A clever idea! I Enjoyed this but did think the plot needed some fleshing out -- as did the world. The closer you look at things the less they make sense -- but mostly, this is a rollicking fun time and one I had hard time predicting. Enjoyable in the moment, doesn't stand up to a lot of scrutiny.

Set in a Venetian-esque place, submerged in intrigue with a big who-dunnit, this book keeps you on your toes trying to get to the bottom of the fall of house Mederos. But a little revenge wouldn't hurt along the way.

Once one of the wealthiest merchant families in Port Saint Frey, the Mederos family are now disgraced. Sisters Yvienne and Tesara Mederos are convinced that something, or someone, sinister has been at work to bring down the The House Mederos and they are determined to restore the family name and the riches due, and exact revenge. But their plans take off too well and move on beyond their control and they may be forced to take actions that they themselves find reprehensible. But Tesara is holding on to a secret thought that perhaps it was her fault - her magic - that resulted in the loss of the family's fleet.

I was really drawn into this book quite well early on. These characters are strong and independent and I really liked that. I found the characters to be quite real and interesting, which is usually important for me to be pulled into a story.

Our setting is (or appears to be) around early 1800's Italy and the fact that we have these strong women taking action and not needing to rely on men to finish things for them, or to open the way for them, is really refreshing. They each have skills that they use to get them what they want (and it isn't just feminine charms).

But while I liked this book at the start it really wore down. I felt that the story drew on and on, repeating itself and this bored me. Rather than a story unfolding, revealing information gradually along the way, we get a big dose of information early, and then we wander around for awhile before getting back into the story.

I was a bit frustrated by Tesara's magic. I never quite figured out if this is something rare in this world, or common. And we don't really learn anything about the source of her magic - is this inherited? A gift?

There was enough here to have me interested and want to read more, but not enough here to have me offer up a recommendation.

Looking for a good book? The Sister Mederos by Patrice Sarath starts out well and offers strong female characters, but the story wanders and doesn't really hold the reader's interest.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

This book was entertaining. Robbery, gambling, cross-dressing, and a bit of magic. The sisters Yvienne and Tesara Mederos are two very different, very smart girls up to no good, and their largely separate hi-jinks make for a fun story in which everything comes together in the end.

The world building was sufficient unto the telling of the tale; that is, fine but a little generic and not terribly memorable. The same could be said for some of the rest, particularly in regards to how the magic was integrated (or not). Apart from the magic, this book would have felt more like "fantasy of manners" except without the wit that one usually finds in that subgenre. Instead, it's rather straight-faced. Really, it could have used that injection of wit.

I am interested in reading the sequel. I would like to see what happens if the sisters start working together openly.

Based on the cover and blurb of The Sisters Mederos by Patrice Sarath, I went into this book expecting great atmosphere and a story featuring some strong family ties, especially related to sisterhood. Well, I think this ended up delivering only half of that promise.

The writing was great, and I got a good feel for the main plot and setting. However, my main criticisms are mostly reserved for the characters and their relationship dynamics. it's kind of a shame, because the entire premise is based around the bond between Yvienne and Tesara, but quite honestly, I did not get a sense that they were as close as the narrative wanted me to think. It could be a classic case of the author telling versus showing, but even then, the story didn't feature the girls cooperating nearly as much as I'd wanted. As a result of this, the plot also felt disjointed and all over the place, trying to follow each character but failing to bring the different parts of the whole together.

To the book's credit, I did love the world. I could have done with more elaboration on the world's magic system, but I am also intrigued by what was described and I really enjoyed the overall feel of the Victorian era-like atmosphere.

Overall, an entertaining read, but somehow struggled to cross the threshold into greatness.

I am sorry for the inconvenience but I don’t have the time to read this anymore and have lost interest in the concept. I believe that it would benefit your book more if I did not skim your book and write a rushed review. Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience.

The Sisters Mederos is a young adult, historical fantasy that revolves around two sisters who are fighting to undo the wrongs brought upon their family in an imagined port city run by the rich Merchant Guild. There are small tidbits of magic scattered here and there. The story predominantly focuses on the girls as they try to adjust to their new lifestyle as members of the lesser wealthy members of society. This brings about good opportunities for world building. The characters themselves were about what I expected between two sisters who have been through what they have. It was apparent how important their family was to them. I really was disappointed that the magic aspects of it were a bit lacking since the book description led me to believe it would be.

