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collsin05's review
adventurous
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.75
rat_girl_'s review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
iris_sel's review
It just felt like an unnecessary sequel and literally nothing happened in the first third of the book.
etkahler's review
2.0
2017 Reading Challenge #24: Set in the wilderness. Stretching this one too, but she does spend a good amount of time wandering in the woods.
inlibrisveritas's review
4.0
Deception’s Pawn picks up shortly after Deception’s Princess leaves off, with Princess Maeve entering into fosterage at Lord Artegal’s home in hopes of finding Ea again and of preventing her father in using her as a pawn piece.
Maeve is still that fiery girl who would willingly chase down a bull to prove a point, but she’s faced with new challenges during her fosterage and they are unlike anything she’s faced before. She makes new friends in her foster sisters, but learns that not all friends are so easily tendered and kept as she had hoped. I loved seeing her weather through cruelties and jests, and it was nice to see that held her own in her own way. She’s incredibly diplomatic and has a good head on her shoulders, and despite making mistakes she always seeks to correct them when she is able. Plus Maeve is capable, intelligent, and willing to go that extra length to make sure her people are happy. She task risks, some of them a bit brash, but she always tries to do what she thinks is right. My one complaint about this situation with her foster sisters is that I would have loved to see them form a stronger bond, because there are too few books out there with strong female friendships that are not tainted with underhanded insults and catty-ness.
Maeve also has to deal with the hearts of two young men, which is deftly tries to fend off at every available opportunity and finds herself unsure of her resolve. Kian and Conchobar are both rather full of themselves, and like to mark territory, but Maeve has them stumped. Every loaded compliment is met with humor and a change of subject, and in the end I think I warmed up to the two of them. Despite their rather brash nature at times both are incredibly caring in their own ways, though they could probably work on it a bit more. That being said there is no true love triangle in this, and I appreciate the inclusion of these boys and the way Maeve handled each moment of self doubt, confusion, and attraction with poise and dignity.And that ending! It’s so fitting for Maeve and everything she works to stand for!
I am so glad I recieved both of these books for review because I’ve found a new author. Esther Friesner has such rich and detailed writing that the story simply draws you in and before you know it you’re done and looking for more! I would say that Deception’s Pawn is an excellent finish to the duology, and though I’m said to see Maeve’s story end I’m really happy I got the chance to read it.
Maeve is still that fiery girl who would willingly chase down a bull to prove a point, but she’s faced with new challenges during her fosterage and they are unlike anything she’s faced before. She makes new friends in her foster sisters, but learns that not all friends are so easily tendered and kept as she had hoped. I loved seeing her weather through cruelties and jests, and it was nice to see that held her own in her own way. She’s incredibly diplomatic and has a good head on her shoulders, and despite making mistakes she always seeks to correct them when she is able. Plus Maeve is capable, intelligent, and willing to go that extra length to make sure her people are happy. She task risks, some of them a bit brash, but she always tries to do what she thinks is right. My one complaint about this situation with her foster sisters is that I would have loved to see them form a stronger bond, because there are too few books out there with strong female friendships that are not tainted with underhanded insults and catty-ness.
Maeve also has to deal with the hearts of two young men, which is deftly tries to fend off at every available opportunity and finds herself unsure of her resolve. Kian and Conchobar are both rather full of themselves, and like to mark territory, but Maeve has them stumped. Every loaded compliment is met with humor and a change of subject, and in the end I think I warmed up to the two of them. Despite their rather brash nature at times both are incredibly caring in their own ways, though they could probably work on it a bit more. That being said there is no true love triangle in this, and I appreciate the inclusion of these boys and the way Maeve handled each moment of self doubt, confusion, and attraction with poise and dignity.And that ending! It’s so fitting for Maeve and everything she works to stand for!
I am so glad I recieved both of these books for review because I’ve found a new author. Esther Friesner has such rich and detailed writing that the story simply draws you in and before you know it you’re done and looking for more! I would say that Deception’s Pawn is an excellent finish to the duology, and though I’m said to see Maeve’s story end I’m really happy I got the chance to read it.
padme's review
2.0
I was rather disappointed by this book, to be honest. All of Esther Friesner's books have drawn me in, made me fall in love with the characters, the setting, the story. I enjoyed the first book of the series, Deception's Princess, but as for this one...
The characters bored me. Even Maeve grew incredibly boring this book, doing next to nothing. She bore the abuses she received with next to no complaint, though the Maeve I knew first book would have taken them kicking and screaming.
I liked Kian as a side character, and I wish Esther had thought to use his potential to be something other than a romantic interest. Him and Conchobar both had potential to grow extremely, but they remained stagnant throughout the book, only there because they were a romantic interest for Maeve. Kian wasn't even involved with Ea, near the end, he was only there when the plot suited for him to be jealous, over-protective, or to do something with Bryd.
Conchobar was even worse. Maeve's absolute hatred morphed him into her greatest friend the moment he gave her news about her sister. It was clumsy, and I hated him as a love interest. There was no reason for either of them to like the other, and he was only there to add to the love triangle, it seemed as if he had no other purpose.
