Book Review

Liar’s Game by Kait Gamble

The best thing I can say about Liar’s Game is that it was fun. It entertained me while I read it on my phone in the checkout line. The worst thing I can say about it is that when I sat down to write reviews and was trying to remember what I had read this month, I had a devil of a time remembering the book’s existence even though I had finished it on the previous night.

Liar’s Game is a science fiction romance about a woman named Aurelia Popkiss, and before we go further I feel that this name deserves a respectful moment of contemplation.

OK, we’ve contemplated.

Aurelia is the leader of a crew of men who scavenge in space. Think “ragtag”. There’s the conman, there’s the mad scientist who is obsessed with explosions, there’s the guy with cybernetic parts, and there’s the hot guy love interest. The book is so short that they never become more than types, but they are fun types.

Anyway, Aurelia has a crush on Keys, the designated love interest. He is in love with her, but both parties staunchly maintain that there is nothing between them but camaraderie. The crews’ lives become more complicated when a young woman stows away on the ship. This launches gambits galore.

This story was so short that I didn’t get very invested in it. It’s not terrible. It’s quite fun. It’s pretty predicable, but it’s still fun to see the gambits unfold and it’s always satisfying to see a woman use a combination of wits and firepower to win the day against massive odds. The world building is sketchy. Basically, it’s ragtag space. It doesn’t have the Western fusion of Firefly, but it does have that sense of people living on the brink of disaster. It also reminded me of Han Solo’s life in Star Wars – the one we don’t see much of, where he hides out in space between jobs and is just barely patching things together.

It’s also a sexist world, one in which Aurelia is constantly dealing with the threat of sexual predation and forced marriage. You’ll notice that this is one of the shortest reviews I’ve ever written – this is because frankly there’s not much to the book. It’s like popping a few M&M’s into your mouth – yummy but not filling.

The book is forgettable because its characters have no depth. It reminded me of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, as the crew falls all over itself to make Aurelia feel happy and safe as they hide out in their cozy ship in space. There’s no reason to hope Keys and Aurelia get together except that they both seem like decent people and it’s always nice when decent people get to be happy.   The other characters are basically background.

For a very quick entertaining read, you could do far worse than Liar’s Game. But it’s brevity means it’s short on world-building, a convincing plot, and well-rounded, emotionally engaging characters. It was fun but forgettable.

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Liar’s Game by Kait Gamble

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  1. sarita says:

    ‘Popkiss.’ Such a dignified name. (no offense intended to any Popkisses out there). As I was reading through the review I found myself disappointed that the MC didn’t hook up with the guy with cybernetic parts. In my head he was hot in a grizzled, dark past kind of a way. Or the young female stowaway. That could have been good to.

  2. tikaanidog says:

    nonono, the young female stowaway should be the one to get together with the cybernetic guy!!

  3. Vasha says:

    Hmm… For f/f in space, try The Annunciate by Severna Park. It’s been 13 years since I read that but I recall liking it quite a bit.

  4. Dorothy says:

    @Vasha I grew up in Severna Park (no, really, not being crude–it’s an actual physical location). Because of this, I’ve never been able to look at her books without giggling.

  5. sarita says:

    @tikaanidog: I would so read that.

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