Reviewed by Marieke
TITLE: Family Of Lies: Sebastian
AUTHOR: Sam Argent
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 324 pages
BLURB:
Sebastian Orwell did the only thing a smart wizard could do when he stumbled upon the wounded Crown Prince: he healed him and dumped him in a tavern where he could continue not being Sebastian’s problem. Unfortunately, the prince isn’t content with being alive, and he hunts Sebastian down to thank him personally. Not only is Sebastian stuck with the prince’s unwanted affections, he’s also confronted by growing evidence linking the assassination attempt to someone from his father’s past.
Lord Orwell is a lot of things: thief, liar, drunk, and all around horrible father, but Sebastian knows he’s no murderer. In order to prove it, Sebastian has to keep the prince alive long enough to discover the truth—a task made considerably harder because the idiot prince prefers wooing Sebastian over securing his own survival. On top of everything, Sebastian needs to save the day without revealing his magical powers and the real reason he hides his appearance.
Sebastian had no intention of playing the hero, but whoever is stirring up shit in his country will pay for destroying his quiet life.
REVIEW:
Sebastian is the youngest member of the Orwell family, and this makes him vulnerable to both his parents and sibling’s antics. His father appears to be an alcoholic, washed up, powerless wizard, who spends more money on unnecessary things than he should. Sebastian’s mother acts like a complete b*tch to all her children and all ten siblings are constantly at each other’s throats. In other words, they are a completely dysfunctional family of half breeds–– their father being a wizard and their mother is fey.
At the beginning of the story we see how a young prince makes himself quite hated by a young Sebastian. It’s kind of cute to read how prince Turren is begging for attention in a spoiled way, fitting for a Royal family member. But Sebastian kicks his ass and tells him exactly why. This is the beginning of prince Turren’s ‘redemption’. He wants to be a better person and make up for what he did.
Throughout the story Lord and Lady Orwell are very manipulative and seem extremely selfish, I truly wanted to hate them. The other Orwell children are strange and hostile, yet they stick together. This part of the story line was intriguing even if it was infuriating at times. Especially father Orwell hit a nerve with me.
But the love story between Sebastian and Turren is sweet, funny, slow burning and exciting. Of course you know they’ll end up together––which makes it slightly less exciting––but the way it’s written is still entertaining. Turren has been smitten with Sebastian since he was very young, but Sebastian only knew the bad side of him. Turren has quite a fight on his hand to change Sebastian’s mind. But when he does….
The only really negative thing in this book was the lack of description of surroundings and people. There’s no world building, but it’s like the author expects you to know how his magical world works, and how all the creatures are called and what their powers are. That was quite annoying, so I took of a whole star for that. Other than that, I loved this book. I certainly recommend it.
RATING: 
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