Book Review: The Deceiver's Heart (The Traitor's Game #2)

The Deceiver's Heart
Jennifer A. Nielsen
4/5

The Overview

So honestly, when I started reading this book I couldn't really remember the events of the first book. It has a very basic plot, with a lot of tropes that are pretty overdone in the YA world. Especially the names, like Kestra is so close to Kestrel from The Winner's Curse along with it also being the typical rebel-overthrows-the-kingdom type thing that I really struggled. But after reading the synopsis of the first and a few of the reviews, I had a better grasp of where we were and I remembered how much I loved Simon and Kestra. As a romance, they aren't super original or anything, the "forget everything but a vague sense of caring sentiment for the other protagonist" was also done in The Winner's Curse trilogy, but I honestly wasn't complaining because let's be real, many of the YA books aren't winning for their originality.
I think that I rated the first book three stars, so I thought that this one was very obviously better. Like obviously this is a fantasy book, but the last book had hardly any magic elements. Now, that isn't necessary to fantasy, but it just felt more like a war and rebellion type novel. This one had much more in terms of magic and magic training, Kestra coming to terms with her heritage and how she could one day blend her two sides to help everyone.

Why isn't it a five star read? 

Well I feel like there were obvious moments when Nielsen makes a lot of cheap plays in her attempts to make the plot more interesting. Harlyn was introduced (at this point) pretty much solely to make Kestra jealous and to play the stereotypical mean girl. I hate that, like she doesn't have to be written so pettily and that just felt cheap and cliche in a bad way.

How was the ending?

The ending was a cliffhanger! The book moves a little slowly at points, but I think it earned itself a higher rating through making me want to continue the trilogy.

Would I recommend?

Overall, a quick read with a cute and clean romance. I would recommend to anyone into that classic overturn-the-government plot with the benefit of some cool magic.