The scheming thief. The relentless knight. And the dark forest where a fairytale hides…The ThiefIn the Kingdom of Autumn, Aspen is a girl on the run. She’s a girl who knows her way around a lie.She’s the scheming thief who has stolen from the Crown.The KnightFrom the shadows of a castle, Aire is a man in pursuit. He’s a man who sees through Aspen’s treachery.He’s the relentless knight hunting … sees through Aspen’s treachery.
He’s the relentless knight hunting her down.
The Forest
In a fairytale woodland, a pair of mismatched souls are thrown together—only to find an unexpected bond.
Both deceitful and passionate.
Lie is the third book in the Foolish Kingdoms fantasy series by Natalia Jaster. If you like snarky heroines, fierce alpha heroes, and slow-burn enemies-to-lovers romance, this loose retelling of Pinocchio will enchant you. Pick up your copy now!
Mature young adult/new adult: sexual content and language. For readers 17 and older.
“Natalia Jaster has a unique way of writing that bewitches from the very first word.” -USA Today Best Selling Author Frost Kay
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“Happy, new, restored”
“Once upon a time, there lived a liar. In the Kingdom of Autumn, she’d been crafted from the trees and had a nut-shaped heart. She was conceited. She was mean. And yes, she told lies. A hell of a lot. Why would this girl deserve a fairytale of her own?”
Lie, just as it’s predecessors, was for sure one of a kind. Unlike the previous books however it had its own special and wonderfully strange kind of fairytale twist to it. Quite obviously Pinocchio being the great inspiration and main theme to the story, yet Lie’s unpredictable plot and unique messages behind it had it standing completely on its own two wooden legs. Writing and storytelling-wise, the book was excellent.
Since I was disappointed with Dare, Lie was a wonderful redemption and continuation to the series, hooking me to the story from page one. What had me drawn to it was mostly Aspen with her deceitfulness, spunk and marionette appearance. But also Aire’s very much polar opposite truthful personality and how that played out with their first shaky meeting. The tension between them and the enemies to lovers aspect was so compelling and worked so well with their personalities as well as the development of them and the plot. Unlike Dare I actually got much stronger personal traits which made the character so much more relatable and realistic. In turn it made growth of the relationship feel more natural. All in all, it was an addictive romance as well as a thrilling read.
Like Dare however I still feel like I missed out on key parts of the development, of Aire and Aspen getting over their differences and growing closer. It just wasn’t as apparent as it was in the previous book. While Natalia Jaster is an amazing author she has the habit to jump in time and recap the events, which isn’t necessarily or always a bad thing to do. But it has to be the right things that get recapped, like if they’re just traveling for a day or in general something uneventful. I wouldn’t like to read pages of it anyways. It is when significant and important moments to the story, in this case the progress of the relationship, gets skipped and then just mentioned as an afterthought that I feel like I missed out. If I as a reader don’t see and get to follow along as the relationship builds up then I am also not going to believe or feel like their feelings for each other are authentic. Of course, since I still managed to fall in love with both the characters and the romance it really redeemed itself in the bigger dramatic moments, especially the amazing ending to the story. It was mainly just the beginning when they started to become friends that I didn’t fully get to see.
There was however one friendship that was developed beautifully and that was between Aspen and Nicu. I liked that Nicu, and even Briar and Poet, had bigger roles in this book than in the previous and it was interesting seeing him as a grown teenager. Nicu being so easily lovable with his overly friendly personality, struggles with his affliction and need for adventure, it felt so natural with him becoming fast friends with wild Aspen and playing a bigger part in the plot. Also, Nicu falling in love with a brooding eremite constantly giving him the cold shoulder was possibly the most heartbreaking thing for me in the story. The way things were left in Lie with him and Lyrik really amped up the excitement and expectations for the next installment. As it seems like it will take place in Winter, hopefully Jeryn and Flare might make an appearance as well.
That Lie follows the main theme of the Pinocchio tale makes me wonder if the previous books had their own fairytale theme that I completely missed while reading. If so, the theme wasn’t as obvious as in this book. Now after, I can guess that Dare is inspired by the Little Mermaid with the mute girl loving the ocean, the prince from a distant land and him being saved from a shipwreck and later on falling in love with the girl. However if Trick has any inspiration I have difficulty seeing what it might be. Aladdin perhaps? Since she is the princess and he the “street rat” growing in power and in the end rising to equal rights as the princess. That is the only tale I can think of even remotely close. However I might just be reading too much into it and the only fairytale book is Liar. I guess the next book will disclose that for me. After this amazing story, I can’t wait to read Dream!