A review by decodethebooks
The Beautiful Liar by Marion Blackwood

5.0

5 stars  

★★★★★

☞ Trigger warnings: **contains spoilers**

Spoiler

alcohol consumption, beating, blackmail, blood & gore depictions, body modifications, captivity & confinement, dead bodies, death of parent (mentioned), estrangement, fire, hallucinations, home invasion, hostage situation, indentured servitude, intrusive thoughts, imprisonment, kidnapping, knife violence, loss of limb, loss of autonomy, medical treatment, mind control, mugging, murder & attempted murder, parental abandonment and neglect, nightmares, physical abuse, physical injuries, poverty themes, poisoning, regicide, slut-shaming, sexual harassment, torture, verbal abuse, victim blaming, war and military themes.

Court of Midnight and Deception reviews:
#1     [b:The Traitor Spy|59854951|The Traitor Spy (Court of Elves, #1)|Marion Blackwood|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1639955293l/59854951._SY75_.jpg|90525019]: ★★★☆☆
#2     [b:The Wicked Betrayal|58719985|The Wicked Betrayal (Court of Elves, #2)|Marion Blackwood|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1628353118l/58719985._SY75_.jpg|92791111]: ★★★★★
#3     [b:The Beautiful Liar|59757543|The Beautiful Liar (Court of Elves, #3)|Marion Blackwood|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1638713747l/59757543._SY75_.jpg|93526329]: ★★★★★
#4     [b:The Fire Soul|59854977|The Fire Soul (Court of Elves, #4)|Marion Blackwood|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1639955624l/59854977._SY75_.jpg|94279694]: 28th Feb release

[b:The Wicked Betrayal|58719985|The Wicked Betrayal (Court of Elves, #2)|Marion Blackwood|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1628353118l/58719985._SY75_.jpg|92791111] ended with a successful robbery, Kenna's freedom from slavery and hope for the future. Also I debuted by shiny new [a:Marion Blackwood|19458214|Marion Blackwood|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1565692755p2/19458214.jpg] plot-outline theory which states:

Theory:
When (almost) every scheme/plan works, then the last, most important scheme will fail (and vice versa).

Meaning:
In the context of [b:The Beautiful Liar|59757543|The Beautiful Liar (Court of Elves, #3)|Marion Blackwood|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1638713747l/59757543._SY75_.jpg|93526329], the schemes throughout were successful but the final plan did not go well. It was a shit-show really.

**Disclaimer: Once again I am not claiming it's foolproof but if you look at other [a:Marion Blackwood|19458214|Marion Blackwood|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1565692755p2/19458214.jpg] books, you will see the same pattern but I urge you to come up with your own conclusions. These are just mine. **

Let me not get ahead of myself. Let's start at the beginning.

Kenna is free. She has bought her freedom via an unwilling donor and now life is her oyster. Unfortunately, other people have plans to use her skills for nefarious means. Sure, her plans tend to be nefarious but her future is no longer set in stone, with any and all opportunies open to her. She can do and be anyone she wants and who's to stop her?? No one owns her and no one is beholden to her. She is in control of her life and destiny.

That destiny brings her back to the Prince of Shadows and his cadre. Does the Prince want her there? Yes but also no. It's complicated. What he wants is to carry out a very dangerous, very secret and very important plan. It involves getting into very hard places and only Kenna has the ability and skill to help them accomplish it. Also there is a time limit. Nothing ever ends well if there is a time limit.

What happens is unexpected for Kenna. She grows attachments and relationships with the people she works with. She opens up, shares her life and experiences and enjoys herself without the overarching weight of secrets and the crushing need to find her freedom. She is a free woman and that means she isn't beholden to a different court. She can enjoy what this new court has, and help them with no expectations of betrayal or punishment. She could walk away if she wanted to and that has never been an option for her.

Kenna doesn't walk away because what they are trying to accomplish is bigger than vengeance. The Prince of Fire is a shitty guy. Like scoundrel of the earth type with a bad history with the Prince of Shadows. Vengeance is the obvious reason for trying to carry out this plan but the people in the Prince of Fire's Court would have a drastically better standard of living with him out of the picture. Kenna is not only doing this because she would like to see the Prince of Fire eat dirt, but because she was like those people, helpless to the whims of their Prince. The people under the Prince of Fire suffer greatly and are simply seen as possessions.

I have trouble deciding how I feel about the other members of the Prince of Shadow's cadre. I don't necessarily have any huge attachments to them and I feel like we didn't really delve in to each character as much as I would like. We were on their home turf, and it would have been nice to see her personally connect with each member over time. Maybe it will be in the future books, as there is a bigger overarching conflict on the horizon that will help establish this but I wanted to see Kenna interact with the others in more depth, especially without the Prince there. Kenna doesn't have many friends and I wanted them to be her new set of friends that will eventually be her new family. At the end of this book, Kenna does acknowledge that her new friends are the Princes' and that she feels like the outsider, the add-on. I felt that reading and it made me sad that she fully still doesn't have anywhere that she belongs. She stakes her life for these people, time and time again. I hope she grows these new relationships but also finds her place within this world, with her own friends that are as strong as the Prince of Shadows cadre.

Favourite scene: When Kenna got jumped and her love interest goes all alpha-male on her attackers. That was hot.

Also I was screaming at the Void reveal!!! SCREAMING !!! I will never recover from the shock. I loved it. It was giving the end of [b:Glint|56530123|Glint (The Plated Prisoner, #2)|Raven Kennedy|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1610111193l/56530123._SY75_.jpg|88322353]!! She chucked a [a:Raven Kennedy|18343962|Raven Kennedy|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1611350262p2/18343962.jpg]!!! Iconic.

The romance in this one was firmly established. It got hot and heavy in this book and Kenna finally admits that this relationship was pretty serious. They both understand each other deeper than anyone ever has and its beautiful to see this connection form. Am I scared about the fact it's only book 3 and they are down-bad for each other so soon? Yes but I have faith that [a:Marion Blackwood|19458214|Marion Blackwood|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1565692755p2/19458214.jpg] won't break my heart. I am rooting for them and I know I will be rewarded for my loyalty.

Do most of their plans leading up to the ultimate plan work? Yes. The team works well together and trust each other. They are all schemers and this isn't their first rodeo. This leads me back to my theory. As everything is going off without a hitch (mostly), then we all know what's about to happen. *dun dun dunnn*

Yeah, it's not good. Kenna has done something to save another, but at the cost of her life. That's not good. She has had what, maybe 6 months of freedom and then she's back, under the control of the grossest man alive. I blame the Prince of Shadows for this. I knew everything was going too well. The Prince of Shadows is going to be in deep shit with the King but bloody hell I am not ready for the deep shit Kenna is going to have to trudge through. Kenna saved them all but I worry she will regress with little help from the outside. It doesn't look good. I hope the cadre are happy because I am definitely not.

Would I recommend this book? 
Yeah I would recommend this book/series. It's low fantasy with great characters, funny banter and shocking scenes.
I would probably tell you to read [a:Marion Blackwood|19458214|Marion Blackwood|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1565692755p2/19458214.jpg]'s first series The Oncoming Storm.


Will I continue reading this series? 
Yes 100%.

Will I re-read this book? 
Yeah I would. [a:Marion Blackwood|19458214|Marion Blackwood|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1565692755p2/19458214.jpg] is a favourite author that I would go back to again, and again.

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