THE DECEIVER’S HEART, by Jennifer A. Nielsen, Scholastic, Feb. 26, 2019, Hardcover, $17.99 (young adult)
In February 2018, Jennifer A. Nielsen introduced readers to a new heroine in The Traitor’s Game. Kestra Dallistor returned to readers’ consciousness this February in The Deceiver’s Heart.
In The Traitor’s Game, you meet Kestra Dallisor who is being used as a pawn by Lord Endrick and a band of rebels who want to see Endrick overthrown. Kestra has spent three years exiled to the Lava Fields. When Lord Endrick summons her home, Kestra has no choice but return.
The rebels kidnap Kestra as she journeys home, and they give her a choice — help them or she and her servants die. The kidnappers want her to retrieve the lost Olden Blade, the only object that can destroy Endrick.
Kestra reluctantly agrees, and then works to undermine the kidnappers. But the deeper Kestra becomes involved, the more she learns. Soon, Kestra finds herself falling for Simon, the young rebel who is assigned to watch over her. By the end, Kestra’s way of thinking is on the opposite side of where she started.
In The Deceiver’s Heart, Kestra attempts to destroy Lord Endrick with the Olden Blade. Despite her strength, Kestra fails and falls under the king’s control. Lord Endrick strips Kestra of her memory and forces her to obey him. On the other side of things, Simon is desperate to restore Kestra to the girl he fell in love with, even if that means going against everyone and everything he’s ever cared about.
Though I wish I could give you more information about The Deceiver’s Heart, I won’t. That’s because like its predecessor, readers deserve a chance to watch the story unfold on their own.
What I can say, though, is that The Deceiver’s Heart is definitely worth your time. I do wish that I had reread The Traitor’s Game prior to reading its sequel. As always, Jennifer’s prose and pacing are spot on. Her world building is strong and her characters are well developed. I’m genuinely looking forward to the next book in this series.
