What an absolutely phenomenal title. I was so impressed by the prose and the storyline. Queer Filipino American author Enright weaves a highly political vampiric tale full of court intrigue and mysteries left and right. I was blown away

“Mistress of Lies” is the first installment of “The Age of Blood” , an adult fantasy series written by K. M. Enright and currently in progress. A book for which I had very high expectations, but which in the end unfortunately did not convince me.

The dark, intricate and extensive world building fascinated me a lot. The story takes place in a realm dominated by Blood Workers, creatures that essentially constitute a peculiar reinterpretation of vampires. The realm is controlled by the powerful as well as mysterious and ambiguous Eternal King, run by a council and marked by deep disparities between those who possess blood magic (the Blood Workers) and those who do not. The former are rich, privileged and favored, while the latter live off the crumbs, amid perennial hardship and injustice. A tense situation, made even more difficult by the ambition and power games of the nobles. I found it a well described setting, with the right amount of information provided, which in my opinion is lost on the magic system. I don't know, the explanations of blood magic (but not only) seemed rather nebulous, so much so that I struggled to understand how it actually works.

The narration proceeds alternating between short and long chapters, characterized by captivating and evocative prose and a fast pace. Two elements that kept me glued to the pages, despite the fact that the development of the story did not convince me. I don't know, despite the dark and ominous atmosphere, I didn't feel any sense of real urgency. On the other hand, I perceived numerous convenient situations, plot holes, with events happening too hastily and easily. The mystery part seemed to me to be more of an outline than anything else, a background element, gaining some importance only in the second half of the novel.

The characters disappointed me. I found them shallow, cold and detached. Not on the level of personality, but precisely on the level of writing. I could not bond with them, they conveyed nothing to me, and I'm sorry, because on paper they had the potential to win me over. The romance as a result left me completely indifferent, although I admit I found the LGBTQ+ representation really well done and interesting!

All in all, “Mistress of Lies” is a book with an intriguing premise and pleasant prose, which unfortunately did not convince me in terms of development and characters.

Thank you to the Publisher and NetGalley for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the start of this book, it really enraptured me and I was so excited to learn more about this world. But I found that after the first few chapters the writing didn't flow as much, and conversations between characters often felt forced. I also thought that the difference between the blood workers and unblooded was not explained that well so it took me a while to understand how they are different. Overall I think this book just wasn’t for me but was good.

Summary: Shan LeClaire, a master of blood magic, seeks revenge and power, entangling Samuel in a deadly plot to protect her brother.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book, all thoughts are my own.

Didn't like the overuse of the phrase "blood and steel", but overall the book is so intriguing with its the magic system, character dialog and tension and all the twists and turns I can't wait for book two to see how it all plays out.

This was a fine book; K.M. Enright is an incredible writer and that first chapter is one of the best openers I've read in a long time. The prose was tight, the world was fun, and there was some truly delicious dark imagery throughout. That said, I guess I hyped myself too much. I wanted more moral greyness and complexity from the characters, especially from Shan, and the M/F/M romance felt a bit rushed. Hopefully, Mistress of Lies will find its right audience, it's always exciting to see Romantasy with trans and Asian rep thriving in the book community!

What a fantastic start to a new dark poltical fantasy series. its absolutely horrifying how easy to was to relate the things happening in the book to the real world. what dark and twisted world we live in.

besides the storyline and the atmosphere of the plot, i loved how unperfect the characters were, everyone was flawed which made them even more real. in addition to that, i loved the way the love triangle turned into a "real" triangle. i love the recent trend of poly relationships in books!

i can't wait to find out what happens next!

I think we can this book by its name: romantasy. The murder mystery plotline is just a backdrop to have the three main characters interacting and there's hardly any investigation going on (starts at around 40 percent, when female mc looks at a dead body).
I would categorize it as new adult with the characters being in their twenties (also filipino and trans rep). The simple writing style makes you fly through, but it had pacing issues. After the first quarter of expostion follow another 10-15% of romantic exposition, that could not keep me engaged. Although I like the new take on vampires and I enjoyed reading the story from two perspectives, world building and atmosphere are lacking.

What a fantastic book. Every now and again I read something that reminds me what a good book actually is and this is one of those.

I love the darkness of the world we are introduced to. A supposed haven for blood workers that keeps its unblooded poor suppressed. The political scheming was intriguing and felt truly dangerous.

I often skip past the romance subplots but not in this case. The three way dynamic was brilliantly done and really added to the story.

If there’s some criticism I can give it would be that I wanted more details of the blood magic and how it works and the consequences of it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc copy in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 4.5

Wow. The opening was as wild as any book could be, but for it to end as well as it started is unbelievable. With the thoroughly detailed warning at the start that this would not be for the faint-hearted, Mistress of Lies did not shy away from the vivid descriptions and the depths it went into for detail.

