Review
Evelyn Ash takes several well-known fantasy tropes and gives them a gothic vibe in A Beautifully Crafted Lie. The FMC Bryndis, a governor’s daughter, isn’t welcomed in her own blended family, which includes her stepmother and half-sister. On top of that, she’s a descendant of witches. If anyone learned about her secret or her mother’s belongings she hides, she’ll be taken away. She’s seen it happen. Right from the first chapter, we understand that Bryndis is up against society, her family, and the mysterious voice in her head.
It seems as if her best-friend-with-benefits, Declan, is the only person who has her back. When Prince Odhran comes for the yearly witch hunt, everyone, including Bryndis, is on high alert. But Bryndis begins to learn that everything she’s heard about the bastard prince might not be the entire truth. Thus begins the slow burn enemies-to-lovers trope we know and love. Bryndis might just have another person in the world looking out for her. And the mysterious creature that lives in her mind sees and hears it all.
A Beautifully Crafted Lie follows Bryndis as she learns the ways of the faerie realm, Prince Odhran’s real motives, and the actions she takes to ensure her sister’s safety through the story’s events. The story had tons of potential, but lacked in world-building, unfortunately. How the creature got into Bryndis’s head is not clear. The author paces the story well and develops believable characters and their relationship dynamics. And just as we think we’ve got certain characters figured out, their actions prove otherwise.
The strongest moments of the book pick up once the love story is underway. I’m a sucker for romance – don’t act like you don’t eat that shit up too. Our main characters obviously have a pull towards each other. But of course that makes their separate motives – not to mention the creature lurking with Bryndis – more complicated.
At several moments I wanted to shake some sense into Bryndis due to her choices – it was like watching a very slow train wreck. The story is strongest towards the end when shit hits the fan, some characters reveal themselves, and others meet unfortunate ends. And the cliffhanger packs en0ugh punch that I’m curious about the next one.
Evelyn Ash joins the Cantina Book Club Podcast to talk about her experiences as a debut author and plans for continuing the story. Keep and ear out for the episode and pick up a copy of A Beautifully Crafted Lie, available now.
Book
A creature lurks in Bryndis Ashglo’s mind. It sees what she sees and hears what she hears, and it won’t be silenced any longer. In the town of Bouldermore, governed with stringent laws and nightmarish tales of monsters, no one will be spared if found harbouring magic. Not even Bryndis, the governor’s daughter.
​On the cusp of Samhain, Bryndis attracts the unwanted attention of the famed and feared bastard prince tasked to enforce the king’s laws and conduct this year’s witch reaping. He is the last person she should provoke… yet now he watches her with calculating interest, enjoying every second of her discomfort.
​Prince Odhran doesn’t address her numerous transgressions according to the law, but no good deed comes without a cost. In exchange for her freedom, Bryndis is dragged into the faerie realm—tasked with lying to royalty on his behalf. Of all the atrocious things the bastard prince has done and can do, lying is the one thing out of his reach, but something Bryndis excels in.
​As dangerous truths unravel, Bryndis faces two terrifying revelations:
Odhran is a monster—a blood-drinking faerie.
And on some level, she is a monster too.
