When I started reading this, I wasn't sure I wanted to continue. Most little girls love Cinderella, and I was one of them. Would this author totally destroy how I felt about the original fairy tale?

However, I discovered that the book is absolutely fabulous! The author truly pulled this off with an original plot and some really intriguing characters. The character based on Cinderella: Ash, also known as Lady Aislynn in Royal circles, is pushed behind the scenes to entrap a noble man by her stepmother--and yes she is a bit on the wicked side. Ash instead sets her sights on the prince. The stepsisters, while not exactly wicked--or maybe they are--have their own agendas.

Filled with intrigue and magic this book was a delight to read, and I LOVED it! I think it's worth al of 5 stars.

In this retelling of Cinderella, the main character is Ash. While she does have a stepmother and stepsisters, they aren't quite as evil as much as they are her co-conspirators. She manages to infiltrate royalty by using magic to get the price to fall in love with her. However, with war looming and another prince stealing her attraction, can Ash fulfill her goal?

I liked the premise of this so much, but I think it was slow in a lot of places. I felt like we would get some key plot point then it would drag for a while before another plot point. I think it took too long as well to get to why Ash wanted to marry the prince. I liked the magic used here, and thought that part was creative. I think though the writing style took away from the story for me.

Thief Liar Lady premise is very different from the original Cinderella story. Ash (Aislinn) is a strong character, not only due to the con her family is running but also that she is running a separate con. You didn't truly know her real personality until much later as she is always hiding something. Truth is what we make it to be, is the belief that

While it starts slow, the story picks up quickly once Lord Verance appears - and from there, hold on! I loved seeing Ash's relationship with her stepsisters evolve throughout the book and while the political intrigue was a little convoluted, the book still kept me entertained!

As a note, this is a new adult book with some spice and language.

There is magic, murders and mysteries, and women willing to do whatever it took to reach her goal. So if you like that, and fairytale retellings and unexpected twist, read Thief Liar Lady!

Thank you to the Publisher for the arc!


So I was really excited to read this, Cinderella retelling and she’s a con woman? I’m intrigued.

However it felt incredibly long when it didn’t need to be, a good chunk of this book could’ve been cut down. I feel like the writing focused more on every other character but the main character herself which in some cases It can work. But you have a scullery maid turned con woman? Why did she turn to this life? I wanted more of her motivations. Overall it is a fun read.

Actual rating: 4.5 stars

"Thief, Liar, Lady" is, at its core, a Cinderella retelling that focuses on "what happens after the happily ever after." The similarities to the actual fairytale are few, but they do exist, just in a more subtle manner. Although the book does start after the events in Cinderella, there were still enough references and connections/flashbacks to tie this story in with the old fairytale. Going into this book, I didn't expect much, mostly because I didn't enjoy how it opened: after the action i.e. Cinderella's story. It was just one of many ARCs I requested to read here on Netgalley. It started out slow, but it wasn't long before I was really drawn into the plot. By the end, I wound up loving this book a lot more than I expected I would.

All of the characters are very fleshed out. Ash has a traumatic background, and what she's doing in the palace (two missions, one of which is only admitted to much later in the book) make her a bit of an anti-heroine, or "grey" heroine. She uses emotional and magical manipulation, she lies and steals, she acts as a spy on the royal family, and above all she pretends to be someone she's not.

I loved her relationship with Rance, and I also liked her relationship with Everett, as twisted as it was. Outside of his brother Ryland's influence, he didn't seem too bad. Of course, he grew up in an environment steeped in misogyny and sexism, which is why he treats Ash the way he does most of the time. Ladies are supposed to be "delicate" and not concerned with political realities. The stepsisters were fleshed out in their own way, but I have to admit that they never really grew on me. I like Mariana and Merielle, as well as Puppy (of course!!) and the roles they played.

The ending, I felt, was just a bit rushed, but it did feel mostly realistic in terms of outcomes. Everett wasn't the kind of person who *wanted* to go to war, and Ash used her wits and intelligence to come up with an alternate plan that would save both kingdoms. Her reunion with Rance at the end was very short, so I wish we saw more of them setting out together, but it did feel appropriate for an ending.

The writing was phenomenal. There were no clunky or awkward sentences, and the dialogue always felt natural and fresh. I found myself wanting to check out what other novels, if any, the author has written because I enjoyed her writing style so much.

The cover of this novel is beautiful, and it contrasts nicely with the title: a beautiful, glittering world of wealth, power, and royalty where a girl trained to be a spy learns to lie and manipulate her way to the top.