Our main character, Shan, is a manipulative noble woman who has her own plans to protect her brother and to bring her family back out of shame. Samuel is a good-hearted bastard with the right intentions, but what he believes to be a liability holding him back. Isaac is a greedy man who climbed very hard to get to where he stands today. All these characters have their own ideas to reach for, but with different ideas on how to get there. And sprinkle in some deep attraction to each other, and we almost have the making of a polyamorous relationship, This seemed to be hinted for future exploration in the sequel though.

The only thing that let the book down was the lack of blood magic involvement. For the majority of the characters we meet being blood workers, there wasn't enough mention or background towards what exactly this practice forbidden in other Kingdoms is. We read of how powerful it can be, and how it can do both good and evil, yet we do not get enough of it at all. Hopefully this is rectified in the next book too.

Overall, a great debut book into a dark and gruesome area. I look forward to reading more.

This book was almost perfect for me. The political turmoil, the messy love triangle where everyone involved forms a polycule, characters plainly calling themselves a monster to protect the ones they love, my literary loving heart should have felt so full.

The thing holding me back was the vagueness of the worldbuilding regarding the magic system and the country as a whole. It's never really explained where Blood Workers come from, nor exactly what they do/look like that stands them out from the Unblooded other than their blood letting weapon of choice (claws, daggers, etc.). It also isn't made very clear what the other nations outside Aeravin are like besides the Tagalan Islands, which I assume is this world's fantasy Philippines.

Other than that, I really enjoyed reading this. Shan and Samuel are such intriguing protagonists, complete opposites on the surface but beautifully come together over the course of the novel. Isaac could have been a main character, too, with how heavily he supported and drove the story. I also loved the romance they had, and the suggestion of them all being together felt so natural. [(It's immediately broken up when it's revealed Isaac was the serial killer, but I suspect Shan and Samuel will find a way to get him out in the next book, which was a great surprise because I thought this was gonna be a standalone!) (hide spoiler)] Plus, like I stated, the politics are so interesting, and the parallels between this and the real world felt authentic and so well thought out.

All in all, despite some lack of development on some of the worldbuilding, I still would can this a fantastic fantasy read, and I cannot wait to see what Enright will bring next!

I'm nothing if not a supporter of women's wrongs, so with Mistress of Lies opening up how with does I was bound to have a great time.
I loved Shan's complexity, the slow peeling back of layers to reveal what she does for the people she cares about (although admittedly she does make a few questionable decisions for a spymaster at times), and how well her personality worked with Samuel's, at times so different from one another and yet so similar, but Isaac, I'll admit, is my favorite out of the three, and I'm very curious to see what the author does with them next because Mistress of Lies lays opens up so many juicy possibilities.
The take on vampires and blood magic felt refreshing and was one of my favorite aspects of this book, though the magic-system was a bit hard to follow at times, mostly since there didn't seem to be too many set rules, and sometimes I got the sense that characters got certain abilities because it was convenient. I have one major issue with something that happens with one of the character's powers because for the build-up it got it was resolved a lot quicker and easier than I expected, but I won't go too much into that because of spoilers.
Mistress of Lies will likely appeal to readers who greatly enjoy character-driven stories and don't mind too much when the plot isn't as tight as it could be, which is where I happen to sit.
The vibes and viciousness were on point.

Thank you NetGalley and Orbit for the ARC.

I was SO excited for this one--it sounded amazing and that cover is so cool!--but unfortunately the execution really let it down for me. I found that the writing didn't flow, and conversations between characters often felt contrived and stilted. I didn't feel like the writing really evoked the setting or the world very effectively. And the result of all this was that I was unable to really invest in this world. It unfortunately read as overly simplistic to me.

I just finished Mistress of Lies and i really liked this book. Its a 4 star read for me. For me 4 stars is a good read that i enjoyed troughout. It is not on the top of my reread pile but i was pleased with the whole book.

The book started with one of my favourite characters in action. I feel like the characters (especially Shan, Samuel and Isaac) are the best part of the book. I like the love triangle and the messy family.

The part that made it a 4 star read for me (instead of a 5) was that i would have prefered some backstory about the magic and the world. I didn't understand the difference between the blood workers and unblooded that well.

I also thought this book was a standalone. So i got confused at the end.

This story grabbed me from the very beginning and had me feeling a torrent of emotions. I had the perfect time reading about this fictional world. I found myself absolutely enthralled. I will definitely be on the lookout to read more from this author.

