Author: Holly Black
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Length: 50 pages
Source: Purchased eBook/Audiobook
Sometimes the difference between a love story and a horror story is where the ending comes...
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.
The Lost Sisters is a companion e-novella to the New York Times bestselling novel The Cruel Prince, by master writer Holly Black.
Review:
Protagonist: So, I'm not the biggest fan of Taryn, but I was interested to hear her side of the story, at least as much as she gives, and after reading this novella I do feel I have a greater understanding of her character and why she made the choices that she did. This story is greatly focused on the origin of Taryn's relationship with Locke and how thing went so terribly wrong for Jude. One of the things I took away from this story is how much Taryn and Jude are alike, they both want to find their place in Elfhame and even though they make different choices, they both make difficult and sometimes regrettable choices to solidify their place in Court.
Romance: Taryn's romance with Locke wasn't nearly as romantic as Jude's sham romance with him in The Cruel Prince. Locke's courtship of Taryn felt a lot more forward than how he woos Jude, and while I understand why Taryn falls for him or even believes she falls for him, this story makes Locke look even worse than he was in TCP. Locke and Taryn both like stories, and Taryn very much wants to believe herself in a story or to be a part of someone else's story. Even though I don't "ship" these two together, as I feel even Taryn deserves someone better than Locke, I appreciated the chance to have a deeper understanding of their relationship.
World Building: This novella tells key events from The Cruel Prince from Taryn's perspective, as well as new scenes showing what Taryn was up to while Jude was swept away in her portion of the story. First off, I really love how this novella is told, from Taryn's perspective as an apology and explanation to Jude, who is referred to as "you" throughout the story. I actually enjoyed getting new scenes in this world and learning a tad more about it. Now, there's not too much world-building, but I will say that if you're thinking that this is going to be some story that redeems Taryn and/or Locke or make you sympathize with one or both of them, that isn't necessarily true. I understand why Taryn does what she but that doesn't mean that I like her as a character now, and honestly, I still don't fully understand why it is that Locke does what he does, and I actually came out of this hating Locke more than I did in TCP.
Predictability: There's not too much I can say here as this is a short novella and there are a great many things about this story you would already know from reading TCP. However, I will say there are a few small twists in this story and things didn't go the way I had expected them to even if the destination is more or less the same.
Ending: If I had one negative when it came to this story it's that it didn't go on long enough. This story ends before Dain's botched coronation and while I completely understand why it ends where it does, as Taryn does fully explain why she did what she did, I still found myself wanting more. There's a scene at the end of The Cruel Prince, where Taryn finds herself holding the crown of Elfhame and I really wanted to know her thoughts there, or her thoughts when Jude walked in with Cardan, and even her point of view during and after her duel with Jude. Still, I did appreciate that the author stuck to telling this story as an explanation and not just "Taryn's view of events" as it gives the story more meaning and tells the story it was meant to.
Rating:
While yes, I would have liked to see certain scenes from Taryn's perspective that we didn't get to see, I enjoyed this story immensely. I don't sympathize with Taryn, but I understand why she made the choices she made and I loved learning what she was willing to do to secure her place in Faerie.
No comments:
Post a Comment