Absolutely LOVED this book. The tangled family tree. The sisters and all their foibles and fierceness. The special abilities and otherworldly environments. Couldn’t put it down! When is the sequel coming?

3.5 stars, rounded down

I had high hopes for Lies on the Serpent's Tongue since the setting and atmosphere of Bittersweet in the Hollow had been so beautifully written, but sadly, after reading it, I feel very much the same about this one as I did the first one.

The descriptions of Caball Hollow and the surrounding national Forest were immersive and well-done, but the plot was thin and underwhelming, and it didn't really grab my attention. It felt like we were getting parts and pieces of a dozen different smaller mysteries, and then instead of taking the time to work through them, we were simply told how they were resolved. It also relied heavily on rehashing plot points from the first book, and the story here didn't have much to stand on on its own. The pacing was incredibly slow, up until the ending, which then felt rushed by comparison.

The romance aspects are no surprise considering there was so much tension and build-up between Rowan and Hadrian in the first book, but their relationship just felt a little off to me here, and I can't quite put my finger on what it is that I didn't like about it.

All in all, this wasn't a bad read, I just wouldn't go into it with high expectations.

Lies on the Serpent's Tongue is unlike anything I've read before, weaving a unique blend of supernatural gifts, Appalachian folklore, and raw emotional stakes. Rowan James’s ability to smell lies is a striking narrative tool that brings a tangible tension to every interaction. It’s refreshing to see a protagonist grappling with such an unusual skill, which shapes her relationships and amplifies the story's complexity.

What stood out to me was how the Appalachian setting becomes almost a character itself, steeped in mystery and secrets. The atmosphere is haunting, and the small-town dynamics feel authentic, layered with gossip, suspicions, and long-buried truths. The story’s exploration of family, trust, and identity makes it resonate on a deeply personal level, adding layers to the suspenseful plot.

Rowan’s interactions with Hadrian Fitch are captivating, especially as their connection shifts between wary distrust and reluctant alliance. Unlike other supernatural or fantasy books I've read, this story doesn't rely on heavy action but rather on the slow unraveling of secrets, which kept me intrigued. The supernatural elements, like Rowan’s lie-detection, are seamlessly integrated into the narrative without overshadowing the emotional core of the story.

One minor drawback is that Rowan’s unique gift takes a backseat in the latter half, as the plot veers towards solving the town’s mysteries. While I would’ve liked more focus on her lie-smelling ability, the compelling central mystery and rich character dynamics more than made up for it.

This book felt truly original compared to other supernatural or mystery novels, offering a perfect balance of eerie folklore and heartfelt drama. For readers who enjoy deeply atmospheric settings and thought-provoking character journeys, Lies on the Serpent's Tongue is an unforgettable read​.

The plot of this moved relatively slow for my liking. I liked bitter in the hollow, so I was excited for the sequel, but it sort of disappointed me. I love the Appalachia setting and the dark fall vibes, but it was hard to trudge through at times and at other times confusing.

Lies on the Serpent's Tongue by Kate Pearsall didn't disappoint. I loved everything about it. Thank to you NetGalley for the ARC!

4.25/5
Thank you @penguinteen #partner for the gifted copy of this book!

This is the second book and follow up to Bittersweet in the Hollow and I devoured it just like the first one! I just love the premise of these characters! Rowan can smell people’s lies and Linden can taste other people’s feelings. How fun is that?! Ok so back to this book…they initially were not thrilled when one of their most disliked enemies showed up on her front porch. Her first instinct was to mad and push him away but with him being beaten and bloody she second guesses that impulse to get rid of him. She senses something amiss in the surrounding woods and soon other townspeople are losing their memories. Something is certainly not right in this Appalachian town so when a body shows up in the middle of town Rowan knows the clock is ticking to sort it out!

I loved the creepy vibe and eerie sensation I got while reading this book. The characters are fierce and fiery and unique in their special powers. The setting makes this feel like a folklore gothic tale that is more os a magical suspenseful mystery! I certainly hope this series continues because I am invested in this series. I also want to point out the cover art on these books are stunning! 🤩 I highly recommend both of these books and can’t wait for more!

