I am a supporter of women's rights but, more importantly, I am also a supporter of women's wrongs.

Mistress of Lies has all the obvious elements that usually turn a book into an obsession for me: vampires; interesting magic; intrigue; and a female character whose crimes I can get behind. It was a lushly described dig into a new and interesting magical world. I love the magic system and how it's presented and used throughout this book, with creepy, beautiful, spindly claws and a lick of blood. I loved the representation in this book and many aspects of the main protagonists' characterisation.

Some things just fell a little bit flat.

I'm not entirely convinced by the romance between the characters. It feels a bit more like lust than love, which takes away some of the punch of the climax. Some of the characters' decisions and motivations are similarly unconvincing, especially so with Shan, who I felt could have been more selfish than she ended up being presented. I wanted to see more from secondary characters like Anton and more from the villain. Of course, this book does end with a nod to a sequel, so many of these issues are things I can sit on.

Overall, I think the vibe of this book mattered a little more to me than some of the substance - definitely enough so for a sequel to intrigue me.

This story started off so strong and had me hooked for most of it. I did however find myself losing motivation to finish the story as it felt like the plot slowed right down. The world the story is set in has so much potential, and I will be keen to see what comes next (hopefully much more of the Blood Worker magic!) the plot and romance sometimes felt rushed or flat, but for the most part this was an enjoyable start to a series which will hopefully only get better.

I was instantly taken into the story and the mysterious main character Shan in the first chapter - killing her own father after years of careful plotting is a very strong start. I also liked the magic set-up of the world, albeit a bit morbid, it was fascinating to dive into this world of Blood Workers and those whose blood they use for their magic, and to run the kingdom. Truly terrifying villain, the Eternal King.

However, the strong connection or intrigue I felt for Shan at the start got somewhat lost during the middle of the book, as her character becomes more about plot and arguing with her three male counterparts (brother and two love interests) than anything about her motives, her strategies or her inner world and power. We get told a lot that would have been lovely to be shown. That also goes for Samuel, the other main character. I felt a strong connection to him at the very start that I very quickly lost, kind of as he loses his connection to his roots in the world of the Unblooded - somehow the whys and hows of what everyone is doing is not clear to us throughout the book. I couldn´t really connect to the love story, either, we just get told that there is an intense connection, but rarely actually feel it. I will say that I did like Isaac as a character, being mysterious and hard to read to both Samuel and Shan. However, then those two should maybe be less hard to read for us in order for that to have an impact.

The ending was rather disappointing - not so much because I disliked what happened, although I kind of did, but more because not many of the plots that were opened up were actually closed, and it feels like everything is just a set-up for the big reveal in the following books.

Nevertheless, this was an enjoyable read with numerous shocking moments and turns that I did not see coming. Thanks to Orbit and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

i'm so sorry but i couldn't bear to read it. i don't know how to explain it but since the beginning i just know that i won't be able to fully enjoy it. sort of a bad first impression. something in the writing maybe. the main character failed to hook me into the story. but the cover is stunning, i give you that at least.

The characters in Mistress of Lies are a mixed bag of intriguing and underdeveloped. Shan LeClaire, the protagonist, is ruthless and driven by a fierce loyalty to her family, especially her brother. Shan’s cut-throat decision to kill her father to secure her family’s power sets the tone for her character – cunning, calculating, and willing to do whatever it takes. However, while Shan’s motivation is compelling, much of her brilliance as a strategist is told rather than shown. Her network of spies and political manipulation exists in the background, but readers rarely get to witness her genius in action, which limits our connection to her.

Samuel Hutchinson is portrayed as the “reader stand-in,” with little depth of his own. Samuel is slowly introduced to the world of blood magic, learning alongside the reader. But while his growth in power is pivotal to the plot, it happens off-page, leaving a lack of emotional payoff when he finally embraces his abilities.

Isaac, the Royal Bloodworker, is proficient in magic and deeply tied to Shan’s past. His complicated relationship with Shan drives much of the romantic tension in the book, and while his backstory offers intrigue, the romantic subplot often overshadows his character development.

The Eternal King, the book’s antagonist, is perhaps the most interesting character. His tragic backstory of grief over his lost family and his immense, mysterious powers make him captivating, though the book fails to fully explore his motivations and legacy. It left me wanting more insight into his character and his role in the political landscape of the world.

The world of Mistress of Lies is intricately built, steeped in political intrigue, messy families, and morally grey characters. The plot centers around Shan’s quest for vengeance and power, with the help of Samuel and Isaac, as they also investigate a series of mysterious murders for the Eternal King.

The book shines in its unique blood magic system, but it’s never fully explained or explored in a way that gives readers a true understanding of its mechanics. The political landscape is rich with potential, but the plot leans heavily into romance, slowing down the pace and limiting the depth of the political intrigue.

The romance subplot takes precedence over the mystery and revenge arcs, with poly and queer elements that add diversity to the story. However, the romance feels more driven by lust than emotional connection, and it often derails the main plot.

The murder mystery element was a strong point, initially drawing in tension as the group searches for a magical serial killer. But the mystery is soon overshadowed by Shan’s plans for revenge and the developing romantic entanglements, causing the narrative to lose focus. As a result, the book feels overstuffed, with multiple plotlines competing for attention without fully developing any of them.

Enright’s writing is generally engaging, but the pacing falters. The book starts strong with a shocking act of patricide but loses momentum in the middle with excessive exposition and a focus on the romantic subplot. While the setup of the world and its characters promises political intrigue, the delivery is slowed by romantic tension that feels repetitive and takes away from the story’s core themes.

At its heart, Mistress of Lies explores the theme of legacy and whether one’s fate is determined by birthright, talent, or circumstance. Shan’s story is one of rising above her father’s failures, while Samuel grapples with his ability and reluctance to wield magic. The question of whether we can change our fate or if we are bound by it is central to the characters’ internal struggles.

This novel leans heavily into the romantasy genre, focusing more on the relationships and romantic tension between characters than the larger political intrigue or fantasy world-building. Readers expecting a high fantasy full of complex plotlines and world-shaking stakes may be disappointed. However, if you’re looking for a fantasy romance with darker themes, Mistress of Lies will likely satisfy.

Positives of Mistress of Lies
Unique blood magic system with political intrigue.
Poly and queer romance elements.
Strong start with a gripping inciting incident (patricide).
Negatives of Mistress of Lies
Lack of depth in world-building and magic system explanations.
Romance overtakes the political and mystery plotlines.
Samuel’s character development is weak, and his power arc lacks emotional payoff.
Mistress of Lies by KM Enright offers an intriguing mix of blood magic, political scheming, and romance, but it ultimately leans more heavily into the romantasy genre than a traditional high fantasy. While it has a compelling start and an interesting cast of morally grey characters, the middle portion slows down with an overemphasis on the romantic subplot, losing focus on the more exciting political and mystery elements.

If you’re looking for a fantasy that centers on romance with magical elements in the background, this could be the book for you. However, for those hoping for a deeper exploration of political intrigue and magic systems, this novel might fall short.

Very intriguing premise, but the characters felt very surface-level, the dialogue wasn't to my taste, and the writing style was too full of telling over showing.

How wonderful to see another new author coming through with such a superb first book? A story full of adventure, romance, tension and magic - my students are going to adore this!

An interesting premise that has buckets of atmosphere, however I found the overall plot very convoluted and confusing and the characters lacked depth and development. I think this really suffers from having too much content and not enough plot to run with. There's a lot of exposition, trying to build up the world and telling us how clever Shan is, but the reader doesn't ever really see this in action. In fact, Shan makes some really stupid decisions in her mission to get revenge. There's also multiple plots going on and none of them really take centre stage, meaning the story itself ends up getting lost. I liked the polyamorous romance elements, but again I found it lacked conviction and felt a bit superficial.

Some really interesting, fresh ideas for a vampire novel. However it just needed more showing not telling, more action and less talk to really have me invested.

I recieved an e arc for my honest review.

