I felt like this book was slow going at first but it picked up a little over a third of the way in and then REALLY picked up in the last third. The world that Lawrence is building is still unique and interesting (and I appreciate that he’s doing grimdark fantasy well with an all female cast of main charters) and I’m left wanting to see what happens in the next book. Overall a very solid read.

Nona Grey is back in this follow up to Red Sister and I loved her yet again in this book. I thought Red Sister was a very enjoyable read, but Grey Sister is even better. Several years have passed between the two stories and Nona is now 16 and must soon decide whether she will become a red sister or a grey sister. Certain plots come to fruition here and others are thwarted, and I must say that I did not see some of that coming. I also need to add that Sister Kettle and the Abbess are both awesome! They both really shone in this book along with Nona, and Zole had a significant role to play here as well. I ended up loving her too. Regol is also back in this, if rather sparingly. I love his character and I really would like more page time for him. And then there is Darla. I really grew to love her as well. The characters are what really make me love this series.

A good portion of this book takes place outside the convent walls and it was a nice change of pace. I am curious about how the problem of the world dying will be solved. Even though we have explanations of how the moon could be turned and all that, by the end of this book there is still nothing really done about it. It seems like a lot will have to happen in the last book, but I think this author will pull it off. I'm looking forward to reading more!

Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for giving me a copy of this book for review.

I reviewed this title editorially for RT Book Reviews and can be seen in the April edition of the digital magazine

Many trilogies experience a “second book slump”, where the story lags between the grand opening of the first book and the epic conclusion of the third. Not so for Grey Sister.

The book picks up three years after the conclusion of Red Sister. Nona is now in Mystic class, though most of her friends are still in Grey. She’s changed a great deal since the ranging where she first walked the Path and is struggling with containing her rage.

We finally get to learn more about the Grey Sisters (shocking, I know), and they more than live up to their reputation as masters of discretion. Nona tends to take more of a brute force approach to problem-solving, and this leads to some interesting situations.

There are two main things that make this book stand out from its predecessor. First, Lawrence explores the lore of the world in greater depth. Who are the Missing? Where do the devils that infested Raymel Tacsis come from? What the heck is a ship heart? Don’t expect to have everything just explained to you, but there are a lot of answers revealed. Secondly, the scope of the story expands. We’re no longer confined to the convent, or even limited to just Nona’s point of view. Through some creative narrative devices, we’re able to see through the eyes of side characters firsthand.

Grey Sister is not without flaws. Interesting characters were set aside for nearly the entire book, intimidating villains made some questionably effective choices, and some scenes were written to intentionally obscure subtleties from the reader rather than letting them figure things out for themselves. That said, most of my concerns with the book were minor and could likely be considered positives by another reader.

Overall, this was a strong follow-up to Red Sister. Readers who enjoyed the first book will be in for a treat.

1.) Red Sister ★★★★★

“But I must warn you, sister, that a sickness runs in me, and if you fashion yourself my enemy I will make a ruin of your life, for I am born of war.”

Grey Sister is such a wonderful addition to this world, and it was everything I wanted it to be and more. Mark Lawrence truly never disappoints, and Nona will always be one of my favorite protagonists of all time. If you guys haven’t, please pick up Red Sister and discover how amazing this world, these characters, and this story truly are.

This is a dark world, where many parents will sell their children because they cannot afford to keep them. Some of these children end up never having their stories told, but a few of them end up having a bit of magic from being a descendant of one of the four tribes, and they end up being purchased by Sweet Mercy’s Convent in hopes of them becoming a very powerful warrior that will always fight for good.

Four Tribes that the people in this world can descend from:
➽ Gerant – Great size and strength.
➽ Hunska – Quick speed.
➽ Marjal – The ability to tap into lesser magic.
➽ Quantal – The ability to walk the Path and work greater magic.

And after horrible situation after horrible situation, our dear Nona gets purchased in Red Sister at the age of eleven. Now, it’s been five years, and Nona is just now entering Mystic class where, despite being one of the strongest young ladies in the school, she is having a difficult time.

“It’s hard to see old friends with new eyes.”

Four Classes in the Convent for the novices to learn as a group:
➽ Red Class – Ages 9-12 typically.
➽ Grey Class – Ages 13-14 typically.
➽ Mystic Class – Ages 15-16 typically.
➽ Holy Class – Ages 17-19 typically.

But these young ladies, who will be training extremely hard and diligently for ten years, can become many different things. Nona, so far, has proven that she will become one of the most feared Red Sisters to ever walk this world. But Zole, her friend from the Ice Tribe, who everyone believes is the chosen one that Nona will protect her whole life, is proving to be one of the most powerful Mystics ever.

Four Paths for the novices to take once they become nuns:
➽ Bride of the Ancestor, Holy Sister – Honors the Ancestors and keeps the faith.
➽ Martial Sister, Red Sister – Warriors skilled in armed and unarmed combat.
➽ Sister of Discretion, Grey Sister – Masters of stealth and potions with shadow work.
➽ Mystic Sister, Holy Witch – Walks the Path and manipulates threads.

