Sisters of Shadow (Sisters of Shadow, #1)

by Katherine Livesey

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Sisters of Shadow is the first book in a YA quest fantasy series by Katherine Livesey. Released 30th Sept 2021 by Harper Collins, it's 361 pages and is available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats.

This is an oddly paced and quirky book. The settings and characters and the vibe are slightly off-kilter. The publisher's blurb drew comparisons to Anne of Green Gables and Diana Wynne-Jones. I disagree with the former, Anne Shirley was fanciful but relatively serious and sensible, the characters to be found here are odd at best, and slightly sinister in most cases.

The pacing was problematic for me. In places it's positively glacial contrasted with scenes which really are pivotal to the plot being glossed over. It felt as though the author fully intended to go back and revisit those important plot elements and ran out of time or was contractually obligated to finish faster than would have been optimal (or both).

The characters are simultaneously two dimensional archetypes and overwrought; I didn't actually count how many times in the text readers are told protagonist Lily *needed* to feel the grass against her bare legs and feet, but it was intrusively many.

The adults are barely sketched in outline; mostly as background scene filler to explain that apparently when she became orphaned (at 6 years old), the entire town and all the adults save one decided that MC Alice was a witch and not to be interacted with. (What??).

Overall, I'm positively inclined to be supportive of YA fantasy of any kind. There are some positive aspects to this new series; female protagonists, positive LGBTQ+ portrayals, etc. On the other hand there's a lot of rough, almost unfinished, dialogue and descriptions to be slogged through.

Three stars. There are some positives, but I don't plan to seek out the following books in the series without reading a number of reviews beforehand.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.