I read this novella in remembrance of Grace, the Rebel Mommy Book Blogger. Grace died earlier this year and to celebrate her life, and everything she stood for in the book blogger community, some of us read either one of the books she still had on her TBR or one she had already read. I chose the latter with The Wicked King still waiting for me to be read and the thought in mind, that I wanted to know if I would feel the same about this book or not.
The Lost Sisters
by Holly BlackThe Folk Of The Air Series #1.5
Publisher Little, Brown Books For Young Readers on October 2, 2018
Genre Fantasy
Pages 50
Format eBook
Source Purchased
Goodreads
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While Jude fought for power in the Court of Elfhame against the cruel Prince Cardan, her sister Taryn began to fall in love with the trickster, Locke. Half-apology and half-explanation, it turns out that Taryn has some secrets of her own to reveal.
Story
If there is a story at all, it is hard to see. Taryn tells her sister Jude why things happened the way they happened. That she came to a point where she couldn´t undo what she had done without losing self-esteem or where she saw a way to change things. That one word, one weak moment was the reason why it looked as if she´d betrayed not only her sister but also her family.
Style
Yes, this is a novella. And yes, it was supposed to show me the view Taryn had and how things could go the way they were in book one. But at the end of it, I thought something was missing. I admit, that I never was a fan of Taryn. And in this little story, she shows me exactly the reasons why I never liked her in the first place. But why this novella ended that abrupt and leaving its reader with a huge “?” is a miracle to me. The story isn´t complete. At least not in my eyes.
What I liked, on the other hand, is the wonderful ironic tone it is written in. THAT is the Taryn I know and don´t like. But I said that before, haven´t I?
Characters
There isn´t much to say about Taryn. She wants what Jude seems to achieve very easy but hates everything that is connected to the world she is living in. And yet she wants to be one of them in a desperate way that I almost felt pity for her. She is trapped in a world that isn´t her own, but can´t think of leaving the world she has to live in. Yet she does everything to give her sister a hard time and to make her see how awful everything around them is.
And again, I don´t like Taryn.
Conclusion
It was good that I´ve read this novella. Good in the meaning of understanding the background of book one The Cruel Prince a bit more. To get some answers to some of my questions. But if this novella was intended to change my feelings about Taryn, it failed to achieve that.
Happy reading
*I read the German edition new release by cbj on June 8, 2019
Holly Black
Holly Black is the author of bestselling contemporary fantasy books for kids and teens. Some of her titles include The Spiderwick Chronicles (with Tony DiTerlizzi) and The Modern Faerie Tale series. She has been a finalist for the Mythopoeic Award, a finalist for an Eisner Award, and the recipient of both an Andre Norton Award and a Newbery Honor. She lives in New England with her husband and son in a house with a secret library.
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