Overall, it's a worthy summer beach-read...some brain candy to enjoy when opportunity presents itself. I do hold out hope that some of the familial characters will become more likable in future books, as I got to the point where I just wanted to throw something at some heads - they were just that frustrating.

NOTE: Full review to come on vampirebookclub.net

http://www.speculativeherald.com/2018/04/26/review-the-sisters-mederos-by-patrice-sarath/
https://lynns-books.com/2018/04/28/the-sisters-mederos-by-patrice-sarath/
I have to say from the outset that I had good fun reading The Sisters Mederos. This is a fantasy of manners with two sisters, raised with privilege, whose family loses everything, and who, using their wits and determination seek to reinstate their family’s good name and fortune.

There’s not too much to go into in relation to the plot (don’t intend that to be disparaging btw). The Mederos family was one of the most influential and wealthy merchant houses in Port Saint Frey until the fleet was sunk and it was discovered there was no insurance. Their fall from grace was as spectacular as it was speedy and clearly somebody orchestrated the whole affair. The sisters are determined to find out who is to blame although at the same time they need to take action to keep their family afloat.

As the story sets off we meet the Mederos family as they’re in the process of being accused. The family home is taken from them, the girl’s uncle is imprisoned and the two girls are sent to boarding school. When we next meet up with them the sisters have been returned home to their family after an absence of six years. Times have changed, none of their former friends speak to them, they are impoverished and without any prospects reduced to bickering amongst themselves. Thankfully the two sisters still have some ideas and enough guts to take matters into their own hands.

Yvienne is the elder sister and probably my favourite of the story. She’s definitely the brains of the piece and has a plan for revealing those behind her family’s downfall. She already has ideas about what happened but she needs time to uncover more. Becoming a governess helps her to come up with an alibi for being out of the house without raising her family’s suspicion and dressing in boys clothing enables her to experience a new degree of freedom at the same time as helping her to come up with a new persona in the form of the Gentleman Bandit. Tesara on the other hand is a little like the black sheep of the family. She keeps secret the magic that she is capable of and blames herself for the storm that caused the fleet’s destruction out at sea. Tesara always seems to be in trouble with the family and longs for relief which comes in the form of invitations to parties – her families notoriety giving her a certain level of entertainment value. Using these invitations and the friendship of a couple of young people who are not too worried about reputation Tesara eventually finds her forte is gambling. Unfortunately as she moves in these circles she is starting to attract notice from parties that she would be better off not coming to the attention of. Both girls take risks, they were scared, but they put their fear behind them and I have to say I admired their pluck.

Eventually both the sisters become deeper embroiled in their own webs of deceit until the final showdown where everything will either fall into place or a greater price paid. The sisters thought they’d lost everything but their lives are at stake now.

This is a period drama but being set in an alternate world it doesn’t necessarily mimic the rules of propriety as strictly as a novel set in our world might do. Both the sisters manage to get out and about with far fewer restrictions than you might expect but I liked that, it gave them a bit more agency to achieve things. The place itself is only really briefly drawn but I didn’t find that a problem either as it felt easy enough to imagine a small seaside town of the era.

I think my main reservations with the story came in the form of the family ties. I wouldn’t say that I really got a feel for them caring about each other, even the sisters. If they’d communicated a little more with each other they might have been able to work together as oppose to going off independently at tangents and sometimes almost working against the other and adding to the risk. It felt like they could have come up with a more cogent plan for action, two heads being better than one. The magic was also not really elaborated on and felt almost tacked on to add more of a ‘fantasy’ element – I’d like to see this explored a little more.

However, in spite of reservations and a few, what felt like, unfinished storylines, I found this an entertaining read. Yes, certain storylines were left open but I’m figuring that maybe they’ll be focused on in future books and I would definitely be interested in reading more to see how the sisters develop and what adventures they get tied into next.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

This is a historical fantasy about two sisters from one of the most prestigious houses in Port Saint Frey who decided to fight back and reclaim their family name after the Merchant Guild took everything from them. One turns to thievery and the other to gambling while they look for information as to why their house was targeted by the Guild. I was wary going into this because Im not the biggest reader of historical fiction, but I wanted to try something different.

