A review by casualskimreader
Sistersong by Lucy Holland

dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

Things I enjoyed about the book:

• The balance between the world building and action I felt was perfect. There is a bit more info in the beginning of the novel in terms of world building but it never feels overwhelming.

• I am not familiar with British folktales or rituals. Lucy Holland managed to explain the rituals, the landscape, the myths and the culture without too many words but it is clear. The Twa Sisters tale

was not I was familiar with but it was definitely brutal. I do wish the dynamic between Riva and Sinne was explained better. But I’ll discuss this later.

• The characters are definitely nuanced. You can understand some of their motivations and context that pushes them to act in a specific way but there are some confusions. But I like that the book is making me think about the characters even after I’ve put the book down. 

Things that I have thought about:

• Keyne/Constantin is definitely the most fleshed out character and I really enjoyed
  his character arc and I liked how being trans in a transphobic world was explained. I do think it’s interesting that the first member of his family to acknowledge him as a son was Sinne. Sinne is seen as selfish but she’s the first one to accept him as he is and pretty much without question compared to everyone else. Definitely my favourite character and his arc was handled very well and felt thought out.
• I felt that Sinne and Riva weren’t as developed. I guess that the Twa sisters retelling
  needed to be fit in but they didn’t feel like sisters to me. Also I don’t get why the sibling dynamic was not explored in flashbacks to childhood. I felt like we just had to trust that the sisters were close and it didn’t make exact sense that Sinne wouldn’t confide in Keyne/Constantin or Os about her visions before approaching Riva. It seems like the middle child sibling relationship wasn’t used to its fullest extent. This might be an unpopular opinion but I felt like Sinne had a more interesting/sympathetic arc than Riva. I thought I’d enjoy Riva’s character the most and I was mistaken. I do understand her motivations to an extent but the arc seemed very much like she abandoned herself and her values for Tristan and then the beef between her and her sister seemed a bit shallow on her end. I get her motivations for leaving and why she felt the way she felt but I agree with Sinne that she was willing to abandon her family to be with him. She also betrayed Keyne/Constantin for her own selfish gains and cost her the safety of her family. So her arc wasn’t entirely positive going from super cautious and protective of her family to being reckless was somewhat interesting.
• Sinne’s arc was WILD.
  Her ending was brutal but I like that her voice lived on. Also very interesting that she ended up being the most accepting of different people in her life despite being seen as shallow. She’s seen as a pretty face and fears unhappiness yet accepts Os and Constantin. Was she a bit rude? Yes. Was she a bit cruel with her words? Absolutely. But I sympathise with why she is the way she is. She is very much a product of being ignored and dreaming too much but Tbf she is still a child compared to Riva and Keyne/Constantin so it really is the fault of the parents for not stepping in to listen to her or try more.
• Parents are a bit shit but I guess it makes sense in context. The mother
  was a bit intense but I understand (not empathise) with her motives. Her dynamic with Gildas highlights how religion changes motives, actions, and social constructions of people. Fuck Gildas tho and jrr I was upset that she followed him blindly.

  The father was an interesting and somewhat tragic character. Yet his

  rejection of his culture and his religion shows how once someone turns away from who they are how dire the consequences could be. I’m glad that he made Constantin his heir without much prompting from anyone else and shows that he still believes in his magick.

TL;DR

Solid book with great world building. Enjoyed the Britain setting and the use of magick and storytelling to immerse you into the world. Characters are very complicated and some needed to be more fleshed out.

Definitely needed more childhood flashbacks to understand the actions/motives of the characters.

Would recommend this to someone.