The Heart of Betrayal by Mary E. Pearson

The Heart of Betrayal is the second book in The Remnant Chronicles and it picks up right where The Kiss of Deception left off. If you haven't read book one then first off I feel bad for you and second you should stop reading this review and go pick it up because this series is so good. The Heart of Betrayal was one of my most anticipated reads this year and I'm so happy that it didn't disappoint.

The Heart of Betrayal is structured so differently than a lot of other books and though it has nothing in common with Rick Yancey's 5th Wave Mary's writing style reminds me so much of his. They have this way of flawlessly switching POVs at all the right times. It's never feels jumbled or forced.

Mary gives us a strong plot with strong characters. I loved Lia in book one and so glad to say that I continued to like her in book two. She is still one of the strongest leading females I've read recently. She is still cheeky, calculating, strong willed, all while being caring. Kaden has the most character development in this book. We find out so much of his back story. I for one fell harder for him in this book then I did in KOD. I know how torn people are between him and Rafe, but Kaden is my choice. Speaking of Rafe, at first we didn't get a lot of time with him but thankfully as the book went on we got to see more and more of him. Both him and Kaden are such strongly written males I could easily see why people would want to pick his "side". I know that you'll see a lot of reviews saying that in HOB it's very clear Lia has made her choice between the two, but I disagree. I don't think she has.... At least not 100%. There is still one she favors other the other, there's not denying that, but I still think that there's a small part of her that still leans towards the other. This without a doubt is one of the reasons you'll be powering through this book. It was fun getting more assassin and prince angst. However as far as the romance goes I'm still questioning it. I feel like the relationship (sorry no names trying not to spoil things if people have read KOD) was hanging on too a lot of feelings and actions that happened in the first, and not so much on anything that happened in this one. This is what lead to me to give this book a little bit of a lower rating. I do think it's setting up the next book to be filled with a lot love and hopefully a lot of actual start really forming a solid romantic relationship. There are a lot of secondary characters introduced in this book as well, and far too many to mention.

One of the things I loved most about HOB was the new setting. Sometimes it's hard to ease back into a story when the entire novel is relocated. Wasn't an issue in this case. The entire book takes place in Venda. Venda is hella bad-ass. Mary perfectly world builds and doesn't leave us questioning how life is in this tough country. Two thumbs up on the setting. Now for the plot... Not gonna lie guys, the first half of this book is Slowwww. If you follow me on Goodreads then you'll know I'm a pretty speedy reader and it took me more than two days to ease my way through the first half of this book. The last half however was AWESOME! It picks up it paces and start kicking into high gear. There were a few twist that you're gonna be like "ehh I saw that coming", but they will be followed by smaller sub-twist that took me by surprise (idk if sub-twist are a real thing or if I  just invented it, either way I love it). All these events do lead up to a very surprising and very worth it ending. The last four/five chapters gave me an ulcer. I was so panicked. Because that ending! OH sweet, baby Jesus that ending crushed it!!!! Hits you right in the gut.

The ending made up for the one POV that I found a little pointless, and the slower first half. This ending will have me day dreaming about book three.

9/10 Stars 
-Angela

Sidenote: at first look I didn't like the cover... but after seeing it a few times I now love it. 
 

The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson

I borrowed this book from Angela like three months ago because she told me how awesome it was. I'm going to be honest. It has taken me FOREVER to get through this book. It's fairly long (almost 500pg) and the middle gets a little muddy with details. All in all, it was a really good book and I am glad I finally finished it.

 Lia is the princess of the kingdom of Morrighan. She is the only girl out of five kids, which makes her the First Daughter of her family. Traditionally, Morrighans believe that First Daugthers have a "gift" and are highly treasured. The book opens with Lia being betrothed to the prince of Dalbreck and it is time for their wedding. Lia doesn't want to marry him because she has never met him and has no idea anything about this dude other than their marriage is a key alliance in a war against the Kingdom of Venda (the barbarians). Lia and her chamber maid Pauline dip out and escape like minutes before the wedding is supposed to happen. They end up going to this town that Pauline grew up in and work/live in an inn of a friend of hers. While at the inn, Lia meets Rafe and Kaden. One of which is an assassin sent by the Kingdom of Venda to kill her and the other is the Prince of Dalbreck that she stood up, but she just thinks they are two regular guys. They are both super hotties and very mysterious. I was Team Rafe the whole time because he looks like Theo James in my brain and I just loved how angsty and passionate he is. Kaden doesn't disappoint either, though! I pictured him to look like Colton Haynes (Teen Wolf) and that in itself is enough to read the book. Kaden is very charming and warm and inviting. It really is a toss up to which guy you will prefer depending on your personal tastes and who you guess to be the assassin and prince.

Let's just take a moment and appreciate the beauty.

Ok.. Sorry. Got weird for a second. ANYWAY. The most unique thing about this book is the alternating POVs. You keep Lia's POV primarily, but you also get the POV of the assassin, the prince, Kaden, and Rafe. You don't know who is the prince and who is the assassin. It gets really intense because Lia develops a relationship with both of the guys but you have no idea which one is the bad guy and which one is the good guy. I was taking notes on my bookmark and I still ended up getting it wrong!!! I was so surprised that I guessed wrong. I really thought I had it all figured out, but the twist really threw me for a loop.

I really like Lia's character. From the beginning she is so against everything that everyone wants from her. Yes, that makes her selfish and sometimes irrational but she doesn't take crap and doesn't just go with the flow for the sake of keeping peace. She isn't afraid of hard work and actually makes a point to prove to everyone that she isn't a delicate little princess who needs to be doted upon. She can hang with the boys and doesn't mind getting down and dirty when necessary. Even with everything that happens, she still stays strong and doesn't waiver. She does grow as a person as the book goes on and goes from thinking mainly of herself to thinking about the bigger picture. I really can't wait to see her in the next book because I think she is going to go cray and burn down everything in the whole world.

Like I said before, the book does get a little muddy in the middle. It draaaaaaags on and on (which is why it took me so long to finish. I kept starting and stopping), but once you get over the hump it is ALL downhill. The last quarter of the book goes super quick because you are freaking out over everything that is happening. The ending is OMG worthy. It leaves on a huge HUGE cliffhanger and I really don't know how I am going to make it until July when the sequel comes out. I was literally flipping pages at the end of the book to see if I missed something because I was like "THAT CAN'T BE HOW IT ENDS ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME ABOUT TO BLOW UP THE WORLD." Definitely check this book out! It will not disappoint!!

 4/5 stars