Thief, Liar, Lady is an example of a re-telling or re-imagining done right. Technically set after Cinderella, there’s so much incorporated about the past, and the Cinderella aspects that I’m including it in the category! Keep reading this book review for my full thoughts.
Summary
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.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
Thief, Liar, Lady is inventive and captivating. Cinderella with a twist, D.L. Soria’s adult fiction debut is a story about family and dreams. About realizing the importance of love and what is worth fighting for. We can find ourselves pushed one way, our family determining what we should do – who we should be – that we lose our way. Full of subterfuge, Thief, Liar, Lady is a book about the masks we wear. About all the cracks in the surface, the escape from a gilded cage we thought we belonged in.
Ash is a character I loved from the beginning not only for the lies she has crafted, but also the ways in which she’s constantly juggling. Trying to maintain these different masks, this careful veneer, and how desperately she would just love to stop. For some reason, those characters just get to me. And don’t even get me started on the hostage prince character – I won’t spoil it for you!
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Thief, Liar, Lady is for anyone who the world called too weak, who had to don a mask to survive. For those who enjoy a story full of tension, magic, and politics. And for anyone who has ever felt like they just wanted to be seen for themselves. Find Thief, Liar, Lady on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, & Blackwells.