A review by confusible
Sistersong by Lucy Holland

adventurous challenging emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I liked this but I’d maybe give it a 3.5 out of 5. I love historical fiction and I haven’t read anything proto-Arthurian, so the subject matter intrigued me. The 3 daughters of a royal family navigating life as both Christianity and the Saxons are invading their surroundings. Ultimately I enjoyed parts of it, especially Keyne’s storyline and her adventures with Mori (I could read a whole book about Mori). I was intrigued by Riva initially but she grew boring while Sinne was annoying at first and I grew to love her later. The world building was great, particularly the use of magic and the description of the magic as tied to the land and a pattern that someone connected to the land can see and pull power from. I did struggle to keep track of which sister was narrating because their voices weren’t very distinct. I also wanted to know more about some side characters, like Os, Cador, and Arlyn. The book moved very slow for me at first but really picked up in the last third and then I couldn’t put it down and I thought Holland brought it all together well at the end. I enjoyed the themes of sisterhood, the power of nature, and the importance of staying true to your identity even if it takes others time to recognize it. One tip for the publisher is that a pronunciation guide for books like this would be very helpful, at least for American audiences, I think struggling with the names was part of why it took me so long to get into it. 
One thing to add is that I really liked the way Sinne was turned into a harp, it was gruesome but it had to be and I think it fit with the story so well, we needed to hear a bit more from her

 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings