by Mary E. Pearson Series: The Remnant Chronicles
Published by Macmillan
Overall Rating:
Binge Rating:
The Remnant Chronicles by Mary E. Pearson is a young adult romantasy trilogy about a princess who flees an arranged marriage to a prince she has never met on the morning of her wedding. She chooses to live a life of obscurity, waiting tables at a tavern, and enjoying the lack of expectations that have been placed on her previously. That is until two men show up at her tavern, and her previous life and position, as well as her sense of obligation and love of her country throw her into the middle of absolutely everything. I did enjoy the books and read them very quickly.
Lia is a strongly independent princess who was also raised to be a soldier. While she does abandon her position to avoid being married off, she has a deep love her country and feels a strong sense of loyalty to it. The series takes her through a character development arc that also turns her in to more of a leader. The storyline and conflict is full of traitors, political positioning, conniving, betrayal and intrigue. It basically has it all.
While I did really enjoy the books, I think it is best to point out that this is a series that you just have to go with the flow. I feel like it would be very easy to pick apart or question a number of details with it. Coincidences are convenient and critical to this story, and real motivations, and deep understanding of the cultures are honestly, best left ignored. So yeah, it does not have intricate, deeply designed world building, so if that is what you want, look elsewhere.
This series is what I would call a “popcorn read”. You just have to enjoy it as it passes, without really delving too much into anything left unsaid. Enjoy the characters, their interactions and trials and triumphs. Again, many things are likely best left unquestioned.
One thing that bothered me in book one, Kiss of Deception, was how the author chose to label and design the different POVs. So, we mainly have the princess’s chapters, but then she meets up with two main male characters, that of course form up a somewhat predictable, but not unenjoyable, love triangle. One of the men, unbeknownst to her, was the Prince she ditched at the alter, who came to see who this person was who had the nerve to thumb her nose at two kingdoms. The other is an assassin from Venda, an enemy land who is general viewed as evil barbarian, who is sent to kill her, but of course finds himself intrigued by her instead of killing her right off like he was supposed to. This is all well and good and fun. What annoyed me a tiny bit is the author chose to title the early perspectives from these men as “The Assassin” and “The Prince”, and the entire intent of this is so that the reader does not initially know which of the two guys Lia meets (at the same time of course, because they both managed to get to her at EXACTLY the same moment and entered the door together), is the assassin and which is the prince.
Now, my issue with this is only because she did include chapters from the assassin and prince perspectives. If we only had Lia’s I could understand and expect not letting the reader know who was who, but I really felt like there was no reason to not make it clear to the reader other than as a somewhat cheap device to add an air of mystery. That said, I did quickly get over it, and maybe other readers will enjoy it, I just felt like the story should be strong enough to let the reader be aware of whose chapters they are reading. I felt like it was just so that the reader could try and pick which of the male characters to “root” for solely from Lia’s perspective without knowing which was the assassin and which was the prince despite us also getting their perspectives. And while I just spent quite a bit of page space describing that, it was only a mild irritant that did not last the entire book much less the series.
Over all, it was a fun enjoyable read. I do think I started to slow down a bit with later books, so maybe not quite as strong of a binge read as other series, but not bad.
The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson Series: The Remnant Chronicles #1
Published by Macmillan on May 5, 2015
Genres: Young Adult Fiction / Dystopian, Young Adult Fiction / Fantasy / Romance
Download the first five chapters of The Kiss of Deception, the first book in Mary E. Pearson's Remnant Chronicles. In a society steeped in tradition, Princess Lia's life follows a preordained course. As First Daughter, she is expected to have the revered gift of sight-but she doesn't-and she knows her parents are perpetrating a sham when they arrange her marriage to secure an alliance with a neighboring kingdom-to a prince she has never met. On the morning of her wedding, Lia flees to a distant village. She settles into a new life, hopeful when two mysterious and handsome strangers arrive-and unaware that one is the jilted prince and the other an assassin sent to kill her. Deception abounds, and Lia finds herself on the brink of unlocking perilous secrets-even as she finds herself falling in love.
The Heart of Betrayal by Mary E. Pearson Series: The Remnant Chronicles #2
Published by Macmillan on July 7, 2015
Genres: Young Adult Fiction / Romance / General
Pages: 480
Held captive in the barbarian kingdom of Venda, Lia and Rafe have little chance of escape . . . and even less of being together.
Desperate to save her life, Lia's erstwhile assassin, Kaden, has told the Vendan Komizar that she has a magical gift, and the Komizar's interest in Lia is greater than either Kaden or Lia foresaw.
Meanwhile, the foundations of Lia's deeply-held beliefs are crumbling beneath her. Nothing is straightforward: there's Rafe, who lied to her, but has sacrificed his freedom to protect her; Kaden, who meant to assassinate her but has now saved her life; and the Vendans, whom she always believed to be barbarians but whom she now realizes are people who have been terribly brutalized by the kingdoms of Dalbreck and Morrighan. Wrestling with her upbringing, her gift, and her very sense of self, Lia will have to make powerful choices that affect her country, her people . . . and her own destiny.
The Beauty of Darkness by Mary E. Pearson Series: The Remnant Chronicles #3
Published by Macmillan on August 2, 2016
Pages: 688
The third and final book in the New York Times-bestselling Remnant Chronicles.
Lia has survived Venda—but so has a great evil bent on the destruction of Morrighan. And only Lia can stop it.
With war on the horizon, Lia has no choice but to assume her role as First Daughter, as soldier—as leader. While she struggles to reach Morrighan and warn them, she finds herself at cross-purposes with Rafe and suspicious of Kaden, who has hunted her down.
In this heart-stopping conclusion to the Remnant Chronicles trilogy that started with The Kiss of Deception and The Heart of Betrayal, traitors must be rooted out, sacrifices must be made, and impossible odds must be overcome as the future of every kingdom hangs in the balance. New York Times-bestselling author Mary E. Pearson's combination of intrigue, suspense, romance, and action makes this a riveting YA page-turner for teens.
Read all of The Remnant Chronicles:
The Kiss of Deception
The Heart of Betrayal
The Beauty of Darkness
Praise for The Remnant Chronicles:A New York Times Bestselling Series
“Readers will be gripping pages from the nerve-wracking start through the heart-stopping ending. . . . Pearson's Remnant Chronicles is an epic YA series to get behind.” —Romantic Times on The Beauty of Darkness
“Fantastical.” —USA Today for The Kiss of Deception
“A sumptuous fantasy.” —Chicago Tribune for The Kiss of Deception
“In The Kiss of Deception, a new realm is masterfully created, featuring court intrigue, feuding nations, breathtaking landscapes, and the gift of sight. Fans of the Game of Thrones series will enjoy the magic and fantasy in this timeless dystopian world.” —VOYA for The Kiss of Deception
I haven’t heard of this trilogy.