3.5/ 5 (rounded up)

I feel sadly very conflicted over this ! Mistress of Lies was one of my most anticipated reads for this year, with the incentive of vampires, blood magic, murder investigations and of course romance, but I couldn’t help feel a little underwhelmed. For me personally it felt a bit surface level when I really wanted to stink my teeth (excuse the pun) into something deliciously macabre and seductive and really understand the rift between Blood Workers and the Unblooded as well as feel deep deep connections to Shan and Samuel.

The story follows Shan, a Blood Worker who is trying to build her family name back up after her fathers paranoia turns them to ruin. Lady LeClaire is a player of games, someone who deceives at a moments notice but as the plot goes on we find out more about the depths of her mind and soul and the lengths she’ll go to for those that she loves and cares about.
The other character view point comes from Samuel, ‘gutter rat to Prince’ with incredibly high morals where we see him conflicted many times throughout the story.

I would have liked a bit more explanation or backstory into the Blood Workers, who they are and what they can actually do compared to the Unblooded? It felt a bit vague at times but for me personally I would’ve loved just a bit more of an explanation to really understand that divide between the two parties. As part of the plot we do start to understand small details but I think I would have just liked a bit more?

This story is incredibly character driven which I then highly recommend to anyone who that suits, I think I prefer more world building, understanding the magic system, how it all runs (a prequel would be right up my alley).

I desperately wanted to love this and it become a 5 star read that I had truly hoped it would be. I would still recommend to those who want that vampire fix, to meet interesting, rich characters and explore this new historical realm. Despite my thoughts, I’d still be very interested in the sequel!

Actual Rating: 3.5

If I had to pick my top five most anticipated books for 2024 then ’Mistress Of Lies’ would undoubtedly have been one of them, so the fact that I’m conflicted over it now is devastating. It definitely has its strengths and I can see many readers falling in love with it so I do advise checking it out. Yet it wasn’t the five star favourite that I was expecting sadly; something that’s particularly frustrating as with a little fine tuning it could have been.

’Mistress Of Lies’ dives straight into its blood soaked action, introducing readers to Shan in a way that they’re not likely to forget anytime soon. Her brutality and scheming bursts from the page and creates a central character that’s complex and layered. Whilst Samuel, the other viewpoint of the novel, had the bones of a brilliant character but didn’t quite deliver on it for me personally. His dark powers, the roots they stem from, his sweet nature; they all appealed immensely in theory. But I couldn’t help but find his characterisation a bit inconsistent at times. One moment he has a deep sense of morality then the next he’s batting away the atrocities of others.

The concept of blood magic – one of my major draws to this book, as a fan of vampire fiction – was intriguing to uncover and offered a fresh approach to this kind of fiction. The world that ’Mistress Of Lies’ is set within had lots of interesting dynamics at play too. The string of murders were uniquely macabre although I do feel that more time could have been spent upon the actual investigation into the culprit. And the overall plot arc and direction was enticing. There were bits of the plot that I saw coming but others that managed to catch me off guard. And the motivation behind the murders was certainly not what I’d have expected.

So this book definitely had its fair share of highs for me, but also a few unfortunate lows. There were times when I didn’t want to put ’Mistress Of Lies’ down but others when I felt compelled to. There were some segments and ideas that I adored but sometimes the execution of them slipped slightly. Some revelations were accepted or regarded by characters too easily for me personally. There were inconsistencies within character dynamics on occasion too. Plus I can’t help but question the believability of Shan’s disguises on occasion.

Ultimately this really was a book that conflicted me. The overall plot arc, character ideas and concept had the makings of a five star read for me. It had moments that I adored but others where I longed for a break too, generally due to little inconsistencies niggling at me. Even so I do advise checking ’Mistress Of Lies’ out as it’s an intriguing new venture into the realm of vampire fiction, with lots of potential that I’m sure many readers will love. Although it didn’t quite blow me away I’m still intrigued enough to check out its sequel.

One of the best debuts I've read this year! "Mistress of Lies" is a dark fantasy set in a world where society is divided into two groups - the Blood Workers, who derive their power from blood magic, and the Unblooded, who are devoid of magic. Despite being a minority, the Blood Workers wield power and privilege, while the non-magical Unblooded live in poverty, degradation, and discrimination.

The magic system in this book is very good. The author draws inspiration from historical experiences of countries such as England and pre-revolutionary France, incorporating the best tropes of horror novels and vampire stories to create something entirely new. The worldbuilding is not merely a decorative backdrop in this book; it holds real plot significance - the unjust nature of a system based on rigid social divisions serves as a driving force for the characters' actions.

