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careinthelibrary's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
I was sure I'd like this trans-affirming early middle ages feminist retelling of one of Child's murder ballads and I did š
Didn't expect so much to feel like an honouring of <i>Hild</i> by Nicola Griffith, one of my all-time favourite historical fiction epics. Although <i>Hild</i> takes place in this book's future, it feels like they are referencing the same texts, worldviews, problems, and imaginings of the land. Even the references to the patterns that connect us all to the land felt very Griffith and very <i>Hild</i>! Love it.
Didn't expect so much to feel like an honouring of <i>Hild</i> by Nicola Griffith, one of my all-time favourite historical fiction epics. Although <i>Hild</i> takes place in this book's future, it feels like they are referencing the same texts, worldviews, problems, and imaginings of the land. Even the references to the patterns that connect us all to the land felt very Griffith and very <i>Hild</i>! Love it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Transphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Religious bigotry, and Sexism
Moderate: Pregnancy, Sexual content, Dysphoria, Death of parent, Grief, Ableism, Violence, War, and Toxic relationship
aliciae08's review
adventurous
challenging
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I read Sistersong as a book club read, and it took me a little bit to get into it as itās very different from most of the books I have read this year.
Sistersong is inspired by the Twa Sisters, a traditional murder ballad from as far back as the 17th century (according to Youtube). The ballad itself is gorgeous, and having very little prior knowledge of it, I was excited to get into Sistersong and take on itās interpretation.
Sistersong follows three siblings and we get alternating chapters through each point of view: Riva, the oldest, Keyne (later called Constantine) and Sinne. The story itself is set on the backdrop of war, growing Christian/Pagan resentments, and their own internal struggles. Thereās love and betrayal and an air of mystery, along with gender-queer and trans representation. Despite there being transphobia, this is not a trans trauma story, rather a becoming fully and confidently myself story.
A massive portion of the first two thirds felt extremely slow, with a whole lot of nothing happening. I found myself getting frustrated because some of the inner turmoil presented felt repetitive (particularly around Riva and Keyne). I also think that because of the length of the set up, I was able to work out who was doing what.
I also thought that some of the relationships were unrealistic in their executions. Weāre made to think through the book synopsis that these siblings are really close, and even though a past closeness is alluded to, that is not what we see. They donāt know or recognize each other at all until the end.
I also felt that there wasnāt really any closure around certain betrayals. It was kind of āoh these things happened and itās fineā. We spent so long in the build up that this felt really unsatisfying to me.
It was well-written and there were parts that I found to be gorgeous.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, Murder, Ableism, Violence, and War
Minor: Injury/Injury detail
maeverose's review against another edition
medium-paced
3.0
TL;DR: Has similar themes to the winternight trilogy (old religion vs christianity, war, evil priest, similar tho different time period and setting). If you liked that, maybe you would like this. Though for me, I loved that and was ultimately bored for most of this book. It just didnāt hook me, and it didnāt help that I only really cared for one pov.
That being Keyneās. As a genderqueer person Iām always interested in books with trans rep, and even though I donāt believe this is own voices I thought it was done really well. There is misgendering and transphobia from certain characters throughout, but itās not a trans trauma story, and there are many characters who accept his identity (tho it does take them a minute to catch on), and his transness isnāt his whole character. It is a bit binary though, feeding into stereotypes of what a man should be, but given the time period it makes sense? So idk. Overall decent rep. (Loved chapter 23)
I didnāt care for Rivaās pov because it was primarily focused on the romance, which I didnāt like, and I didnāt like Sinneās pov because of the jealousy plotline between her and Riva. I did appreciate that the author didnāt go full on āIām gonna steal your manā with that plotline but it still annoyed me. Especially because this is trying to be a feminist book but the two womenās povs we get are so tied to this one man and their feelings for him and their new dislike of each other because of it.
Iām also both disabled and disfigured (though in different ways than Riva or Os), and I found the rep in this book was neutral overall. Not offensive but not exactly empowering either. Anytime Revaās scars were mentioned it was often in a negative context, but we were shown through Rivaās pov her struggles with it and how much it hurt when people did say negative things about it, and there were characters who didnāt treat her any differently because of it. Osās mutism was handled the same I would say. I did like to see Sinne learn to communicate with him, and I thought their friendship was really sweet. I would just like to see a disfigured/disabled character be confident in their body rather than focusing solely on the negatives of it. My scoliosis has negatives; pain and physical limitations, but I also genuinely like how my body looks, and that seems to be a hard concept for some people to grasp.
That being Keyneās. As a genderqueer person Iām always interested in books with trans rep, and even though I donāt believe this is own voices I thought it was done really well. There is misgendering and transphobia from certain characters throughout, but itās not a trans trauma story, and there are many characters who accept his identity (tho it does take them a minute to catch on), and his transness isnāt his whole character. It is a bit binary though, feeding into stereotypes of what a man should be, but given the time period it makes sense? So idk. Overall decent rep. (Loved chapter 23)
I didnāt care for Rivaās pov because it was primarily focused on the romance, which I didnāt like, and I didnāt like Sinneās pov because of the jealousy plotline between her and Riva. I did appreciate that the author didnāt go full on āIām gonna steal your manā with that plotline but it still annoyed me. Especially because this is trying to be a feminist book but the two womenās povs we get are so tied to this one man and their feelings for him and their new dislike of each other because of it.
