The Sisters Mederos is a well written urban historical fantasy that is light on the magic but heavy on the characterization. For once, we have two lead female characters that are SHOWN (not just told) as strong and resourceful in a complex political world. The setting is an 18th-19th century Italy or France where mercantile controls the society. As each sister uses her own set of skills and opportunities to fix their poor social situation, it is their bravado and ingenuity that see them through rather than plot devices or dumb luck. But the plot also felt stretched and repetitive, as if to create a trilogy from a single large book foundation.

Story: In a spectacular act of fate, a storm sinks several trade ships of the House of Mederos. Without insurance to cover the loss, the once wealthy family is disgraced and impoverished. Sisters Yvienne and Tesara are sent to a far away boarding school where they are treated to humiliation and privation. Years later, the two return to find out what really happened to their family and to rebuild the family fortune. But the Mederos family has a secret - Tesara has a tenuous and minor elemental magic control (a magic she believes she accidentally used to sink her family's ships). Yvienne may not believe her sister has magic but Yvienne knows there is more to the story of the sinking of the ships - and she is going to find out exactly who is behind the calamity that destroyed their futures.

First and foremost, my review is perhaps a bit lower than I had hoped going into the read simply because Tesara's magic is so underrepresented and unexplained in context to the world. Other than the reader knowing through Tesara's POV that she has a curious set of abilities, no one else in the world seems to have any explanation or context for that magic. Even if rare, there would be stories and mores to deal with magic users. Yet even Yvienne doesn't believe in magic or that her sister has an ability. Other than hints that the Guild know how important the magic power is, people either ignore her ability when they suspect (as with the headmistress) or avoid the topic. But no one seems surprised that someone has a power and no one has any idea what to do with someone who does have one? It was just odd and I had a hard time with the book because of it.

But that said, I liked that each of the sisters had a strong skill set (of which their intellects were the most important) which they used to good effect. They were both very distinctly people as well, without being caricatures. Yvienne being practical and intelligent, Tesara being more impulsive but able to act quickly and decisively. Interestingly enough, neither knows everything the other is doing because both want to protect the other from the consequences of their dangerous activities.

The book focuses more on the mystery and character development than the action and adventure. Yvienne becoming a 'highwayman' and Tesara using cardshark skills to fleece the nobles are the ways the women have chosen to fix the family's poor situation. But this translated into several scenes of robbing and several scenes of card sharking that began to feel repetitive. They went down in pretty much the same ways and I would have liked to see the focus on something else instead. The plot didn't move fast enough while they were doing their activities.

There are some interesting side characters that I look forward to learning more about in future books. Author Sarath does an excellent job of characterization, giving people wants, needs, and goals that are offset by their own foibles, weaknesses, and strengths. But that extra effort meant that the story felt inert at quite a few places and that the story moved both too quickly and not quickly enough. But I had a great sense of the milieu in which the Mederos operated and appreciated the "Les Miserable" feel of the story.

In all, I enjoyed The Sisters Mederos but did have some issues with the story. Great characterization and story but nebulous magic definition (and nearly a complete lack of magic in the book) left me feeling a bit cheated in that area. Reviewed from an advanced reader copy provided by the publisher.

At the beginning (let's say, first 15-20%) I had trouble with the writing. Something about the formal style, maybe, made me keep having to reread sentences. Not a great start. I would say that it took me until about halfway through to actually start enjoying the plot more than I was bothered by the blandness, too. This book and I just were not clicking, despite how much I wanted to love the setting and Yvienne's nighttime adventures.

I think, and it's hard to say because of how much I slogged through it, that the book needed to be longer. The things that were interesting — Yvienne becoming the Gentleman Bandit, her search for answers to the downfall of her family — felt too shallow. We didn't see enough of these things that could have been really exciting. I can hardly even say what we were seeing instead of these things. Endless identical scenes of the Mederos family being stressed and grumpy, I guess?

There were some genuinely exciting moments, and (a very few) times the book surprised me about where it took the plot. I didn't expect the answer of what happened to House Mederos, although I obviously called who the bad guy was, because it was so blindingly obvious I assumed it was information we just started with? So the fact that Yvienne didn't know was just... really weird?

But all too often the book just tried to cash in on concepts it hadn't developed enough to deserve. Tesara's struggle to regain her magic and control it has a few moments of "Oh! I get it now!" and very little else. This is important to her character? It should have been proved.

Even her relationship with the two friends she makes at merchant parties, which I actually really liked (Girls being friends? Actually very common in this book, despite the snide background characters! And there wasn't a forced romance for either sister, which flat out amazed me), got sort of dropped off without resolution at the end of the book. Would have loved to see their reaction to the sisters figuring out the mystery, or how Tesara's almost-engagement turns out, or what Yvienne ends up doing about feeling trapped in a gilded cage. The ending almost tricked me because I was enjoying it so much more by that point, but it was still too abrupt. Nothing in this book was fully, purely good.