Overall, I did really like this story. It drew me in time and again, and there were so many plot twists that I absolutely never saw coming. One after another. There were also more subtle twists; for instance, I didn't think Ash and Everett would actually get married, nor did I think they would actually consummate the marriage. Usually, something or someone interrupts these Big, Important story moments right before the event can unfold. But Ash did get married, and later that night she did sleep and engage with intercourse with Everett, which I considered really unexpected. Not to mention what happens immediately after and into the following day.

Out of 5 stars, I gave this book a 4.5 on Goodreads. Definitely recommend if you like feminist vibes, royal & political intrigue, forbidden romance, mysteries, and tense action.

I really enjoyed this darker, morally grey Cinderella retelling. The characters were real and raw rather than picture perfect. It actually added to the story that I remembered from my childhood. I actually liked the FMC made some real choices. It helped to watch her character ebb and flow as she grew overtime. I love character development and the author did a nice job of weaving that throughout the book.

The author’s writing style was fun and kept you invested in the story overall. I am looking forward to seeing more from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

I have been in my fantasy and magical realism phase so I was excited to check out this book. It sounded action packed and entertaining. There were multiple main characters and side characters which made this a slower paced read to keep them all straight. I enjoyed learning about the elorians, war, and the dramatic plot. I had to reduce my rating due to a scene where there was animal harm, which always impacts my enjoyment of the book.

I haven’t read many Cinderella retellings but it's easy to see Thief Liar Lady stands out with its exciting twists on the classic tale. This does follow some of the basic elements of the Cinderella tale - a girl goes to a royal ball, intrigues the prince, and he searches for her after she leaves only a shoe and a glorious memory - but puts quite the devious spin on things. Aislinn, or Ash as she prefers to be called, is running a con. Her stepmother and stepsisters have put tremendous amounts of effort and money into putting Aislinn into position so she might cast an infatuation spell on a wealthy nobleman at Prince Everett’s three night birthday ball, but Ash set her sights on the Prince himself. Her success now sees her ensconced in the palace, away from her “evil” stepmother, and awaiting her wedding day.
What her stepfamily doesn’t know is that Ash has a second mission from her Elorian grandmother to feed information to the Elorian rebellion and influence politics. Everything is going quite smoothly until the hostage Prince Verance, called Rance, shows his insouciant face and Ash is struck by cupid’s arrow. A slight exaggeration, but it’s clear from their first encounter that the two are entranced by one another.
The story is told purely from Ash’s point of view and is mostly set in the present day. There are a few chapters where we flashback to the recent past and those were somewhat disorienting as in the eARC there was no way to differentiate those chapters in the heading. Ash is a fascinating character and while she was trained to execute a task this complex and delicate, it’s interesting to see how anxious she gets about being found out and to see here doubts and constant reminders to herself to stay in character. It’s clear to the reader from the very beginning that there’s no way she can stay in character as “Lady Aislinn” forever and at some point the charade will come crumbling down. The only question is when it will happen, especially as Ash and Rance continue to have their unplanned and emotionally fraught encounters. The tension between them is palpable.
I think the most satisfying part about this book is when I thought I knew precisely how it was going to play out and then the rug was brutally ripped from under me and I was reeling! I was shocked! And then it bamboozled me yet again! The ending was ultimately satisfying, but leading up to the ending was a hell of an emotional rollercoaster and that is what made this book worth it. Thief Liar Lady was an excellent retelling, especially if you’re fond of roguish characters and confidence games.

Thief Liar Lady is an exciting, action-packed, unique take on a classic fairy tale. Ash, the Cinderella character in this book, is a con artist who has tricked Prince Everett into falling in love with her. Now that she has accomplished getting the prince to be infatuated with her, Ash's stepmother desires for her to find husbands for her stepsisters as well. However, finding love interests for her family and ensuring her own wedding goes smoothly aren't Ash's only goals. She is also on a secret mission of her own, one which may get her into grave danger. As she balances all of her lies with her goals, Ash finds herself also dealing with the "hostage prince" - a good-looking but extremely irritating, lazy, smartmouthed individual.

I don't typically like retellings; however, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The characters are all very interesting and well-developed. In particular, I loved Ash, as a morally gray heroine, and Rance, as the annoying, "doesn't-give-a-care" prince. The development of their relationship is well-done, and I loved the scenes in the cottage at the end. I thought it was very creative that the story begins after the ball with Ash already having accomplished getting Prince Everett to fall in love with her. The "flashback" chapters were well-done and added to the story. I also like that while there is definitely at least one main villain, all of the characters make choices that can be viewed as questionable.

I'll definitely be recommending Theif Liar Lady. It's an easy five stars for me!

I loved this! It's a unique twist on Cinderella that wound up being good in all kinds of ways!

Cinderella is not who you might think she is. In fact, she is a con artist. Loaded with dirty language and a very curious world, I found myself rushing to finish.

This book is definitely quirky, with characters that I really enjoyed reading about. I definitely recommend this to fans of fairytale retellings.

