Book Review: The Kiss of Deception by Mary Pearson

Release Date: July 8, 2014
Publisher: Henry Holt & Co. 
Pages: 486
Received: ARC from publisher, via NetGalley
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

I really, really, really didn't like this book. I feel like there have been a million reviews for The Kiss of Deception lately and I'm so bleurgh about the book overall so I'm going for the bullet points.

Here we go, seven reasons I did not like The Kiss of Deception:

1. LOVE TRIANGLE. This one was especially insufferable. Lia gets to choose between an aimlessly moody prince with a bland personality and a wishy washy assassin who isn't assassiny enough to be cool but is way too assissiny for Lia to actually consider as a romantic partner (unless she's lost her mind, which, well, more on that later). Both choices are awful and shouldn't even be on the table for consideration, yet Lia somehow manages to fall for both of them. Can you hear me face-palming?

2. Lia is not very bright. You know how sometimes authors make their characters do unrealistically stupid things in order to advance the plot? Yeah, The Kiss of Deception is kind of the opposite of that. The plot is incredibly unrealistic in order to accommodate Lia's blinding stupidity. So, Lia's decision to run away from home (that would be, her ROYAL home), shirk her duties (which would be entering into a political alliance through marriage) and play barmaid in a tavern a few towns over? Yeah, no one will look for her, or find her!

SPOILER (except her brother, who finds her pretty fast...and lets her stay there because, um, royal responsibility is for suckers so enjoy shlepping drinks and crushing on the locals?)

3. Three quarters of the (very long) book is spent doing absolutely nothing. Also, incredibly uneven plotting. Where was the editor?

4. Total cliffhanger ending. Don't think I can be manipulated into reading book 2 by dangling all those loose ends in my face. I don't care enough about anything in this book to bother reading the next one, cliffhanger or no cliffhanger.

5. Lia destroyed a priceless historical heirloom. As a lover of history, antiques, and all such things I literally gasped when Lia casually discarded this object in a scene that I think was supposed to make her seem "free spirited" but just made her seem childish.

6. The world building was seriously lacking. Sporadic allusions to political disputes (with no substance), impending war (with no legit cause), and the existence of some kind of magic stuff all set in a generic Medieval-ish village does not constitute proper world building. Inserting vague story excerpts randomly throughout the narrative also does not constitute world building. Even if it's written in italics.

7. Look, I'm totally cool with unreliable narrators, but they have to be done right. When done right, they can completely make a book. There's so much wrong with the way it was done in The Kiss of Deception. It was obvious, but less because there were clues and more because it was handled in an awkward, clunky way. Absolutely nothing changed once it was revealed so I don't really see what the point of it was to begin with.

Bottom line

Awful. Disappointing. Almost enough to make me swear off this author if she hadn't also written the fantastic The Adoration of Jenna Fox.

Explanation of rating system: Star Rating Key 

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Book Review: The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson

The Adoration of Jenna Fox, by Mary E. Pearson
Release Date: April 29, 2008
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Pages: 265
Received: Library book
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars 

Author's Page
Amazon Page 
Goodreads Page

 Summary

Seventeen year old Jenna Fox awakens from a year-long coma with no memory of who she was or the accident that led to her coma. At home with her father, mother, and grandmother, Jenna is shown home videos of herself to try to awaken her memories. As Jenna slowly discovers who she was through the videos and fragments of memories, she begins to realize things do not add up. When Jenna brings these questions to her parents, their responses are strange and filled with non-answers. What was the situation surrounding the accident? Why are Jenna’s parents acting so strangely? But, most importantly, who is Jenna Fox?

Review

To me, the best books are the ones that attach themselves to me in a way that lasts well beyond my memory of the specific plot details. Something about the book—a scene, a character, a thought or emotion—something grabs onto my heart and never lets go. They enrich my life, jumping out of the confines of paper and ink to fundamentally affect me on a personal level. These are the books that, years later, just the mere mention of the title or simply the sight of the cover will trigger those feelings in me. Suddenly I am transported back in time and my feelings for the book are as strong as the first time I experienced them.

The Adoration of Jenna Fox is one such book. Just writing this review, I find myself fighting back great gulping sobs of both joy and sadness. I want to run to the people I love and never let them go. This book has touched me on so many levels. Though my review can never do justice, I hope it can at least inspire someone to read this amazing story. I can’t tell you much, that would be giving away too much and a large part of the experience is the slow realization of what is really going on. I can’t rob you of that experience (please, don’t read plot synopses or reviews that give away the story.There are spoilers all over the internet!).

I can tell you the book is short and a standalone. The chapters are only a few pages long, and the pacing is brisk. The mystery is intriguing. Hints are dropped early on, and clues are uncovered at a speed that is slow enough to keep you wondering but fast enough to keep you satisfied. The big reveal is stunning. This is a book that can be easily finished in one sitting. Those are the facts I can tell you. Beyond that, I can only share my personal response to the story. I hope that doesn’t make for a lame review.

It is no small task, sharing these feelings. I am overwhelmed, but in the best possible way. How do you put words to such powerful emotions? Emotions that strike you at the core, where no words exist? How do you write about a situation that cuts to your deepest feelings and then pits them against your deepest fears? The characters in this book may not be real and they may be dealing with a situation I will likely never face, and yet they are completely real and their situation is one that every person can relate to on some level. The literal situation may not be one we will experience, but the emotions of the situation are universal to anyone who deeply loves another.

Jenna is the perfect narrator for the story. Her voice believably captures the confusion, alienation, and youth of her character. Her narration is as beautiful as it is painful. My heart breaks for her and, on some level, I love her. There are so many issues brought up in this book. Layers upon layers, touching on subjects we can approach intellectually and others we can only feel in the deepest, most visceral part of our cores. Each topic touched upon forces you to question your own feelings and opinions: Would you agree with one character? Would you make the decisions another character made?

There are no easy answers. There are ethical dilemmas. There are situations that make you question what is right legally, and what is right personally. There are questions of selfishness and selflessness. There are questions that are philosophical, and questions that are theoretical. There are questions we deal with right now, and questions we will face just over the horizon. There are questions that cannot be answered intellectually; they transcend thought, instead coming from your gut in a primal, purely emotional way.

What would you do? What decision would you make? The book is constantly pushing these questions in front of you, but never arguing one way or the other. Events are resolved one way, but Pearson does not pass judgment on whether this is the right way; it is just a way. Pearson presents all sides and all possibilities in a way that leaves you understanding and sympathizing with all of the characters, even the ones you may ultimately disagree with. In the end, the questions remain in your mind long after the last page is turned and Jenna’s situation decided because they are not just Jenna’s questions, they are yours.

 Explanation of rating system: Star Rating Key 

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Cover review of The Adoration of Jenna Fox

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Cover Review (3) The Adoration of Jenna Fox

Cover Crazy is a weekly meme hosted by Tawni at The Book Worms where a beautiful cover is featured each week for all of us to admire. I am going to use my Cover Crazy posts as an opportunity to review a book cover I love or review any cover (even the ones I don't love) from a book I've read. This week's Cover Crazy is for a cover I both love and have read the book: The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson. 

I find both covers for this book to be incredibly striking. Both conjure a number of questions, making me want to open the book and find out the answers. From a design standpoint, I applaud the people who designed these covers. I’m terrible in that I almost 100% judge a book by its cover. In this case, the designers created two covers that are both visually pleasing and make me really curious about the story. Already I have positive impressions of the book and I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy and start reading. That is exactly what a book cover should do. 

The cover on the left is the US hardcover and the first to be published here. The dominant color that catches my eye is a vivid blue from the butterfly. My first question arises: What is the significance of the butterfly? Butterflies are beautiful, but they are also fragile. Do these qualities reflect something about Jenna Fox? Butterflies also represent metamorphosis, though they are the final stage of that change. If this butterfly somehow represents Jenna, then what change did she go through? Will her final form be as fleeting as a butterfly?

The hand underneath the butterfly further connects these images to Jenna Fox by showing a tangible connection between the butterfly and the person. The hand rests under the butterfly, however, and it is mostly obscured. As I read the story, I discovered the significance of the butterfly encompasses these metaphors, but it also represents something much more integral to the story that I never would have guessed. This something else makes the prominent placement of the butterfly over the hand have so much more meaning. I bet you’re curious now, huh?

The final part of this cover that stood out to me was the tagline: "How far would you go to save someone you love?" On its own, that is a powerful question that demands an answer. But the answer can’t ever be a simple one, can it? How far would you go? I wondered how the characters would be faced with this question and what their answers would be.  Would I agree with them?

The second cover is the US paperback edition, which came out a year after the hardcover edition. This cover offers more of a direction to the story, but it still brings to mind a host of questions.

The tagline here says something very different from the hardcover edition. Here it reads: "She wasn’t supposed to survive the accident. But she did." Now we know there is an accident involved somehow, and apparently a very bad one. The first question that springs to my mind is how did she survive? Did something shady happen? Did something paranormal intervene? I had no clue, but I really wanted to find out. I also wondered about the nature of the accident, because we know something pretty horrific must have happened.

The puzzle pieces underscore the sense of mystery here. I have so many questions just from looking at the cover alone, and here the cover is almost toying with me by saying, “Why yes, this is a mystery for you to figure out!” Gee thanks, but, you know what? I now really, really want to know what’s going on.

The final part of this cover that stood out to me was the color blue. The cover is almost devoid of all color, but that bright blue really pops out. It sits under her skin almost glowing. The pattern looks almost like something I would associate with a computer or a cell under a microscope. What is the significance? Why is it under the puzzle pieces of her face? Does it mean something, or did the cover designer just think it looked cool and paranormal?

The blue color seems extra important when put in context with the bright blue butterfly on the hardcover edition. At this point, I’m thinking the color blue must have some kind of significance here, though the contrast between the organic butterfly and the almost electronic blue under the puzzle pieces make for a strange and intriguing contrast.

So how badly are you dying to know the answers to these questions? You can read my The Adoration of Jenna Fox review, but don't count on me spilling all the beans! You’ll just have to read the book to find out. 

What do you think when you see these covers? Do you like one more than the other?  Do these covers make you want to read the book, or do they turn you off? 

Interested in covers? Be sure to check out another Cover Crazy post by Gina at her blog My Precious.

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