This book took a loooooong time to finish. I would start and stop and start again... often... and I dreaded having to come back to it time and again BUT I made a commitment to read it and review it so here I am... here WE are... better late than never right?

Well, let's start...

Straight out of the gate, this book had issues! Basic as bologna issues... writing/editing 101 issues. Granted, I was reading off of an eARC mind you BUT the editing was sorely, woefully inadequate... the story rooted around for a plot and do you know what? There was none to be found. The plot jumped around like one of those electric, jumping, vibrating bouncy balls for toddlers... you know that ones right? It's those things that help toddler to learn motor skills by tracking the ball's erratic movements but I for one do not find that pleasurable in my reads so take that for what its worth.

On the plus side, its wasnt a total disaster. I'll give credit where it's due... the premise was interesting. Full stop.


Next issue was that it had unrelateable characters AND if I can't connect with a single character (a major literary faux pas in my eyes) the story is DOA. Since this book was not for me I decided to go off (my usual adjective ladden) script and I kept this review brief.


Overall:

Erratic plot + characters that I don't care one whit for + poor editing = loss of my attention and a poor rating. Oh how I long for that time back but que sera sera.

My final 2 cents: This one just wasn't for me and I almost (gently) placed it in the DNF pile and quietly tiptoed away. Make of that what you will... bottom line: this wasn't my cuppa... period.

~ Sorry

*** I received an advance review copy for free from NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. ***

This is a weird one to review. There are moments I was really into the story and excited to read more, and then other moments that left me feeling confused, wondering where the author is going with this.

One of my biggest gripes with the story is that the first half feels entirely different from the second half. It is a little jarring.

The story moves very fast, and I'm enjoying it. Compliments to the author, you kept my attention and interest in a large cast of characters during this period. When we get to the midway point, everything slows down immediately... and then we are given a 6 year time skip and thrown into another fast-paced plot that made little sense. Whiplash much?
Don't even get me started on the weirdly timed dance party. The whole world is in turmoil, with two important characters missing, danger everywhere... but no, let's dress up and throw a huge party, what could go wrong?

There are other moments in the book that had me questioning the character's sanity, and most of those moments were in the second half. I do not know what happened, but everything after the time skip is just.. strange.

It's a shame, the writing is good, and I DID like some of the characters, but then it just... ye.
I'll probably read the next one in the series because I'm curious now, but I am in no rush to get it.

Thanks to Mallory McCartney for a complimentary ARC of this novel via NetGalley and the opportunity to provide an honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way.

The characters in this story were well written and I truly felt that I could understand them and wanted to root for them. However the worldbuilding was lacking. It may just be my opinion, but there is a reason that fantasy novels tend to be on the longer side, they need the length for you to truly believe that you are in the world being created. When your imagination wanders you should be able to see everything being described in your mind, and unfortunately I didn't feel that.

Unfortunately, Heir of Lies fell extremely flat for me. The first half of the book sparked my interest, the world-building was somewhat average but had potential to develop further on and I was intrigued by the different magical abilities that the characters had - it almost reminded me of X-Men.
My first red flag was that all three of the male characters were in love with the female character. My eyes did a massive 360 in my head. I was so disappointed in this overdone and boring troupe. I could already see where this was heading.
Skip to the second part, and suddenly it is like I am reading an entirely different book. I was at a complete lost. The first part was fast-paced but now it was at 5x speed. Nothing really makes sense and the plot was rushed, which ultimately made the book incredibly boring.
I nearly DNF'd several times but managed to finished.
Overall, this book was a complete waste of time.

(See all my Book Reviews and Author Interviews) - Author Mallory McCartney (https://www.authormallorymccartney.com) published the novel “Heir of Lies” in 2020. Ms. McCartney has published three novels and this is the first of her "Black Dawn" series.

I categorize this novel as ‘R’ because it contains scenes of Violence. The story is set in a fantasy world. The main characters are Emory Fae, Adair Stratton, Brokk Foster, and Memphis Carter.

All four have been students at The Academy, a school for those with special abilities. Stratton has always been a loaner and a little feared for what he could do. He was tolerated mostly because his parents were close to the Fae's and founders of The Academy.

King and Prince Maher arrive from the Shattered Isles demanding a new treaty with Kiero. Soon afterward, there is a revolt. The Academy is destroyed. The four main characters find themselves on opposing sides.

The 14+ hours I spent reading this 456-page fantasy novel were interesting. I liked the plot concept, but it seemed to head in too many different directions. It needed more of a focus. The cover art does not connect with the story. I think that a better choice could have been made. I give this novel a 3 out of 5.

You can access more of my book reviews on my Blog ( https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/).

My book reviews are also published on Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/31181778-john-purvis).

this was a great start to a series, I loved the characters and the world that was built. I look forward to more from the author and from this universe.

Heir of Lies is a crossworlds NA/YA coming of age fantasy (and the first in a series) by Mallory McCartney. Originally released in 2017, this reformat and re-release 21st April 2020 is 456 pages and available in ebook format (other editions available in other formats). It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book (and the second in the series) are currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free.