The Sisters Mederos thinks it's a lot more badass than it is. And it's a shame, because with more development it could have actually gotten there. Just one question: how can you have a fallen merchant girl disguise herself as a dashing robber during the night and barely focus on it??

Well, things that I really liked:

The sisters are very different people, and strongly written. I mean, they can both be headstrong, stubborn, and foolish, and both do very silly things. They’re different kinds of silly things.

The girls keep secrets from each other, but their narration drops little titbits which the other sister really, really needs to know. Frustrating, but I liked it.

Oh, also the fact that Yvianne managed to have a major part of her story happen off stage, and I didn’t guess! (That whole thing about the *spoiler* and the *spoiler*! And I was a bit miffed at her for not going to *spoiler* street earlier!)

No romance! I mean, one character is having a crush, and admits it to herself. However, the ultimate goal of the story of not romance, but revenge!

Similarly, even though there is magic, the story doesn’t focus on the magic. It’s rather refreshing, if a little strange at first.

Magic and danger as addictions was pretty great too. The whole “I can stop if I want to” though we know that they can’t! Rug roh!

There was also hints of LGBT within the world building. Girls crushing on girls, and the comment that “every man will be in love with you. All the women too”. I especially liked the sparks between Tesera and Mrs Fayres, the woman who happens to be the mistress of the man her uncle wants her to marry, and the woman who happens to wear gentlemen’s clothes in the midst of society. Yassss!

A charming fantasy of manners, however......

It feels like half a book. There are so many things unresolved that the ending feels abrupt. I’m assuming that there will be a sequel, but I would have liked a bit of a tease, kind of a “recap and renew” from the sisters.
Also...I apologise, but a story about young women and a Merchant family fallen on hard times? I couldn’t help but wait for a misunderstood Beast character. Sigh. Still, these girls are being their own heroes.


Arc received from Netgallery in exchange for honest review

The Sisters Mederos has an interesting premise, which is what prompted me to request it on NetGalley. Overall, the idea does work. I liked the characters of Yvienne and Tesera, and the world building for the world of Port Saint Frey was good. However, there were a few things that let down the story for me. Tesara's magic is never fully explained, and although it is introduced as a major plot point, it ends up having very little bearing on the story. Meanwhile, after a long build-up, I was disappointed with the ease and swiftness of the tale's resolution. Nonetheless, there is plenty of swashbuckling action and enjoyable games of manners, so if you enjoy those things, coupled with two strong female leads, you are bound to find something to appreciate in this book. I did also like the fact that Sarath didn't feel she had to concentrate on a romance angle, and showed the sisters able to act without boys/men being the be all and end all. 3.5 stars.

An action packed book with some badass sisters who will stop at nothing to protect their families honor.

I went into this somewhat hesitantly; "wealthy merchant house has a great fall, daughters seek revenge" isn't, to me, the most instantly promising premise.

In the event, I liked it. The daughters are skilled and determined; they take a lot of risks, but that's a thing that real young people do, and they carry it off. They're willing to brave a lot in order to unwind the mystery and gain their vengeance, though, in the event, the specific ways in which they invest most of their effort (gaining money from their former peers both by winning money at gambling and by robbing them at the point of never-adequately-accounted-for guns) don't turn out to be important to the plot's resolution. When the resolution does come, it comes somewhat abruptly and thoroughly.

The question of who can be trusted and who is on their side is prominent throughout, and the answers change a lot, sometimes suddenly and without much preparation, at other times with some foreshadowing. Although the sisters do keep some secrets from each other, at least for a while, the plot doesn't rely on this to create conflict, and they mostly confide in each other and work together.

On the whole, I felt the plot and characterization were competent and well handled, and the tension was maintained well. It isn't my new favorite, but it's a decent effort.

I was immediately interested in this book because it’s a fantasy of manners which is one of my favorite sub-genres of fantasy. I enjoy stories about folks navigating society, especially if they also point out that society’s constraints and issues there may be within it. I was not disappointed as The Sisters Mederos does a great job at both of these aspects of the genre.

This is very much a character driven book. In it we have two point of view characters, sisters Tesara (the younger) and Yvienne (the elder). Once at the top of their town’s society, the Mederos family became impoverished when the girls were children and they were sent away to school. Six years later they’ve returned home and are determined to investigate the manner of their family’s downfall and restore them to them to their former place in Port Saint Frey society.

tsm-coverThe bond between the two sisters is really the highlight of the story. One thing that stood out was their loyalty to each other and their desire to see justice done for their family. Even though at times they kept secrets from each other, holding back for fear of what the other would think of their brazen actions, the best part was when they were working together toward a common goal. Tesara finds herself attending society events, having rekindled an old friendship, and spending her nights fleecing people at the card table. While Yvienne gets mixed up in secretly encouraging a revolt against the merchant guild while robbing the rich folks in town as a gentleman bandit. Adventures ensue.

