I wanted to like this. But I don't. I'm giving it 2 stars as I do see some room for improvement, and there is some genuinely interesting world building that was begun.
To start, I think the battle scenes were very well done. Its during these scenes that we're actually able to see the magic system being used. There's some incredible scenes that actually show what the magic can is capable of. I wish that these capabilities were shown to us earlier on in the story however.
Which leads to: I wish the magic system was better explained. We're told that those who have magical abilities are Imperium and are divided into two different categories, but even within those categories, it appears to still have a wide range of abilities. However until three-fourths of the way into the book, it seems like the majority of those who possess magical abilities are able to do small tricks. It's not until those aforementioned battle scenes that we see just how much more practical the magic can be.
My biggest issue was with the main character, Meren. We're set up from the beginning to believe that she is this badass princess stand-in, capable of defending herself and her twin sister, and also being schooled in all of the royal duties and etiquette she would need if she had to take over for her sister. (Because apparently in this world, the best solution her family has planned for the heir apparents being murdered is to only have twin girls but never let anyone know about this secret, so when the big bad immortal king from a different dominion comes to kill the twin, they still have another sister to put on the throne. How this king never just wipes out the line entirely is never addressed, and we're not supposed to ask questions about that I guess.) But this supposed badass is immediately kidnapped and unable and unwilling to fight back against her kidnapper. Because she also immediately falls in love with her captor. What? And throughout the rest of the book, we're told over and over again how handsome this man is, how much she wants to be with him, while at the same time being reminded how dangerous he is to her ... and the ENTIRE WORLD. It honestly reached a point of that proverbial cliche, beating a dead horse. We get it Meren. You're horny and he's hot.
And to that point, this was much steamier than expected. This was a very heavily cloaked open door romance fantasy. I thought it was going to be just some heavy petting and making out, but there was quite a bit more of a *climax* than I expected from a YA fantasy.
Another point of irritation was the language used. There was so many times where the word choices just pulled me out of the flow of the story. From the start, very modern phrases like "asshole", "pissed off", and "bitchy" were used. I wound up just rolling my eyes at it eventually, but near the end, found myself stumbling at "he's hating this so hard". It just ends up feeling like a fanfic, or WattPad story, where there is this huge world to explore, but we're exploring through the eyes of a 16-year-old fantasy writer. I think some more editing could have helped this.
I found myself repeatedly on the verge of DNFing. In fact it took me about 4 months to finally complete. Once other characters are finally included, it did get easier to read, but I found myself skimming a majority of the 50% of the story. While I do want to explore more of the magic of this world, I can't find that I'm interested enough in the main character to keep a lookout for future books.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I liked this fantasy YA novel! The characters and the plot were good. Overall, I would definitely recommend trying it!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher.

Absolutely loved everything about The Liar's Crown and I have no idea why not more people are talking about it. Great cast, interesting magical system, I loved the plot and the different elemental style worlds or lands was fantastic.

Meren is a hidden princess. I thought this book reminded me of The Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa. I thoroughly enjoyed those. This is a fast paced fantasy book !

I did not expect much from this book honestly. I have read other authors before who write YA fantasy and I often struggle with the intense world building that can get confusing, but not with The Liar’s Crown. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this book perfectly captured what I wanted in a YA fantasy. It had world building, but it was not so intense that I got lost in the storyline because of the world building. Not only that, but the characters were well developed, even minor characters. I found myself wanting to read more of the book because I loved the premise. A book about a secret twin princess whose only job is to pretend to be her sister, the queen, to protect the realm. I found myself invested in the characters, in the storyline, and ultimately found myself so invested that I cried in certain moments of the book. Ultimately I found it to be a great read!

I didn't have high hopes for this book based solely on the cover. Needless to say I don't like the cover. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the writing and the world building. A high possibility for purchase for the library but kind of an unknown so I will wait to see the public reaction to this one.

This was pretty good
kinda like a lot of other existing novels
but I don't mind that and enjoy reading books with similar premises.

Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for an ARC of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.

AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! I NEED THE SECOND BOOK IN THIS SERIES LIKE RIGHT NOW! OMG. How Abigail Owen wrote a fantasy book like this is beyond me - it is so so good. I could not figure out what was happening before it was happening, which is my favorite type of fantasy book, and it is dark but not. We have twins, shadows, body swaps, beautiful people, royalty, love, hate, magic, curses, and so much more. There is so much in the book that I am struggling to combine it into a condensed review. The blurb of this book does a great job of laying out what it is about, and I don't think I can add anything more to that to describe it. This book is just so good and I am going to wait impatiently for the next book because that cliffhanger made me cry. Ugh, it is just so good. The cover is beautiful which is great because it represents a beautiful book. Abigail you wrote a 10 out of 5 book.

