BOOKS | Review: The Liar's Knot by M.A. Carrick

Name: The Liar's Knot (Rook & Rose #2)

Author: M.A. Carrick

Publisher: Orbit

Date published: December 2021

Genre: Fiction, adult, fantasy, romance

Pages: 639

Rating: 5/5

Trust is the thread that binds us... and the rope that hangs us.
In Nadezra, peace is as tenuous as a single thread. The ruthless House Indestor has been destroyed, but darkness still weaves through the city’s filthy back alleys and jewel-bright gardens, seen by those who know where to look.
Derossi Vargo has always known. He has sacrificed more than anyone imagines to carve himself a position of power among the nobility, hiding a will of steel behind a velvet smile. He'll be damned if he lets anyone threaten what he's built.
Grey Serrado knows all too well. Bent under the yoke of too many burdens, he fights to protect the city’s most vulnerable. Sooner or later, that fight will demand more than he can give.
And Ren, daughter of no clan, knows best of all. Caught in a knot of lies, torn between her heritage and her aristocratic masquerade, she relies on her gift for reading pattern to survive. And it shows her the web of corruption that traps her city.
But all three have yet to discover just how far that web stretches. And in the end, it will take more than knives to cut themselves free...

- From Goodreads. 

This was an excellent second book in this trilogy. It did not suffer at all from the problem some middle books have where the action and intensity dips, in fact it felt like enough happened that this could have been a final book in a series! It definitely met the expectations set by the first book and I'll be excited to find out how things wrap up in the third!

I think all the character development was done very well in this book. Each character had a different personal journey but they still all linked to each other's stories, and even the smaller side characters had good development. I still cared about each main character and became even more deeply invested in them.

I enjoyed that we got more romance in this book with a couple of different relationships, I think the main romance was paced perfectly and felt like it meant a lot to the characters involved. It was very lovely and sweet and I cared a lot about their happiness together.

The character of the Rook was still very enigmatic even as we came to know more about them. It was fun to see how different characters interacted with them and how everyone was curious to solve the mystery of who they were. They had a great part to play in the story and I'm intrigued to see how that will continue in the next book.

The mysteries of the plot were still very fascinating in this book and it was thrilling to see how it all came to a conclusion at the end, I was pretty anxious to see how all the characters made it out of the situation at the end!

Obviously I loved this book just as much as the first and I will definitely be moving right onto the third and final book! I'm certainly nervous to see how it resolves and how it ends for each character, but I am sure it will be a thrilling adventure! 

 

BOOKS | Review: The Mask of Mirrors by M.A. Carrick

Name: The Mask of Mirrors (Rook & Rose #1)

Author: M.A. Carrick 

Publisher: Orbit

Date published: January 2021

Genre: Fiction, adult, fantasy

Pages: 643

Rating: 5/5

Fortune favors the bold. Magic favors the liars.
Ren is a con artist who has come to the sparkling city of Nadežra with one goal: to trick her way into a noble house, securing her fortune and her sister's future.
But as she's drawn into the elite world of House Traementis, she realizes her masquerade is just one of many surrounding her. And as nightmare magic begins to weave its way through the City of Dreams, the poisonous feuds of its aristocrats and the shadowy dangers of its impoverished underbelly become tangled... with Ren at their heart.

- From Goodreads. 

This was an incredible book. It had a bit of a slow start, but it was good to have some time to slowly get to know the characters and setting, as it was quite an intricate world with a lot of detail to take in. Once we got to about halfway through, the plot started to get more intense and action-packed and it was a struggle to put the book down at all as it became even more intriguing and exciting.

There were a lot of fascinating mysteries, and it was interesting to see how all the threads of the plot came to intertwine and how the different mysteries were connected. The mystery of who the Rook could be was especially intriguing and I loved following Ren as she tried to figure it out.

Ren was a great character to follow in general, she was very clever and resourceful and also also had a good heart, I really loved the bond she had with Tess and it was great to see how much they cared about each other.

Captain Serrado was another favourite character for me, his backstory and his conflicted feelings about his position were really compelling and I was always excited to see more from his perspective.

This really was a fantastic story and I will be excited to continue on and find out what happens in the next book! 

BOOKS | Review: Dragonfall by L.R. Lam

Name: Dragonfall (Dragon Scales #1)

Author: L.R. Lam

Publisher: Hodderscape

Date published: May 2023

Genre: Fiction, adult, fantasy, dragons, romance

Pages: 432

Rating: 4/5

Long ago, humans betrayed dragons, stealing their magic and banishing them to a dying world. Centuries later, their descendants worship dragons as gods. But the 'gods' remember, and they do not forgive.
Thief Arcady scrapes a living on the streets of Vatra. Desperate, Arcady steals a powerful artifact from the bones of the Plaguebringer, the most hated person in Lumet history. Only Arcady knows the artifact's magic holds the key to a new life among the nobles at court and a chance for revenge.
The spell connects to Everen, the last male dragon foretold to save his kind, dragging him through the Veil. Disguised as a human, Everen soon learns that to regain his true power and form and fulfil his destiny, he only needs to convince one little thief to trust him enough to bond completely - body, mind, and soul - and then kill them.
Yet the closer the two become, the greater the risk both their worlds will shatter.

- From Goodreads. 

This did have a bit of a slow start and took a little time to get into because there was a lot of explanation of the world and its history. It was necessary to understand the story, but it felt a little clunky at the beginning and some of the descriptions were difficult to picture in my head. However things did begin to move along more smoothly as the story went on and I soon found myself more invested and intrigued by the plot.

It was a very exciting plot, I couldn't tell exactly what was going to happen and it all felt very unique. The world-building also felt very new and it was fascinating to explore. I also liked the way the characters discussed gender and how we got different perspectives on how they felt about it.

Arcady and Everen's relationship was interesting and I will be curious to see how it develops in the next book, as they began to build a foundation in this book but did not really have the chance to explore any romance because of their situation and how neither of them could really be truthful with each other and could not really be on the same side. I'm looking forward to seeing how that changes.

Although it did have a slow start, I ended up really enjoying this book and I am very much looking forward to reading the second one. I would also like to read more from L.R. Lam in general as I'm curious to see what their other books are like. I'd definitely recommend giving this book a try if you are looking for a unique dragon story!