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A review by allie_oop
The Last Sister by Courtney McKinney-Whitaker
5.0
The Last Sister is set during the Anglo-Cherokee War (1758-61) in South Carolina. After Catie’s family is murdered, she travels through Cherokee territory to find safety and justice.
Characters are what make or break a book for me, and these are well crafted. Catie is a wonderful main character: strong willed, fair minded, and imperfect. I absolutely loved Malcolm; he is courageous, kind, and protective, but scarred. (Side note: if you read the back cover and assumed you’d be getting an arrogant, broody Highlander in a kilt, you picked the wrong book!) The side characters were fascinating, as well, and I loved getting to see little bits of the conflict and life at the time through their eyes.
The story was very readable, but not overly simplistic, with plenty of history, adventure, and emotion. Be aware that there are several violent scenes, as you would expect given the story line and time period. These are appropriate to the story and situation of the time, and are described pretty matter-of-factly. McKinney Whitaker made no attempt to “prettify” these, but she didn’t go out of her way to be gory, either. I didn’t find them to be out of place, but it’s something to be aware of if you’re more sensitive to violence or if you’re looking for reading material for a younger person.
All in all, this was a fantastic and well-written story. We homeschool, and I am fully intending to use this as a living book to go with our history study when we get to that time period.
Characters are what make or break a book for me, and these are well crafted. Catie is a wonderful main character: strong willed, fair minded, and imperfect. I absolutely loved Malcolm; he is courageous, kind, and protective, but scarred. (Side note: if you read the back cover and assumed you’d be getting an arrogant, broody Highlander in a kilt, you picked the wrong book!) The side characters were fascinating, as well, and I loved getting to see little bits of the conflict and life at the time through their eyes.
The story was very readable, but not overly simplistic, with plenty of history, adventure, and emotion. Be aware that there are several violent scenes, as you would expect given the story line and time period. These are appropriate to the story and situation of the time, and are described pretty matter-of-factly. McKinney Whitaker made no attempt to “prettify” these, but she didn’t go out of her way to be gory, either. I didn’t find them to be out of place, but it’s something to be aware of if you’re more sensitive to violence or if you’re looking for reading material for a younger person.
All in all, this was a fantastic and well-written story. We homeschool, and I am fully intending to use this as a living book to go with our history study when we get to that time period.