Fun twist on a Cinderella type of story. Court aspects were very opulent. Easy to read and a good time.

This fairytale retelling was ok in my opinion. It wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible either. It took a little bit to get going, but then it kept going and going when it could have cut out some slow places.

I was just so confused throughout the whole book. I didn't think the world building was that well explained as the magic system. I just couldn't understand what was the plan or the motivations behind Ash's actions. Everything was really muddled.

Thank you Netgalley, author, and publisher for the ARC.

This was a slow starter. So slow that I was still considering whether I would put it down about a third of the way through. But once it got going, I was well and truly hooked. This is the Cinderella story after the wedding. The narrative plays with the fairytale we all know then goes in a completely different direction for a unique story with a sprawling world.

Aislinn has just been proposed to by her handsome prince. Now she needs to figure out how to navigate his older brother, the king, who doesn't like or trust her as well as the hostage prince who is suddenly everywhere Aislinn looks and getting in her way more than not.

Because the thing is, Aislinn hasn't managed to get herself where she is because of love. There is magic in this kingdom, and Aislinn has utilised it to get the prince's interest and keep it. There's an espionage plot that's tied to both her stepmother and her grandmother and just... so much that needs to be set up that it does make sense that it was a very slow starter.

One issue that's hardly addressed, however, is that the whole time Aislinn is manipulating the prince within an inch of his life. And then disliking him whenever he doesn't act the way she'd like him to. I felt as though it was an interesting choice to pin her as the sympathetic main character. She was interesting, to be sure, but she was doing incredibly questionable things for the sake of her own country.

Because this is a first person narrative, none of the side characters really stood out. I did enjoy reading it once it got going, but it was definitely a more difficult read that had been oddly executed.

An enjoyable stand-alone book! I appreciated the multiple layers of her intentions for getting engaged to the prince, and there were some really great side characters. I felt that things wrapped up a little too easily in the end, but enjoyed the hourney nonetheless.

I am all for a retelling of fairy tales. I grew up loving Cinderella for her courage, novelty, and strong self-identity, which was missing in the main character. Why give up the core personality of Cinderella, which represents a strong female character who can be herself despite the circumstances? The writing was great but I just...couldn't quite agree with the characters.

I liked this retelling. Sometimes I found the new context a little laboured, and the story does take quite a while to get going. Still, the characterization is strong. The plot after 80% takes several sharp turns, which I didn't mind, but found the overall pacing a little uneven as a result. Not a bad book, but not great.

Rebooting classic fairy tales has become a whole genre of fiction. In Thief, Liar, Lady, D. L. Soria re-tells Cinderella with an Ocean’s 11 twist. Cinderella and her step-sisters are high levels thieves, high level con artists who fleece men for what they need. Raised by her step mother to believe men are for fleecing not for romance, Ash, the Cinderella character, has a warped sense of the world.

When the group tries to make the Prince believe Ash is a princess, the plan goes sideways. Ash begins to fall in love for the first time and want something more. Can she get herself out of this mess and get the Happily Ever After?

With a slow build to enforce character background development using flashbacks, the reader can get a good picture of how Ash grew up. How she was shaped by her experiences into the woman she is today. This isn’t Disney’s two dimensional Cinderella!

I found this confusing and hard to get into. Because of this, I did not end up finishing it.

Thank you for the opportunity to give this a try.

This was a interesting fairytale retelling that I would recommend to those who think it sounds good!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher

Loosely based on the premise of Cinderella, but with more plotting and revenge. Ash's stepfamily thinks that she's trying to help them by marrying the prince of Solis, but she has her own agenda related to her mom's family who come from the kingdom of Eloria. Solis has conquered Eloria and is plotting to take away their resources, and Ash wants to help Elorians regain their independence. Overall, while there is romance to this story, it's more about the politics between the two kingdoms.
At times, the pacing was very slow and there were some questionable elements as Ash was using magic to manipulate the Solis prince's feelings.

This book was exactly what I was expecting it to be in the best possible way. The premise is so intriguing, and the magic system was a fresh and interesting. The romance also took an unexpected turn, which I really enjoyed. All in all, I would absolutely recommend this book to fans of fairy tale retellings.

Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for granting me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The premise of this book had me hooked: What if Cinderella wasn't an innocent scullery maid in disguise, but a calculated charade to gain power? While the story ended up going in a bit of a different direction than I had expected based on the synopsis, I still found it very enjoyable. Don't expect a lot of world-building or sticking true to the Cinderella storyline, but if you love fairytale retellings and light fantasy, consider giving this a shot!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

Many thanks to Del Rey and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thief Liar Lady was an average read. Although the book had an interesting take on Cinderella, it could have been executed better and required more work to achieve its full potential. The lack of world-building and pacing issues were the drawbacks for me. Ultimately, it made it difficult to stay engaged in the story. Despite this, there were some enjoyable plot twists throughout the book. I appreciated the fresh approach of this Cinderella retelling, where there was no glamour with the addition of the protagonist not being portrayed as a damsel in distress.

This book has a good start and I was instantly intrigued by the Cinderella retelling where she's trained to use magic and skill to get the prince to fall in love with her. All while also secretly helping the cause of her family's country.

The middle of the book got a bit wordy and boring for me, but the last third is good and I found myself not wanting to put the book down. The ending is good and wraps up the story nicely. Overall, this a good fantasy read with a fun fairytale retelling.

Thief Liar Lady by D.L. Soria started strong, then began to feel very... long... until it hit the point of no return with a floppy "last straw" and unsatisfying ending.

I like the idea of Thief Liar Lady - the all-familiar tale of Cinderella, except Cinderella is a con artist using magic to win the hand of the prince and influence the court and kingdom. But there are a few glaring problems from page one. From the beginning, the novel sets off on a problematic premise: Ash, the main character, uses magic to seduce the prince continually for about 70% of the book. I have seen other reviews find qualms with this plot point, and I can see why people find it problematic.

Another point I found poignant to our society today is the not-so-subtle message on religion and colonialism. In Thief Liar Lady's world, the kingdom of Solis has conquered the kingdom of Eloria. One reason that Solis conquered Eloria is that Elorians believed in using magic for religious purposes only. Meanwhile, Solis citizens would like to use magic all the time, for all things, including creating a capitalistic society (religious freedom). At several points in the book, Solis is painted as evil for their conquering of kingdoms (which is undoubtedly bad) and for stepping out of religion (once again, religious freedom). And therefore, Solis conquers Eloria, making Elorian's second-class citizens and holding their prince hostage. The overt message is: colonialism = bad (agreed); religion = good (for some people, yes, but I wouldn't say I like the overall message that if you do not have religion, you are bad.) While reading Thief Liar Lady, I felt pulled between messages I agreed with and those I did not. This wasn't what I was expecting for a retelling of a Cinderella story, and it left me feeling like maybe this wasn't the book for me.

My last qualm: the "last straw" for Ash felt floppy. Without spoiling, it felt untrue to the character, selfish, and wholly unrelatable. The ending felt incredibly rushed. Ash and Rance's relationship felt forced and, again, rushed. Also, what kind of name is Rance? I kept thinking of him in my head as Ranch, which really ruined the vibe.

That being said, I did like some things about Thief Liar Lady. I enjoyed the depiction of the realistic nature of unwanted marriages that women face. I enjoyed Soria's writing style. I didn't hate Thief Liar Lady and enjoyed it until about halfway through.

I, personally, would not recommend Thief Liar Lady. Perhaps my opinion would change if it was split into a series, where the ending and relationship between Ash and Rance could be fleshed out. Maybe if Rance's name was Rance. If only. Thank you, NetGalley and Del Rey, for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Such a cool concept for a retelling. I truly enjoyed this new “upside down” cinderella. The main character made some questionable decisions and I do feel it could’ve been shorter or turned to a duology

2/5 stars

This was just a no all around for me. I'm always down for a retelling but this just didn't work for me at all. first, this book was longer than it needed to be. I felt confused by some of the things the characters did, I wasn't the biggest fan of the writing. I wll admit that the premise was interesting and I can't say im not disappointed that I didnt enjoy it as much as i'd have hoped.

Thank you Del Rey Books and NetGalley for the eARC of Thief Liar Lady! All opinions in this review are my own.

I have only heard great things about Thief Liar Lady and I'm happy to say that it lived up to the hype! I feel like it is a cross between a Cinderella retelling and Throne of Glass. I loved the scheming of Ash and the magic system of the world! I can't wait to read more from this author!