The little world building I did get felt pretty generic. Nothing about it stood out to me. The magic didnt have much of explanation. The plot lost its direction with the sisters gambling and stealing needlessly instead of actually looking into the reason their house was targeted. This slowed down the pace for me and made me lose interest, especially since nothing really unpredictable happened. The writing flowed nicely and I was able to follow the switch in points of view between the two sisters easily.

I enjoyed our two main characters Tesera and Yvienne, but their sense of priviledge was a little annoying. If you can spend your money on a housemaid you're not that bad off. Seeing these sisters transform into the badasses I saw on the cover was the best part of the story, but it was still a bit underwhelming. I wish they would have communicated to each other more and been more focused on their goal. I also didnt understand Teseras reaction to getting her magic back. Not to mention it came back out of nowhere.

The sisters parents and uncle were very flawed people who treated the girls unfairly, but I still liked them as characters. I also liked their housemaid and how she didnt tolerate any nonsense from their uncle. I appreciated the disabilty representation with one of the main characters having a disabled hand, but I dont know how accurate it was. Im happy she didnt let it deter her. She even used it to her advantage while gambling. The ending wasnt very satisfying, especially where the culprit and Teseras new friendships were concerned.

There are a lot of exciting elements in The Sisters Mederos: a game of cat-and-mouse with a shadowy enemy, wild parties, double lives and a good old-fashioned dose of revenge. Unfortunately, these elements don't manage to blend into a solid story.

The story opens with the girls being packed off to boarding school as the Merchants' Guild break into the family's home to charge them with trumped up crimes. We then flash forward to the girls' return home. Thanks to persecution from the Guild, they now live in greatly reduced circumstances and are struggling to put food on the table. While their parents and uncle struggle to cope, the girls each privately vow to discover the truth of who's responsible for their situation and make them pay.

They go about this in very different ways. Yvienne, the oldest, takes to writing anonymous and inflammatory opinion pieces for one of the local newspapers while using her position as a governess to investigate the paper trail surrounding her House's downfall. She also discovers she makes quite a successful robber and starts holding up the city's nobility under the cover of night. Being the quiet, responsible one of the sisters, her family never suspects her and even her sister is surprised by the icy depths of her resolve. She is a person who gets things done and I enjoyed that about her.

In contrast, Tesara has a reputation as the naughty and mischievous sister. Strange things have a way of happening around her--sudden squalls of wind when she's upset, the tablecloth ripping itself off the table. However, her family refuses to acknowledge any possibility of magic but instead blames Tesara for what is not entirely in her control. Resentful, Tesara sneaks out one night to a party with an old friend... and rediscovers her talent for counting cards. She puts these skills and her flighty reputation to good use by fleecing the nobility of their wealth. It was immensely satisfying to watch her turn the stereotype to her advantage.

Although the sisters are compelling characters, they are let down by their family. Their mother is a bitter woman, turning her sharp tongue on the rest of the family at the slightest provocation. Their father has become a vague and anxious man, aged too quickly by the family's travails. And their Uncle is an unpleasant sort of man, desperate to be part of the old boys club again and prone to sexually harassing the help. Such an unlikable cast of characters makes it difficult to root for the family's restoration. However, I also recognise it's a difficult line to walk because without their self-absorption it would be hard to justify their obliviousness to the activities of the sisters.

The unlikeability of the family undermines any chance of making "family before all else" a convincing theme. It also never quite manages to create a sense of the sisters binding together against the world. They're too busy keeping secrets from each other; even at the very end they're still not wholly transparent with each other. So, despite their obvious affection for each other, there's still a sense that their alliance is only temporary.
This wasn't the only part of the plot and world-building that felt weak. The villain's motivation in targeting House Mederos was insufficiently convincing and they didn't have much of a presence throughout most of the story. Tesara's magic also never had much of an impact on the plot and I was never quite clear on if there was supposed to be some mystery over whether she actually possessed any power. The ending wrapped up quite quickly, dropping elements left and right. Being the first book in a series, it's possible that some of these elements will receive some more attention in subsequent books. But by and large, it felt like the Mederos tale had been intended to stand on its own and had reached its natural conclusion. I would therefore be surprised to see future books focus on the family.

