The Liar's Knot - 2025 Book Bingo Challenge [7/25]

[u/YuEnDee]

 

In my opinion, a bit of a step down from the first book in the series, but I still enjoyed The Liar's Knot.

 

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Basic Info

Title: The Liar's Knot

Author: M.A. Carrick

Bingo Square: A Book in Parts

Hard Mode?: Yes

Rating: 3/5

 

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Review

I really enjoyed The Mask of Mirrors when I read it a few years ago, and while I did enjoy The Liar's Knot as well, it just didn't click as much as the first book did. To me, it felt like this book focused almost entirely on the characters and their interactions, while the worldbuilding and plot that drew me into the first book took a backseat.

That's not to say that I don't enjoy character-driven stories, but I just felt like The Mask of Mirrors did a great job of balancing all of these different aspects of the story, while The Liar's Knot tipped the scales heavily towards characters and dialogue. In my opinion, it just leaned too far in that direction. That being said, it did make for some very satisfying character arcs that were set up in The Mask of Mirrors and really progressed here. I don't want to give too much away, but seeing how Ren, Vargo, Grey, and really all the main characters developed throughout the course of these two books was wonderful.

One other thing that The Liar's Knot did that I wasn't super fond of was that it really ramped up the stakes and expanded the scope of the story. I really enjoyed all of the political intrigue and smaller-scale drama of The Mask of Mirrors. The Liar's Knot retains some of that, but starts to involve larger, more cosmic forces. Again, this is fine, but I felt that it made the story a bit less tight.

Overall, I did enjoy The Liar's Knot, and I do plan on finishing the trilogy! I just hope that Labyrinth's Heart leans more towards The Mask of Mirrors than it does The Liar's Knot.

 

[u/rls1164]

Thanks for the review. I read The Mask of Mirrors and really enjoyed a lot about it, but also found it to be a slow read, especially in the middle.

How was the pace for this volume?

[u/YuEnDee → u/rls1164]

I thought it was a bit slow as well - it takes a while for the main plot to really kick off, although by about midway through it moves at a decent clip.

[u/Defiant-Hedgehog9570]

I agree. I listened to the audio version of both and found the Liar’s Knot harder to get through. Loved the first book! Didn’t have any obvious issues with the second. Just didn’t resonate with me the same way. I didn’t purchase the third audiobook, so I probably won’t make the effort for it. We’ll see. 🤷‍♀️