Speaking of characters, they are the greatest strength of this book. Shan, Samuel, and Isaac are compelling, multidimensional yet morally grey protagonists. United by the injustices they've suffered at the hands of the flawed system, they find common ground. However, their goals are not entirely aligned. This fluidity leads to seamless shifts from cooperation to rivalry, from desire to denial, from loyalty to betrayal. The complexity of the characters allows readers to become fully immersed in their stories and to root for them, even though the line between hero and villain here is razor-thin. Particularly impressive is the female protagonist, Shan. She is not a conventionally likable character, and some of her decisions are chilling. However, her humanity shines through as she grapples with her mistakes, struggles to navigate a society that rejects her, and fights for what she believes is right. Fantasy needs more heroines like her.

Despite being largely character-driven, the book is not lacking in plot. From the first pages, I was drawn into a web of political conspiracies, alongside a gripping investigation into the brutal murders of the Unblooded. The book also features a well-executed romance subplot, with commendable trans representation.

With its breakneck pace and multi-layered narrative, there's never a dull moment in "Mistress of Lies". I found myself completely absorbed, unable to put it down, and thoroughly enjoyed every moment. I struggled to find any significant flaws of this novel as I devoured it in a single day.

I eagerly await the sequel and highly recommend this book to anyone seeking an unconventional dark fantasy that masterfully combines political intrigue, criminal investigation, romance, and moral complexity.

My review will be published on Goodreads and on retailers' websites within two weeks prior to the release day.

Mistress of Lies by K.M. Enright
Rating: 4/5
Release Date: 15 August 2024

Shan LeClaire, daughter of a once-powerful Blood Worker fallen from grace, has dedicated her life to mastering blood magic, weaving intricate webs of spies, and amassing power at every turn. When she takes the drastic step of assassinating her own father to protect her brother and assumes leadership of the family, it marks only the beginning of her quest for vengeance.

Meanwhile, Samuel Hutchinson, a man burdened with a dark and unwanted ability, unwittingly becomes entangled in a series of magical murders. Drawn into a world of sorcery and political intrigue he had hoped to avoid, he finds himself ensnared in the ruthless court of the vampire king.

Tasked by the Eternal King with uncovering the identity of the murderous culprit wreaking havoc in the city, Samuel teams up with Shan and the enigmatic Royal Blood worker, Isaac. As they delve deeper into the mystery, their bonds tighten. However, Shan's intentions are as perilous as they are complex.

“Mistress of Lies” is an enthralling narrative brimming with political machinations, enchanting magic, and irresistibly complex characters you'll find yourself cheering for. A sumptuous tale that refuses to release its grip on you. With the opening pages of this book setting a stage for blood-soaked vengeance, dripping with cunning and cruelty; it is an absolute thrill to read.

I highly recommend.

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Little Brown Book Group UK | Orbit, and the author, K. M. Enright, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review.

A debut fantasy full of political intrigue with a twisty murder mystery and 2 main characters trying to solve it before time runs out.

This is very plot driven and due to that I found that the world building and magic system weren’t very well fleshed out. I also feel like the characters lacked depth and wished we’d got Isaac’s POV aswell but since the twist at the end, I do understand why we didn’t get that. 3.5 stars

This book was just delicious - I don't think any other other word can describe was a lush, dark, intoxicating story this was. It was just consuming and I just had to devour it.

I loved the world that was built up around the Blood Workers and Unblooded - how the nation fits in as an anomaly to the other nations of the world. How - despite being the one haven for Blood Workers - it's still a corrupt abomination of a country for the Unblooded population. (My one thing I wasn't sure on worldbuilding wise was which was the city name and which was the country name out of Dameral and Aeravin).

Shan, Samuel and Isaac are some of the most compelling characters. I loved all the dynamics between the three of them and they way the evolved throughout the story. I loved how each of them has a commitment to bettering their society but has vastly different ways of approaching that, of how they all have vast potential of plotting, scheming and manipulation - how trust doesn't come easy to them despite the lust and love.

Also the plot was just fucking gorgeous - the twists were so damn meaty and juicy and just, this was a story I was really able to sink my teeth into and get engrossed by. I was so convinced that the killer was one character and was absolutely gobsmacked by the reveal. Yet, it all made perfect sense! And that's just the best kind of twist, I love one that I didn't see coming but that completely makes sense in retrospect. It just shows such an excellent hold on the story and the reader on the part of the author.

I also found the Eternal King an interesting character - his power and corruption was so present yet there was still this very subtle undertone of something akin to humanity in his ready acceptance of Samuel and the way his long deceased wife haunted the background of his character, how he had never moved on from her. I would love to see more about him in the sequel.

Mentioning he sequel, I fully went into this thinking it was a standalone. I was so stressed getting towards the end without everything wrapped up but am actually so glad there will be another chance to see these characters and this world. Especially because, despite it all, I am rooting for Shan/Isaac/Samuel so, so bad.