Bell Silverleaf belongs to the Treesingers, a people who have spent decades battling the religious persecution of the Kingdom of the Risen. Bell starts the story trapped in a church of Risen priests and tries to pretend she’s a good little convert, until she is chosen for the Queen’s Test. This trial takes place every 25 years where the Risen choose a new ruler from seven potential contestants. Only three can make it out alive. Bell has A LOT to deal with in this story, but she is determined to beat the test, help her fellow Treesingers and search for a missing god.
Bell is a fabulous main character; intelligent, mature and funny, with a great sarcastic narrative voice. She is a First Nations heroine written by a First Nations author, and I loved her pride in her Treesinger heritage and her powerful relationship with the natural world. She can commune with certain trees and wildlife, she can send memories and thoughts to family members, and she meets a talking twig called Tricks, who has the cutest, most bubbly personality! Tricks was absolutely my favourite part of Liar’s Test.
Overall, I felt mixed on the world-building. Kwaymullina throws a lot of kingdom backstory and magical abilities into the plot, and the middle section gets a little convoluted. Also, this book markets itself as a romance, but I would read the main relationship as a friendship instead, as there’s very little romantic build-up.
This is the first entry in an upcoming Aussie fantasy series, and it’s an amazing YA read.
Reviewed by Rachel Denham-White
Age Guide 14+
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ambelin Kwaymullina is a First Nations writer and illustrator who comes from the Palyku people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Ambelin tells stories across a range of forms, including poetry, short stories, essays, young adult novels, and picture books (but please note that this website is only for her works of creative fiction). Ambelin is a previous winner of the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards and the Aurealis Award. Much of her work concerns Indigenous Futurisms, which she has written about as:
… stories
grounded in Indigenous ways of knowing
being and doing
and in our deep knowledge
of injustice
Like all our stories
our futurist narratives
are informed by the tales of our Ancestors
which tell of realities
that are holistic
non-linear
pluralist
and in which everything lives
and is related to each other
(Ambelin Kwaymullina, ‘Indigenist Futurisms’, publication forthcoming in Carlson et al, The Routledge Handbook of Australian Indigenous Peoples and Futures)
Ambelin has worked in government and as an academic, teaching law. Her achievements as an educator have been recognised through multiple awards, including the Neville Bonner Award for Indigenous Education. She is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, a member of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, and a member of the First Nations Australia Writer’s Network.
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