3.5 Stars
This book follows Bittersweet in the Hollow and continues the story of the James women in Caball Hollow, in the West Virginia mountains. Each of the women in the family have some sort of 'gift' and Rowan's is that she can smell lies on the breath of the person telling it. This makes for a difficult time in trusting anyone.

Rowan takes on the volunteer task of readying a cabin for fire watchers in the National Forest. The staff that usually prepare it are busy with ginseng poachers and multiple accidents on National Forest land. The cabin is near the Bone Tree and Rowan continually sees odd things that shouldn't be in the area, such as magpies, and adders, causing her to wonder if the Bone Tree is the reason. While there, Hadrian returns and shows up on her doorstep, the victim of a violent beating. He enlists her help to find out who attacked him and hopefully fix the Bone Tree before it fails and releases what it is holding. To complicate things there are many others out in the forest, looking to capitalize on the Moth-Winged Man stories, and increase their fame.

I wanted to like this book as much as Bittersweet in the Hollow but I didn't. I missed the interactions with people in the restaurant, and the southern small-town flair of that book. Don't misunderstand, I still recommend you read this, and I will read the next one by Kate Pearsall when it comes out, as well, just missed some of the depth of the first installment..

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I have been provided with a review copy of Lies on the Serpent's Tongue from NetGalley for an impartial review. Ahhhhh this was just such a great read. I just didn't want this book to end and I was sad to turn the last page. I'm so excited to see what's next from this author.

A fantastic end to one of my favorite duologies. I couldn’t get enough of the James family and Cabal Hollow in Bittersweet in the Hollow and was so happy to return in Rowan’s POV. Pearsall’s writing is beautiful, and the mystery is well-plotted, somehow simultaneously slow-burning and fast-paced. An atmospheric, well-crafted novel I’ll be thinking about for a while.

I always enjoy anything by this author because of their lush descriptions of Appalachia, folklore, and this incredible witchy, feminist family. I also love it when a series jumps into another character’s head in the family for new perspectives. As always, the abilities of these characters are extremely unique, And despite having these gifts, they still act like teenagers about solving mysteries. I also especially enjoyed Rowan’s connection with Vernie as a mentor.

That said, I really loved this first book in this series and I’ve been struggling not to compare the two, but I think the first was stronger. I miss the amount of mountain wisdom/Farmer’s Almanac entries of the first at the most basic level, but there are a few things here that I struggled with after I read the last page. Don’t get me wrong, I was a good book that I had trouble putting down but the thing I find that commonly happens with slow burns is that things are really slow until you get to about the 70% mark and then it’s breakneck speed to close all the loops In a way that doesn’t always feel satisfying or fully concluded or is suddenly solved easily after a lot of hand-wringing.

That becomes even more difficult when there are a lot of things to solve, and I think this plot was doing a little bit too much between the bone tree and the poachers and the magpies and the Wompus cat and the Mothman and family connections to the other world. I also think that some people who haven’t read the first book are going to have a hard time figuring out why the love connection between the main character and Hadrian happened so deeply and quickly.

Big thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book pre-release. Lies on the Serpent's Tongue was a great follow up to Bittersweet in the Hollow. I fell in love and invested in the characters, and honestly, I feel like I got to know them better in this book than the first! It was the perfect atmospheric horror for fall, and I can't recommend these two books enough, especially when read back to back, so none of the smaller details get lost. A more formal review will be available on my IG/TikTok and Goodreads for release.

This one just wasn’t for me. It sounded so atmospheric and intriguing but ended up feeling too muddled with too much going on and I lost interest.

Energy: Agitated. Adamant. Capable.

🐕 Howls: Had the potential to be atmospheric (set in the fall), but I didn’t feel it. Descriptions didn’t deliver the spooky and cozy vibes I was hoping for. A bit boring (but maybe it’s for at a younger YA audience?). Story was very “tell, not show” with things explained in a quick unengaging way. So many little side plots going on with spirits, dimensions, creatures, family drama, romantic chemistry, book of secrets, spells, ingredients, supernatural abilities etc. but always stopped short of me getting get invested.

