Book Review for Intricate Deceptions by Jennifer Rayes

I received this book for free. This did not impact my review. 

Intricate Deceptions, by Jennifer Rayes, is a political fantasy about a young woman named Gaia who struggles to remember her previous life after surviving a horrifying trafficking experience. The book begins with Gaia being kidnapped. When she awakens, she has absolutely no memory of who she is. She meets a girl named Emily, whom she vows to protect. After being rescued by the mysterious Prince Raoul from a neighboring kingdom, Gaia begins to piece together snippets of her memories, all the while wary of her self-proclaimed rescuers, the Prince, as well as the equally enigmatic Dominique. 

While it might not have been the focus of the book, I really enjoyed the relationship between Emily and Gaia. Even though they didn’t interact much, Emily had a powerful influence on Gaia, so much so she gave Gaia the ambition to hunt the traffickers and cartels down. What’s more, I liked the interactions Gaia had with her family, especially between herself and her father. True, Declan wasn’t perfect, but he was trying to atone for his mistakes. And while he did his damndest to make sure his daughter wasn’t threatened, unfortunately, his amends came too late. Then again, with all the shit he’s dealt with, I would consider his ending rather lucky.

That being said, I don’t agree with Gaia’s parents trying to manipulate their daughter into marrying Salim; Declan, out of anyone, knows what Salim is like. For him to make a Faustian bargain like that, despite knowing who Salim was, was foolish of him. Even so, his ways, as well as the other old patriarchs, only know how to sell and bargain; they don’t know how powerful an emotion empathy and compassion are. In this retrospect, I’d honestly like to say that Emily and Declan represent two ends of a spectrum. Through Emily, Gaia was able to gain the strength to rule her kingdom and come into her voice. Should she only rely on Declan though, Gaia would’ve been stripped of everything that made her human; she would’ve ended up an obedient little doll her parents had hoped to raise her to be.  

And as for Raoul and Dominique, it’s interesting that, although they’ve played a huge role in getting Gaia back home safely, I feel they’re in danger of being left behind as well. I used to volunteer at an outreach organization dedicated to spreading awareness about human trafficking, and again, as a sexual assault advocate with a rape crisis center. More often than not it’s the women who offer comfort. And while Raoul and Declan offer some semblance of familiarity, especially with romance tropes, I have a feeling Gaia will outgrow them. Raoul wants a fairytale ending for Gaia; he’s supposed to be the prince of her dreams, right? And then there’s Dominique, the pirate, the rogue, the asshole with a heart of gold whom he’ll only reveal to Gaia. Yet at the end of the story, it’s not either one of them Gaia ends up with. Because by the end, love and romance aren’t her priority; it’s Emily. At the very least, Gaia’s development was a hell of a lot more entertaining than reading Dominique and Raoul falling for and fighting over Gaia. 

Personally, this book provided a solid foundation for the entire series. I wished I could have read more about Emily’s point of view and how she struggled. While I don’t think Raoul and Dominique should have been given the amount of screen time they had, for the sake of the trilogy, I understood why Rayes did it. As such, I would give this book a 4 out of 5 stars.