And when they brought Odran back, it was almost too much. Now there's three boys completely head over heels for Maeve, completely filled with jealousy over her. Wonderful.
In fact, there was hardly a male in the novel who wasn't simply used as a love interest for Maeve, other than Kian's friend who served as a romantic interest for someone else.
The girls' behaviour towards Maeve was also extremely disappointing. Maeve didn't get a single good relationship with a female throughout either novel. I would have liked to see at least one.
The girls were also completely two dimensional. They had certain points that were told over and over again, and they didn't grow throughout the novel, except for the arrival of Bryg.
It was also rather repetitive. Girls are mean to Maeve, Maeve gets upset, girls laugh and claim it was all a joke, Maeve forgives them. It got rather tiring after about the seventh time.
The only actual plot twist was that Kiran was the brother of Bryg. But honestly, that undermined a character I really enjoyed in the first book. And I doubt that Maeve's father, fearful as he was of bards, would allow the son of a bard be killed just to teach his daughter a lesson. And I doubt that Kiran and Bryg's father would have been completely alright with it.
Another thing that bothered was me was how after the first while, the girls and everyone else seemed to completely forget that Maeve was the High King's daughter and that they weren't supposed to offend her. Especially after tiptoeing around her for the first bit, they transitioned rather quickly.
I found the climax to be rather sloppy as well, with Maeve emerging from the cave with her father's sword. And how everyone accepted this without question. There was no asking about the "other world" or anything of that sort, everyone just went on with their lives despite being awed and slightly afraid of Maeve. And why would Maeve have even had her father's sword with her? It made a lovely picture, but you'd think at least someone would have thought that it seemed odd that she hadn't had it at the time of her disappearance but she had it now. And I doubt that Maeve would be so sacrilegious as to do something like that.
Didn't her father have enemies? Didn't one f them see their plan failing and try to stop it from doing so? No, they all simply sat there and watched in silence. It's not as if any of them really wanted the crown anyway, after all. It was all just a joke. What a silly Maeve, taking a simple joke so seriously!
The characters bored me. Even Maeve grew incredibly boring this book, doing next to nothing. She bore the abuses she received with next to no complaint, though the Maeve I knew first book would have taken them kicking and screaming.
I liked Kian as a side character, and I wish Esther had thought to use his potential to be something other than a romantic interest. Him and Conchobar both had potential to grow extremely, but they remained stagnant throughout the book, only there because they were a romantic interest for Maeve. Kian wasn't even involved with Ea, near the end, he was only there when the plot suited for him to be jealous, over-protective, or to do something with Bryd.
Conchobar was even worse. Maeve's absolute hatred morphed him into her greatest friend the moment he gave her news about her sister. It was clumsy, and I hated him as a love interest. There was no reason for either of them to like the other, and he was only there to add to the love triangle, it seemed as if he had no other purpose.
And when they brought Odran back, it was almost too much. Now there's three boys completely head over heels for Maeve, completely filled with jealousy over her. Wonderful.
In fact, there was hardly a male in the novel who wasn't simply used as a love interest for Maeve, other than Kian's friend who served as a romantic interest for someone else.
The girls' behaviour towards Maeve was also extremely disappointing. Maeve didn't get a single good relationship with a female throughout either novel. I would have liked to see at least one.
The girls were also completely two dimensional. They had certain points that were told over and over again, and they didn't grow throughout the novel, except for the arrival of Bryg.
It was also rather repetitive. Girls are mean to Maeve, Maeve gets upset, girls laugh and claim it was all a joke, Maeve forgives them. It got rather tiring after about the seventh time.
The only actual plot twist was that Kiran was the brother of Bryg. But honestly, that undermined a character I really enjoyed in the first book. And I doubt that Maeve's father, fearful as he was of bards, would allow the son of a bard be killed just to teach his daughter a lesson. And I doubt that Kiran and Bryg's father would have been completely alright with it.
Another thing that bothered was me was how after the first while, the girls and everyone else seemed to completely forget that Maeve was the High King's daughter and that they weren't supposed to offend her. Especially after tiptoeing around her for the first bit, they transitioned rather quickly.
I found the climax to be rather sloppy as well, with Maeve emerging from the cave with her father's sword. And how everyone accepted this without question. There was no asking about the "other world" or anything of that sort, everyone just went on with their lives despite being awed and slightly afraid of Maeve. And why would Maeve have even had her father's sword with her? It made a lovely picture, but you'd think at least someone would have thought that it seemed odd that she hadn't had it at the time of her disappearance but she had it now. And I doubt that Maeve would be so sacrilegious as to do something like that.
Didn't her father have enemies? Didn't one f them see their plan failing and try to stop it from doing so? No, they all simply sat there and watched in silence. It's not as if any of them really wanted the crown anyway, after all. It was all just a joke. What a silly Maeve, taking a simple joke so seriously!
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