Prophecy Of The Sisters (Prophecy of the Sisters, #1)

by Michelle Zink

[Briana @ Pages Unbound]

Prophecy of the Sisters sounds as if it should have an interesting premise, yet somehow a book that promises a major clash between good and evil in which the fate of the entire world is at stake ends up being somewhat dull. Ultimately, Zink ends up relying on the fact that she has pitched twin sisters against each other in this epic battle to carry the story—and it can’t. Making characters twins does not automatically make them fascinating. Also, the characterization of the two is so general that it does not matter whether they are twins or related or not.

Zink has cast Lia as the good sister and Alice as the evil one. They rarely interact, except when arguing over things pertaining to the prophecy. As readers, we only have Lia’s word that Alice and she used to be friends; we see little of that relationship in the book. And it is disconcerting to see absolutely none of Alice’s character arc. She is cruel and almost stereotypically evil except for a few brief moments when something in her breaks. What would be interesting is an explanation of how Alice became this way.

The paranormal elements are also not as interesting as one might expect. Lia and the other are able to “travel the Plane,” which means there are a lot of interludes that sound very much like dream descriptions. If one is not fond of dream sequences (even if what is occurring is technically real), then this book has a number of boring interruptions. A couple of séances also fail to be as creepy or powerful as they could be.

The romance is somewhat original in that it has already begun before the book starts. James and Lia are already a couple, so readers get to see them from the beginning drawing on each other’s strengths. The romance is unoriginal in Lia’s reluctance to draw James into her problems and her subsequent decision to push him away. (Readers can probably guess how this tactic will work out.) I personally am not excited by the set-up of what promises to be a twin struggle over the guy in the following books. Lia and Alice are fighting enough without adding a guy, who is clearly interested in one girl and not the other, into the mix. This plot line cannot possibly go anywhere surprising either. No one really expects the evil girl to steal the nice girl’s boyfriend.

Bottom line: I will not be reading the remainder of the series.

This review was also posted at Pages Unbound Book Reviews.