Book Review: Traitor's Kiss

The Traitor's Kiss by Erin Beaty

Released: May 9th, 2017
Publisher: Imprint
Pages: 352
Format: Paperback, ARC

Summary from Goodreads:

An obstinate girl who will not be married. 
A soldier desperate to prove himself. 
A kingdom on the brink of war.

With a sharp tongue and an unruly temper, Sage Fowler is not what they’d call a lady―which is perfectly fine with her. Deemed unfit for marriage, Sage is apprenticed to a matchmaker and tasked with wrangling other young ladies to be married off for political alliances. She spies on the girls―and on the soldiers escorting them.

As the girls' military escort senses a political uprising, Sage is recruited by a handsome soldier to infiltrate the enemy ranks. The more she discovers as a spy, the less certain she becomes about whom to trust―and Sage becomes caught in a dangerous balancing act that will determine the fate of her kingdom.


Review:

Going into this book, I was expecting it to be almost exactly like a Jane Austen novel. And it was, for the most part. The language was very "olde timey" and it had a feel for a classical love story. The twist being, that the main female lead is stronger than that of Austen's typical heroines, and that shes a spy. 

This novel was a fun read, but was reeeaaaallllllyyyy slow to get into. I am a HUGE Austen fan, and was excited to read a YA "version" of her work. But this was tough. Since I don't believe in DNFing anything, I pushed through. And it got really good. Once the action started, it kept moving, and it kept me at the edge of my toes. But like I said, it was really long to get into.

My favourite part of this book was (of course), the strong female lead. Sage is loud and very unladylike. She does what she wants, when she wants it. It's really easy to like her, because of the rich backstory that she has (very tragic, very Jane Austen). She falls in love with a soldier, and the road to true love is very rocky. 

The only thing novel/plot wise that made me really upset was the confusing strategy that the soldiers used, where they switched their names to stay undercover. As you could probably tell, it got confusing FAST. It was really hard to keep who was who straight. Other than that, it was a fun read, and I'll probably look out for book two. 

Favourite Quote:  “We don’t always like what’s good for us,” she said. “Especially at first.” 
― Erin Beaty, The Traitor's Kiss

Rating: 7.5/10

Recommended for people who enjoy: spy novels, romance, Jane Austen, historical fiction

Happy Reading,
Mari