Truyan Saigas’s father disappeared on a sea voyage five years ago. Since then, Tru has had to turn to less than legal career options to keep her family fed. Tru forges paintings for a living, and when one of her artworks ends up flying into a rich man’s backyard, she has to jump over his wall to get it back. Little does she know, the man is actually a half dragon, and he has a proposition for her. If she pretends to marry him and travel to the underwater kingdom of Ailong to help him overthrow the dragon king, he will give her and her family all the riches she could ever desire. All she has to do is get close enough to the king and draw him on the Scroll of Oblivion, and that will make it like the king never existed. With the help of a demon and her new husband, Truyan will attempt to pull off the most difficult painting she’s ever drawn, and along the way, find out what happened to her missing father.

I’m always a sucker for a fairytale retelling, and this one did not disappoint. It’s an incredibly unique take on Beauty and the Beast and I found myself really invested in the characters. I did particularly enjoy Truyan’s family. I feel like in a lot of books, the family of the MC gets sidelined and is only there to further the main character’s story, but in A Forgery of Fate, both of Truyan’s sisters have their own personalities and are off doing their own things.
On a character note, I do wish that Shani had a bit more characterization, or at least more page time, especially because she plays such an integral role in the last part of the book. Those scenes fell a little flat to me because I wasn’t as invested in her character as I was the rest of them.

I will say, I was a bit confused on whether the turtles were supposed to be tortoises or sea turtles, because they do walk on land in the beginning of the book, but they also primarily live in the ocean? They were also described holding items such as spears, but I can just chalk that up to magic.

Overall, I’d give this four stars, it was a very enjoyable read. I liked Truyan and Elang’s relationship with each other and the plot was very engaging and a nice pace.

I loved this book. I finished it in 3 days. The main character, Truyan, is tough, and funny. She takes care of her family after her father’s disappearance at sea by selling forged art pieces with her colleague, Gaari. Tru loves 3 things the most: painting, her family, and very spicy noodles. The MMC, Elang, is rich, mysterious, and broody (the best kind, really). Oh yeah, he’s part dragon, and he’s got a curse to break. He has to fall in love with a human to break it and reclaim his underwater lands back from his murderous grandfather, the dragon king. Tru and Elang enter a marriage of convenience to convince the Dragon King that Elang has fallen in love with a human, to break his curse, and get Elang’s heart back. There is a unique magic system, several big twists, and lots of noodles in this book. It was a quick read, and held my attention the WHOLE time. I had to remind myself it was time to go to bed for the 3 days. I only cried a few times. Since almost everything was underwater, it was kind of silly to read about them “swimming” across the room, but other than that I loved it. Thank you to NetGalley and random house for this eARC!

A Beauty and the Beast inspired fantasy where “Beauty” is an art forger and there is a vicious underwater Dragon King? Sign me up! I love that Elizabeth Lim is writing books inspired by Disney Princesses and classic fairytales within such creative magical worlds. A Forgery of Fate did not disappoint, and is definitely a book I’d recommend.

The book started off a bit concerning, as I didn’t really like Truyan “Tru” Saigas, the main female character. She was a bit whiney and entitled even though her family was poor and in a bad situation. She made it seem as someone should help her just because even though she was technically in the wrong, and she was so indignant that they didn’t cave to her request. However, I am a bit glad Tru was so frustrating in the beginning as you then see her growth throughout the book.

I really like the underwater world and all the sea creatures that Tru meets. However, I do wish there had been a bit more world building or explanation of certain scenes, because at times it was hard for me to fully visualize what Lim was describing. There were action-packed scenes and some creative twists that kept me engaged and eager to learn what was going to happen with the fight against the Dragon King.

The romance was also a good slow-burn that was well developed throughout the storyline, which I appreciated. The ending, while heartwarming, did feel a bit rushed. I would have loved even a few more pages with another scene or some descriptions so it didn’t seem quite as vague. However, it was still a good way for the book to end.