Just a perfect book to relieve that itch if you’re craving for a good romantic and angsty, fantasy novel. I am highly recommending it to everyone who loves this genre. Because this book has came to serve; banter, romance, angst and the quite engaging and exciting plot that one can’t help but find themselves immersed in it

Having read some of Owen's dragon books, I was really intrigued with this one. I loved the concept of the twins and how things work for them. But seeing it all play out for Meren was intense. This was a beautiful book and I cannot wait for the next one!

I love this book! Royals, secrets, hate to love, forced proximity, falling for the captor, etc. The banter between Meren and Reven is perfection! Can't wait to see where their story goes from here!

This book was sadly not for me but the writing was good and I truley hope it dose well. It’s also one I would by in for the library.

Meren is a twin - and more, as twin sister to the crown princess of Aryd, she was trained from birth to be her sister's body double. But she is decidedly NOT her sister, partially because of how she was raised, and partially because she has a totally different personality. Tabra, the crown princess, needs a body double because the king of a neighboring kingdom, Eidolon, has a power that prevents him from dying - and he has been kidnapping generations of Aryd's queens, always one twin, leaving the other behind to rule in her place. But he's getting tired of waiting, so instead of trying to kidnap Tabra or Meren, he sends Tabra a proposal - and so the adventure begins.

I quite enjoyed this novel. Meren is a unique sort of protagonist, straining against the bonds of her destiny and yet fully aware of her destiny and purpose, and willing to perform as needed to keep her twin safe. But everything goes wrong when an unknown man kidnaps Meren out of the palace, thinking that she's Tabra - and finds that he has a princess unlike anything he was led to expect. This is a complete novel, which, unlike so many recently, actually ends, and then sets up the next volume, instead of simply stopping in the middle and planning to pick up in the next volume. I appreciate it when books are handled this way, rather than simply writing one very long novel and splitting it into multiple volumes, assuming that readers will want to read a serial. I look forward to the next volume, due out next year, and hope it will meet the same standard that this one did.

The synopsis was so interesting I had to read about these twin sisters that one is hidden away and used as a body double if there is danger. There is a lot that happens in the beginning and end with a slow middle. There is an enemies to lovers trope between Meren and Reven, along with magic and secrets that keeps the story moving until the cliffhanger ending leading to the next story.

Interesting concept: twin princesses: one a queen, one a body double. Throw in a kidnapper with shadow magic and an evil king set with a sinister plan in mind.

I really loved the premise this has, with twin princesses and switching places. This is what drew me to the book in the first place. The magic system was another highlight of the book at the start, but it needed more explaining of how everything works. The ending left me speechless! It was spectacular and I wish the second book would come out quicker!

I loved the lore of this world, because I love royalty and fantasy with kingdoms. The first chapter was an amazing opening because of that. Hopefully we get even more of the history in the next book.

However, I wish we got more scenes of Meren and Tabra! Their sibling bond is something I wish was more explored, but maybe that will change in the sequel. I wasn't sold on the romantic pairing at first because it felt kind of weird, but once some things were revealed or explained by the love interest, I was more on board with it.

Another thing that I struggled with was the pace. Because it was uneven, so much happened in the first 40% and it felt to fast. It did slow down towards the middle and picked up at the end, but I wish the author took a little more time to lay the groundwork at the start instead of rushing.

This was a really great fantasy read. Very fast paced and kept my interest. There are a lot of the twin sister books lately and this one is one of my faves I've read.

Read this if you like:

-fantasy
-sister relationship
-lies and deception
-fun romance and swoons
-great world and characters

Thank you for the early copy!

Faccio fatica a a trovare un qualcosa di positivo in questo libro...barboso, noioso, sonnolento, eccessivamente prolisso, ho saltato di sana pianta pagine su pagine che non ne volevano sapere di scorrere e di apportare un qualcosa alla storia. Personaggi dimeticabili, intreccio che non mi ha catturata neppure un pò.
***
I struggle to find something positive in this book ... boring, boring, sleepy, excessively verbose, I skipped pages after pages that didn't want to know to scroll and make something to the story. Forgettable characters, a plot that did not capture me even a little.

What would it feels like to live your whole life in secret, knowing you are quite literally your twin’s spare? Meren loves her sister, the new queen, in fact, but no one wants to be a secret and be expendable. But after she is stolen while posing taps the queen her world is thrown into a vast pit of lies and surprising truths.

I LOVED this book. I just bought it for my friends birthday. It has great world building, a brilliant fantasy system filled with various abilities. The romance was perfect for me. (Though there was a scene that’s more than I prefer) I’m not sure what else to say because you should just read it.

If you like fantasy, enemies to lovers, swapped twins, and great worlds, this is for you!

Sadly I couldnt get into this book and it could not keep my focus. Some parts were good but it just wasnt for me.

I did NOT anticipate this one! WOW!

(Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for providing me with a digital copy of this book.)