Mistress of Lies

• Author: KM Enright
• Genre: Fantasy
• Publication Date: August 13, 2024
• Publisher: Orbit
• Series: The Age of Blood #1

Thank you to Orbit and Angela Man for sending me an ARC of this book and to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

CONTENT WARNING: murder, patricide, gore, blood magic and bloodletting for purposes of magic, discussion of racism and classism, mentions of rape

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 she takes her place at the head of the family. Her revenge will soon follow. 

Samuel Hutchinson is a bastard with a terrible gift. When he stumbles upon the first victim of a 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 close. 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. 

I read this one as a group read with two of my favorite bookish buddy readers, Julie @ One Book More and Leslie @ Books Are the New Black. Our read got delayed because of illness, then got delayed again because of another illness, and looking back, maybe we should have taken this as a sign? Nah, just kidding. In all honesty, though, there were some things about this story that I really enjoyed, and some things that fell flat for me. 

The book starts out with a content warning page, which I loved. I’m seeing this more and more in books, and not just YA books anymore, and hopefully this will continue to grow in popularity. As soon as the story opens, there is an extremely intriguing scene, and I was pulled into this book right away. There seems to be a new uptick in vampire stories lately (I’ve read 2 ARCs just this month), and I’m especially enjoying the inclusion of diverse vampires. But this story really takes the whole vampire archetype and changes so much about it: with these being more blood workers who drink blood to harness powers—sometimes their own and sometimes that of others, using forged metal claws that are worn over the fingers instead of using fangs, and being able to walk at any time of day or night. It’s told through the POV of three characters who couldn’t be more different but are brought together by these events.

There are two biracial characters in this story, and they live in a society that appears fine with queer and polyamorous relationships, but biracial people are subjected to a special combination of microaggressions and outright racism. These two characters are placed highly in society, yet still experienced this kind of treatment. They also revel in foods and stories and other nods to their other culture, which is thinly veiled as the Philippines, and it’s really cool to see more diversity carrying over into the stories as well as the publishing world. 

“All her life she had been terribly, uncomfortably, aware of who and what she was. A Blood Worker and a Lady, of mixed blood and lesser pedigree. Sneered at by her companions for the golden tint to her skin, for the darkness of her hair.”

Another factor that I thought was cool was the concept of Blood Working, and the wide range of applications that it could be used for, and the incredible spectrum from helpful to harmful. The author made space for the presence of a trans character in a prominent role in the story, and while I thought I was heading for a dreaded love triangle, instead the author cleverly worked in a poly relationship storyline. 

But there were aspects of the story that I found troublesome. The pacing wasn’t consistent: the beginning was moderately-paced as I got to know each main character and the ins and outs of the world, the middle was paced so slowly it started to drag, and then the end flew past. The writing wasn’t overly descriptive, and I had a difficult time building an image of any of the characters or the location in my head based on the writing alone. The romantic plot line overshadows the main plot line in the story, which is solving the murders for the king or experiencing devastating consequences, yet the characters seem to be too busy mooning over each other to devote much time to the investigation.

I struggled with Samuel’s character. He’s such an innocent with a heart of gold, and when he’s transplanted into the high society of Dameral, he is basically guaranteed to struggle. But as someone who comes from the slums, I expected him to have some common sense, at least enough to get through life living as he was. Yet when his circumstances changed, he was so gullible and easy to get over on. 

By far, the biggest issue for me was Shan. As readers, we are repeatedly told how she is smart and scheming, yet her plans fail more often than they succeed, and she seems to be blindsided by twists that *I* saw coming a mile away, yet she, who has been scheming her whole life, missed completely. She fell into the ‘strong female’ trope, but not in the good way. She’s isolated and doesn’t have anyone in her life that she isn’t sexually involved with—no friends, no confidantes. And consequently, she has no outlet for any of the stress she’s accumulating in her super high-stress lifestyle. There’s more than once in the story where it talks about her wanting to break, but having to stay strong for someone else (always a male character) depending on her, and I hated that for her.

“Oh, how she wanted to break. She couldn’t. [RETRACTED] was on the verge of falling apart and she needed to be strong for him. For both of them.”

Overall, this wasn’t a bad read, but it didn’t knock my socks off. I enjoyed some parts of it, but the characters felt flat and the pacing was inconsistent. The magic system was fresh and interesting, but the world-building wasn’t as strong as it could have been. Seeing diversity in racial background, gender identity, and sexual orientation is another plus, while one subplot overshadowed the main plot. This wound up being merely an okay read for me, but I’m hoping that the next one changes my mind in a more positive way. Recommended if you like fantasy that’s heavily focused on romance, slow-burn series starters, racially and sexually diverse characters, and trying to figure out a murder mystery hidden in a fantasy novel. Just beware: it ends on a cliffhanger.

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