I'm hesitant to describe the story as a historical fantasy. Not only does it appear to be set in a secondary world, the time period it's based on seemed to shift around. The majority of the story has a Regency influence, shown in the fashion and social conventions. However, the parties Tesara attends had more of a 1920s vibe in terms of the extravagance and fashion. While I quite enjoyed this blending of periods, it's not going to be to everyone's taste.

All in all, The Sisters Mederos was a book that promised a lot but ultimately failed to satisfy.

There was a lot of potential here, but not much payoff. The idea of a wealthy family fallen from grace, with a daughter who's got some sort of magic latent ability, is interesting. But after the fall, the family is awful to each other and it gets so tiring to read that dynamic as it's unchanging. The solutions to their problems come too easily, after too long of a build up, to be narratively satisfying. More importantly, I really get annoyed when a magic talent of some sort is included, only to be utilized so inconsistently. The power is used as a plot convenience more than anything - when the author needs a quick solution. I wanted to root for the relationship between the sisters, but too much of the book was spent keeping them apart from one another. Overall, it wasn't that fun of a read.

Do you enjoy the timeless fiction of Jane Austen or Charles Dickens? Are you a fan of rogues and bandits disrupting high society? Did you like Frozen? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then I may have just the book for you.

Allow me to introduce Yvienne and Tesara Mederos, the titular sisters in Patrice Sarath’s newest novel. Those things that I mentioned above? All come together (somehow) in a delightful fantasy of manners.

Discussion: I’m going to begin by saying that this almost wasn’t a speculative novel. Despite the prologue, wherein we are introduced to young Tesara Mederos and her burgeoning telekinetic abilities, most of the plot is driven by intrigue, deception, and a desire for revenge upon those who have wronged Tesara and her older sister, Yvienne. Tesara being gifted with magical abilities doesn’t really come into play very much until nearly the end.

No, the sisters Mederos set about their goal — restoring their family’s fortune and good name — using their brains instead of magic. It’s a good thing, too: Tesara’s magical ability was all but broken out of her before Chapter One even begins. Literally broken out of her, at the hands of an unforgiving headmistress at the boarding school where the sisters spent six years after their family’s fall from grace in the shipping town of Port Saint Frey. When those six long, difficult years are up, Tesara and Yvienne return to their parents and find them as broken as the bones in Tesara’s once magical hand. Their mother has grown shrill, and their father is in an almost constant state of gentle confusion. Their once magnificent home now belongs to someone else, and the family is forced into a small cottage in one of the less dignified neighborhoods. Sarath makes a gentle point on what poverty does to people when she describes the life that Tes and Vivi come home to. There is scarcely enough money to survive. Food is bland and more than a little scarce. The family cannot even afford firewood sometimes. Their spirits are broken, and it’s no wonder why. When one goes from a comfortable life to a difficult one, it’s extremely difficult to remain optimistic.

Our heroines aren’t entirely optimistic, but they are certainly hellbent on getting to the bottom of what caused their family’s ruin. I am spoiling nothing that wasn’t in the premise by saying that, for a good portion of the novel, Tesara believes that she was responsible for destroying her family’s lot in life due to her unpredictable magical abilities. Prior to the heartless maiming that she received at boarding school, Tesara could call up breezes, move objects, and even light candles by gesturing with her hand. Despite carrying the burden that maybe her family’s misery is her fault, Tesara figures out a way to start getting some cash into the family’s pocket and working their way out of the deep hole that they have landed in. And how, exactly, does she do that? Gambling, my friend. After an old friend kindly invites her to a salon, Tesara is reminded of the card lessons that her unsavory Uncle Samwell gave her as a child. Card counting is extremely successful when one knows just how to utilize it, and Tesara has just that knowledge. I wish that there had been more of Tesara scamming her way across the card tables of Port Saint Frey’s society set. Smarty-pants scoundrels are some of my favorite characters (see The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch for some superb examples of this trope).

