A review by mdieckmann
The First Sister by Linden A. Lewis

4.0

I wasn’t sure about this book initially — when I first stared reading it felt like I had opened up the book in the middle of the story, so I had to read quite a few chapters until I felt like I understood who the characters were and the larger world the author built around them. The book is based around 3 POVs and rotates through them in a pattern, so it had a bit of a stop-and-go feel to the flow — but I’m not complaining too much because I loved hearing from all the characters. As a reader, your lens in this book is shaped by war just like the characters are, so you’re reading about a nameless orphan who has been forced into basically prostituting herself in the name of religion as she tries to escape through receiving the favored title of the First Sister, Lito a soldier from the slums of an affluent planet who has forced himself up the rungs of the military elite and purges emotions away with an implant embedded in his brain, and Hiro our duplicitous nine-tailed fox who too struggles in this world that tosses people into the war machine and doesn’t care where it spits them out.

But let me tell you — by the end I was absolutely ensnared. I love Hiros and Litos relationship and the bone-deep soul-shattering love and care that they have for each other. This author has some of the most seamless use of they/them pronouns I have read thus far, and Hiros enby characterization was handled with care and complexity. I also am obsessed with the First Sister’s character arc bc there is nothing I appreciate more than female characters becoming unhinged and burning down the world (or the world that has been built to control them) !! hehe

AND THE PLOT TWISTS AT THE END WOW!! spectacular and immaculate queer content.


To me, the content was reminiscent of “Ender’s Game” and had the lyrical quality of “This is how you lose the time war”