But sadly, Nona can’t shake her past, or the terrible things that happened when she was only eleven- years-old. Five years later, people are still after her, and they are relentless in their pursuit to settle past grudges. Yet Nona is now carrying a new friend with her, who amplifies her powers, but at the cost of losing her shadow.

“She had lost a shadow, lost two friends, and gained a devil.”

But about half way into this book, everything gets flipped on its head, and I’m not even sure if my body can produce any more tears. Tears for sadness, tears for happiness, tears because I don’t want to wait a year to read the next book, all the tears, okay? From shiphearts, to arks, to demons, to poisons, to chains, to prophecies, to even the moon; this book has everything and makes you feel everything. And I feel forever thankful for this tale.

This book is also different, because it switches points of view with Abbess Glass a lot! And man, oh man, do I love that woman with my whole heart. This book heavily deals with betrayals, and all of the twists and turns were out of this world. But the things that these Sisters are willing to do for one another? I don’t have any combination of words for how perfect it is.

The theme of friendship, and what we are willing to do for the found family we choose, is constant throughout this amazing book. Unconditional love is the most powerful force in any world, and this book just reinforces that statement. And seeing all these phenomenal girl friendships, while they kick ass side by side? It’s something I don’t even have words for. But I’ll be forever thankful that this series exists.

Another major theme in Grey Sister is forgiveness. Some people will never learn the word, and they will let revenge poison their entire life. Forgiveness isn’t always easy, Nona proves it time and time again, but sometimes its truly the only path worth taking. (I’m not crying, you’re crying!)

“Trust is the most insidious of poisons.”

Trigger/Content Warnings: Physical abuse, bullying, torture, murder, death, gore, death of a child, death of a loved one, and themes of war.

You all know how much I love Nevernight. Truly, with my whole heart. And these two series are so very similar, when it comes to kids training and fighting for a church, when it comes to a girl running from a past she had no control of, when it comes to both of those girls having very distinct companions. You can’t miss the similarities. And even though I do love both, the Book of the Ancestor series is just better. It feels more real, it feels more adult, and it makes me feel even more things. But if you, too, enjoy Nevernight, you have to give this series a try. I promise, you’ll fall in love!

Another amazing thing that I want to mention here, is that Mark Lawrence put a recap section at the start of this book, and it was one of the most helpful things I’ve ever seen an author do. I felt completely aware of everything going on in the world, and which specialty every teacher had, after reading. It was so damn thoughtful, and I wish every single author would do this and make it a series norm.

“We are all part of the Ancestor’s tree. A twig that breaks free will, however advantageous the wind, fall and wither in time.”

Overall, Mark Lawrence weaves together a tale that is so eloquent, yet so filled with action. I love nothing more than seeing the events of the past and the events of the present slowly coming together into a masterpiece of a series. I truly believe this is a once in a lifetime series. Mark Lawrence’s writing is so very teleportative and nothing short of beautiful. I swear, I could highlight at least half of this book. When I open a book of his, I am instantly captivated and enthralled. And I never ever want to put it down. When I say Nona is my favorite protagonist of all time, I don’t throw around that title lightly. And this story is just on a whole other tier for adult fantasy. I will forever cherish these books, and I cannot wait to get my hands on Holy Sister!

"The greatest threat to any faith is not other faiths or beliefs but the corruption and division of its own message"

Lawrence doesn’t cop to the easy tropes popular in fantasy and sf: though in an earlier series he did indeed resurrect the old “fantasy land worships powerful god that turns out to be a computer!” storyline, the characters were so interesting, the action so compelling I kind of read around it once I figured out from early signs that the ‘surprise’ of the series was treading very familiar ground.

There are undertones of the same premise in this book, except that the characters are aware that they arrived in ships, and furthermore, the magic is real. So is their faith, though what faith means to each person isn’t easily defined.

It’s this thoughtful, complex treatment that is increasingly giving Lawrence’s books a heft past the status of blood-and-guts page turners. Make no mistake, this one is as full of gory violence as any of his books, but that isn’t all there is.

In this middle book, we get a much wider view of what’s going on in the world, and who the major players are. Red Sister introduced us to this icy, dying world, largely through the eyes of little Nona. In this second installment, Nona is no longer a child, her awareness broadening, and the narrative voice encompasses that by including more points of view, including middle-aged Abbess Glass, who has managed to hold a position of power through subtlety and long vision.

But don’t forget the novice nuns. In the first half we see the girls training, as Nona has moved up a class. The stakes are higher for her, especially as she is driven to get revenge (or justice? or revenge?) for what happened at the end of the previous book. Prominent among these stakes is a mean girl, who is smart, talented, and cruel. But—unlike many books that depict the adults in charge as willfully blind to the Mean Girl’s machinations—the abbess is not fooled by her practiced hypocrisy, which makes all the dynamics that much more interesting.