As for Yvienne, she has her own way of digging her way through to what she believes to be the truth about her family’s downfall. She goes about this in a slightly circuitous route: she becomes a governess for one of the newer wealthy families and intends to use that position to hunt down answers. And if she happens to become the gun-toting Gentleman Bandit (who is never hesitant to relive a wealthy mark from his money) along the way, well, so be it. Despite my fondness for Yvienne’s thievery, I almost felt as if her story was too cluttered. She’s a governess! She’s going to write for the gossip column! She’s out for revenge! She starts robbing her former peers because she likes doing it! Oh, now she has a secret lair! It was a lot to keep up with, and the book should have been longer to let a few more of these aspects get a little more time. It all felt a little shallow. Furthermore, there was no real reason given for her decision to take up the art of … banditing? Is that a word? I’m using it. She begins her darker career because the opportunity presented herself. She kept going because she decided that she liked it. I can’t blame her; given the change, I might become a gender-bending thief.

My only other criticism of the novel was the story’s pacing. It moves along fairly steadily until the last ten percent of the novel. The slow burn that was the beginning suddenly ignites, and things are ultimately resolved. The ending is almost too neat and tidy.

I was also unclear on where this book was taking place. Nags Head is mentioned more than once, as is another city in North Carolina (I cannot recall which one at this time), which originally made me think that this was an alternate version of North America. I could be entirely wrong. It’s a small thing to complain about, but I like being grounded enough within the story’s setting to understand exactly where I happen to be. Who knows; maybe the paperback will have a map.

In conclusion: I enjoyed my reading experience a great deal. The book hit several of my buttons. I liked it enough that a lovely paperback copy is winging its way to me as we speak. Is it perfect? No. Aside from the pacing issues, the writing style takes a little getting used to. Sarath does a good job mimicking an older style of storytelling, but it still took a little work. Once I got the style down, I had no problems whatsoever. I wouldn’t call The Sisters Mederos rollicking good time, but it was definitely a fun read that I intend to revisit. Angry Robot has this listed as the first book in a series. I hope that this is correct, because I would like to come back to this world and these characters again in the future.

The Sisters Mederos, by new to me author Patrice Sarath, is a twisted tale of two sisters, Yvienne and Tesara Mederos, who try to bring their family back from the brink of destitution with cunning, daring, and through counting on one another as they face challenge after challenge. The Mederos' are considered one of the founding families of Port Saint Frey. They were once the wealthiest merchant family in the city as well. Then someone went full out betrayal and destroyed the families reputation and their fortune.

Their Uncle Samwell, who they believe was framed and blamed for losing a fleet of ships and not insuring them, spent time in prison. Meanwhile, Yvienne and Tesara were sent away to a boarding school where Tesara had the most issues thanks to an evil Grinch which I won't spoil for you. I will say that her troubles directly correlate to the possibility that Tesara may have some magical abilities, abilities I don't believe were addressed properly by the author, and that they may have caused her families nightmares and lost of fortune.

It might also explain her bitterness, her attitude, and her coldness towards her parents and her Uncle who she was once close as two people not in a romantic relationship could be. Tesara uses her ability to count cards to get close to those who were once her friends, and families business partners. She grows close to a variety of characters who really don't matter in the general scheme of things which is a shame. There are some curious characters I would have loved to get more information on, but the author failed to deliver.

Tesara's magic that isn't fully incorporated into the story or explained. While Tesara was facing hell at school, her sister failed to protect her from the evil Grinch. After being called home from school, Yvienne, the smartest girl in town, becomes a triple threat. A Governess for a second tiered family to spy on and see if she can glean information on who betrayed the family, a charismatic bandit who is slick as they come, and a reporter who rages war against the Guild who she believes destroyed the families reputations and nearly their family in the process.

Yvienne doesn't believe that her own sister has magic. She chooses to ignore it, instead of using it to her advantage. Huge let down, again. The story is told in alternating narratives, and has some background flashbacks as well. The story mixes elements of historical fiction and adventure fantasy in a way that is both familiar and fresh. The world building is fairly mundane. Readers don't really know where this particular city is and it's never explained. Is it France, or Italy, or Spain?

There are, obviously some issues that I have with this story. First is Tesara's powers. The author barely touches on them. As powerful as she is, for there are those who would use her talents for their own machinations, she should have been allowed to let them loose from time to time. Terk the gambler and Mrs. Fayres the mistress were the two most interesting characters in this book. Both are connected to Tesara, but nothing is really explained.

