So somehow I missed out on this book when it came out, but I've got it now!
An amazon summary to get the post going, "In this first book in a remarkable trilogy, an orphan is forced into a twisted game with deadly stakes.
Choose to lie...or choose to die.
In a discontent kingdom, civil war is brewing. To unify the divided people, Conner, a nobleman of the court, devises a cunning plan to find an impersonator of the king's long-lost son and install him as a puppet prince. Four orphans are recruited to compete for the role, including a defiant boy named Sage. Sage knows that Conner's motives are more than questionable, yet his life balances on a sword's point -- he must be chosen to play the prince or he will certainly be killed. But Sage's rivals have their own agendas as well.
As Sage moves from a rundown orphanage to Conner's sumptuous palace, layer upon layer of treachery and deceit unfold, until finally, a truth is revealed that, in the end, may very well prove more dangerous than all of the lies taken together.
An extraordinary adventure filled with danger and action, lies and deadly truths that will have readers clinging to the edge of their seats." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE
I'm just going to go ahead and give a basic detail of the plot as well, skipping over the minor details for the sake of summary.
Sage is a trouble maker with sometimes good intentions. In the very first scene, Sage has stolen a roast from the butcher and is scrambling to get his way through town and back to the orphanage before he can be caught. A fellow trips him so he goes sprawling, the butcher catches him, and a gentleman purchases both the roast and Sage. They go to the orphanage to make the purchase official, and begin to head out of town. Sage attempts to escape but is knocked out before he can get very far.
He wakes to find three other boys have been taken as well and as they make camp that night; their gentleman, Conner is a nobleman of the court and has the intentions of a risky plan. He offers them the chance to leave. One boy takes the offer but before he can leave, he's shot by one of Conner's minions.
Choose to lie or die indeed.
It's soon revealed that the three boys will be trained to be Prince Jaron; the lost prince of the kingdom. He's presumed dead but a body was never found so there is still hope.
The boys themselves must compete for the spot of Prince Jaron as the implication is whoever fails, will die. They'll be a liability.
I essentially fell in love with every character that graced the pages because they were so well depicted. Whether they be good or evil, they were fantastically well characterized.
I also liked the clever and wit of Sage's character and while I was suspicious of what was truly happening through the book, it wasn't ever confirmed.
I got hung up wondering about the rock thing as well. (If you read the book that will make sense.)
It moved at a good pace and I can't really find anything I didn't like about the book. I do want to know more about Mott though; he seemed like a good fellow albeit mysterious sometimes.
I'm excited to read the next book, but I don't think the third one comes out until next year. It's only a trilogy, but I definitely think I can wait to see how it ends.
Happy reading!
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