Overall, this was a refreshing and engaging romantasy read that I would recommend, especially if someone is looking for a strong standalone.

I have absolutely loved Lim’s other works and this one was no exception. It is an eastern mythology take on Beauty and the Beast, but the beast is a half-dragon who wants to take down his grandfather, the king of the dragons, and Belle is a painting forger who gets visions of the future through her painting.

The love story has just the right amount of yearning and bonding and will-they-won’t-they to keep you thinking about this book for a while. There were some plot twists that were perfectly executed and I love how this story winded and weaved through the lore of the already established world. And while fans of the Six Crimson Cranes duology will appreciate some appearances, this is certainly a standalone.

Thank you to @randomhousechildrensbooks and @netgalley for the eARC. All thoughts are my own.

it’s 3:30am and i just totally cried my eyes out 👍🏽👍🏽 this was so beautiful 😭😭😭 easily my favorite E Lim book yet!

Infinity stars. My heart? Shattered and soaring at the same time. 💔✨

This book took me on an emotional rollercoaster of epic proportions — and I’d gladly ride again. The way Lim weaves together threads of fate, love, and legacy is nothing short of masterful.

THE ROMANCE. THE CHARACTER CONTINUATION. The twists I didn’t even know I needed?! I was screaming, crying, throwing bookmarks.

If you loved the world of Lor’yan, just wait until you step back into it. I cannot wait to see where Lim takes us next — because I am absolutely following.
Thank you, Netgalley for this ARC!

There was never a more fitting plot for a book than painting a picture that comes to life. I have often felt this way about books, stories that touched my heart and imagination, roared to life in my head, and made me see and feel an entirely new reality.

This book was a delight to read. It made me smile and cry, and it stressed me out in all the best ways. I loved the way that the relationships between family members were represented (not always easy but often still full of love) and how grief was shown in sometimes very subtle and sometimes considerable ways, as well as the ways different people respond to it.

More than that, it depicted love and survival that hit very close to home while also capturing my heart with an intense love story and a brilliant fantasy world. I had highly anticipated reading this book, and I was not disappointed. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good story and wants to have their heart beaten up and nursed back to health several times.

4.5★/5

Alright, I have been in a HORRIBLE reading slump since the beginning of my spring semester. I was just talking with my partner about how I really just needed a good, well-written romantasy book to pick me back up. Well guys, I am glad to report that this is ABSOLUTELY it!

I cannot lie; some of this book did feel a bit tropey, but not to the point that it took away from my enjoyment. I love a grumpy MMC, and I love the, "Who did this to you?" trope. What can I say—it's popular for a reason! A Forgery of Fate was a beautiful story of strength and love between Tru, a sassy art forger trying to save her family from poverty after her father's disappearance, and Elang, a grumpy prince with a troubled past. Their dynamic throughout the book had me smiling and giggling the whole time, especially around the 75% mark (but you'll have to read to find out why that is).

Now, while I did enjoy this book, I don't think its marketing is quite correct. Many people are saying this is Beauty and the Beast meets Six of Crows, which I do not really get. I can very clearly see the Beauty and the Beast aspect of the story, but I did not get any resemblance to Six of Crows. There is only one POV, and while there are political plots, it is not a heist story in the same sense as Six of Crows. This distinction is not a bad thing, but I think it is important to mention.

A Forgery of Fate was just the book I was looking for to get out of my slump, and I would absolutely recommend reading it if you are looking for a quick romantasy! Overall, I would recommend this book to anybody who loves a strong FMC, a grumpy MMC, an interesting yet not confusing world, or a love story where you truly root for everyone involved!

I loved this book! I was enthralled from the first chapter with the vividly drawn characters and the well paced plot. This is promoted as a retelling of Beauty and the Beast but it is so much more - dragons, mermaids, magic, love and, of course, curses and heartbreak. Highly recommended

Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf Books for Young Readers for an advanced reader copy.