Yvienne is by far the most interesting, while Tesara is the most angry. As others have said, there were instances that the sisters never talked about or gave each other enough details to prevent accidents or surprises from catching up to them. I was also disappointed at how rapidly the booked wrapped up while leaving a whole lot of questions and no answers. Thus my overall rating.

Much to my dismay, DNF 33%.

I gave this one hell of an effort, but it was such a struggle to read. The premise sounded fantastic, but I'm over a quarter of the way in and nothing is happening, nor is anything that IS happening making sense. I felt so confused, because it was one of those reveals where they try and give you so many little bits here and there that in the end, it amounts to nothing.
The writing style is not to my taste either. The way I can describe it is as the author started writing fantasy in the 1970's and then never adapted to the ways of the modern world. It's stuffy and not smooth to read.
I'm also bothered by how little the dual POV is used to its advantage. Dual POV works for suspense. You end the chapter on a crazy cliffhanger, and when you turn the page excited to see what happens you are suddenly in with the other character, so you're desperate to carry on. Not the case here. You get five chapters with Tesara, with no real surprises or desire to carry on, then switch to Yvienne. It made the book boring and impossible to read.

House Mederos was one of the most powerful merchant families in Port Saint Frey until a horrible tragedy — and a series of mysterious events — ruined their fortunes. The family’s two daughters, Yvienne and Tesara, were spirited away in the night to protect them from the Merchant Guild’s justice.

Newly returned to Port Saint Frey, Yvienne and Tesara are much changed. The six years they spent at a harsh, cruel boarding school in the country hardened the sisters – and left Tesara disfigured and traumatized. Both sisters are eager to lift their family out of genteel poverty and back to their previous status…and to exact revenge on those who took everything from them. But who was it, and why? Could the family’s downfall have something to do with Tesara’s uncanny magical ability?

From masked bandits, controversial political manifestos, gambling schemes, and swindling their enemies, the daughters of House Mederos will stop at nothing to discover who targeted their family. Yvienne and Tesara’s capers are so zany and fun, and the added element of thumbing their noses at the Guild makes them even sweeter. If you’re looking for a fantasy of manners with lots of madcap action, then THE SISTERS MEDEROS is a good place to begin!

THE SISTERS MEDEROS has such likeable characters, particularly Yvienne. She’s a chameleon, adjusting to her lower status and shouldering the responsibility of providing for her family; Yvienne finds work as a governess, using her advanced education and novelty as a formerly high-status member of society to her advantage. I love a character with that kind of pluck! Tesara, the younger sister, struggles with her new reality and harbours some classist ideas that grated a little on me. In the end though, Tesara’s irrepressible spirit won me over…well, that and her card-counting skills.

As much as I loved Yvienne and Tesara, THE SISTERS MEDEROS does flounder in a few places. Given that the entire story is about unravelling the conspiracy that led to the downfall of the Mederos family, the “whodunnit and why” of it all was rather disappointing. The culprits are discovered quite quickly once the girls get the ball rolling, and their punishment is even more swift. I was hoping for a bit more twistiness, honestly.

The fantastical elements were also a little lacklustre: Tesara is the only character who uses any magic — and for the moment, she’s the only known magic user in all of Port Saint Frey. Since there’s no one to teach her about her abilities, Tesara’s magic is never fully understood or explained. What are the limitations of her abilities? Are there other types of magic? I would’ve liked at least some of these questions to be answered in THE SISTERS MEDEROS, but I do think the fact that I was interested enough to wonder about things beyond the scope of the story is a good sign. Hopefully these questions will be answered in the sequel!

Readers looking for a quirky historical adventure and those who won’t be disappointed by light fantasy elements will find lots to love in THE SISTERS MEDEROS, the first in a promising new series.

Why I picked up this book:

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. When I first read the description, it sounded like a fun adventure book. Couple that with Angry Robot as a publisher, I was certain it would have some fantastic adult themes. At least, that was the hope.

This review may contain spoilers.

What I loved:

Terk the gambler and Mrs. Fayres the mistress were the two most interesting characters in this book. Both had a strong presence and I wish the story spent more time on who they were and how they fit into to the story.

