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starbound's review against another edition
5.0
Jeg syntes det var genialt å blande gammeldags 1800-talls dialog og skrivemåte (for her er Lia fortelleren, boka er skrevet i jeg-form) med nymotens fantasy, og forfatteren har gjort en veldig bra jobb. Historien er spennende, og til tider sånn at man får frysninger nedover ryggen. Inn i dette er det også blandet kjærlighet, vennskap, dramatikk og tragedie, noe som gir boka god driv framover og den holder fast på leserens oppmerksomhet. Boka er på nesten 350 sider, og jeg fant meg selv sittende og lese hundre sider om gangen, bare for å få vite hvordan det gikk. Forfatteren er kjempeflink til å skildre og beskrive, og det gjør alt veldig levende og lett å leve seg inn i. Og når hun i tillegg bruker litt gammeldags språk, slik som de snakket og ordla seg på 1800-tallet gjorde det veldig enkelt å forestille seg hovedpersonene med gammeldagse klær og i et veldig annerledes samfunn fra i dag. Gleder meg utrolig mye til neste bok, for denne boka sluttet på et spennende tidspunkt! Veldig god bok som jeg anbefaler folk å lese; selv om den kanskje helst passer til litt eldre tenåringer/unge voksne på grunn av det litt gammeldagse språket.
hollylynna's review against another edition
5.0
I eagerly await the next book by Michelle Zink. When is it coming??
just_tosh's review against another edition
4.0
I came across this book browsing the young adult section of my library (I'm not young adult). I must admit, it was the cover that intrigued me. I read the inside flap and thought the storyline was promising: twin sisters Lia and Alice are part of a prophecy and one of the girls must stop the prophecy from coming to light before the other does. I put the aside for next time. I read other positive reviews and checked out the book the following week. I began reading that Sunday and I couldn't book the book down. It thoroughly held my attention from beginning to end. I curious to see how the prophecy was coming together and the ending leaves me wanting more. I only gave it four stars because it moves slowly - too slow for my taste. I still recommend it.
jessalynn_librarian's review against another edition
3.0
With a slightly gothic feel, a late 19th century setting, mysterious deaths, crippled brothers, possibly-evil sisters, new friends who can communicate with the spirit world, and an ancient prophecy that gives our heroine a role she'd rather not have, this story should appeal to readers who like a little bit of the supernatural without too much of the scary. The combination of fantasy and historical elements reminded me of [a:Libba Bray|2526|Libba Bray|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1206563678p2/2526.jpg]'s Gemma Doyle books, although the mood and style are distinct. Lia's world is lighter on the historical details, but the fantastical elements feel better integrated into the mythology of the story. And while much of the focus in the Gemma Doyle books is on the friendships between the girls, Lia's friendships are less fraught and her friends share more of the weight of the prophecy.
Particularly interesting is Lia's relationship with her twin sister, which is often cold and hostile, yet the sister manages to come across as occasionally sympathetic all the same. If this dichotomy continues to develop, she could be a fascinating character, but if she becomes two-dimensional, a lot of the zip would go out of the story. Which brings me to my main issue with the book - no one told me it was the beginning of a series! It's not terribly long, and in the last third or so of the book I started to wonder how on earth Zink was going to tie things up so quickly. Not only are we left hanging on the overarching story of the prophecy, but smaller questions are also left unresolved as the story closes. Personally, I don't know if I would bother to keep reading, but I'll definitely keep this in mind to recommend to fans of the gothic and supernatural. It's got a YA feel to it, but I would recommend it to middle schoolers, too.
Particularly interesting is Lia's relationship with her twin sister, which is often cold and hostile, yet the sister manages to come across as occasionally sympathetic all the same. If this dichotomy continues to develop, she could be a fascinating character, but if she becomes two-dimensional, a lot of the zip would go out of the story. Which brings me to my main issue with the book - no one told me it was the beginning of a series! It's not terribly long, and in the last third or so of the book I started to wonder how on earth Zink was going to tie things up so quickly. Not only are we left hanging on the overarching story of the prophecy, but smaller questions are also left unresolved as the story closes. Personally, I don't know if I would bother to keep reading, but I'll definitely keep this in mind to recommend to fans of the gothic and supernatural. It's got a YA feel to it, but I would recommend it to middle schoolers, too.
meg_ventures's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
anniemariek's review against another edition
2.0
First Look: 4/5 I expected this book to be awesome. Somehow, I liked the cover better before I read the book. And I'm really not sure what to think about Tamora Pierce's use of the word un-put-down-able on the bottom quote there. I might have to use that word in the future.