Out July 11, 2023!

Thank you, Netgalley and Publisher, for this Arc!

In D.L Soria's Thief Liar Lady, we get Cinderella with a twist. Unlike in the classic tale, our heroine, Ash, is not a scullery maid with talking mice for friends and a fairy godmother. Instead, she is trained by her stepmother in the art of magic (AKA lustre) with one goal in mind: achieve her family's financial security by tricking a lord into marriage. But on the night of the royal ball, Ash picks a different target -- the prince, and thus begins her tale of romance, deceit, and tragedy.

In many regards, Thief Liar Lady does not stray far from the original source material. From the lost slipper, to the annoying stepsisters, and the evil stepmother, we're given glimpses of a tale as old as time. But Soria has taken these familiar elements and entwined them with a story of political upheaval as Ash finds herself trapped between the fairytale she has worked so hard for, and her loyalty to family. Because Ash isn't just an agent of her stepmother; she is also a spy for her grandmother, who is a member of the rebellion of the oppressed country of Eloria. And as her wedding day draws near, Ash learns that the relationship between the two countries is far more violent and unstable than anyone realized. But will she have the strength to fight back if it means revealing her lies?

I love a good fairytale retelling, and Thief Liar Lady checked quite a few boxes for me. The romance was fun, the dialogue witty, and the plot was fast paced enough that I ended up finishing it one night. I appreciated that Ash isn't a perfect heroine. She didn't immediately solve every puzzle or mystery, and Soria makes it clear that she has her weaknesses as she struggles to overcome the various challenges set before her. I also enjoyed the relationship between Ash and her stepsisters. I hate when women are always catty to each other in books, and I appreciated the complexity of their bond .

However, it fell short in many ways, too. For one, I found the worldbuilding to be lacking. There is an info dump explaining the history between the kingdoms of Eloria and Solis, but all of it felt forced and contrived. The reasons for the rebellion didn't read as realistic to me -- I can't imagine that a monarch surrounded by advisors wouldn't be able to come up with a single solution to the problem besides war. I understood that Ryland's character isn't meant to be liked, but did it have to be so obvious? I came away feeling that all of the political drama was to provide Ash with a purpose and that none of it really mattered, in the end.

Overall, Thief Liar Lady is a fun, quick read. It has the key elements of a romantic fantasy, but it misses the mark in its attempt at adding in political intrigue. A big thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the early review copy!

A play on Cinderella where she was a conwoman? Pretty solid.

The problem was that we spent so much time with Ash as Lady Aislinn and not enough time to understand her motivations. The chemistry between her and Rance was nice, especially with the little sexy bits. I wish we'd gotten more explanations about the world and magic systems, especially because we find out halfway about these stones that negate it!? This felt more fantasy romance than pure fantasy, but I can appreciate the retelling for its originality.

*Thank you to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review*

Book Review: Thief Liar Lady by D.L. Soria

Thief Liar Lady is an Cinderella reimagined fantasy novel about a young woman that uses magic to make a prince fall in love with her. But his country is on the verge of war and our heroine finds herself trapped between a fairy tale and two kingdoms.

Just like Cinderella the heroine of Thief Liar Lady attends the birthday gala of the Prince of Solis and captures the heart of a royal. She even leaves behind a slipper in a hasty retreat and he’s forced to track her down. Her tale is spread far and wide and everyone loves the story of the lowly scullery maid who will become a queen but no one really knows the truth. Lady Aislinn is really Ash and part of a scheme devised by her stepmother to marry all of her daughters off to powerful men. But Ash is also running a separate con for her grandmother and working behind the scenes to help the rebels of Eloria, a nearby country conquered by Solis. As Ash uses magic to keep Prince Everett under her spell she takes bigger and bigger risks to help Eloria and their heir “the hostage prince” Verance who has been held as a “guest” in the palace for decades.

D.L. Soria does an excellent job of taking a story we know well and giving it an alternative telling. Ash is treated cruelly by her stepmother and competitive with her step sisters but not in the way we’ve always heard the tale. I liked that she was tough and smart but still cared about bigger issues. I wish there was more of Ash’s backstory because although there are anecdotes of her past we don’t really see on the page what she was doing in the years leading up to the ball. It was like she and her sisters were being raised to hustle and con but was this their first con? Did they practice on other people? What was their education like? The physical abuse during Ash’s stepmother’s attempts to toughen her up are mentioned a few times but we never see her skills in action except for in the palace where she is (I assume) already an adult. And even then she relies mostly on the magical lustre dust that has the Prince under her spell. Despite the talk of her stepmother’s intense training she doesn’t really seem that tough or skilled at anything in particular except maybe keeping the cover story intact and using the lustre dust.

