages not because I had to but because I wanted to.

The Liar’s Knot is a good one, and I was quite unhappy when it ended. Though it does reach a conclusion, it also seems to set up a third novel…

I HOPE SO.

I was absolutely blown away by The Liar’s Knot, and honestly I am still recovering from the pain of finishing it so quickly. We open the beginning of the Rook & Rose trilogy in the wake of the tumultuous events of Mask of Mirrors, with Ren—finally—inscribed into the Traementis ledger.

With everything from daring late night escapades with the dashing Rook to a foreboding secret society to the new threat of magical medallions, The Liar’s Knot is action packed and will keep you at the edge of your seat, guessing what will happen next.

(And that’s not even mentioning the sparks of a tempting romance between Ren-slash-Renata-slash-Arenza and a certain masked vigilante.)

The Liar’s Knot takes everything about good about its predecessor, Mask of Mirrors, and spins it to a majestic and heart wrenching tale of a girl who struggles to figure out what, exactly, is her place in a city where she rarely is able to be who she truly is. The political intrigue and complex magic system come together to create such a fun story, and the only thing that makes me mad is that I don’t have the third book my hands already.

Overall, a truly stunning sequel to one of the best adult fantasy series I have ever read.

The authors expertly weave adventure, political intrigue, mystery, and romance. Intelligently written, this world captures the reader and binds their attention for hours. Secrets are kept, revealed, and made in this second novel of the series. I dreamed about this book as my subconscious brain tried to unravel the mysteries and figure out how the character would unstitch the mystery surrounding them. The author's version is better than mine. The setting and goals for the next book are clearly laid out. Book three will be preordered as soon as I am able.

I loved the first book in this series, and was delighted to get a chance to review this one. The biggest downside of that is now having to wait even longer for the next installment.

I love this world and how intricately it's been built. Yes, it's a bit convoluted but I like an author who doesn't spoon feed everything - no big info dumps or anything like that. I also love these characters - they are complex and multifaceted, rather than two dimensional. All in all, I thought this was a great 2nd part to this story, and I'm very much looking forward to the next book.

I received a copy from NetGalley and Orbit for my review.