Review: Mistress of Lies by K. M. Enright
Blurb:
A villainous, bloodthirsty heroine finds herself plunged into the dangerous world of power, politics and murder in the court of the vampire king in this dark romantic fantasy debut.
Fate is a cruel mistress.
The daughter of a powerful but disgraced Blood Worker, Shan LeC laire has spent her entire life perfecting her blood magic, building her network of spies, and gathering every scrap of power she could. Now, to protect her brother, she assassinates their father and takes her place at the head of the family. And that is only the start of her revenge.
Samuel Hutchinson is a bastard with a terrible gift. When he stumbles upon the first victim of a magical serial killer, he's drawn into the world of magic and intrigue he's worked so hard to avoid - and is pulled deeply into the ravenous and bloodthirsty court of the vampire king.
Tasked by the Eternal King to discover the identity of the killer cutting a bloody swath through the city, Samuel, Shan and mysterious Royal Blood Worker Isaac find themselves growing ever closer to each other. But Shan's plans are treacherous, and as she lures Samuel into her complicated web of desire, treason and vengeance, he must decide if the good of their nation is worth the cost of his soul.
Fans of From Blood and Ash and Kingdom of the Wicked will devour this decadent, bloodthirsty debut.
Review:
Vampires, murder mysteries and LGBTQIA+ representation, Oh my! And…umm…also plans to overthrow the monarchy, love triangles, political maneuvering, and a lost heir. Look, blame Wizard of Oz, they only listed three things and I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel here.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I massively look forward to not only the follow up book but whatever else K.M. Enright brings to the book world. That said, you cannot go into this expecting full, steamy and spicy romantasy. I also do not recommend this book if you have issues with blood (appearance, use in magic, consumption, etc). This is a more a dark debut where a lot of people are pushing for things to further their own goals without necessarily seeing what those around them might also be doing. And in some cases don’t learn from literally anything that has happened. (I’m looking at you, Eternal King!) The politics are quite neat though and I’m certainly looking forward to more of that.
Shan is unapologetically good at what she does. And sure this gets her in over her head but she is tough, she is clever and dammit, she is determined. I want more female MCs like this! In comparison, Isaac and Samuel are more subdued. Isaac for what he has done and Samuel for what he could do. I didn't really mind that, I think it made Shan shine a bit brighter as a result. But that said, she is the post child for “the road to hell is paved with good intentions”. She’s so busy trying to protect her Unblooded brother, Anton, that she never stops to actually ask him what he needs in order to be protected. Of course, Samuel picked a whole bouquet of oopsie daisies by shouting ‘I’m just like you’ at a crowd that was on the edge of snapping, so he’s in good company with Shan on good intentions, bad execution. (Unlike Isaac who it turns out is very good at execution for all it haunts him.)
As for Anton…I would have liked more of him. He's a character, and in fact there were a few of them, that have a lot happening off screen. While what comes out does highlight the hyper focus Shan had on her plans and directions, my own view is that I would have loved more from Anton, and also Bart (his lover/Shan’s assistant(?)). There’s just so much in Shan and Anton’s relationship, his POV and experiences. I really hope he’s explored more in the next book.
I have a couple of small bones to pick with the book overall. I'm not convinced Shan was a Mistress of Lies; information, secrets and manipulation, yes absolutely. But I can see how those might not have made for such a catching title. The other is I wasn't totally convinced by the reveal and resolution. It felt a bit rushed and while it led up to a haunting ending, I'm just not totally convinced. I do think it means we are in for a whopper of a next book. No pressure, K.M.
My last two comments are probably quite minor. I'm still not entirely clear on the blood working thing. It’s a born skill but just because your parent(s) is(are) blood workers, it doesn’t mean their child(ren) will be. It seems to underpin everything in the world while also being sort of in the background to it all. It can heal, it can harm, it wards, it…um…lights places?
And "Jessica James" is not the name of a murder victim in a world of vampires and blood workers. Jessica James is the name of the person that sat next to you in geometry and you occasionally wonder what they're up to. In a world of people named Shan LeClaire, Alessi, Alaric, Tristan Aberfoth, I do not vibe “Jessica James”. I will not be budging on this.
