The Heart of Betrayal by Mary E. Pearson

The Heart of Betrayal (The Remnant Chronicles #2) by Mary E. Pearson
Publication date: July 7th 2015
Publisher: Henry Holt & Co.
Format: Audiobook via Audible
Buy it here: Amazon, The Book Depository

Goodreads Description

Held captive in the barbarian kingdom of Venda, Lia and Rafe have little chance of escape. Desperate to save her life, Lia's erstwhile assassin, Kaden, has told the Vendan Komizar that she has the gift, and the Komizar's interest in Lia is greater than anyone could have foreseen. 

Meanwhile, nothing is straightforward: there's Rafe, who lied to Lia, but has sacrificed his freedom to protect her; Kaden, who meant to assassinate her but has now saved her life; and the Vendans, whom Lia always believed to be barbarians. Now that she lives amongst them, however, she realises that may be far from the truth. Wrestling with her upbringing, her gift, and her sense of self, Lia must make powerful choices that will affect her country... and her own destiny.

This review may contain spoilers for the first book.

That ending was absolutely heartwrenching! Mary E. Pearson impressed me with the first book of The Remnant Chronicles, The Kiss of Deception, but she impressed me even more with The Heart of Betrayal. There's something about her writing that draws me in; that makes me want to delve deep into this world she has created. Not once was I bored while reading this book. Everything had a purpose, every chapter contained snippets of information that eventually became relevant later on. This made for a very 'complete' book and a VERY satisfying read.

“We had a terrible start… doesn’t mean we can’t have a better ending.” 

Princess Lia, First Daughter of the House of Morrighan, has found herself in the Kingdom of Venda among those she had always believed to be barbarians. All of a sudden she once again finds herself pushed back into the limelight as a prisoner of war - a victory for the Vendans and a showpiece for the Komizar who is the invincible and power-hungry leader of the Vendan people.

Lia has 99 problems, and the Komizar is definitely one. That's disgustingly cliché of me, but it's true. Haha!

We see Lia's character grow even more throughout this book. She learns how to wield in her favour the manipulation that's constantly thrown at her. Her amiable nature attracts many of the Vendans towards her, many of whom show her great loyalty and respect in a place where she's supposed to be despised. She's witty and observant, but at times she's too bold for her own good. She's quite a complex character as you never truly know what she's going to do next. She readily plays the men at their own games and learns many skills which I've no doubt would be useful to her if she ever became Queen.

We still don't know much about her gift, but it caught me off guard when I  found out she's not the only main character who possesses it! Who is it? You'll have to find out for yourself ;)

In my opinion, this series hasn't been raved about enough.

I highly recommend the audiobook version as the narrators did a fantastic job. Emily Rankin had the perfect voice for Lia and I found myself engrossed in the story for hours because the narrators kept me submerged in the world.

Rafe - I was 100% team Rafe throughout the whole book until the end when I started to sway between him and Kaden. I still think I'm team Rafe though.

Kaden - God, he was so unpredictable! Throughout I was asking myself, is he loyal to Lia or will his loyalty to the Komizar win? At times I felt sorry for him, but then I remembered why Lia was in Venda in the first place. 

Calantha - I hated her, then I loved her. There's so much more to see from her and I really do hope we get to see more of her in the next books - that we get to see more of the REAL Calantha. 

Aster - Probably my favourite character in The Heart of Betrayal. She was one of the sweetest girls I've ever read in fiction. I won't say anymore about her as you'll have to experience her for yourself, but damn you Pearson!

Fantastic read.