Sisters of Sword and Song

This was a good, light and warm read. A good way to end the day on. :)

This book had so many things I love in it!
• Sister relationship
• Ancient Greece fantasy setting
• A pantheon of interesting gods
• Magical artefacts

I really enjoyed it, I only wish we got to learn more about the gods and the artefacts than we did. I realise it's hard to go deep with a YA standalone, but that aspect of the story was super interesting to me. Otherwise the setting felt really atmospheric and I felt like it was easy to envision the places being described.

My choice to read Sisters of Sword & Song was 100% motivated by cover love. I was scrolling through the available books at the library, eager to try another young adult fantasy book out, and stumbled upon this gem. If you've been following me for any length of time, you know that strong female characters are one of my absolute favorite things in stories. I had high hopes that Halcyon and Evadne would fit that bill. Plus, this book promised me at least a bit of magic led by the gods! So I was pretty excited about it.

Things started out strong, with Halcyon and Evadne nestling perfectly inside that strong personality mold I was hoping for. I loved their relationship so much. It's always nice to see sisters who truly love one another. Sisters who support on another unflinchingly, even when it means losing something of their own. I also really appreciated the fact that this wasn't your typical “super magical girl” story. Halcyon is strong, yes, but through her own hard work and dedication. Evadne has her own strength, based in her wit and her willingness to help others. They do eventually get to experience some magic, which I won't spoil, but really these two are just extraordinary women all on their own.

What I will say though, is that the god owned magic part of this story fell extremely short for me. In fact, most of the world building here is very two dimensional. The concept of sung magic is introduced, and glossed over. The idea of relics that possess their own magic, passed down from the gods, is also introduced and then glossed over. I really wanted so much more explanation and depth to this part of the world. The lack of it made the story feel flat and, no matter how hard they tried, it made the characters feel flat as well. I didn't feel like that at the beginning, but the further the book progressed the more I could tell that I wouldn't be getting the background I was hoping for.

My other big issue was that there was never really any tension in this book. All of the pieces that should cause tension were there. Family in-fighting, secret plans, murders and trials were all placed in front of our characters. However, everything just cleaned up so nicely and quickly. It all felt very anti-climactic. I could have let it go, to be honest, except that the ultimate showdown that I was waiting for was treated in that same, vague manner. Even though I loved the little nods here and there to character growth, or the sweet romance attempting to grow, it was drowned out by the lack of the depth.

I do think that this is would be a great entry level read for anyone who is looking to dive into Fantasy as a genre. The nice part about the way this is written is that it doesn't require a lot of rereading, or complicated character charts to understand. So I'll happily give it three stars. Try this out if you're looking for something light, that has great family relationships.