Liar

The Alliance Trilogy #2

by E. Jade Lomax

Home again in the capital, Gabrielle dives back into palatial intrigue while Sasha, Will and Gregory investigate assassins and arsons in the lower city.

Royal duties, such as a visiting suitor, weigh on Sasha and the subminister of Intelligence begins to lay siege to Will’s attention and his loyalty.

Adrift in a new city, Gregory tries to find his feet and discovers himself in unexpected places.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

295 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2014

Reviews

[CJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really liked Sasha and Elijah's dynamic in this one, and Will's battles with his boss.

Wasn't as big a fan of Gabrielle this time around. She foolishly got a little too cocky.

Gregory, well, the city is an adjustment, I'll leave it at that.

It's a good story that examines both sides of a war--usurper vs. uniter-- but it still needs some polishing. Also, I would have liked the Sylian prince to have a name. He's a good character that I want to see more of. His word count definitely justifies a name.

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

The writing style in this series remained as consistently good from the first book, Sneak, but showed clear growth and even better structure and pacing. Gabrielle's development was one of my favourite aspects, with Sasha's at a very close second: seeing both of the sisters consider things in a new light was very powerfully written and affecting. I really liked Gregory's role too, but sorely missed his scenes with Sasha and Will: one of the highlights of the first book for me. It was a shame to see less of them in this one - however, the interactions he had with other characters were nothing less than excellent.

The midpoint of the series, Liar takes the cast from Sneak to new situations, pushing them into new tests and scenarios, even more so than the first book. You can really get a feel for how the conflict in the land is rising in the second of the series; it creates great build up for the third book but keeps you turning the page in the second too. The parallels in scenes and character remained fantastic and highlighted individual development all the more. I also especially loved the chapter titles and how they were linked to the content of each.

I preferred the first just a little bit more because I missed so many of the interactions between characters who didn’t have as many scenes together in the second, but the quality of the writing and the character growth was just so good that it is only by a very slight margin that I prefer Sneak. I’m really looking forward to reading the conclusion to the series in Traitor, but at the same time I want to wait a while because I know I’ll be so sad when it is over.

Review originally posted on my blog.

[Joe ST · Rating 3 out of 5]

Once I'd got into it it's a great continuation of the story, bringing fabulous lives to all the characters and the depth of the weavings of their lives. There's just so much going on what the heck will the outcome be? Gonna get reading the finale XD Poor Greg. I really hope the king/queen aren't entirely clueless on the various machinations of their children and subjects. All of the antagonists feel like they've their own goals and reasons and are sometimes working against each other. I hope the skeleton man doesn't become an arch-baddie supervillain punchline it's much more fun to be complicated XD

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I only wish there were more! And she leaves it slightly open-ended do there could be. There are so many characters whose back stories I want to know more about! I haven't mentioned before, but I also love how romantic love plays a part in her stories, but is woven in with the story. And how it's shown. It's beautifully written.