This is a travesty. I read this amazing book back in February, and somehow I haven’t told you about it yet. I suppose that’s good in a way, you don’t have to wait as long for the sequel as I’ve had to; it’s due out in March. This review was originally published in the April 15, 2020 issue of Booklist.
In this fantasy debut novel, Kingdom of Liars, by Nick Martell, Michael Kingman and his siblings were branded as traitors when their father was tried for the murder of the king’s oldest son. Ten years later, a series of missteps sets him on a path that he hopes will clear their family name. That’s the concept, despite Michael being found guilty of the king’s murder in the prologue. Michael and his siblings fell from high nobles who played with the king’s children to living on a poor side of town with their foster father, struggling to pay the fees to keep their addlebrained mother in an asylum. Their mother can’t be a Forgotten, as that memory loss condition only affects magic users, so Michael searches for solutions to her medical problems in addition to his other adventures. Michael progressively finds himself in worse situations, certain the next one will provide the answers he so desperately seeks. Teenagers will appreciate how Michael and his siblings come into their own, and fantasy readers of all ages will be delighted with Martell’s robust setting.