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

Title: Thief Liar Lady
Author: D. L. Soria
Publisher: Del Rey
Publication date: July 11. 2023
Length: 416 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

“Happily Ever After” is a total scam, but at least this time the princess is the one controlling the grift–until her true love arrives and threatens to ruin the whole scheme. Intrigue, magic, and wit abound in this Cinderella fairytale reimagining, perfect for fans of Heather Walter and Naomi Novik.

I’m not who you think I am.

My transformation from a poor, orphaned scullery maid into the enchantingly mysterious lady who snagged the heart of the prince did not happen–as the rumors insisted–in a magical metamorphosis of pumpkins and glass slippers. On the first evening of the ball, I didn’t meekly help my “evil” stepmother and stepsisters primp and preen or watch forlornly out the window as their carriage rolled off toward the palace. I had other preparations to make.

My stepsisters and I had been trained for this–to be the cleverest in the room, to be quick with our hands and quicker with our lies. We were taught how to get everything we want in this world, everything men always kept for themselves: power, wealth, and prestige. And with a touchingly tragic past and the help of some highly illegal spells, I would become a princess, secure our fortunes, and we would all live happily ever after.

But there’s always more to the story. With my magic running out, war looming, and a handsome hostage prince–the wrong prince–distracting me from my true purpose with his magnetic charm and forbidden flirtations, I’m in danger of losing control of the delicate balance I’ve created…and that could prove fatal.

There’s so much more riding on this than a crown.

In Thief Liar Lady, Cinderella is a con artist, a magic wielder, and a secret agent of the rebellion. And she still manages to charm the handsome prince at the ball!

Ash Vincent, aka Lady Aislinn, has been trained all her life by her stepmother Seraphina to be cunning, heartless, and in control. She can fight, she can cast spells using the rare and expensive magical substance known as lustre, and she can weave enchantments to get her way. Everything works according to plan, and Ash wins the love of Prince Everett at the royal ball, in the process captivating the people of the kingdom of Solis through their “magical” love story.

Playing up the story of a cruel stepmother and evil stepsisters, Ash wins the hearts and minds of pretty much everyone, although Everett’s best friend, Lord Verance of the subject realm of Eloria, doesn’t seem all that impressed. Now all Ash has to do is stay in control, keep up her facade of being a demure, graceful, kind and loving lady, and within a few short months, she’ll be married and secure.

But Ash has a secret agenda, unknown to Seraphina — she’s also in this to advance the cause of the Elorian rebels, and key to their plans is Ash’s ability to influence events from within the royal household.

The deeper Ash gets, the more dangerous her schemes become, and as the royal wedding approaches, the more conflicted she feels about sacrificing her heart for the sake of her mission.

Thief Liar Lady is an engaging read, full of adventure, danger, and plotting. Unfortunately, the early chapters of the book set up the premise in a way that’s mostly just confusing — we hear a lot about lustre, about treaties, rebels, and refugees, and even about agrarian reform, of all things — but Ash’s role and her alliances don’t become clear for some time. The history between Solis and Eloria is likewise muddled, and it takes some effort to puzzle out what’s going on here — and not in the fun, “ooh, give me another clue!” sort of way, but more along the lines of “I don’t know who these people are or what they’re trying to do”.

Eventually, the pieces get (mostly) explained, and by the last third or so of the book, I felt much more invested and interested in the outcome. Still, the court politics and alliances are not always clear, the use of lustre seems haphazard, and Ash herself seems to change course or act unreasonably more often than is helpful.

Overall, I liked the book, but felt that it was much too long and could have used a lot more clarity in terms of laying out the players, the stakes, and the background. When the plot picks up, there are some exciting moments, but inconsistencies and actions that are illogical take away from the bigger-picture impact.

As a Cinderella retelling, Thief Liar Lady provides some clever twists on the story, and I enjoyed it enough to see it through, despite my reservations.