Week 21 Review: Mistress of Lies

From Goodreads:

Fate is a cruel mistress.

The daughter of a powerful but disgraced Blood Worker, Shan LeClaire 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 Bloodworker 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.

My Review:
Oh, wow, I utterly loved reading this book! The synopsis really had me intrigued, so I basically picked this one up as soon as I could. And I'm glad I did, because it was an amazing read! This world and the politics were just so intense!

Shan has been brought up in this world, but disgraced, and on the outside, since her mom was from another country, and her dad was paranoid and was working for the Eternal King and then was fired. So she's been considered lesser, which was really aggravating. But she still had humanity, even if she didn't really think about what it was like for the Unblooded like her twin brother.

Samuel has had to scrape and claw at almost nothing just to survive. He isn't a Blood Worker, but he has a dark and terrible power that he does his best to control. He knows what it's like to not really make it by in this world that doesn't care for the Unblooded, and he's angry about how unfair it is.

I had a great time watching them navigate the politics and the court, and work to uncover this murderer. They're working together to take down the system-but Shan's plan is the long game, with unpleasant parts for the moment. But oh, that reveal of who the killer was? Yeah, that was intense! And has me so excited to see what happens next! 

Absolutely loved reading this book, and I can't wait to continue on with this series! 

Author: K.M. Enright
Series: The Age of Blood #1
Read: May 24th, 2024
Source: NetGalley 
Reason Why: Sounded really good, and it's a a DAC Book, Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2024 Book and a WoW Book! 
Publisher: Orbit 
Expected Publication: August 13th 2024

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars