The premise for this Cinderella retelling was fun and I was excited to sit down and read it. It was so weird yet intriguing to have Cinderella and her stepsisters be secret masterminds, plotting to get their hands on more magic. With war on the horizon, the stakes couldn't be higher and the feminist undertones brought this story to life. There was no gilded carriage turning back into pumpkins at midnight-- but we do get magic, murder, and the machinations of a woman at war and willing to do whatever it takes. Even win over Prince Charming. Only things, and people, are always a surprise and Ash learns that lesson over in over as she tries to navigate the royal family, courtiers, and politics.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Random House for this e-arc.*

I received a copy from NetGalley and the publisher.

Soooooo I really wanted to like this. It's a Cinderella retelling where Cinderella is a thief pretending to be a lady in the courts. What's not to love right? Well the writing for starters, I had to DNF this a 17% because the plot hadn't progressed at all. Like I couldn't even tell you what the eventual end goal was. I take notes as I read and the first two chapters were so convoluted I felt like I was drunk while I was reading them and it didn't get much easier from there. Maybe once the book is released I'll try it again on audiobook, but for now, it's a like 2 star read.

Thief Liar Lady is a unique retelling of Cinderella. Instead of revising the story where Cinderella meets Prince Charming, this story is set after she met him. The Cinderella in this novel is Ash as Lady Aislinn who meets the Prince of Solis, Everett. at a birthday gala. There is a lot of time in the story spent with Ash playing the role, that sometimes Ash herself gets lost. Along with the Everett, there is also the Prince of Eloria, Verance (Rance), who has been kept captive in Solis. Ash is on her own mission along with the agenda of her stepmother, Seraphina. The entire plot takes a bit to fully reveal itself, which I can see frustrating some readers. Once all the pieces come together, then a lot of it makes more sense. The genre is difficult to classify as it could be part of the YA world, the NA world, and the adult world. There are tiny moments that fit it into one of the three age ranges for fantasy, but I would go more with YA just based on the style of the characters and plot. Other readers may feel otherwise and feel it is better suited in another genre.

The writing is simple and easy to follow, which makes this a great single sitting read. There are tie-ins to the source material while also feeling like its own story. The characters are interesting, although I wish there was a little more time spent with Ash. Her motivations and training did not get explored enough as there were moments where the reader is told that she had intense training, but there were not enough moments showing it. The world-building is both historical and contemporary, or, at least, this is how I was visualizing it. The women seemed to wear historical dresses while the men seemed to be in suits/ties, which were more modern. The pacing follows a usual novel, which isn’t always my favorite where it starts stronger, then slows a bit, before having a more rushed ending. Overall, this story was an amazing concept, but I feel it needed a little more work in execution.

**I give a special thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, Del Rey, for the opportunity to read this entertaining novel. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.**

I'm a fan of reading re-tellings of fairy tales and myths (though they don't all work, many do) and it had been a while since I've seen a fresh take on Cinderella, so the idea of a spin where Cinderella was conning the prince and in league with her stepmother and sister the whole time? Let's try it!

I didn't hate the book, but I didn't love it either. I struggled a lot with it. At first I was definitely confused by Ash's motives and the politics- those were a huge and annoying tangle but sort themselves out as you keep reading. Eventually, you have two different motives going on: Ash's stepmother Seraphina wants Ash to snag a rich lord, while Ash's grandmother wants Ash to snag the prince so she can influence politics and help the rebellion of a neighboring/occupied kingdom. Ash's main motive seems to be to prove to both women that she can do the jobs they've given her, despite them not totally having faith in her. As we all know, Ash gets her prince (thanks to magic that she keeps enchanting him with- something I was not ok with), our story starts in the lead-up to the wedding with her playing the part of the doting, innocent fianceé. She plays so many roles and lies to so many people (including herself) that I never felt like I knew her. The parts I did know, I didn't really like. Morally grey or completely self-centered on proving herself without worrying about what she was doing to anyone else? I'm still not sure, but I feel like she was on that scale. The other characters were either equally hidden (her stepmother and sisters) or completely flat and one-dimensional. The thin worldbuilding meant that I never figured out the magic and its rules, the politics, or much of anything else.

There were really good ideas here, and a lot of potential. But the book dragged in the beginning and then went on longer than it should have in the end. Ash never seemed to know what she was doing, despite priding herself on always being in control. And I never felt like I knew the world or any of the characters enough to feel even a touch of magic for this story.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

Thief Liar Lady takes on the story of Cinderella, beginning after the ball where she won the heart of Prince Everett of Solis. No, there was not an enchanted pumpkin carriage, nor were there any enchanted mice footmen. There were glass slippers and there was magic. But not the sort of innocent magic we all remember from the original story.

The story tells of Lady Aislinn’s engagement to the Prince and her life in the castle in the weeks and days before the wedding. Having used lustre (magic dust) to capture the heart of the Prince, Aislinn (Ash) must continue to convince him that he loves her. She is also on two separate, conflicting missions. One from her stepmother and one from her grandmother.

Also important to the story is Rance, the hostage prince from Eloria. He enters as a lazy, indifferent man who seems to care for only himself. But Ash and Rance seem to find some common ground even if they know nothing about each other.

The post-war backdrop means there is unrest in Solis. It is not a magical kingdom and King Ryland is not a benevolent ruler. This should have given the characters motivation, courage, and empathy. Ash seemed to have none of these. Ash is not likeable. It was impossible to figure out her. Both stepmom and grandma are manipulating her for their own goals. And Everett consigns her to the sewing group, because women should not worry about politics.

If fairy tale realism is your thing, the intrigue, unrest and greed of this story will appeal to you. If you read fairy tales for the happily ever after, well, this book has it but don’t be surprised if the ending is not as majestic as you imagine it should be. The quiet subtle ending was the best part of the book for me.

Through NetGalley, the publisher provided a copy of this book. My review is my honest opinion.

This is a creative reimagining of the Cinderella fairy tale. I enjoyed reading this alternative version and it kept me turning the pages. The book is chock full of magic and spells. Of course, there is a handsome prince and a romance too. It was a fun read with some devious plotting going on as well as some manipulative politics.

Thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey through Netgalley for an advance copy. Expected publication is July 11, 2023.

I really liked the premise of this book. This is a fresh utterly unique take on Cinderella. I mean Cinderella as a con woman? yes, please.

While this story is an interesting one, it was a bit slow for me up until about the halfway point, and I'm not sure I ever really warmed up to Ash although I did like her more once I understood her motivations for what she was doing, beyond what her stepmother had planned for her.

I liked her relationship with Rance and how it slowly developed despite how much they both thought they didn't like each other.
I would definitely read more by this author in the future

Thief, Liar, Lady is inventive and captivating. Cinderella with a twist, D.L. Soria's adult fiction debut is a story about family and dreams. About realizing the importance of love and what is worth fighting for. We can find ourselves pushed one way, our family determining what we should do - who we should be - that we lose our way. Full of subterfuge, Thief, Liar, Lady is a book about the masks we wear. About all the cracks in the surface, the escape from a gilded cage we thought we belonged in.

How much you like this will depend on how you feel about Cinderella because it's a very different take on the story. Ash and her family are con-people and she sets out to charm Prince Everett using magic while posing as Lady Aislinn. I was all in for a while but then I got lost in the politics of Solis and its neighbor Eloria, It's an admirable run at the classic but for me the movie Ever After is now and forever my favorite redo. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Wasn't; for me but I'm sure others will enjoy it.

Retellings of fairytales can be really hit or miss. But this retelling of Cinderella is a hit for me. What if she was really a con artist that used magic to ensnare the prince on the way to fermenting a rebellion? And let’s not forget the evil stepmother who is a real piece of work. There is interesting magic, grey characters, and a fast moving plot that keeps you engaged until the end. I very much so recommend this one.

Thief Liar Lady may very well be the best story I read all of 2023. T certainly is so far this year. D. L. Soria gives us a wonderfully flawed, multi-layered main character who has so many different stressful games going on that the only thing for sure is that sooner or later she will make mistakes. Aislinn is a character that I came to love. Of course, Prince Charming, Everett’s character, is one I adored all through the story, wishing that we get more of his future story perhaps next.

This story has the con artist/spy thriller vibe down pat with the fairytale playing a major role with some intriguing twisty turns. There is magic, politics, murder, villains, and a very unconventional happily ever after.

This is Aislinn’s story which I felt as if we were sitting down to tea as she shared it. My only issue was the use of modern profanity. Would those words even from the Stepmother be the ones fitting for this fairytale time and setting? Otherwise, I found the book to be such an original, completely unique take on Cinderella.

If you are looking for an intriguing, unique read then Thief Liar Lady is definitely the one.

An ARC of the book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley which I voluntarily chose to read and reviewed. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

DNF at 38%- giving it 3 stars for the potential it had.

This had so much potential, but I just started to get bored and wasn't motivated to continue. There was a lot that needed to be explained- how Aislinn and the prince met, Rance's backstory, the fragile relationship between countries, and Aislinn's many schemes- and it felt like I read so much without the story really moving forward. I really wanted to explore the romance that seemed inevitable between Aislinn and Rance, but I just don't have the patience to continue on in hopes that it will be worth it. I think this would have been a great fantasy read if it had been simplified a bit and given me more reasons to stick it out.

I impulse-requested this book after reading the summary. A new take on Cinderella where she and her family are con women? A very new take on the fairytale, and I couldn’t help but be intrigued. Thief Liar Lady reimagines the Cinderella tale and sets it amidst a world of magic dust and politics.

Everyone is enamored with the whirlwind tale of Lady Aislinn and how she bewitched Prince Everett at his birthday ball. What nobody knows is that this was all planned by Ash and her family so that she can gain a high position at court. Ash has secret plans even past that, but she first has to navigate her tenuous position at court, especially with her confusing feelings toward Lord Vance, the hostage prince of Eloria, a neighboring (and conquered) country.

Soria does a good job of taking the original skeleton of the characters and making them her own. Although Ash’s stepmother, Seraphina, planned this scheme, there are still the physically and emotionally abusive parts to their relationship that remain. However, I liked that her relationship with her stepsisters, Cecile and Adelaide, grows better over time. Sure, they hate each other, especially since Seraphina pitted them against each other, but over time they realize that they don’t have to do what she wants them to do anymore. Even Everett was fleshed out more as a character rather than the flat Prince Charming.

The addition of a new character, Verance, was interesting, especially with his character’s backstory. He’s the hostage prince of Eloria, the country that Solis conquered for their lustre, the magical dust that their economy runs on. While he seems lazy and improper to Ash at first, she slowly learns that this is his mask since he’s given up on trying to free his country. Their relationship and rapport grow over time, and I liked watching this play out.

There is a lot more politics in this book than I expected. Basically everyone wants lustre, a substance that can do pretty much anything: heal, bewitch, disguise, and so on. Solis entered a treaty with Eloria years ago, that essentially means they conquered them and took their land. There is a plot line that delves more into this, which was an interesting addition to the fairytale aspect of this story.

My biggest issue with this book, however, is that the pacing was all over the place. I was glued to the page for the entire first half of the book and then it abruptly started dragging. Then the last part was so rushed, to the point where the ending felt so weird. I also feel like Ash was not really…as developed as I would have liked? I feel like some of her inner monologue read as so flat, and she always talks about how she trained for situations like these (conning the royal family) but it doesn’t actually feel like she does that much.

Still, I enjoyed Thief Liar Lady for the most part although I found the second half to be a lot more lackluster. It was an interesting take on a popular fairytale, and I liked the characters and the twists in the story. If you’re intrigued by an adult fantasy fairytale reimagining, you should give Thief Liar Lady a try.

3.5 - This unique Cinderella re-telling brings a fresh take on a classic, with an edgy adult voice. Admittedly this one was a little slow at first for me to get into. I was trying to keep everything and everyone straight, but once I got about the 30-40% mark it all clicked into place for me and I couldn't put it down.⁠
I thought the author did a great job of bringing a really fresh perspective to the story. Political intrigue, forbidden love, magic that was manufactured, AND, you don't really hate Ash's stepsisters. ⁠
I definitely can't wait to see what else this author has in store for us in the future!

A retelling of Cinderella from the perspective of the ultimate scammer and con-woman - Cinderella (aka Ash) herself.
There’s a lot of hand-wavy religion v. progress, colonialism v. independence stuff here, all of which are covered pretty lightly and feel like after thoughts. Not everyone necessarily wants their fantasy romance to come with the heaviness that an in-depth analyses of these topics invite, but to include them half-heartedly feels like the most “meh” of both worlds.

