The Heart of Betrayal

May 1, 2015
Held captive in an enemy land, a princess ricochets among an assassin, a prince, and a barbaric ruler. As The Kiss of Deception (2014) ended, Princess Lia entered Venda as a prisoner of Kaden, who'd been sent to assassinate her but instead brought her to Venda's dictator, the Komizar. Whether locked in her room, sneaking through hidden catacombs, or being paraded outdoors by the Komizar, Lia's never safe. She knows that her beloved Prince Rafe is imprisoned here too, in disguise, and could be killed anytime; the chance Lia will be killed lessens when the Komizar starts using her as a political symbol, but she's still in danger. Pearson's plot flows well despite some flowery prose and overexplanations. Themes of bloodshed, hunger, war, and manipulation simmer through several first-person perspectives, and an event near the end packs a wallop. However, for a story emphasizing vengeance, betrayal, and deception, the reveals are lukewarm, unlike the stunningly satisfying ones in Kristin Cashore's Graceling Realm series, while Marie Rutkoski's Winner's Trilogy makes meatier fodder of mis/trust, power, manipulation, and enormous stakes. There's little new here: Lia's critical role becomes as much about destiny as agency, and stereotypical Romany-esque "vagabonds" teach her about her magical gift. Despite flaws, solid and absorbing high fantasy, with a sudden breathless hook to the next installment. (Fantasy. 14-17)

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April 1, 2015

Gr 9 Up-Following the dramatic and tragic ending of The Kiss of Deception (Holt, 2014), Princess Lia finds herself incarcerated in the walled city, Venda, where she is surrounded by her country's enemies. Seduced and betrayed by Kaden, now revealed as the Assassin who was sent to kill her, and tormented by the Komizar, the leader of the city, her only ally appears to be Rafe, the prince she ran away from in order to prevent a wedding neither of them wanted. When her true name, Jezelia, is revealed, the common people of Venda embrace her as the promised savior of their people, and Lia and Rafe begin to formulate a daring escape plan before she is either killed or forced into marriage to the Komizar. Fans of Pearson's first book in "The Remnant Chronicles" won't be disappointed in the sequel. The cliff-hanger ending will cause considerable angst as devoted readers will probably have to wait another year to find out whether or not Rafe and Lia survive long enough to make it home. VERDICT A heart-pounding sequel that fantasy fans will appreciate.-Jane Henriksen Baird, Anchorage Public Library, AK

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from April 15, 2015
Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* It's rare that the second book in a series is as goodor perhaps betterthan the first, but that's the case here. The highly praised The Kiss of Deception (2014), which began the Remnant Chronicles, introduced Lia, who fled her wedding only to be stalked by Rafe, the prince she was to marry, and Kaden, an assassin from the country of Venda. Both men are smitten by the impetuous, clever Lia, and neither will abandon her now that she's imprisoned in Venda. She soon has another admirer as welland a very powerful one, indeed. Author Pearson masterfully controls all elements of her story. Told in alternating points of view, the narrative has a freshness that will make readers impatient to keep turning pages. A key story element is the way Lia's second sight gives her options and opportunities, even during her captivity. Descriptions richly evoke sights and smells, and death, dismemberment, and poverty are juxtaposed against the mythic elements of this world's history, told through the carefully dispensed snippets of the Song of Venda. There are surprises up until the last. Anticipation for the next volume will start as soon as this one is put down.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2015
The Kiss of Deception (rev. 9/14) ended with the unmasking of the prince and the assassin, both of whom, despite themselves, fell in love with Princess Lia of Morrighan. Now the fates of all three are in the hands of an iron-fisted ruler known as the Komizar of Venda. Seeing Lia as a pawn, he proposes a marriage of convenience to bolster his public image. Kaden, the assassin who kidnapped her and brought her to the Komizar, tries nevertheless to keep her safe; Rafe, prince of Dalbreck (whose true identity is unknown to the other two) remains a captive of the Komizar. Deception and betrayal notwithstanding, Lia's heart belongs to Rafe, and the two conspire to escape before the dreaded marriage can be finalized. Once again, Pearson uses shifting viewpoints to heighten suspense and track events in multiple settings. The bigger picture of the world-building begins to come into sharper focus in this volume -- that is, the relationship between the kingdoms of Venda, Dalbreck, and Morrighan -- pointing toward a climax that promises to fuse the political with the personal, resolving the fates not only of all these players but also of their respective kingdoms. If Pearson can sustain the romance, mystery, and suspense, then the Remnant Chronicles will stand strong among great fantasy series. jonathan hunt

(Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)