Realm of Lore and Lies by Claire Wright

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for my free and honest review.

In a land that harbors two realms, magical creatures and dangerous games are a way of life and death for the travelling Fianna clans. It is an honor to visit Tír na nÓg the land of the forever young, even if the price is pretending Fair Ones don't hunt humans for sport. Ashling, had left that world behind but now after the death of her mother she's dragged back in to try and figure out what's going on.

This book has a lot going on that made it hard to follow at certain points. Particularly at the first jump to a new POV. We hadn't been introduced to Tiernan at this point but we are thrust into his POV that where something entirely new is going on. This happens again when we are introduced to Setanta's POV in chapter 8 and Maebh in chapter 9. Eventually it all works out, but its a bit disconcerting.

I did really like the dichotomy between Ashling and Maebh. Both are the next in line as matriarch for their respective clans, with neither clan being particularly happy about the fact. They are both fraternal twins. Other than that they are extremely different with Maebh being head strong and determined and Ashling being much more passive with her only goal being to save/ be by her brother's side.

There is a lot of Irish folk lore and mythology woven in which I really enjoyed. The fair ones themselves are, tritonal. As in not nice, mischievous and pick on/ harm humans, I like seeing them less watered down. I hope in the next book we get to see more of the fair ones.

Over all I liked the book, I will look into the sequel when it comes out because it does leave off on a heck of a cliffhanger. I'm just hoping that it will be a bit easier to get through knowing about the world from the first book.