What DID work for me though, was the romance. If you’ve read ACOTAR, you’ll be familiar with the romantic plot construction. The slow build up of Ash’s desire for the sarcastic, inconvenient love interest seems like what Soria really enjoyed writing, and I think this would have been a more successful book if it had either narrowed its scope to focus on that, or really expanded the world building to incorporate all the underlying “isms”.

Read If:
You went through a big Wicked phase
You refuse to believe that large dogs aren’t an inherent threat to you
You binge watched ‘Inventing Anna’ the day it came out

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
Thief Liar Lady is an imaginative retelling of Cinderella, positing the idea of a Cinderella figure who, instead of being enslaved by her stepfamily and rescued by a handsome prince, is working with her stepsisters to con the Prince in a scheme to win power and agency within their patriarchal society. It’s a fun spin on a classic, and I enjoyed the self-aware way it paid homage to the original, including some in-text nods.
The world building was one area where I found myself feeling a little lost. For the most part, I get psuedohistorical fantasy vibes from the hierarchy depicted within the story, with a monarchy, and nobility, and the resulting old-fashioned patriarchal class structure. However, there’s also occasional glaringly modern terms that stick out…I’m not against anachronisms, and it is a fantasy, but without proper grounding, it doesn’t make a ton of sense. I am more willing to accept that the magic is not meant to be explained, a lustre is of the soft magic system variety, and its purpose to the characters is pretty easy to grasp for the most part.
While Ash isn’t the most defined character, due to her playing a part for most of the book, I did enjoy reading about her. She’s a great spin on Cinderella, being from humble, if tragic circumstances, and trying to do something about it. I also liked the focus on her relationship with her stepmother and stepsisters, especially given that they have a much more friendly relationship, especially in contrast to others they don’t know they can trust. Rance was also an interesting character, and while the romance is very much a subplot, I liked the dynamic between him and Ash that formed throughout the book.
With a lot of political intrigue, there’s a lot going on that kept me engaged. It took a little bit to get into it, but the pacing was also helped by the relatively short length of the chapters, helping to maintain a punchy, steady pace throughout.
This is a delightfully original take on a beloved classic, and I’d recommend it to readers looking for feminist fairy tale retellings.

A dazzling and unique take on Cinderella. Lots of scheming and spying in addition to the exact right amount of slow burn romance takes this fairy tale retelling to the next level. A must read!!

I've always loved updates of old stories <i>and</i> I've always loved Cinderella stories so this was right up my alley. This is the story of Ash (oops! Aislinn), who has worked in concert with her "evil" stepmother and stepsisters to meet and marry the prince. Using magic, but not the whole pumpkin coach and mouse footmen and glass slipper thing -- that seems to be (only a few weeks later) popular embellishment on the real story. There's some political stuff going on, too, and Aislinn's balancing of her family and her new role.

I was fascinated by the Goddess religion and wished that had been played up. There was also something missing about the Aislinn/Everett pairing that I won't get into due to possible spoilers. Still, as updates and reimaginings go, this is a good one.

eARC provided by publisher via Netgalley.

This fantasy sports a clever premise using a well-known fairy tale as the catalyst. Readers should not be expecting a retelling or minor twist on the Cinderella story. Instead, this novel is what happens after because what happened before is not what the fairy tales say.

Told in first person from Lady Aislinn’s (aka Ash aka Cinderella) point of view, the reader sees up close and personal the internal conflicts and insecurities of Ash. It sure doesn’t seem like Ash is in the control of the situation–even though that is what she keeps telling herself and others. Ash, the heroine, may be difficult for some readers to root for; she does look out for her interests at a cost to others, although she keeps telling herself it is for the greater good. The pacing of the story is good, and frankly the initial set-up twist is brilliant. Plus, the author has a gift for writing witty and believable banter, which is always enjoyable. The ending was a little difficult to buy, but forgiving readers will point out that this is a work of fiction after all.

While this book is set in a fantasy world and magic does play a role in the story, the magic system is not really expanded upon and the politics of the world play a more important role. The book is also part steamy romance and part political intrigue. So, readers who like all three of those genres would most likely enjoy this book.

I have mixed opinions on this book. On the one hand, it was really easy to get into and enjoyable to read, but on the other it either moved too quickly or too fast for it to make sense. I wish there had been a little more build up to the actual romance, rather than it being so sudden, and a little more worldbuilding to flesh out this world they were trying to save.