Not much to say about this book. I neither loved nor hated it.

I would have like have seen more of the 'Blood magic' system to understand it as its the focal point of the society in this book. Also more of the backstory of the Emperor and his family - since this is a vital part of how this society works.

Shan is my least favourite character - in her attempt to protect those she love - she is wound up so tight protecting everything that it's to her own detriment, pushing those very same people she's protecting away.

Samuel is way to good, even with the dark side to him. I'm surprised he hasn't been mugged or swindled yet, that's how good he is. To an extent you could argue he has been swindled by Shan and Isaac into their plans. But he sort of let's himself be swindled by these two.

Mistress of Lies by K.M. is a dark fantasy the way it should be done: well built, plenty of political intrigue, morally grey protagonists, and blood magic. The world that Enright has created feels atmospheric and rich, featuring some of the best vampiric lore but making them feel unique and different. creating a secondary fantasy world rich in Filipino tradition.

The characters are arguably Mistress of Lies's greatest strength. The novel opens with a patricide com! I knew from the very first chapter, If you love messy women then this will be a a story for you! The romance , I have to mention the romantic subplot which I really enjoyed, take three complicated people with separate, often opposing goals, and push them together in a series of life-and-death situations, and you'll get the high-tension romance of Mistress of Lies. I loved everything about it, from the trans rep to the, frankly, obvious solution to the love triangle. The ending was bittersweet and intriguing, and I'm so curious to see where the sequel goes

Mistress of Lies is the first installment in a new dark fantasy trilogy. The story features the dual POVs of Shan, Blood Worker and daughter to the disgraced Le Claire house and Samuel, orphan, Unblooded and with a dark secret. We’re following them into a dark world full of secrets and conspiracies which features a diverse cast of queer characters and blood magic!

Mistress of Lies starts off really strong. In the first chapter, we’re following Shan as she assassinates her own farther. As new head of the family, it is her goal to restore the honour to her family name and climb the ranks once more. In secret, Shan is also a spy, learning the secrets of the court and attempting to find a way to overthrow the Immortal King in the hope of improving the life of her twin brother who was born without magic. In the beginning I really liked Shan. I’m a big fan strong female characters, secret revolutions and Shan was described as clever and cunning and she clearly acted without remorse. Sadly, we mostly hear about how much of a badass she is and see very little of it reflected in the story. For an outsider, all her scheming and sneaking must’ve been fairly obvious, for the reader it often felt quite unbelievable. She is not as clever as she thinks she is and even though she often talks about overthrowing the king, she clearly does not care much about revolution and improving the life of the unmagical population (apart from her twin brother and even that I sometimes questioned). I want to believe the author did this on purpose to show her true personality, but if not, I lose even the rest of my interest in her as a character.

On the other side of the story we have Samuel, a poor orphan with a dark secret: he can do magic even more dangerous and rare than blood magic. After meeting Shan and finding out about his previously unknown family, he easily gets swept up in her ideas for revolution and improving the life of the poorer population. Samuel has a bit of a “damsel in distress” vibe to him and while it was really refreshing to see this with reversed genders, I never felt for him. He clearly has the heart in the right place but he was painfully naive at times. Turns out an unironic “damsel in distress” vibe doesn’t work for any gender.

Let’s get to the story and the world: a cutthroat world, a murder mystery and an attempt to overthrow a corrupt government sounds great but I again was not convinced by the execution. We sadly do not see a lot of the world and the magic in it. Blood Magic sounds really cool and I like the author’s take on “vampires” but a lot just wasn’t explained here. I never understood how it worked and what it could do. It was the same with the world in general, we get very little explanation on how life, culture and politics in it work. Concerning the actual plot, we spend a painfully low amount of time on the actual murder investigation which was incredibly frustrating. We also see a big communication problem between the important characters of this story as there are quite a few people who work towards the same goal (or pretend to work towards the same goal) and they actually could’ve been successful if they would’ve just talked to each other! A lot of the personal struggles the characters revolved around their respective romantic lives. I was excited about the poly rep in this, but I wished the author would’ve went slower on the romance as especially Samuel’s thoughts and actions mainly revolved around his attraction to the other two characters and gave him little room for more personality.