Of the two sisters, Yvienne was the far more interesting one. She had a lot of depth to her personality, and overall complexity—an adventurous spirit under a prim and proper lady, and it made her tons of fun to read.

Areas needing a touch of refinement:

Coming from Angry Robot, I expected this to be an adult adventure, but it felt very YA. The girls are 18 & 20, but a significant portion of the story is watching them be submissive to their parents and hearing the family bickering around them. It was a bit too childish for my tastes and really took away from the sisters and their story.

The prologue read as MG and was just a lot of names thrown at the reader, most of which I forgot by the time any story started. I'm not certain it adds the right amount of impact.

The story hid a lot of information from the reader. I don’t mean in the ‘try to figure out the mystery’ sense, more of a lack of enough data. I have no idea how the magic system in this world works apart from a few sparks on Tesara’s fingertips and her doing things to fit the story. There’s also a moment when the sisters decide to work together, but it’s not really clear. More ‘okay, let’s do stuff’, but the motivation was a little lost. And the cave felt like a consistent deus ex-machina. Yvienne stocked it with supplies and it was ready… but that’s it. The reader wasn’t clued into what it looked like inside, what supplies she stocked, etc, and through the narrative the cave became a place to sleep or change clothes, but glossed over that she still had to swim out… yet she always returned home dry.

Overall:

To be honest, I’m not sure how I feel about this story. It was a cute read, and the premise is fantastic, but I feel like so much more could have been done here.

This started out well and had a fine ending (though the epilogue seemed unneeded), but it felt like the middle dragged quite a lot. I appreciated the two strong female leads, one of which was disfigured and one brainy, and the writing was perfectly functional. But I felt like things came a little too conveniently for the girls and the ‘mystery’ was a bust. The villain was so obvious as to be painful. Lastly, I thought the cross-dressing ‘mistress’ was just queer-baiting. All in all, not bad, but not a true winner either.

This review will be posted on Amazon and Goodreads after our interview for New Books Network.

There is something almost sweetly Victorian about the new fantasy novel by Patrice Sarath, which concerns two young sisters enduring misfortune. The opening chapters reminded me of the childhood classic, The Little Princess, published in 1905. Yvienne and her magical sister, Tesera, daughters of a once rich trading family, are sent to a school for paupers, when their family is accused by creditors hungry for their downfall. In the traditional of some YA novels, Yvienne and Tesera’s parents are inept and depressed, and their uncle is a foolish lecher, forcing the young girls to shoulder responsibility for each other. Into their miserable lives comes Mathilde, a cheery housekeeper who knows how to do much on a shoestring budget, and is capable of putting Uncle Samwell in his place.
This charming novel avoids disturbing and tragic scenes: the worst that happens is that one heroine is forced to serve some merchants dinner while wearing a maid’s uniform and being mocked. Amorous adventures are discreetly referred to as sparking, without more graphic details. We may have come up with the analogue of the cozy mystery here; a tale gripping enough to keep you reading at night, and hoping for exposure of the villain, but a story that takes place in a familiar and nostalgic setting, even if it is an imaginary one.

The setting and characters were so charming and fun that throughout reading I knew I was going to give it at least four stars. Trade wars, scheming nobility, domestic spies, murdered journalists, a Dickensian vibe, and good, confident writing made me sure it was all going to come together beautifully.

But the book overpromises and under-delivers. In the last 20% it rushes to try to tie all its developments together and sort of does but only by offering really simplistic explanations (or downright dropping several plot developments) that aren’t satisfying and lack the complexity and thoughtfulness I expect in adult fantasy.

Without going into too much depth, it seems as though there’s a complex, dastardly conspiracy afoot and if the two (very cool!) heroines can only figure out which thread to pull, they can unravel their enemies’ secrets and redeem their family. It makes for great tension throughout, but then… there just isn’t anything there. It takes about a paragraph to explain the conspiracy against them (but no real believable motive) and does so in a way that renders the rest of the story pointless. Tesara's powers? The Gentleman Bandit? The cave full of loot? The mysterious gambling shark? The enigmatic mistress? Yvienne's lecherous employer? Tesara's engagement? The murdered journalist? None truly matter by the last page, making for a disappointing finish.

Wonderful characters and world hobbled by a weak, half-conceived story.