Lies on the Serpent's Tongue (Bittersweet in the Hollow #2) by Kate Pearsall
Publication Date: January 7th 2025 by G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Pages: 320
Source: Publisher
Rating: ★★★★½
My
Thoughts:
Rowan James is fiercely protective of her family which is
one of the reasons Hadrian Fitch, their family’s farm hand, rubbed her the
wrong way. Rowan can detect lies, and knew Hadrian wasn’t being truthful. But
it was more than Hadrian’s lies that got under Rowan’s skin. They had an
ongoing back and forth (mostly thanks to Rowan) in the last book. I knew they
were going to make a great couple!
The James women and residents of Cabal Hollow are still
recovering after the shocking events of the summer. Also, Rowan is still bitter
over the vandalism of their family’s diner that caused so much damage and
almost put them out of business. The case is still unsolved, and Rowan is
determined to find those responsible. However, Rowan’s grandmother has had
enough of her attitude and decides to send her on a volunteer assignment for
the Forestry Service where they need help repairing a lookout cabin. Rowan will
have to stay there on and off to complete the work.
Rowan encounters danger on a few fronts. Ginseng poachers,
with the payouts so high are willing to do just about anything to illegally
harvest the roots and strange happenings with the Bone Tree. Then there’s the
people intent on tracking and proving the existence of the Moth-Man and the
Wampus Cat, one particularly annoying group there for a podcast.
It’s hard to write a review that does this story justice
because the story is so unique and layered! Magical gifts, interesting
characters, a gorgeously described setting, more than one mystery with a
suspicious death (or two), and beautiful writing! So many things to recommend
and I loved every page!
Lies on the Serpent’s Tongue is book two in the
series, with a separate romance and mystery, but I highly recommend reading Bittersweet the Hollow first because the events in the last book factor in heavily
into this one. Utterly loved both stories!
4.5 Stars
Book Description:
In this haunting companion novel to Bittersweet in the Hollow, a girl who can smell the lies of others uncovers the incendiary mysteries of her small Appalachian town.
Everybody lies. And in knowing their lies, I become the keeper of their secrets.
As Caball Hollow slowly recovers from a tumultuous summer, the James family must also come to terms with their own newly revealed secrets.
18-year-old Rowan James has spent her whole life harboring unpleasant truths—that’s what happens when you can smell lies on the teller’s breath—and building walls around herself to block them out. Like her younger sister, Linden, who can taste the feelings of others, Rowan has long struggled with her gift, which has taught her that everyone distorts the truth, and no one is who they seem to be. So when her old rival Hadrian Fitch shows up on her front porch—bloodied and bruised and asking for the kind of help only she can provide—her first instinct is distrust.
Except Hadrian’s attack isn’t the only strange occurrence. Now small items are disappearing, but rather than report the losses the owners act as if their missing things never existed. Rumors of a new monster prowling the Hollow begin to swirl. But how can Rowan smoke out the culprit in a town full of secrets? And worse, how can Rowan trust beautiful, solemn Hadrian when every other word he speaks has the distinct burnt smell of a lie?
About the author:
Kate Pearsall is a creative thinker, an award-winning copywriter, and a storyteller. She has a degree in business and public relations and has written for magazines and newspapers. Bittersweet in the Hollow and Lies on the Serpent's Tongue were inspired in part by a childhood listening to her mom’s stories about growing up in the Appalachian Mountains and visiting family in West Virginia.