Setting: 4/5 I like historical settings. This one was kind of cool, but not one of my favorites. Just a few more details and I would have been on the verge of loving it.
Characters: 2/5 Eh. I couldn't figure them out. The back cover claims that "they can't trust each other..." Well, okay, I got that, but then suddenly the twins would just become friends for no apparent reason, then it would be gone again in a flash. People just don't work that way. And Lia never seemed to be afraid of the prophecy, or anything she had to do. What? I'd be terrified! She just accepted it way too calmly. It wasn't real to me. The other characters were just...okay. I didn't really care either way about them. I honestly would have liked this better from the viewpoint of Alice. She was the only slightly interesting one.
Plot: 1/5 Here was the big disappointment, right here. I love prophecies in books. They're usually so cool, and I love the characters' struggles to figure out their place. But I just wasn't feeling the urgency with this one. And I'm not going to come right out and say that nothing happened in this book, but, well...it definitely falls into what I like to call The Trilogy Trap. I shall have to post about that later. There was zero action, and the parts that could have been awesomely scary or creepy weren't. The author could have gone a long way with some of the concepts with the spirits and such, but none of it seemed believable to me. So Lia had never 'traveled' like that before in her life, but she can do it without any trouble the first time? And how did Alice figure this stuff out so easily when Lia could barely grasp the concepts? At the beginning, Lia was utterly alone, but then suddenly all these random people are popping up to help her? And at some points, I was just flat-out confused.
Uniqueness: 4/5 I guess I'll have to give it that much. To be honest, I've never read anything very similar to this before now.
Writing: 2/5 For starters, present tense just flat out bugs me most times. If my thoughts had been broadcast while I read the beginning, you would have heard screams of "Show, don't tell!" Do you remember the post from the other day, about the mirror cliche? Well, guess where I found it. Yep, this book. Anyways, I caught a few typos.
Likes: I did like the way the people talked. It was old-fashioned, and cool for some reason. I'm not sure why.
Not-so-great: There was no action. The characters constantly changed what they wanted. It got confusing at some points, and there is no doubt that this is the first in a trilogy because of all the exposition. My other problem with this is the Otherworld. I get it that her parents love her enough to stay there long enough to help her, but other than that...everybody there was too content. I mean, they could cross into Heaven at any time they wanted, but...they didn't? What? How could they resist? I don't know, call me weird, but the whole spirits/witchcraft thing seemed to give off atheist vibes (I'm a Catholic). Or at least, that's how I felt it.
Total Score: 2/5 I was debating whether to give this one or two stars, so I just took the average of the five ratings above (not including First Look because it has nothing at all to do with the actual content). I ended up with two stars. I wouldn't recommend it, unless you're really, really into the whole spirits thing. Otherwise, it was a dull book that had so much potential it didn't live up to. There was no action, no urgency, no fear. I felt like not much happened. I didn't care about the characters, and it had plotholes. And sometimes I was just plain confused. The whole prophecy thing was hard to understand. I wanted this book to be so good, but it just didn't do it for me.
Read even more reviews at http://www.anniesepicblog.blogspot.com!
Setting: 4/5 I like historical settings. This one was kind of cool, but not one of my favorites. Just a few more details and I would have been on the verge of loving it.
Characters: 2/5 Eh. I couldn't figure them out. The back cover claims that "they can't trust each other..." Well, okay, I got that, but then suddenly the twins would just become friends for no apparent reason, then it would be gone again in a flash. People just don't work that way. And Lia never seemed to be afraid of the prophecy, or anything she had to do. What? I'd be terrified! She just accepted it way too calmly. It wasn't real to me. The other characters were just...okay. I didn't really care either way about them. I honestly would have liked this better from the viewpoint of Alice. She was the only slightly interesting one.
Plot: 1/5 Here was the big disappointment, right here. I love prophecies in books. They're usually so cool, and I love the characters' struggles to figure out their place. But I just wasn't feeling the urgency with this one. And I'm not going to come right out and say that nothing happened in this book, but, well...it definitely falls into what I like to call The Trilogy Trap. I shall have to post about that later. There was zero action, and the parts that could have been awesomely scary or creepy weren't. The author could have gone a long way with some of the concepts with the spirits and such, but none of it seemed believable to me. So Lia had never 'traveled' like that before in her life, but she can do it without any trouble the first time? And how did Alice figure this stuff out so easily when Lia could barely grasp the concepts? At the beginning, Lia was utterly alone, but then suddenly all these random people are popping up to help her? And at some points, I was just flat-out confused.