🐩 Tail Wags: The setting. The idea of supernatural sensory abilities.

Scene: 🇺🇸 Set in Caball Hollow, Appalachia in the US.
Perspective: Our main character is a teen living in a close-knit family of sisters with a connection to the land and magical wisdoms passed through the generations. They can smell lies and recent events cause them to believe something is happening in the magical realms.
Timeline: Current (2010s or 2020s). 🍂 September, October.
🔥 Fuel: Sense of adventure. Quests and journeys. Romantic tension. Race against time. Good vs evil. Why are people losing memories? What is happening to the bone tree? What are the intentions of others? Is our main character in danger?
📖 Cred: Magical realism

Mood Reading Match-Up:
Papery smoke. Burnt meat. Burning leaves. Bone tree. Magpie. Ginseng.
• Close-knit family dynamics
• Inherited supernatural abilities, connection to the land
• Forest service volunteering
• Haunted hillside
• Book of spells, magical tomes
• Local legends creature feature
• Good vs evil fantastical
• Otherworld politics and power plays spilling into this world
• Enemies to lovers and sacrificed love romance
• First person narratives, character telling us a story

Content Heads-Up: Physical violence. Blood, injury. Death. Vandalism. Prejudice.

Rep: American. Cis. Hetero. Fair and deep brown skin tones.

📚 Format: Advance Reader’s Copy from Penguin Young Readers Group | G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, and NetGalley.

My musings 💖 powered by puppy snuggles 🐶

This was SO close to being a 5 star read, if not with a few pacing issues it would have been. Caveat: you could probably read this book without book one but I don't recommend it as it builds on that foundation.

It opens several weeks past the end of Bittersweet in the Hollow and Rowan, one of the magical James women, learning that their former farmhand, Hadrian is technically a psychopomp they call the Moth-Winged Man (riffing off Point Pleasant's Mothman). This book feels steeped in Appalachian culture and lore (saying this as someone who lives there, very near the Mothman) though this time leans far less heavily on the chapter openers/closers of folk remedies that were in book one.

Rowan can taste lies so when people are lying about things that she knows are true without triggering her lie detector, she's confused. Worse, there's a podcaster/cryptid hunter in town irking her and she's already running on fury over events of last book (such as some towns people turning on them and wrecking the family restaurant). Grandma sends her off into the woods with Vernie, a forest ranger who needs help manning a fire observation station near the mystical (and currently injured) bone tree. Vernie sets her up with a less paranormal issue: wild ginseng poachers who may destroy the fragile ecosystem and cause this plant to go extinct (a real concern).

What Rowan encounters instead are several bizarre things, a young man who won't wake up, animals that don't belong in West Virginia and Hadrian, severely beaten up. She and Hadrian have to team up to figure out what is going on before the veil comes undone between this world and the other side.

There are plenty of good twists and turns in this. Grandma's unresolved search for her missing sister Zephyrine is not forgotten for example. The James women are fascinating and I love them. I enjoy Hadrian too though I think some of the interpersonal details with him and Rowan feel a bit rushed (ditto some of the disappearing plot threads, hence that pacing issue I mentioned)

Regardless I loved where this ended and what it hints is to come. I'll be there for it. Thanks to Netgalley for the arc.

Returning to the Hollow with the James women at the end of October has never been more fun.

The serpent isn’t the only thing that lies and for Rowen the smell for each tall tale leaves her reeling but when an old friend and usual enemy turns up battered and bruised she uses her talents to uncover what caused such trouble and bled into the town causing those she loves to lose what’s most dear to them as well as their memories before it all comes undone.

I really enjoy these books and the time we get with the family of unusual talents. I read both this and it’s predecessor so quickly as falling into the world is one of the easiest I’ve done and it felt like coming home with this sequel.

