MISTRESS OF LIES has been one of my most anticipated reads this year since it was announced. A vampire fantasy with a poly romance, a trans love interest, and a murder mystery checked off so many of my boxes! This book follows Shan, who opens the book by assassinating her father in order to drag her disgraced family name back from ruin and exact her revenge, and Samuel, a bastard hiding a terrible power that gets pulled into the dark world of nobility when finding a body reveals his nature to Shan's web of spies. Tangled between them is Isaac, the Royal Bloodworker and Shan's ex-friend and lover, who becomes drawn and redrawn to Samuel and Shan as they're tasked by the Eternal King to uncover who is leaving a trail of mutilated bodies in their city.

As I mentioned, this book has a strong start. The murder and Shan's plotting are friend and center and set off the expected tone for the book: bloodshed and cleverness, glittering with jewels. On the other side, Samuel lives a destitute life and struggles to get by without losing control of the influencing power that terrifies and disgusts him. However, the writing seems to lose itself fairly quickly. I think I have become picky when it comes the voice in high fantasy, so that is a point against it to me; the dialogue seemed to lack consistency in whether it leaned toward the historically-aligned setting - not that there's a specific time that I could feel, I'm pretty sure there's a better word for that I'm forgetting - and whether it leaned toward a more modern cadence. I completely recognize that it's a super petty opinion I've unfortunately adopted, but it stuck out to me first and made the other issues I found more obvious.

The opening lays the ground for a very intriguing world, but the actual building of it as time went on was lacking. The characters and their relationships form a core to the story at the detriment of many other elements, including plot, which I think would have been more forgivable if there was more chemistry. Maybe I'm just too aroace, but I think the suddenness and intensity of the attraction Samuel felt to Shan and Isaac was at odds with his other concerns, and there was a distinct lack of build and sensuality (especially for a vampire book?) that would have made it a bit easier to invest in the forming bonds. I'm not quite skilled enough to put my finger on exactly why, but the writing did not seem to lend itself to the romances at all despite the pacing and prioritization being primarily concerned with it. (To the point where they forgot about the murder! And I love murder investigations!!) I think this also impacted the characterization quite a bit. I got a sense of who the characters wanted to be and who the story was trying to convince me they were. I of course believe in the thousand-year-old Eternal King outwitting Shan, but she didn't seem to be overly clever as opposed to being someone who can think a little bit ahead (and not very far, with how surprisingly often she almost gets discovered and does get recognized), and none of the characters felt strongly developed from their first introductions. They seemed to be whatever was convenient for that moment without being more fleshed out.

I did appreciate the rep in this, especially the on-page sex scene with a trans character. I am not poly myself, so I can't comment on that representation in terms of being problematic or not - and I doubt it was. However, I think promoting the book on it is a little interesting considering what happens, which I won't go into details on, and it also felt like a very underdeveloped part of the story. Isaac, Shan, and Samuel are very rarely in the same place together and Isaac being, for good reason, the only one of the triad without a POV meant he was as undeveloped as everything else, and he felt like a very weak part of the love triangle. It robbed enough of the expected impact from the last quarter for me to knock my rating down a star.

Overall, I had a lot of high hopes for this book, but it was a letdown for me. I think a bit more editing and time to flesh out the elements of the book would have turned a killer concept into a killer story. I will not be reading the sequels. However, a lot of other people have seemed to like it. I wouldn't recommend it personally, but I don't think it'd be a waste of time to see if you might like this more than I did.

I approached this book expecting an epic tale of female rage, where a woman finally takes a stand and does whatever it takes to ensure she’s never hurt again. In short, I had high expectations, but unfortunately, the story didn’t quite deliver for me.

The book started off strong with a solid first chapter, and I was eager to see Shan set everything ablaze. However, around the 20% mark, my interest began to wane. Shan’s point of view felt underdeveloped, and her character gave me a bit of whiplash—I couldn’t tell if she was meant to be morally grey or just purely angry.

That said, the writing was easy to follow, and the plot had potential. But the characters and their relationships didn’t captivate me as much as I’d hoped.

Thank you to orbit for providing me a complimentary copy of this book.

I loved the aesthetic of Mistress of Lies, and it has a super cool premise and some really imaginative ideas. I do think the novel struggled quite a bit in its execution.

I was locked in and loaded in the beginning, but the novel almost seemed to peak in its first chapter. It flatlined pretty quickly for me and became a huge slog in the middle. There were a bunch of storylines and characters that seemed kind of random and just never quite went anywhere. It just felt like I was sort of wasting time reading about different things that never developed, only to eventually be told time after time that something happened off-screen so now we’re doing this instead. The novel touched on some really interesting themes, but again didn’t really develop them with any real nuance or clarity.

Mistress of Lies did pick my interest back up toward the end, but it didn’t do so in a way that was at all satisfying. I want to describe most of the plot, up to and including the ending, as feeling convenient, but that’s almost too generous of a description because it implies that the plot flowed logically or ultimately made sense in terms of the politics, characters & their motivations, and world in general. There seemed to just be quite a few plot holes in general and I never fully got a sense of the “why” for just about everything and everyone. As a result, I struggled to connect with the novel and its characters.

