Prophecy of the Sisters

February 2017 Wrap-Up

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Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink
(Prophecy of the Sisters, book 1)
Rating:  ★★☆☆☆
Reading Dates:  January 28 – February 5
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  The mad reverence for books that the entire family seems to have.
Least Favorite Thing:  Info Dump Tea Parties and a main character who didn’t seem interesting enough to be a main character…

I hate to say it, but I can’t really recommend this book to anyone. I’d have given it a lower rating than 2 stars, but I’m basing this on Goodreads ratings, which says 2 stars means “it was ok” and that’s basically what this book was. It was “ok” and nothing more.

My Posts About Prophecy of the Sisters

Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale
Rating:  ★★★★☆
Reading Dates:  February 6 – 7
Read Count:  3
Favorite Thing:  The healing songs and the little illustrations included throughout.
Least Favorite Thing:  Okay, I’ve been sitting for an hour now trying to think of a thing I didn’t like (that wasn’t just a character I wasn’t even supposed to like) and I genuinely can’t think of anything! I’ll try again later.

I would recommend this book to fans of fairy tale retellings and middle grade fantasy. I’ve read it three separate times, which should give you an idea of how enjoyable it is. I chose it this time as a palate cleanser after the disappointment of Prophecy of the Sisters.

My Posts About Book of a Thousand Days

The Tale of Oriel by Cynthia Voigt
(Tales of the Kingdom, book 3)
Rating:  ★★★★★
Reading Dates:  December 7, 2016 – February 10, 2017
Read Count:  2
Favorite Thing:  The way Oriel thinks about things. Especially his likening himself to a river.
Least Favorite Thing:  Fucking Tintage….

This one took me a little while longer than usual because I hit a slump while I was reading it and even once I pulled myself out of it, I didn’t immediately go back to this one.

My Posts About The Tale of Oriel

The Tale of Elske by Cynthia Voigt
(Tales of the Kingdom, book 4)
Rating:  ★★★★★
Reading Dates:  February 11 – 19
Read Count:  3
Favorite Thing:  The fearless, matter-of-fact way Elske approaches each new experience.
Least Favorite Thing:  As Oriel would have said, Beriel used her friend (Elske) ill. (And not even just once, like damn….)

My Posts About The Tale of Elske

Psych Major Syndrome by Alicia Thompson
Rating:  ★☆☆☆☆
Reading Dates:  February 22 – 23
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  The usage of psychology terms and definitions for chapter headings was interesting.
Least Favorite Thing:  The characterization was crappy. All of the characters felt forced. Blech!

***ABANDONED***

I abandoned this book after trying for two days to read a novel that would normally take me only half a day and only making it to page 28. I give more details in my review.

My Posts About Psych Major Syndrome

Completed: Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink

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Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

In late nineteenth-century New York state, wealthy sixteen-year-old twin sisters Lia and Alice Milthorpe find that they are on opposite sides of an ancient prophecy that has destroyed their parents and seeks to do even more harm.

God I wanted to like this book so much…. The premise is interesting, combined with a unique setting for this type of story. This book had so much potential, but it just didn’t seem to come together.

From chapter to chapter it felt disjointed, like the story didn’t fit together quite right.

I found myself thinking often that I wish I could have read this story from Alice’s POV instead of Lia’s, because Alice would be more interesting. And Lia didn’t really feel like the main character, despite it being her story. More often I found myself reading each scene wondering what Alice was up to, what Alice was thinking, what Alice’s childhood was like!

I also found it frustrating that very little of their information came from discovery of any kind. They didn’t do research, they didn’t parse out the prophecy, they just had a series of info dump tea parties where someone tells them what they need to know.
Then, once they have new information, they never seem to really go over what they know and what they don’t to make conclusions. They start to go over it a few times, but they just stop everytime for no real reason. And they never dig for details. Whatever someone is willing to tell them is plenty. Why keep digging, it’s only life and death, right?

I mentioned earlier not being able to see how this story could possibly become a series, and now that I’ve read the end of this book I have to say…. I see how it’s going to be a series, but I don’t think it should be. Honestly this entire book read like ‘part 1’ of a single novel, the part you rush through to get to the meat of the story.

I don’t see myself reading the sequels unless someone can make a really good argument for it. I also don’t think I’d recommend this book to anyone.

That’s as much as I can say without spoiling anything, but there’s a bit more for anyone who wants it:

[start]Major complaint: 3 pages of suicidality magically ended by wind????????????????

I found myself wishing a lot of the time that Lia would just open the Gate and let the Souls fuck up the world so something INTERESTING would happen![end]

View all my ratings and reviews on Goodreads

Update: Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink

LeeLeave a comment

Lee is on page 293 of 343

I don’t wanna finish, and not for the reason I usually don’t wanna finish…
Like normally at this point I’m racing through the pages, desperate to know what’s coming even as I hate to find the end of the book. But this time I keep putting the book down and trying to think of something more interesting to do before picking it back up and making myself read again…

Thursday Quotables: February 2, 2017

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This weekly feature is the place to highlight a great quote, line, or passage discovered during your reading each week; whether it’s something funny, startling, gut-wrenching, or just really beautifully written.

Its emptiness is more than the lack of living, breathing beings. It is the unread pages of the many books that reside on the shelves throughout the room I should hot have thought one could tell when books have gone unread, but after the company of Birchwood’s well-loved library it is as if I can hear these books whispering, their pages grasping and reaching for an audience.

Summary:

An ancient prophecy divides two sisters-

One good…

One evil…

Who will prevail?

Twin sisters Lia and Alice Milthorpe have just become orphans. They have also become enemies. As they discover their roles in a prophecy that has turned generations of sisters against each other, the girls find themselves entangled in a mystery that involves a tattoo-like mark, their parents’ deaths, a boy, a book, and a lifetime of secrets.

Lia and Alice don’t know whom they can trust.

They just know they can’t trust each other.

Thank you Bookshelf Fantasies for this fun book meme!