As always the James women have that practical magic flair and Rowen is no different standing in the spotlight of this book. Her love for her family is so strong and the lengths she would go to protect them is something to be marveled at and I especially loved her back and forth with the Moth Winged Man. Every scene with those two left you hungry for more even when you probably shouldn’t have developed a taste for it.

My only wish is we got a little more of her talent with smelling lies there’s heavy focus in the beginning but after awhile it seems to fade a bit into the background shifting focus to the mystery , which is fine but alas I like the quirkiness of the magic and wouldn’t hate a bit more.

Overall I do enjoy this series and I’m hopeful we get some more time with these characters!

**special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**

3.5 stars

Content warnings: murder, violence

Let me preface this by saying I didn't realize that this was the second book in the series. Usually, I check that first, but for some reason, it didn't occur to me with this book.

I spent a good deal of time trying to figure out how I had missed what seemed to be major plot points. Then I thought oh, maybe this is a side book, like a companion novel or something. And then, finally, the obvious idea of book two clicked in my head.

My mistakes aside, I thought this was fairly entertaining. I'll probably go back and read the first book, and then maybe, I'll appreciate this one more.

Generally speaking, I thought the ending felt weak and rushed, and I don't think reading book one would change that.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Group for my arc in exchange for my unbiased opinion!

I LOVED “Lies on the Serpent’s Tongue!” I didn’t get a chance to read the previous book, “Bittersweet in the Hollow,” but when I finished this, I went and requested the book at my local library.

This is such a cool mix of folk horror and family drama. I really enjoyed the setting in the Appalachian mountains and I enjoyed the lore of the James family. I would read a third book set in this family!

I couldn't help but become engrossed in the enigmatic and frightening world of Lies on the Serpent's Tongue. I was enthralled with Rowan James and her peculiar, unnerving talent of being able to detect other people's falsehoods from the first page. I could almost feel the weight of the secrets she carried on her shoulders, and it gave the entire novel a tense, unsettling vibe. I was totally engrossed in Rowan's path because of Pearsall's masterful melding of that extraordinary gift with the universally relatable difficulty of trust.

This book brings Caball Hollow, a little Appalachian village with a dark underbelly of secrets and mysteries just waiting to be discovered, to life. There is something almost oppressive about the environment, as if the town itself is concealing something, and I adored how it felt like a character unto itself. I had the impression that I was walking alongside Rowan as the plot developed, negotiating the muddy waters of lies, treachery, and family secrets. The tension increases further when Hadrian Fitch, battered and bleeding, enters the scene. Every exchange between him and Rowan became even more compelling because I wasn't sure if I could trust him.

The way that Lies on the Serpent's Tongue examines the notion that no one is ever precisely who they seem to be was one of the things that truly resonated with me. She must confront this unsettling reality because of Rowan's skill, which is both a boon and a bane for her. It was such a raw and painful journey to watch her struggle with the possibility that those closest to her—friends, family, and even Hadrian—might be lying or concealing something. Pearsall kept me on edge at every turn, and I was always wondering who was telling the truth and who wasn't.

All things considered, this book was a somber, evocative read that held my attention throughout. Lies on the Serpent's Tongue will captivate you if you like mysteries, a hint of the paranormal, and lots of suspenseful, heart-pounding action. I highly recommend it since it's one of those books that stays with you long after you've finished reading it!

I adored this second book in the series! It was perfect timing for a witchy Halloween-season read. Truly, it had all the right ingredients for a book to curl up by the fire on a fall night and immerse yourself in the magical realism meets fantasy vibe with a hefty dose of mystery mixed in.

For not having read book one in the series, I am going to have to go back and read it. This book was fantastic. Kate Pearsall did a fantastic job, and I highly recommend. Thank you to Penguin Young Readers Group as well as NetGalley for allowing me to read the ARC of this novel. It felt very timely considering it was spooky season, and I love all things Appalachia. You will not be disappointed giving this one a go!

4.5
Unpopular opinion time: This was a significant improvement from Bittersweet in the Hollow. The characters are easier to relate to, the family dynamic makes more sense, and the pacing was markedly better.