An obstinate girl who will not be married. A soldier desperate to prove himself. A kingdom on the brink of war. With a sharp tongue and an unruly temper, Sage Fowler is not what they d call a lady which is perfectly fine with her. Deemed unfit for marriage, Sage is apprenticed to a matchmaker and tasked with wrangling other young ladies to be married off for political alliances. She spies on the … alliances. She spies on the girls and on the soldiers escorting them.
As the girls’ military escort senses a political uprising, Sage is recruited by a handsome soldier to infiltrate the enemy ranks. The more she discovers as a spy, the less certain she becomes about whom to trust and Sage becomes caught in a dangerous balancing act that will determine the fate of her kingdom.
With secret identities and a tempestuous romance, The Traitor s Kiss is Jane Austen with an espionage twist.
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That plot twist tho…
Was not expecting that.
I really wanted to like this book but it became more bland to me and I wasn’t invested in learning what would happen at the end of the story or about the characters. The Traitor’s Kiss is nothing more than a retelling of Mulan, but with white people. Sage was a very hard character to like with her quick temper and her annoying knack for being able to figure out every single thing in the story just by observing. Either Sage has a supernatural ability or shes so boring all she has to do for entertainment is to stalk other people and manipulate innocent children for information.
So yea this book was a major let down.
Obviously this novel is not completely realistic because it is more fantasy than anything (though not the fairy, vampire, or magic kind of fantasy – more like different time period, different world) but I was very drawn into the story. It does have it’s cheesy and too-easy moments, and that’s why I docked a star rating, but I was captivated by the overall story-line and really could just not put it down.
It took me a few chapters to get into this book, but I’m so glad I did! I devoured the other two books in the series because I just HAD to know what happened. I found some of the detail a bit overwhelming, but the world building was so well done it felt real
This book just wasn’t my cup of tea. For some reason (the cover, perhaps?), I thought this was more of a fantasy series with a strong female protagonist involved in royal espionage, so I was surprised to jump in and find what felt strongly like a Mulan retelling that soon gave way to a plot that was fairly low stakes and a romance I just wasn’t that invested in. The big twist felt confusing to me and even though I liked the dual perspectives, I found myself caring primarily about Sage’s perspective and wanting more of it, especially more of the girl in the first few chapters who snapped at the idea of being married and resisted societal constraints. This book reminded me a lot of The Kiss of Deception, another book I wasn’t wild about, so I think more than anything this was a case of the book just not being right for me.
I love YA fantasy books that feel like they are set in the dark ages. Though I got a little lost in the history of this world and couldn’t always keep track of different people groups and certain strategic military sequences, I really enjoyed my second time through The Traitor’s Kiss. Alex & Sage had great chemistry, and while the plot was a little slow in parts, I really enjoyed following the character’s adventures–or rather, misadventures as the case often was.
I could not get enough of this trilogy. I read them straight through and I had a serious book lull when they were over. Loved them.
This was a good book. It reminded me a lot of John Flanagan’s Ranger series. With a little more grit, romance and for an older teen. I discovered it’s a series but there is nothing I hate more than a great first book ruined by a series that can’t compete with the first book, so I think I will stop. I enjoyed this and really feel like the ending was solid. There was a bit of confusion at the first about the characters and who was who, once you read the book threw you discover why but man it was a bit hard to follow. There are also several names for each character. Sage was Sagerra Broadmoor, Sage Fowler, Starling and sometimes my Lady. I won’t even get started with the men. This was a good world building book that really had me very interested in what was going on and what was going to happen. The romance was a very slow build that was amazing near the end. Very well done. It will be interesting to see what this author does next.
A fun start to a clever, action-packed series full of spies, lies, and twists. A smart heroine worth rooting for and a swoon-worthy romance.
If you’re looking for a YA fantasy romance with action, adventure, twists and turns, this is the one!