All that being said, while I didn’t enthusiastically love this one, I didn’t not enjoy it either. I’m definitely sort of intrigued to see where it goes and if we get any delayed return on the time spent in some of the plot points that went no-where. So I’m not fully writing this series off just yet.

Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for this arc.

This book is more of the 3.5. This book follows Shan as she just murdered her father and becomes the head of the family. Samuel is the bastard of a powerful vampire family. I was really enjoying the beginning of this political story. However, I was more invested in the relationships forming and I wanted more. By the end, I was not enjoying how Shan was behaving and I wish there were more scheming on her part. Maybe I will tune in for the sequel. But I will recommend this book to beginners of fantasy.

I can not wait for more work from this author

I’m very conflicted about this one. I was really interested in the story, but it felt more tell than show at times, which made it difficult for me to really sink in. I ended up pausing around 60% because I was just not engaged. I’m really glad I did because when I picked it back up, I was able to really appreciate and enjoy the ending.

Our three main characters are all born into different circumstances and want to make meaningful changes, but all believe they have the “right” approach. Starting off, I expected to love Shan, but by the end, I was a little annoyed with her approach and almost arrogance I suppose. I get it tho..as stubborn as I am. All of our main characters are flawed in their own way which I did appreciate. I loved the idea of the poly relationship but was disappointed in the end. I wasn’t totally invested in it however this was one area that felt more tell than show for me. I would love to see some growth and reconciliation in the next book. I did really love seeing a trans man be apart of the relationship and how blood-working was used to transition.

I want to see where the story goes so I may still pick up the next book. I’d still recommend this to anyone wanting something with diverse characters or something different.

I THOROUGHLY enjoyed K.M. Enright’s Mistress of Lies. It was an excellent read while out of power due to Helene. I loved the main characters, particularly Shan and Samuel. The relationship formed between the main three was great, I love reading about poly relationships.

The world building was so unique. Blood? So cool! This book had everything I love: great character dynamics and politics!

I can’t wait to read the next one.

Thank you to Orbit and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Dnf at 25%

I really wanted to continue this and most likely will in the near future!

The book is going nowhere for me. Its very politics heavily but all explanation and no action

This may be the book for you if you enjoy that more!

Thank you Netgalley and Orbit books

3.5 ⭐️ rounded up

If you are looking for a story of young people rebelling against the status quo with a flavor of blood magic, then this is for you. There is also good banter, and lots of tension between our three main characters, all set in a queer normative world. Once I met the book where it was, it was quite fun. And there was one twist towards the end that did surprise me. That being said, if you’re going into this hoping for a lush vampire story with a murder mystery at its core as the blurb would have you believe, it’s not really. I was disappointed at how little the magic was used, and the lack of any real investigation into the serial murders that were the cohesive backbone of the plot. I was also disappointed in the lack of vampireness. If you go in with the right expectations and are a particularly character driven reader looking for some CW style melodrama with hot queer people and don’t mind the world building and plot being a little more on the shallow side, this one is worth giving a go.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

DNF. This just wasn't for me unfortunately. I do appreciate this this kind of romance and representation in books, but my problems with this were more on the writing and the story. It was not written in the most amazing style, but considering this is a debut book, its not super surprising. Plus, the writing felt very YA at some points, which was unfortunate because I was looking forward to an adult novel in this specific vein of darker fantasy. Characters were not super likable either, very unlikeable but not in a good way. I think this authors other works might get better and better as they gain more experience, and I will keep an eye out for them. But for now, K.M. Enright's Mistress of Lies was not for me.

Such a fantastic concept and I love the atmosphere as well as the queer rep, but this novel needed some additional polish and development.

This book was amazing I couldn’t put it down was completely drawn in from the first page and hooked. I loved the characters the writing and the plot so sad it ended

Sadly, this was not good. It had such an interesting premise and the political intrigue was all set up for success; but the writing was just very bad. I was so surface level the entire time, practically skimming and yet feeling zero connection to these characters’. I think this would have benefited from multi POV in first person, but even then i don’t know that this could have been saved

A dark fantasy with excellent world building and amazing characters! I do think that there are a few issues in terms of plot pacing but overall for a debut author I don't think it is to bad. I think a lot of issues I had with pacing or un answered plots will be answered in time given that this is the first book in a series. Overall I think this was a great debut for this author and am excited to see more!

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for this advanced copy. You can pick up Mistress of Lies now.

I love a book with a ruthless, villainous FMC who will do whatever it takes to achieve her goals. I especially love it when she's part of a gritty, imaginative world involving vampire-esque beings and enemies around every corner. But with Mistress of Lies, I fear the promises of what you could expect in this book outweighed the actual execution of these elements.

Within the first few chapters, I found myself taken out of the story by the overdramatization of the writing and shoddy world-building. It seemed like several key components were told, not shown, and the elements we were shown were underwhelming. While I wanted to root for Shan, I found it difficult to connect to her and stay invested in her story.

That doesn't mean others won't gravitate toward this story, though. If someone wants an atmospheric, spooky vampire-esque story with queer rep and a murder mystery subplot, this could be their book! It just wasn't for me.

This was an impressive debut by Emright and I can't wait to see what he does next - especially in this series. The world, the characters, the magic, the yearning, and the complicated relationship between the main characters were all perfect. I loved the gothic atmosphere, the dark, brutal world he created, and the endearing, yet very morally gray characters. It took a while for the plot to get going and I was hoping for a little more payoff at the end, but I can't wait for the sequel/continuation of this series, and it has potential to be a great one.

I really enjoyed this book! It captured my attention from the first page with its engaging writing style and relatable characters. The story flows smoothly, making it an easy and enjoyable read.

Was it flawed? Yes. Did I still have fun with it? Also yes. Mistress of Lies is more style than substance - it's dripping with intrigue and schemes, blood magic and assassinations, court politics and romance, yet there's little depth or variety to the world. Significant plot events and moments of growth happen entirely off-screen. It truly suffers from telling and not showing. However, something about the main trio of characters kept me compelled to keep reading.

Overall this novel had more of a romantasy vibe than I was expecting but it was a great queer, poly time. Shan, Samuel and Isaac are all kind of a mess, but the intertwining of their lives was easily the highlight of the story. I'd likely pick up the sequel to see where they go next, and in hopes that the rest of the world will be expanded upon.

Also please just look at that absolutely stunning cover art. Gorgeous.

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC.

I was really excited for Mistress of Lies my K.M. Enright. The premise was intriguing and it started out strong. Unfortunately, this ended up being pretty disappointing and very meh. I found the characters hard to root for and so much of the character and plot progression happened off page. The book lacked focus overall, parts of the book wanted to be a mystery with a main character who is scheming her way into power to help the less fortunate and another part wanted to be a romance first, plot second kind of romantasy. Neither was done very well and so it all just fell flat.
I really struggled with Shan. I enjoyed her POV at the beginning but soon, she was annoying me. Shan is the type of character that thinks she is smarter than everyone else and we are supposed to also believe this, but nothing she does is shows this level of advanced scheming that she is supposedly capable of. It is also never really clear what her goals are or who she is truly fighting for.
Samuel was also incredibly wishy-washy and didn’t seem to have any sort of backbone or strict moral compass, which would have been okay if it was acknowledged and he was working towards figuring it out. Isaac was the only character I truly enjoyed. I thought I was going to be all for the relationship that the author writes, but it grew tiring, especially when it was just suddenly put on the back burner for reasons I still don’t really understand.
Other points that bothered me were that the blood magic was never explained very well. Considering that it is a large aspect of the book, I would have liked a more in-depth explanation.
The story dragged in the middle. There were a few times where I thought it was going to pick back up, but it would lose momentum and I would be stuck dragging myself through it. I wanted to DNF it a couple times, but wanted to see if it got better towards the end. The sexual tension between all the characters was very well written. In the beginning, I was invested in the romance, but as the plot began to drag, my interest in the romance began to wane.
Overall, I gave this book a 2.75/5 stars. I was really hoping for a Romantasy with both a strong plot and romance, but sadly I didn’t feel like it delivered very well on either. I do think that the next books in the series could improve if it focuses on strengthening the plot and honestly making the characters have an actual direction or distinct goals to work towards instead of flip flopping their stances whenever it suited the plot. I think that this could work for people who don’t expect a strong plot point but love a romance with heavy tension.

Four Stars! Mistress of Lies by K. M. Enright was an enjoyable read. I felt the world was well built and the characters were interesting. For some reason I thought it was a standalone, and was happy to find out it wasn’t. I look forward to reading the other books in this series. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Thanks to Orbit and NetGalley for the ARC!

Ruled by the centuries-old Eternal King, Aeravin is a haven for people with the gift of Blood Working. Shunned elsewhere, Blood Workers are revered in Aeravin, heading the government and making up the majority of the upper class. The Unblooded, those without the ability, have few rights and fewer opportunities. After orchestrating the death of her father, Shan LeClaire steps into the role of the head of her family and takes her place in the House of Lords. Shan, the daughter of an immigrant mother, has seen how Blood Workers and the upper crust of Aeravin treat the Unblooded and intends to enact change with her new role. Samuel, a young man a surprising power and connection to the Eternal King, becomes wrapped up in Shan’s schemes and embroiled in court life as the two of them are tasked to solve a series of murders.

Mistress of Lies is a strong debut from K.M. Enright - it’s a rich and detailed story of political intrigue, magic, and romance. The characters were well written and well developed, and the tension and attraction between them was excellently done. There is excellent queer, trans, and POC representation - the trans character is handled with care and dignity which was great to see. The world building was easy to understand and well thought out. I didn’t realize going into this that it wouldn’t be a stand alone, however I’m excited to read more of this universe. There were times where the pacing felt like it lagged, but overall this was a really solid read!