Iām also both disabled and disfigured (though in different ways than Riva or Os), and I found the rep in this book was neutral overall. Not offensive but not exactly empowering either. Anytime Revaās scars were mentioned it was often in a negative context, but we were shown through Rivaās pov her struggles with it and how much it hurt when people did say negative things about it, and there were characters who didnāt treat her any differently because of it. Osās mutism was handled the same I would say. I did like to see Sinne learn to communicate with him, and I thought their friendship was really sweet. I would just like to see a disfigured/disabled character be confident in their body rather than focusing solely on the negatives of it. My scoliosis has negatives; pain and physical limitations, but I also genuinely like how my body looks, and that seems to be a hard concept for some people to grasp.
As for the story, it didnāt feel like a lot happened even though things were happening. It felt slow to me. It focused more on character development and their thoughts and feelings than it did plot, which normally I like but because I only cared for Keyne and a few side characters it didnāt work for me this time.
The endingā¦ Riva and Cynricās ending. On one hand I liked that it was so unexpected and atypical for most stories like this, on the other handā¦ he was never redeemed in any way. And he lied to her, the whole time planning on killing her father and her people, then nearly succeeded at thatā¦ so he doesnāt deserve a happy ending at all, and I donāt get why she still loved him through all that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, War, Ableism, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Gore, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Religious bigotry, Violence, and Transphobia
Moderate: Animal death, Dysphoria, Lesbophobia, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Vomit, Classism, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Excrement and Rape
The worst of the gore is in chapter 40, but itās moderate here and there throughout the book.mostlyvoidpartiallystars's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
A beautiful, heartbreaking, but inspiring book. The worldbuilding is rich. I love the combination of magical realism & historical fiction, it felt seamlessly woven in. I appreciated the strong anti-colonial themes. The disability representation is decent - I started out hesitant over how it was being handled, but I loved the progression.
Finally, a recurring section I'm going to be adding to all my reviews going forward: Do they bury their gays? No. The only queer/queer adjacent characters are a trans man, a bigender person, and the trans man's girlfriend, who isn't queer herself, but is part of a queer romance given her boyfriend is trans. None of these characters die, and no queer romances end tragically
Finally, a recurring section I'm going to be adding to all my reviews going forward: Do they bury their gays?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Child abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Colonisation, Sexual content, Murder, Ableism, War, Transphobia, Deadnaming, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Rape, Pregnancy, Kidnapping, and Physical abuse
zghutcheson01's review
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
While I wasn't really interested in Riva or Sinne in the first 150 pages, by the middle and throughout the end all of the siblings had compelling stories and beautiful character arcs. I eas very wary when I recognized the Aurthurian references but it seems to be more references and I wouldn't call it an Arthurian story. I also was very familiar with the ballad "The Twa Sisters" before reading and I think it gave the whole thing a much more tragic lens considering the first few chapters bear little to no resemblance to the song.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, Death of parent, Child death, Pregnancy, Grief, Death, and Sexual content
Moderate: Biphobia, Physical abuse, Ableism, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Religious bigotry
kalmia31's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry and Transphobia
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Body shaming, Suicide attempt, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Ableism, War, Animal death, and Deadnaming
becksusername's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Colonisation, Deadnaming, Ableism, Animal death, Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Sexism, Transphobia, and War
mooshake's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
listen there were problems with how much plot importance keyne was given in comparison to riva and sinne but it's 1 a.m. and iāve been lying in bed for the past 20 minutes silently crying over the ending so.... ..ĀÆ\_(ć)_/ĀÆ
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Ableism, Deadnaming, Gore, Transphobia, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Medical content, Blood, Colonisation, Death, and Dysphoria
Minor: Pregnancy
totallyshelfaware's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Sistersong was absolutely gorgeous and haunting ā it's been a week since I read this and I still can't stop thinking about it.
I love books that explore the repercussions of Christian missionaries trying to erase the faith and beliefs native to the land and this one handled the conflict between old traditions and the spread of new ones very well.
The magic and landscape felt really rich and vibrant, and I was immediately invested in the characters, their hopes, and their struggles. Every bond is suffused with so much hope and tension, wildly swinging between the two, and it organically nudges the plot along.
I'm a big believer that the seeds of what could be potential plot twists should be sprinkled into the narrative ahead of time, and the exquisite dread of figuring things out before the characters did only helped me enjoy the pay-off even more.
Overall, I definitely recommend picking up Sistersong, especially if you like retellings!
I love books that explore the repercussions of Christian missionaries trying to erase the faith and beliefs native to the land and this one handled the conflict between old traditions and the spread of new ones very well.
The magic and landscape felt really rich and vibrant, and I was immediately invested in the characters, their hopes, and their struggles. Every bond is suffused with so much hope and tension, wildly swinging between the two, and it organically nudges the plot along.
I'm a big believer that the seeds of what could be potential plot twists should be sprinkled into the narrative ahead of time, and the exquisite dread of figuring things out before the characters did only helped me enjoy the pay-off even more.
Overall, I definitely recommend picking up Sistersong, especially if you like retellings!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, and Transphobia
Moderate: Ableism, Misogyny, and War
nicnevin's review
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
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? It's complicated
4.0
Interesting story about ancient Britons holding off against the Saxons. I worked out the twist with a character pretty early on and the two sisters sides of tge story interested me far less than the one of Keyne(Constantine).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Body shaming, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Chronic illness, Deadnaming, Death, Grief, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Murder, Outing, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Transphobia, Violence, and War