Overall, this book sadly did not work for me. A lot of the tropes in this sounded interesting and fun but the execution didn’t work. At lot of things get described and hinted at but were not reflected in the actual plot and character actions. I’d rate this 2.25 stars.

Mistress of Lies is an exhilarating read filled with suspense, betrayal, and unexpected twists. K. M. Enright masterfully crafts a gripping narrative that keeps you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end. The protagonist is strong and complex, navigating a web of deceit with wit and courage. Enright's attention to detail in world-building and character development brings the story to life, making it hard to put down. A must-read for fans of thrilling, mystery-driven stories! Highly recommended!

NOT TO BE DRAMATIC BUT WHAT WAS THAT ENDING. Furious with the author i had 13 percent left and went there will be a book 2 cause they cant fix this. I enjoyed the sub plot romance, i enjoyed shan teaching samuel. I feel like we could have seen more investigation, and just things being done rather then discussed. Shan trying to do everything to help but getting it wrong, shes doing her best and what she thinks shes best i hope in book 2 shell spread the load and discuss more especially with Anton. I did not see the alessi twist coming . 4 star but this feels slightly unfair as i feel like im hitting a book slump so struggled but i continuously loved it when i was reading it.

This was sadly just not for me. I was really looking forward to reading this, but sadly I feel pretty disappointed. Everything just felt flat, and I couldn't get alone with either Shan or Samuel's POVs. This book is really just a lot of telling and not showing, and honestly I felt bored? I didn't understand the worldbuilding (of which there was very little), I didn't understand the magic system... just overall very disappointing.

I give this book 3.5 stars.

I was very excited for this book however for me it fell short. I wouldn't say it was an erotic book for example.
This book felt like it was originally written for a younger audience and then adult aspects thrown in as an afterthought.
I enjoyed the actual story. If it was written differently it has 4-5 star potential.

This was an intriguing read! I loved the magic system and the decadent world and politics, the characters were layered and flawed and intriguing. There was the occasional lull in pace which pulled my rating down, but the final act was exciting and I am looking forward to the sequel

I LOVED this. I took a while getting into it as I learned more about the blood working magic in the setting, and what the motivations and dreams for each of the main characters were. I was shocked by the twists and turns along the way, and the shocking betrayals! I loved the trans rep in the book and how casually it was treated in universe, with a great explanation for how trans people could medically transition and have the hormones they needed. The three main characters were all really well-written and I loved their connection to each other. I can’t wait for more by this author, especially the next book in this series!

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♟️Rating:1/5⭐
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Thank you Netgalley for providing a free ARC in exchange for an honest review!

To put it simply, the execution of this book is so bad that the French had to bring back the guillotine in order to execute someone properly. The funny thing is, I read this book during the ‘very demure’ trend and some of my friends know I absolutely hate that trend. The culprit for my vendetta towards the demure trend? This book. I genuinely wanted to love this book because the Prologue started off strong but that was only the good part.

Let's start off with Shan who needs to act very demure and very mindful but she isn't acting demure and mindful in real life. But at times she can't act demure and mindful because she needs to be confident and cold to people. I think you get the idea. Every time I see demure or demur, a part of me just lost It. We’re constantly being told her brilliant and cunning Shan is but we don’t actually get to see that. This book has a very serious issue of telling instead of showing (will talk more about the writing style later on). Anyways, I feel like the first chapter started off so strong where Shan killed her father, the author struggled to let Shan develop. I honestly wished we could see how Shan established her network which we were repeatedly told how important it was to Shan but the information she received weren’t cleverly used in the novel at all. Why is that so you may ask? Because Shan was busy partying away like the nobles during the French revolution! But guess what Shan has a plan, or rather concepts of a plan. I find her absolutely frustrating because her plans were extremely naive even though she claimed she had thought long and hard about it. I also find her actions contradicting at times, considering how she abhor the novelty and want to change it but she has done absolutely nothing to change the current state except for some vague reference to let Samuel sit on the throne instead. This brings me to the next point, even the French knows that a mere change in ruler won’t change anything. And is that the end of her plan? YEP THAT’S IT! There are no in between steps as to how she would actually carry it out, she just got the spirit. Even though Shan was repeatedly challenged by others for her monarchist view and ‘concepts of a plan’, she still refused to change her POV or character. I just can’t stand her blind her character is and how there’s no real consequences to her actions.