The family dynamics in this story is interesting because they’re complex and they also drive most of the plot. Both sisters are unhappy with their circumstances, their family is not only poor, but shunned those they once called friends. Tesara especially is angry at having been sent away to school, believing they were abandoned by their family to the cruelty of the headmistress. Their parents and uncle are bitter at their downfall as well. Yvienne is seen as the perfect, biddable daughter by their mother, which is far from the truth. Tesara is seen as a troublemaker, and while she does get into some situations, up until those events she is continuously blamed for things that are perhaps not her fault. Their uncle is always chasing the help, and their father seems to have given up on caring about much of anything. It was nice to read a fantasy novel where both parents are very much alive but I wish the family would have been more a little more likable. (That may have also been the point, but it left me a bit wanting.)

I found several of the minor characters interesting as well, and only wish that a couple of them had either been more important to the story or had been a little more well-developed. Also, I feel like the main villain was perhaps of the mustache-twirly variety, but that didn’t bother me too much because it fit in with the tone of the rest of the story.

The setting was well written, feeling much like a mid-eighteenth century to late nineteenth century port city in Europe. The would building was detailed enough to support the story and I enjoyed the descriptions of the city as the sisters navigated around its streets during their escapades. It definitely felt like a world you could step right into.

Overall, there was much to be enjoyed in this book. The girl’s adventures and boldness in taking things into their own hands was quite fun to read about and I’d happily read more about the two of them. If you like fantasy of manners, or stories of adventurous young ladies, this might be a book to look out for. I gave this 4/5 stars on goodreads.

The Sisters Mederos by Patrice Sarath is a great adventure. Set in an alternate 18th century, the story tells of how Yvienne and Tesara Mederos set off to get revenge and clear their disgraced family name. Once the Mederos family was the top of the wealthiest merchants in Port Saint Frey, but one night when Tesara was ten, disaster stuck and their fleet of ships sank to the bottom of the sea during a thunderstorm and now they are poor and in disgrace forever, or so the story goes.
Six years later, Yvienne and Tesara still didn’t believe it and think something must have happened. Tesara, armed with her mother’s old pink gown and her cards shark skills she learned from her uncle, goes to steal from the rich to start a new nest egg for the family. Once padded then they can get a loan to start their fleet over again. Her older sister Yvienne takes a different route, dressing up in a black suit and armed with two pistols she becomes the masked bandit and robs her former friends at gunpoint. But that’s not all that Yvienne has in mind, she calls out the rotten to the core Merchant Guild in the newspapers and sets off a chain of events that starts with murder but it doesn’t end there. Why is the family Mederos being spied on by the Merchant Guild, are they in danger? Is it the new head of the guild Mr. Trune who has taken over their family home or something else going on? Did anyone discover Tesara’s power to control the wind and waves despite having a crippled hand? The book is a lovely one and has great adventures throughout. I would love to see another adventure in the fabulous world of the Mederos sisters

"The Sisters Mederos" is a dashing cloak & dagger / fantasy of manners novel about the eponymous Mederos sisters who are seeking revenge after their family fell from grace.

The story is told from the switching perspectives of the two sisters and there are some flashbacks - which were not my favourites, mostly because they were difficult to distinguish from the rest of the story. But I quite liked the writing, even though there were some strange colloquialisms here and there, that didn't really match the setting, but overall the language is fitting and works well for the novel. It's mostly unobtrusive so the story itself was in the foreground. And that story was quite good. It started out rather slowly but once the pace picks up it's pretty captivating even though there weren't many surprises or plot twists.

I didn't connect with Tesara at all. Even though the book starts from her perspective, for the first half of the book she was just a distant, one dimensional figure and I couldn't bring myself to care about her. That changed a bit over the course of the book and she became a bit more tangible but by then I just couldn't be bothered. Yvienne however is an entirely different story, I liked here almost immediately, even though I first thought that she would be stuck up and annoying - thanks to her sister's pov. But then the perspective switched and she turned out to be awesome. Sure, there were also some things I didn't like about her, but they were minor and overall she was an amazing, kick-ass heroine. And she just seemed way more mature than her sister, who often appeared to be quite childish.

Still, all in all I really enjoyed "The Sisters Mederos" - their adventure is a solidly told tale of revenge, robbery and magic with some flaws but also a lot of awesomeness.

I enjoyed the premise for this book but the pacing was off, it was difficult to get through the book as it seemed like a chore. I'm a sucker for historical fiction though especially Victorian era stuff so I'd still recommend it.

I really liked the narrative, the characters, the writing of this book but man did I find the pacing sluggish at times. There's a whole bit where the elder sister becomes a governess as a cover and the head of the household tries to take advantage of her and that goes nowhere. There's a bit where the two sisters both in their heads acknowledge that they're addicted to danger and that they can't stop but then the mystery (which is ignored for most of the book) resolves and then they just head back into society? This book felt 600 pages long in not the best way. Saying that though I would still recommend it because I thoroughly enjoyed the writing and the characters, well the sisters, the parents and uncle are very one-dimensional to the point of painful at times.... I really don't sound like I liked this book do I?