It should first be noted that I am emphatically not the target audience, being neither young, nor some would argue, particularly adult. That being said, this is an action packed saga full of never-fully-rendered characters (who blend together confusingly) and none of whom I found particularly sympathetic or agreeable. The book is absolutely *full* of the sort of draaaaaaaaaamaaaaa which I generally avoid wherever possible, and I spent most of the read wanting to bang their heads together, and shaking my own. The writing is competent, but full of the sort of stream of consciousness info dumping which makes books more difficult to read and parse in my experience. There are infinitives split thither and yon along with sentence fragments aplenty. I stopped making notes around page 30 because there were simply too many. The book really does have good bones underneath. The author seems to have a real story to tell, but the narrative needs a ruthless editor (or three). I normally have no trouble with multiple PoV narratives, but with this one I didn't sense any change in style or any demarcation, making the whole quite confusing. (It's also in 3rd person omniscient, which is a strange choice for an multi-PoV book and which never felt like a good fit for the story). There are no chapter-length chapters, just huge rolling sections which go on for what seemed like forever.

I did finish the first volume, and I do love cross realm fantasy and epic fantasy (probably my favorite genre). It was an uphill slog. My epic battle was finishing the book. I do not find myself motivated to seek out the second or (upcoming) third book. For fans of the author, or of young adult drama filled fantasy, it could be a good fit.

Two and a half stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes

I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed the writing style, but the story was a miss for me. It felt a bit strangely paced and overall predictable. The world building was confusing for me, but I really enjoyed the characters.

Thank you kindly to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for this review copy.

I liked the beginning but overall i had a hard time connecting to the characters. I was also confused by the world and most of the story was lost on me. This book had a lot of potential but i don't think it was for me.

This one wasn’t really for me, it was well written and I actually thought the writing style was good, but the story felt a bit oddly paced, and although I liked the writing style there were just too many characters and they weren’t developed enough for me

A solid YA/NA book. It has an intriguing story, relatable characters, The story didn't captivate me, but I feel I'm not really in its target audience. I expect readers to relate to characters much more than I.

Going with a 3.5 star rating for this book. It was a good action packed read, but I couldn't really understand the magic system in fullness and there were tons of characters to keep track of. I think if I had a physical copy it wouldn't have been to bad to follow along with, but with the eARC it was just too much.

I enjoyed the characters, but at the same time they annoyed me. I felt lost at some parts, but was pulled into the action and drama. The whole Adair dark powers thing still trips me up. I don't know if I feel bad for him or if I just hate him.

Emory, Brokk and Memphis were all great. I enjoyed the Academy and the world of Kiero in general. The ending left me wanting more so I do plan to re-read this book when it releases in physical form.

Overall, I do recommend it if you're looking for an action packed fantasy with an interesting magic system and good characters.

I am hugely conflicted about this book. On one hand, it is really well written, and I mean REALLY well written. The prose flows beautifully and the characters are all well rounded with clear voices.

My issue is that the story, the characters the interactions and the journeys are just too familiar, and once I'd felt that nagging feeling of having read this before, i just couldn't shake it.

The book started out a bit slow, in a good way. The build up was great and the story flowed. The action was very plentiful. Then the story seem to lag. From after Em was taken to Earth through the end. I was dissatisfied with the story. I did t even want to finish it. Alas I persevered and finished it.

I received an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

This is an amazing book cram packed full of magic that left me breathless.
The characters are all unique, diverse and likeable. This book sucks you in straight from the beginning and is full of action, malice, fights between good and evil, trickery, betrayals, love, anger and despair.
The ending has put my head in a spin and I cant wait to devour the next installment!
This is a series you don't want to miss!

The book description is a little misleading as the story doesn't really follow Emory Fae. If you are looking for a strong female protagonist, don't stop here. Emory is a spoiled princess who is shunted out of the way for most of the 'time' that passes, then has to deal with returning. The story is told from the perspective of others mainly. The other characters are not really individually developed, they feel very much the same. The plot is not always clear - it can be confusing figuring out what is happening at times. Sometimes it felt like words or sentences had been left out. I know this is already book 1 of a series, but it feels like it needs to be cut down to a couple or even several books and the different aspects fleshed out more thoroughly. The action feels a little awkward - the characters do a lot of repetitive movements and sometimes to no purpose. I love the idea of the story - the execution just feels a bit rushed.

I was excited to read this, and after reading it, I'm even more excited about this series! The level of detail and description is captivating, and really helps to bring this story alive! I loved the characters, and I look forward to seeing more of them in the next book!

Unfortunately this book didn't work for me. It didn't connect with me and I found it very confusing and I couldn't understand what was going on for the majority of the time.
There were different POVs in the story that I didn't enjoyed. The story is about Emory but we didn't see her POV.
Also, I couldn't understand the world and the magic system in it.
I liked the writing though.
Maybe I wasn't in the right mood for this book, maybe it isn't for me.

Thank you to netgalley.co.uk for giving me a free copy of this book in exchange for a free and honest review.

This isn't a bad book, but it's about a girl who is torn from her ordinary life into something extraordinary and joins a rebellion. It is something that has been done a lot before.
However, the reason I read this book until the end was because it was a well-written book with a good pace throughout it.

This just didn’t really work for me. I somehow fall outside the target audience for this one and don’t feel I should be giving an opinion since it’s not especially informed. The theme is betrayal which would normally be my bag. The characters were a bit too interchangeable which may be a reader fault since I simply didn’t connect with them. Three stars for writing and plotting but please read other reviews for more coherent opinions.