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A review by obr
Daughter of Lies by Kenley Davidson
2.0
If you prefer the light and fluffy, fast-n-furious side of romance with the hint of a fairy tale retelling, you'll likely enjoy this instalment of the Andari Chronicles more than I did. I was really down with the whole slow-burn/court politics of books 1 and 3, and the twisted creativity of 2. This one feels like a different series, albeit it has many references to past characters without prior knowledge of might leave you a bit confused.
We're reunited with Brenna Seagrave, now a countess as well as a spy, and she's not best pleased by her newfound privileged life. Her brother Kyril's off abroad with his wife, her remaining brother is an ass, her supposedly scheming father's missing, and to top it off, every man at court seems to have set his eye upon her hand in marriage. Brenna needs to get away, and when her estranged mother asks her to come to stay, she (sort of) jumps at the chance. Even if the woman consented to give her away at birth, maybe they can kindle some kind of relationship... Ha! A nosey neighbouring lord, a familiar assassin and a whole heap of trouble await.
I so wanted to like Brenna, but felt like we never really got to know her well, nor any of the side characters. There's more time spent telling than showing when it comes to interactions, and then more time spent inside characters' heads as they discuss with themselves how they feel. I was hoping for another [b:Traitor's Masque|28193548|Traitor's Masque (Andari Chronicles, #1)|Kenley Davidson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1560296803l/28193548._SY75_.jpg|47951865] when it came to the relationship between Brenna and Louise, but there are very few scenes between them to flesh things out. The romance similarly doesn't get much time to grow. It felt too fast and forced into being. I guess I also just didn't get the characters; why were these spies and assassins so chatty with each other, sometimes in public? They seemed in the dark about each other's existence, but were very quick to divulge everything.
This felt too fast and straight forward. I was so hoping for one of those big Andari Chronicle twists that made the tweaked retellings so original. There is a sort of twist regarding the characters more than the fairy tale, but I found it was rather confusing and more reliant on us caring about previous characters not present in this book. The setting didn't feel as fleshed out. I wanted everything to slow down and build up more like some of those earlier stories.
Sorry Brenna, I guess your story wasn't one for me.
We're reunited with Brenna Seagrave, now a countess as well as a spy, and she's not best pleased by her newfound privileged life. Her brother Kyril's off abroad with his wife, her remaining brother is an ass, her supposedly scheming father's missing, and to top it off, every man at court seems to have set his eye upon her hand in marriage. Brenna needs to get away, and when her estranged mother asks her to come to stay, she (sort of) jumps at the chance. Even if the woman consented to give her away at birth, maybe they can kindle some kind of relationship... Ha! A nosey neighbouring lord, a familiar assassin and a whole heap of trouble await.
I so wanted to like Brenna, but felt like we never really got to know her well, nor any of the side characters. There's more time spent telling than showing when it comes to interactions, and then more time spent inside characters' heads as they discuss with themselves how they feel. I was hoping for another [b:Traitor's Masque|28193548|Traitor's Masque (Andari Chronicles, #1)|Kenley Davidson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1560296803l/28193548._SY75_.jpg|47951865] when it came to the relationship between Brenna and Louise, but there are very few scenes between them to flesh things out. The romance similarly doesn't get much time to grow. It felt too fast and forced into being. I guess I also just didn't get the characters; why were these spies and assassins so chatty with each other, sometimes in public? They seemed in the dark about each other's existence, but were very quick to divulge everything.
This felt too fast and straight forward. I was so hoping for one of those big Andari Chronicle twists that made the tweaked retellings so original
Spoiler
(that the mother was trying to kill Brenna and was so easily caught without any real on screen espionage was a bit... sad)Sorry Brenna, I guess your story wasn't one for me.