Scan barcode
brontesauruses's review
Thank you to the publisher and Edelweiss+ for giving me an egalley in exchange for an honest review.
Didn't finish, so no rating.
About a month ago, I set it down after doing some skimming, and it's time for me to accept that I just don't want to read this anymore, at least not right now. It had been moving pretty slowly, which I don't mind if I'm enjoying it otherwise, or if there's a decent payoff for it, but there wasn't; to be confronted with Alaine making an ill-advised bargain with the fae that will DEFINITELY scar her daughter for life after putting up with pages and pages of Delphine's shitty husband...I just don't think I have it in me to keep plugging along.
Maybe I'll go back to it eventually, who knows. There's good material here, but I'm just not feeling it.
Didn't finish, so no rating.
About a month ago, I set it down after doing some skimming, and it's time for me to accept that I just don't want to read this anymore, at least not right now. It had been moving pretty slowly, which I don't mind if I'm enjoying it otherwise, or if there's a decent payoff for it, but there wasn't; to be confronted with Alaine making an ill-advised bargain with the fae that will DEFINITELY scar her daughter for life after putting up with pages and pages of Delphine's shitty husband...I just don't think I have it in me to keep plugging along.
Maybe I'll go back to it eventually, who knows. There's good material here, but I'm just not feeling it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Animal death, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Misogyny
tetedump's review
adventurous
mysterious
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Blood, Death, Antisemitism, Misogyny, and Physical abuse
displacedcactus's review against another edition
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
I really enjoyed the whole lore the author created around fairy bargaining, which really felt like it drew on traditional faerie lore and folk magic. I like seeing stories that lean more on the lore of my Irish and Welsh ancestors and less on the idea of faeries as the current sexy scary supernatural boyfriend material.
Unfortunately, this book was so. incredibly. slow. paced. Very little happens for the first 200 pages of what was a just-under-350 page book on my ereader. Then when the big incident finally happens, the lead up to the resolution feels super repetitive until suddenly, boom, it's solved.
I feel like if a good 75 or even 100 pages of this book had been trimmed away, it would have been great. But I didn't feel like the slow portions did enough to develop the characters or lay foundation for the later events of the story to justify how long and slow they were.
Unfortunately, this book was so. incredibly. slow. paced. Very little happens for the first 200 pages of what was a just-under-350 page book on my ereader. Then when the big incident finally happens, the lead up to the resolution feels super repetitive until suddenly, boom, it's solved.
I feel like if a good 75 or even 100 pages of this book had been trimmed away, it would have been great. But I didn't feel like the slow portions did enough to develop the characters or lay foundation for the later events of the story to justify how long and slow they were.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism, Blood, Animal death, Domestic abuse, and Kidnapping
Minor: Sexual content
lastblossom's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
tl;dr
Sisterhood sits at the core of this story about fae bargains and the danger of relying too much on magic.
Thoughts
I typically don't enjoy slow-paced novels, but there's something about the creeping dread of this book that kept me invested even as the story slowly unfurled. Seemingly innocent events lead into each other, ramping up the tension until the final piece drops into place about halfway through, and by then I was screaming. Unlike lots of books that take place primarily in the fae lands, the bulk of the story takes place on the human side with very human stories and concerns. While the story revolved around making bargains with fae, the heart of it was a carefully wrought tale of sisters trying to find their way in the world. The balance between love and resentment was a very realistic family portrayal, and my heart ached for them both. The portions about keeping the farm and orchard going also appealed very much to my love of all things that grow in the ground. For anyone looking for a book about fair folk that doesn't revolve entirely around romance, this is a very strong entry in the genre.
Thank you to NetGalley and Redhook Books for an advance copy. All thoughts in here are my own.
Sisterhood sits at the core of this story about fae bargains and the danger of relying too much on magic.
Thoughts
I typically don't enjoy slow-paced novels, but there's something about the creeping dread of this book that kept me invested even as the story slowly unfurled. Seemingly innocent events lead into each other, ramping up the tension until the final piece drops into place about halfway through, and by then I was screaming. Unlike lots of books that take place primarily in the fae lands, the bulk of the story takes place on the human side with very human stories and concerns. While the story revolved around making bargains with fae, the heart of it was a carefully wrought tale of sisters trying to find their way in the world. The balance between love and resentment was a very realistic family portrayal, and my heart ached for them both. The portions about keeping the farm and orchard going also appealed very much to my love of all things that grow in the ground. For anyone looking for a book about fair folk that doesn't revolve entirely around romance, this is a very strong entry in the genre.
Thank you to NetGalley and Redhook Books for an advance copy. All thoughts in here are my own.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Animal death, Bullying, and Sexism
More...