Rating: 3.5 / 5
MISTRESS OF LIES by K.M. Enright begins with Shan killing her powerful Blood Worker father. This moves her to the head of the family and is step one in her plans. Samuel is a bastard from a far less glamorous and wealthy background. When he finds a dead body, it is the first victim of a magical serial killer. Soon he is paired with Shan and another blood worker Isaac in the effort to uncover the killer.
This was the book I picked for my first Craft and Read reading vlog where I randomized a craft kit choice and needed to pick a book to read that somehow related to the craft. As you can see, my project was black, white, and gold so I knew I had to go with a special edition with those vibes and this Illumicrate edition was perfect.
The book itself left me with some mixed feelings. I really enjoyed the representation in this book. This is authored by a trans Filipino-American who offers own-voices representation. I also enjoyed the dark revenge themes and the murder mystery, serial killer vibes.
The world building is where this fell a bit flat for me. I really enjoyed the bit that we got, but I really was left wanting more depth and explanation. As someone who comes into this type of read for the fantasy, I felt like it got a bit too distracted with the romance and the relationships moved a bit fast for my taste. I’ve read a few reviews that talk about the second book being more smut heavy and I think that this is not a series I’m going to be continuing with.
I did overall enjoy my experience, especially with the whole crafting project on the side. You can check out more thoughts on this book and the crafting process in my vlog:
DG Reads 