Reviews with content warning for Body horror - Sistersong

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Sistersong by Lucy Holland

22 reviews

lilifane's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I. Loved. It.

Some of the very first fantasy books I've read as a child were the Albion/Avalon books by Marion Zimmer Bradley. And especially the beginning of this book reminded me SO much of them, it has the same vibes.

The story takes place in Ancient Britain between the departure of the Romans and the Saxons attacks. It's about 3 siblings, the children of a British king, about their life endangered by the Saxons, about their personal struggles, about magic (vs Christianity), about love and jealousy and betrayal and war and family and identity. Also, there is amazing LGBTQIA+ and disability representation.

The further I got into the story, the harder it was to put the book down. I loved the atmosphere, the (very flawed) characters, the plotting of the story as a whole. There was one plot that was painfully predictable. Like it made everything more cruel because you knew it was coming. But then there were parts of the story that totally took me by surprise.

So, if you don't want to ruin this surprise for you, don't research the ballad (The Twa Sisters), which the story is based on. I did after reading the book, and now I'm even more in awe by how well this retelling was done. Also, a modern version of the ballad is one of my favorite songs by Loreena Mckennitt... and I realized I had never paid enough attention to the lyrics before. Ooops.

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hannahbailey's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Whilst this is a stand-out novel for me (my first 5 star read of 2022 too), the relationship between the siblings and the magical elements reminded me of The Once and Future Witches, so those who loved this book I think would also like this!

From beginning to end, I truly loved this book! There were many elements of it I didn't expect, from the trans and bigender characters to the paganism and magic system which I think enhanced my reading experience. It's a retelling of a ballad I'm unfamiliar with, yet whilst it brings modern ideas (which aren't as modern as people think) the narrative and setting still felt very authentic and real.

Despite the focus on the three siblings, the side characters also had a lot of depth to them and I found myself enjoying each POV equally (which is very unusual for me!). I was also captivated by the plot as well as the tenuous relationships between the siblings. I wasn't sure if the ending could do the rest of the book justice, but Lucy Holland certainly pulled it out of the bag! That said, there were some subplots I could see coming from a mile-off, but because the novel is rich in its descriptive atmosphere and characterisation, this didn't affect my enjoyment of the story. Seeing these themes in an ancient/historical setting was really refreshing and different too, so I hope to see more historical-fiction or retelling authors weave this into their stories.

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totallyshelfaware's review against another edition

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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 — 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!

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mzy42's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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nicnevin's review

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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).

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