This is one of my first and It wont be my last novel of hers I read. A Forgery of Fate is beautifully written and I truly found myself falling deeper into the story while reading more and more, AFOF is a Beauty and The Beast retelling but done better. There's magic, adventure, and romance. The romance threw me out of the water with how sweet it was. The yearning! it had me weeping.

The main character, Tru had to be one of my favorites because she cares so much for her family, she's willing to do what's needed for them and stands up for herself. Tru has the gift of sight and can draw the future, this leads her to journey to finding the dragon lord and forging a marriage with him. The dragon lord's character is brash and cold at first with subtle subtle shows of affection which had me fan girling the entire time.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy

A Forgery of Fate by Elizabeth Lim is a first person-POV YA romantic fantasy retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Truyan is the daughter of a fortune teller and an adventurer, inheriting her father’s blue hair and possessing a gift for art forgery. When everything threatens to come crashing down, she accepts a deal to enter a marriage contract with a dragon lord, the same lord she annoyed by crashing into his rose garden.

As a Beauty and the Beast retelling, I think this is closer to the original tale rather than the Disney film. Like the original story, Tru has two sisters and her father’ fortune is tied to the sea whereas the film makes Belle an only child of an inventor. Tru has a lot of autonomy which is the part of the book that I felt was the most similar to the film, but Elang isn’t the one keeping her father trapped, which separates it from the original and the film. We have a lot of the beats of the original story, but it’s not following the story to a T.

The cover is absolutely stunning. I’ve been loving the Romantasy covers that have not taken the minimalist approach and have gone for something with characters on the cover but still having more limited cover palettes. The specific shade of blue is how I pictured Tru’s hair and the gold details of the dragon scales really help the cover feel special while taking risks. Those risks paid off and I would love to see this be the start of a new trend in Romantasy covers.

Truyan and Elang have a lot of things in common, including their biracial/interracial identity. Tru’s father is from a different culture than her mother while Elang is half-human and half-dragon. Both of them have physical characteristics that mark their identity and people distrust them for those features. For Tru, it’s her hair while Elang’s is his face looking more human on one side and more reptilian on the other. This shared experience helps the pair understand each other even if they are coming from very different worlds (Tru from the human world and Elang from the water god world) and are entering the contract with different goals.

I would recommend this to fans of YA romantic fantasy who love Beauty and the Beast and Asian-inspired fantasy and readers of Romantasy who want a twist on a classic

A Forgery of Fate by Elizabeth Lim is a romantic fantasy novel that follows our strong female main character, Truyan Saigas. The tale begins with her working as an art forger to keep food on her family’s table after the disappearance of their Father. After a misfortunate event, she is forced to marry a dragon lord, venture into his undersea realm, and put an end to his curse, all to save her family. Elizabeth Lim provides excellent character development, and the story kept my interest throughout the book. I thought the pace was a little slow, but I am glad that I kept with it as the ending was worth it. I grew attached to the two main characters, Tru and Elang, and loved watching them develop. Their development is slow in the beginning, but speeds up as the ending draws near. I also enjoyed the scenes with her sisters, and I loved the family dynamic that was present in the story. Overall, great plot, amazing characters, and a great young adult read. I want to thank Random House Children’s for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

The first chapter had me hooked, the plot made me stay.

This world took me by the hand, letting me live in it. Elizabeth Lim did such a great job making it feel real, like an escape.

Truyan definitely went through hardships, some that had been on the verge of tears. It wasn’t just the hardships… the book had me wanting to throw my phone against the wall.

Chapter Eight. I wanted to scream. I kept hyping Tru up. I had to go to a separate room from my kids for a minute, just so I could read it in peace!

Ms. Elizabeth Lim…. That ending. It was everything I needed and now I want more!

I’m so happy I got to read this and experience the world you built. I’m a big fan of enemies to lovers and while I guessed right away why Elang felt that way, it did not take away the enjoyment and it felt natural.

The ending was definitely bitter sweet. I just need to see how they’re doing after being together. Do they have kids? Are the happy and will grow old together?

This is definitely a story I’ll have my kids reading when they’re older!

(I wrote this review while in the mist of reading, so this review is less polished.)
(It is currently 11:03 PM. I read this book in less than a day)

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for helping me discover Elizabeth Lim—a top author for 2025! I'll be reading more from you!

Can’t wait to see what else this author has in store! I’ll be the first one to buy it!

Personal Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🫑

TROPES: SOULMATES, ENEMIES TO LOVERS, DRAGONS, UNDERWATER CITIES, FORCED PROXIMITY, MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE

It was a pretty good story! I am not a huge fan of the author and felt the same way about this one as I did the rest of their works. If you love them generally, I think you’ll love this one as well. True YA.

A Forgery of Fate is a whimsical, magical, and fantastical story. I absolutely loved and devoured this book. The writing and prose were breathtaking. I am so glad I had the opportunity to read this book. If you are looking for a fantasy read that enriches your favorite fairytales into something new I would highly recommend this book. 

We follow Truyan, an art forger who is just trying to help her family get by after her father has gone missing while on a voyage across the ocean. Unfortunately, she finds herself in a tough spot when one of her artworks is labeled forgery and to save her sisters and mom she enters a marriage with the mysterious Dragon Lord.  Tru has to return to the Dragon Realm to help him defeat the Dragon King if she has any hope of protecting her mom and sisters, and possibly saving her missing father. 

This story made me laugh, made me cry, and made me smile. It captured all of my favorite parts of fairytales and fantasy novels. I am so excited to read more books by Elizabeth Lim. Thank you to the publisher for providing an advanced readers copy via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

4.75/5 Stars

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
Elizabeth Lim has become one of my favorite YA fantasy authors, and I’m glad she’s getting some mainstream love (including a gorgeous first edition!) with her latest book, A Forgery of Fate. While not my favorite of her works, it has some of the hallmarks I enjoy from her prior works, like the Chinese and other Asian mythological influences crossing over with more familiar Western ones. And while this is a standalone, it’s also a fun expansion of the world all her original (non-IP) fantasy books are set in, and I loved the little allusions to past works, as well as how this world has expanded this time around, especially with parts of it being set underwater.
Truyan as a protagonist was one of the strong points for me. She is an art forger, whose drawings can tell the future. I appreciate how deeply she cares for her family, and how far she was willing to go for them. She’s a bit naive in other regards, when it comes to trusting people she shouldn’t, but she was fairly easy to root for, for the most part.
Elang suffered from “Emotionally Distant Love Interest Syndrome,” a problem plaguing romances for time immemorial. I do see what Lim was trying to do with them, with them being opposites being thrust in a marriage of convenience, and she’s very clear in her attempts to reimagine Beauty and the Beast. But while this dynamic can be done in a way I like, I just didn’t find it that compelling.
And between marriage of convenience being a not-so-favorite trope already, plus this book being so long, I found that this book dragged. The first half was fairly engaging, but the second half bored me, to the point where just reading a chapter exhausted me.
However, I’m very aware that most of my issues are very subjective, and the things I struggled with are also things people love about romance, including romance-heavy fantasy. Thus, I would suggest that, if you happen to enjoy broody, emotionally distant love interests, and marriage of convenience/Beauty and the Beast is your jam, I’d recommend giving this a try!

The book was really beautifully written. It wasn’t too long but it was very slow, but I know the other author’s books have that same slowness too, so it’s okay. I enjoyed it so much. The only thing I have to say as feedback is that the love interest could be introduced a little earlier in the story, so that way the book feels more fast passing but that’s it. Thanks for the opportunity.

This Beauty and the Beast retelling with heavy swaths of Asian folktales was spot on. It's another home-run for Elizabeth Lim, and I can already envision our readers enjoying this. Elang was my favorite out of all the characters, and the epilogue just added another layer to my enjoyment of this book. It was well done!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Children's for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Wow. Book lovers are lucky to have a story as breathtaking as this one being put into their hands. Elizabeth Lim's new Beauty and the Beast inspired tale is nothing short of incredible. Readers get to follow Truyan Saigas as her life as an art forger turns into a marriage with a dragon and a journey to a new world.

One thing that is boldly present in this story is the bewitching fairytale feel of the writing. Lim takes readers into a fantastical world they'll never be ready to leave. I loved this world in Six Crimson Cranes, and I somehow loved it even more in this one. Just when you think the books in this universe can't get any better, they continue to exceed expectations. The prose is the textbook definition of gorgeous.

Along with the stunning prose, readers are presented with what will easily become one of the best romances they've ever read. It includes so many beloved tropes without feeling like the story is centered around them. Every trope fits so naturally into the book that I'm afraid I'll never see them done this well again. Tru and Elang fit together so well in every moment they spend together. Their paths aren't easy ones, but they're absolutely perfect for the characters and the plot. No one writes a love story the way Elizabeth Lim does.

Although we always want a great romance in a romantic fantasy, an addictive plot is just as important. A Forgery of Fate is a masterclass on both. The plot was never forgotten or left underdeveloped. Each part of the story flowed so well and came together beautifully at the end. The story is packed with twists and heart-pounding action you can't get enough of. I rarely get truly nervous while reading, but my heart was beating far too quickly near the end of this book. The adventures these characters go on and the trouble they face is endless fun, but also incredibly emotional.

A Forgery of Fate is so many things. Most of all, I think it's a story about dreams, fortune, and the journey imagination can take you on. So many of the events in this story happen because of the futures Tru and Elang want to create for themselves. It shows us that we can dream of something better. We can forge our own fate and create the life we were always meant to live. Everything about the story is beautiful. It reaches out to the heart of the reader the way every book should.

And no good book is complete without a memorable ending. Memorable hardly encapsulates how incredible this ending is. As much as it made me sob, it was the only perfect ending for this story. Elizabeth Lim's writing makes it even better. Not everyone can tug on your heartstrings the way she can. The way every piece of the story fell into place at the end fixed the hole in my heart the rest of the book had created. I spent the last four chapters in tears and ended up with a long notes app entry about how much I was crying. The epilogue is going to be at the front of my thoughts for a long, long time. For the sake of not spoiling anything, I'll leave this part of the discussion here.

I really could talk about this book for at least twenty more paragraphs, but I'll come to a stopping point here. A Forgery of Fate is honestly one of the most beautiful, emotional, and memorable books I've ever read. Through the exploration of dreams, love, and family, this story becomes one readers will never be able to forget no matter how hard they try. If you're looking for your next 5-star, favorite book of all time, YA romantic fantasy, this is the one you need to ignore every other book to pick up. It has never been so important for everyone to ignore their TBR and get sucked into a new release.

Review on Goodreads (sophreadingbooks https://www.goodreads.com/sophreadingbooks) as of of 5/20/2025
Review on Instagram (sophiesreading https://www.instagram.com/sophiesreading/) as of 5/20/2025

In this story, Tru agrees to marry a demon prince(who is actually a dragon prince) to help him plot in the killing of the dragon king and also I n exchange for his help in finding her father, who has been missing for five years.

While the premise had potential, I struggled to connect with the romance, which didn’t feel believable to me. The overall plot failed to hold my interest, and I found myself frequently bored and distracted while reading.

That said, I did notice some improvements from Lim’s previous works. The pacing was more consistent, without the abrupt shifts or overwhelming events that bothered me in her other books. Unfortunately, despite these fixes, the story just didn’t work for me, and I had a hard time staying engaged.