Lies and Prophecy

Marie Brennan

Kim is majoring in divination, but it doesn’t mean her life is clear cut. There’s signs that things aren’t going smoothly, but with no way to turn, and piles of college work, Kim doesn’t really have enough time to devote to her budding romance as well

I really liked the beginning pages and opening chapters of this novel. They drew me in, and kept my interest up. This hints and things were exactly as you should set up a novel. However The middle of the text felt like it was dragging somewhat, which I found annoying.

As always, the fact that this novel is set in a university for fascinating for me, and held my interest in the same way that the early Harry Potter books did. I just love learning things! I dabbled in some tarot and runes when I was younger (as well as wicca) and I think that this novel is quite accurate in its portrayal. Of course there is not enough there for a whole training in it though.

Although the majority of the text is told for Kim’s point of view, some is from Julien’s, which becomes more important as the text progresses. I would have found the final scenes very jarring had I not had any insight into him before. However his narration is more of a limited kind as you feel less feelings from him.

The ending was less inspiring than I had hoped. I kept checking, going “Uh oh, only 20 pages left and I don’t think they’re going to solve the problem in that time and I don’t think this is a series” and indeed it wasn’t, and I wasn’t satisfied! Yes, the hurdles they overcame made sense and made things work out well though, but there wasn’t any real resolution of conflict.

I did finish this novel, and think that I wished something had been different, but it wasn’t a bad book by any means. I wonder whether there will be more in the series, and I’ll totally read them if I can get my hands on a free copy. I probably wouldn’t opt to buy this for myself. Recommended for teenagers.

I received this novel as a free copy from somewhere (no idea where any more), but that has in no way altered my review.