Moving on to Samuel, who is bland, naive and innocent. Yep, that’s all you need to know. He cares for the people because he used to be one of the unblooded until it turned out he was from a rich family and had magical powers. But what did he do next? Of course, partied the night away instead of coming up with reforms for his people and became sad when the unblooded still didn’t get their rights. I’m sorry Samuel but you need to get a grip.

Issac and Anton were the more interesting characters and I honestly would have loved to witness the story from Anton’s POV instead. He just provides the delicate balance of the division in this book and he’s actually doing something behind the scenes unlike Samuel or Shan. I won’t say much about Issac but he’s just the better one in the trio. I also preferred the dynamic between Issac and Samuel then Shan with the both of them. However even though I say that Issac had the potential to carry the book, the ending was so rushed that his character just fell flat near the end.

The characters had like insta love and to be honest, I can’t be bothered again. I’m sorry babes but the country is in shambles, I don’t think you guys should be throwing parties so often just to meet up.

The plot was super draggy in the middle and the ending was super rushed. A lot of the time spent in the book was spent on going to more parties, bars or some other forms of socialising activity. We didn’t get to see much of the investigation plot or reap much insights from those one-two investigation trips. To be honest, the actual murderer was hinted super early in the book and going by my fantasy common sense, it didn’t take me long to deduce who was the actual murderer. I couldn’t be bothered if I’m honestly speaking. We didn’t get to see much worldbuilding at all. Even though I’m done with the books, I still don’t have a solid understanding of how the magic system works except for some vague rules. Like what’s the limit of the blood working? Why did Shan not throw up drinking Samuel’s blood during the second and third times? There are lots of unanswered questions and plot holes here and there. Also, this book does not contain vampires, it’s just blood working. (Slightly off tangent, but that one scene where Issac drew Samuel’s blood made me cringe so hard) Even though other countries were mentioned, like they banned blood working and they hate the Eternal King, we don’t actually know the actual causes of it.

Moving on to the writing style, there's a lot of telling instead of showing. We are constantly being told how the characters feel and act. Some of the descriptions came off weirdly as well like “fragile, brittle thing” or “looking utterly and totally alone”. Please stop, especially with the something, something thing. I lost it when the phrase ‘literally growled’ came up. I think this part does not need any further elaboration. I honestly feel that this book can go through a few more rounds of editing before being published.

In conclusion, the only feminine rage witnessed in this book is my own feminine rage towards this book. I desperately tried to love it because of the premise and introduction of this book. However, I’m not reading the sequel and I want my time back.

i couldn't just get it and pass this YA book. Yes, it is marked as Adult, but for me, this is just a YA trying to appeal to the adult audience and failing to deliver it; the characters are just plain and dull. From the beginning, I was rolling my eyes so hard that I forced myself to stop several times just to breathe and continue with the story. The MCs are just quite the opposite of what they described to be or just kinda "dumb" to say something and then be so easily manipulated. this did not help te plot creating a narrative very boring

Mistress of Lies truly had an intriguing premise but really struggled from being too obviously descriptive.

Now, it started very Shakespearean, patricide for power, sounds familiar right? Add in some vampires and blood magic and you should be onto a winner. But this did read like a debut and could have done with a little more polishing. As someone with a huge love of powerful descriptive fantasies, I think this is where it fell flat for me. This won't be the case for everyone but I would have just liked a little more, the descriptors that we did have were delicious and I just wanted a bit more of that.

HOWEVER, I bloody love the LGBTQ+ representation in this and I think it was done well (as a cis-bi woman) but others may have different opinions.

Thank you for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.