Evelina | AvalinahsBooks's Reviews > Thief Liar Lady

How I read this: Free ebook copy received through NetGalley

This might be one of my favorite retellings now. It was very chill at first, and I thought it would go on like that, but in the second part of the book, things just went wild and I never expected it. Everything slotted into place so well that by the end I'd decided that I'm going to give it 5 stars after all, and not the 4 I'd planned previously. It's a lovely story.

This book was very engrossing, and very emotional. It definitely transported me into a court full of intrigue and secrets. The plot is actually more serious than just a Cinderella story - I definitely enjoyed that. It was a quick read as well, just a couple of evenings and I breezed through the story.

The story had quite a lot of strong and capable female characters as well, and I loved that. I also know that I spent half the book trying to decide whether this is YA or not, and I don't think it is. While the main character is 18, I also think it's a little bit of an afterthought, because nobody else is - everyone else is a lot older, with a lot more baggage. (There is also a very open steamy scene, although that's not always an obstacle to YA.) And while it does have that YA dynamic, it's still sort of like a good mix between a YA and adult novel, if you know what I mean? Things are unfolding slower and in a less provocative manner than YA will usually have it, but it still has that sense of adventure that you look for in a good YA book, and it's also a retelling of a fairytale, which is often a thing you'll find in YA. Interesting format, and I liked it.

Definitely worth a read!

I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy of the ebook in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.

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