Although it is an adult fantasy it still has similarities to young adult so I think audiences of all ages will enjoy Thief Liar Lady (although there is cursing and intimate scenes). It has an entertaining Cinderella reimagining plot, a nice romance and a main character you can root for.

4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

"Thief Liar Lady" by D.L. Soria is a retelling of the fairytale Cinderella and was a unique and enjoyable read. The concept was fresh and creative and the characters were morally gray and often unreliable, which kept me on my toes as I read. Although I felt that the pacing could be improved (the first half dragged a bit but the second half flew by), I really enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it to anyone who likes retellings/reimaginings of classic tales.

A Cinderella retelling except Cinderella is a morally grey spy who has enchanted the prince in order to take over the kingdom from the corrupt king.... the only problem is that she is falling for the wrong prince. In a world with magic, Ash is a girl who transformed from a poor, orphaned scullery maid into the enchantingly mysterious lady who snagged the heart of the prince... the supposedly Cinderella (complete with the orchestrated shoe and pumpkin rumors and incident). The entire romance between her and the prince was concocted by her stepmother and step-siblings in order to take over the kingdom and overthrow the king. Ash has been enchanting the prince, casting love spells and making him think he’s in love with her, she’s gotten to the stage where he’s proposed and the wedding is going to happen soon... the only wrinkle in this plan is the unexpected return of the hostage prince Varence “Rance”. Rance puts on the act of being a lazy, disinterested, and nonchalent prince.... but that’s all an act and he has definitely caught the attention of Ash. Ash finds that she can’t resist his charms despite being married to the other prince... can their love survive or will the kingdom destroy them both? This was definitely a unique take on the Cinderella story with having the Cinderella character herself being a morally grey spy, however there were some issues with this book as despite it being an adult book it felt very very young adult, and then there was the whole “first night with the prince” and being drugged and it was so non consensual and really really wasn’t necessary to the plot. The slow burn romance between Ash and Rance was meh at best, and while the ending wrapped everything up well, I just wish for a character who is constantly saying she was trained for the job of being a spy, yet constantly messing up, it felt just odd. Overall, it was a unique take on the story but it just missed the mark for me. Definitely give this a go if you like unique retellings of fairytales.

*Thanks Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

This book was a good take on the classic Cinderella. The twist premise to this is that Cinderella is a con artist that's been raised to to secure her and her step sisters fortunes. The plot while refreshingly started to fall a little flat about 35% in. She was kind of an overly bumbling idiot in some scenes. For instance forgetting what language she was supposed to know and be able to speak. For someone that's been raised to train and do this I wanted to see her a little smarter and tad more cut throat. I think that while this is YA it'd defn be better suited for that younger audience such as 12 to 13 yr olds. No hate at all to the author bc I do think they're a great writer and have great ideas it just fell a little flat for me.

It's been a couple of days since I've finished THIEF LIAR LADY, but I still can't shake off the disappointment at only being able to state that this one was an okay read. Personally, it just felt like every aspect was underdeveloped (especially the plot, characters and relationships), the pacing was also all over the place and I wasn't entirely fond of the use of magic to manipulate other characters (there were definitely parts that made me uncomfortable). It's not one I can personally recommend, as I only finished it because it read pretty quick and the writing itself was decent enough.

A cruel stepmother, evil stepsisters, and an innocent cinder girl? Nah, how about instead a family of con-artists planning to take the crown. This was a very interesting take on Cinderella. Here, Miss. Ash (aka Cindy) is a hustler, who planned to get Mr. Prince Charming to fall in love with her - with the help of a little illegal magic dust. The characters and twists on the classic were interesting but I wish there was more effort into making this story "adult." It felt very-YA but the author wanted a couple of intimate scenes and cuss words. The main characters were not mature enough, did not react to their very heavy baggage and acted impulsively.

The concept of Cinderella as a spy/con artist/rebel was so intriguing, but the writing did not live up to the premise. There’s a real Informed Ability problem, alll the worse because in a first person POV, Ash herself is doing the telling. Over and over, she tells us that she’s trained her whole life for this - but you couldn’t tell it from how she behaves. She bumbles and blunders through every scene. Mistakes are crucial for plot, I grant you, but for a character like this to work, they need to be miscalculations or being outmanuevered, not just “whoops, forgot what languages I’m supposed to be able to understand”. I ultimately decided I didn’t need to spend any more time watching a character be bad at what she and the jacket copy told me she was supposed to be good at. The political intrigue was almost enough to keep me invested - but not quite.

This book is not holding my interest. The plot sounds exciting but I'm not meshing well with the characters and I've tried to pick this book up multiple times to read it and I keep putting it down. I hate the first-person viewpoint and yeah I'm not wasting my time when it can't keep my interest.