Uniqueness: 4/5 I guess I'll have to give it that much. To be honest, I've never read anything very similar to this before now.
Writing: 2/5 For starters, present tense just flat out bugs me most times. If my thoughts had been broadcast while I read the beginning, you would have heard screams of "Show, don't tell!" Do you remember the post from the other day, about the mirror cliche? Well, guess where I found it. Yep, this book. Anyways, I caught a few typos.
Likes: I did like the way the people talked. It was old-fashioned, and cool for some reason. I'm not sure why.
Not-so-great: There was no action. The characters constantly changed what they wanted. It got confusing at some points, and there is no doubt that this is the first in a trilogy because of all the exposition. My other problem with this is the Otherworld. I get it that her parents love her enough to stay there long enough to help her, but other than that...everybody there was too content. I mean, they could cross into Heaven at any time they wanted, but...they didn't? What? How could they resist? I don't know, call me weird, but the whole spirits/witchcraft thing seemed to give off atheist vibes (I'm a Catholic). Or at least, that's how I felt it.
Total Score: 2/5 I was debating whether to give this one or two stars, so I just took the average of the five ratings above (not including First Look because it has nothing at all to do with the actual content). I ended up with two stars. I wouldn't recommend it, unless you're really, really into the whole spirits thing. Otherwise, it was a dull book that had so much potential it didn't live up to. There was no action, no urgency, no fear. I felt like not much happened. I didn't care about the characters, and it had plotholes. And sometimes I was just plain confused. The whole prophecy thing was hard to understand. I wanted this book to be so good, but it just didn't do it for me.
Read even more reviews at http://www.anniesepicblog.blogspot.com!
operasara's review against another edition
4.0
Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink tells the story of Lia who finds out after her fathers death that she is part of a prophecy and must battle with her twin sister in a fight of good versus evil. This first book of the trilogy follows Lia as she meets friends who will help her in the fight and searches for the missing pieces of the prophecy.
This historical paranormal is beautifully written. The historical period and mythology make for an original read that is original and new. I did find the writing to be slow at times and would have liked to have seen more of the romance.
Appropriateness: There is nothing inappropriate in this book that would bother parents. I would recommend it for older teens as it is a slower and more difficult read.
http://booksyourkidswilllove.blogspot.com/
This historical paranormal is beautifully written. The historical period and mythology make for an original read that is original and new. I did find the writing to be slow at times and would have liked to have seen more of the romance.
Appropriateness: There is nothing inappropriate in this book that would bother parents. I would recommend it for older teens as it is a slower and more difficult read.
http://booksyourkidswilllove.blogspot.com/
islandgeekgirl's review against another edition
4.0
After reading The Temptation of Angels, I had to read more of Michelle Zink's books. The Prophecy of the Sisters starts right after the main character's father has died, making Lia, her twin sister Alice, and their younger brother orphans and being cared for by their aunt Virginia. The story is told through Lia, the older of the twins, and the plot really starts when her boyfriend James finds a hidden book while organizing her father's affairs. The book holds The Prophecy of two sisters and Lia discovers a mark on her wrist and she soon discovers the same mark on the wrists of two of her classmates but the mark is absent on Alice's wrist. The characters are strong, the friendship between is girls is great to read, and while there's not a whole lot of hold-your-breath action in this book, it's still a great read to try to solve the mystery of the prophecy along with Lia and her friends, and with it being a series, there's the promise of a lot more action to come.
missmeesh's review against another edition
2.0
So...after all of the hype about this book I was fairly disappointed. I expected a Great and Terrible Beauty type novel, but this just was not it. It fell flat in so many places, and was only a novel to try and sell the second one.
Sadly, months after I have read the novel, because I could barley sum up my disappointment and disgust with it, I can barley remember the plot.
Young Adults and kids might enjoy it, but I just was not impressed.
Sadly, months after I have read the novel, because I could barley sum up my disappointment and disgust with it, I can barley remember the plot.
Young Adults and kids might enjoy it, but I just was not impressed.
ifthebook's review against another edition
2.0
This was okay. From start to finish, though, I felt like there was little action. Sure, the plot progressed a little bit, and the actual climax scene had some action, but that was about it. I'd like more of a grasp on the characters. Right now, many of them feel like two-dimensional props, including the narrator. We'll see what happens in the second book.
(Also, strangely, this reminded me of A Great and Terrible Beauty in ways beyond the obvious that I can't quite put my finger on.)
(Also, strangely, this reminded me of A Great and Terrible Beauty in ways beyond the obvious that I can't quite put my finger on.)