I would like to thank R S Williams for letting me have a free copy for an honest review.

OVERVIEW

A good story, even if it is a fantasy trope. A prince, hidden to save his life from an unknown enemy who has killed the rest of his family. A birthmark that proves he is the missing prince. He has no idea of his true identity.

Having said that, the fact that this idea is not an uncommon one does not mean it cannot be dealt with in a different way, and be an entirely different story which Kingdom of Lies does.

I love the cover. It’s magnificent.

BLURB

Magic is back in Adelith, and with it the return of Cyran.

Elijah spends his days preparing for the annual Hollom horse race and working at his guardian Merrick’s forge. That is, until Merrick is summoned back to Castle Aebarrow in Adelith by the king.

Unable to stay in Rheanydd without a legal guardian, Eli is forced to go with Merrick who takes up the position of captain and trains the new guards. But the more time Eli spends in Adelith, the more his lost memories resurface-and they throw up worrying questions about his past.

As a member of Princess Sienna’s Elite Guard, Eli saves her life when it’s threatened by the presence of a mysterious Missing Prince. Eli’s heroics incur the wrath of a mad sorcerer known only as The Master, hell-bent on ending the courting prince’s life.

Elijah enters a dangerous path of self-discovery where magic and secrets intertwine. The truth about his past is within reach, but can he unlock his memories and solve the riddles in time to save the true heir to the throne? Or will the castle be brought crumbling down once more?

CHARACTERS

Elijah, the prince, is a likeable character, although he does not have much depth. 

There was little to distinguish most of the characters from each other, except for Leon. 

When we first meet him, he is antagonistic to Elijah. He is mouthy to his superiors, but never gets punished for it. Then, suddenly, at the end, he’s suddenly friendly and joking, and talking as if he’d been best friends with Elijah all along. But Leon is a minor character.

There was little change in most of the other characters throughout the book.

WRITING

The writing was poor. As I read, I thought it was the first book by a novice writer who had got to the end and pressed ‘publish’. There are many mistakes, both typos and grammatical errors. Sometimes this caused confusion. 

The author confused me at times by using a pronoun that did not refer to the last person mentioned.

There were several places where the syntax was confusing, and she also had disembodied eyes floating around on more than one occasion. (Elijah’s eyes fell to the floor.)

There were other places where I was confused, and could not understand what was going on, and a few places where she contradicted something she had said previously.

I was surprised to read in her acknowledgements that she thanked her critique partners and her beta readers, as I saw nothing to indicate any input from them.

If I hadn’t promised a review, I don’t think I could have finished this book in spite of the good story, as I kept being annoyed by the poor writing.

I give the book **

Do you think the writing is important if the story is good?

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Maria and Tom have bought an antique table for the old cottage they have bought. When they hear strange noises in the night that sound like crying, they worry their house is haunted, but the sounds seem to come from the table.

They set about trying to find what is causing the disturbances. The answer is stranger than either of them had thought.

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