"Trust is poison"

Just before the halfway point the book swerves abruptly, and we add another POV, one of the nuns who is lethally trained and dedicated. The pacing accelerates to a pulse pounding climax, but along the way we see into hearts and minds, with all the obstacles humans impose on themselves, in addition to the accelerating threats.

Trust, truth, friendship—all three, so important, but so difficult to categorize, especially when each can be used as a weapon. And yet Nona, angry, vengeful, violent, struggles for a moral center, a struggle shared by her elders as it seems the world is about to end.

The brilliance of these books for me is how Lawrence manages to weave the inner struggle with the outer threats, writing with vivid, graceful prose as he jacks the tension to light speed, and yet still manages to afford glimpses of the numinous.

I had a great time with the first volume and with such an end, I was curious to be able to embark on this new adventure! The construction is a little different from what we had. Indeed, while in the first novel, some chapters were happening in the future, we have this time a construction more common in the present here.

We find Nona and her friends in the continuation of their adventures. Despite the terrible trials they had to go through, our heroines have not finished! Indeed, it seems that everyone is trying to bring down our young friend, starting with some of her classmates. It will not be easy for the girl to put all her faculties to the test. In addition to that, Nona is still determined to avenge the murderer of her friend Hessa, although two years have passed and she is waiting and looking for clues to carry out her project!

We follow here all the characters of the previous volume and I was pleasantly surprised to see Clera again! Trouble continues to follow Nona and she will have to try to make the right choices to get by!

I really had a great time with this story once again and after all the events here, I’m really looking forward to discover what the author has in store for the future. I find that this series offers a lot of ideas and a rich and extraordinary world. We still have many things to discover and I can not wait to see what awaits us! It was a great sequel as you see it and I hope the next will come soon.

Thanks to Netgalley and Berkley for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

Mark Lawrence, you've done it again. I raved about Red Sister (ps, thanks for sharing my blog post on your Facebook page! I got a bunch of views! WOOHOO!), well, because it was deserved. Like I said in my review for that, I struggle with high/epic/dark/true fantasy because it tends to be slower and harder for me to get into... and harder for me to forgive overused tropes and predictable plots.

So I said in my Red Sister review that Lawrence created a pretty easy to understand world (still true), a cast of characters with personality, depth, and vitality (he kicked that up another notch!), a cool magic system (gets even more badass)... and he does all of these things again in book two... all the while basically destroying the world he created in book one and building a new reality for our characters. This one, unlike the first, doesn't involve being safe inside the walls of the convent. This new world is DANGEROUS and full of enemies.

I also loved that we got chapters from the POV of Abbess Glass, and got to see her story unfold alongside Nona's.

All in all, to those who ask if this is "better than the first," I'll have to reply it's equal. I can't compare the two because it's so different, it so completely demolishes the world of the first book and deeply affects Nona to her very core.

That ending though? Mark, you're killing me here. Write faster. I need to know ALL THE THINGS. RIGHT NOW. *GIMME*

Grey Sister by Mark Lawrence is the 2nd book in his wonderful Book of the Ancestor series. In Grey Sister, Nona Grey continues as our young powerful heroine, and most of the wonderful characters we loved in the first book are back. Once again, Mark Lawrence gives us another fantastic story line, with continued world building and an intense mind-boggling action packed thriller throughout the book.

Two years have passed since we left off with Nona killing Raymel Tascis, and saving the Sweet Mercy convent. But since she killed Tascis, Nona inherited a devil inside her, which makes life difficult.

Nona is now in Mystic Class, learning the next of 4 paths, which is described very well in the description (the red of a Martial Sister, the grey of a Sister of Discretion, the blue of a Mystic Sister or the black of a Bride of the Ancestor - life of prayer and service). Nona misses her friends in the Red, especially with some of the snobbish girls in Mystic, who look down on her. Jolei is the leader of the Mystic group, and she makes it known that she is will do anything to get Nona out. The beginning concentrates on Nona having to fend off the attacks from the Mystic group, with her Red sisters trying to help her. Just when Nona manages to be one step ahead, her quest to find information on those behind the death of Hessa (first book) and the stolen shipheart; she makes a mistake that will bring dire consequences.

Nona will have to run to save her life, and travels back to where it all began. While Nona is on the run, Abbess Glass is also in dire straits, as she is being threatened by the inquisitor, who plan to torture and remove her from her position. Sister Kettle, is also missing, as she decides to find Nona and try to help her. What follows is an amazing, violent, intense, dark & action packed adventure that will put all of their lives in danger from a corrupt empress, who controls those in power.

Nona is such a fantastic heroine, and I absolutely love her loyal friends, especially Ara, and her new powerful friend, Zole. Nona suffers so much, yet her powers grow, as she continues to learn how to use what she has been taught. Sisters Glass and Kettle have much bigger and important roles in Grey Sister. Lawrence also gives us some terrible villains, besides Joeli, Tascis father and son, the inquisitor, and the empress. You cannot help but hate them all, as we root for Nona and friends to defeat them.

The last half of the book upped the ante that left you holding your breath as Nona, Ara, Kettle, Glass, Rego faced danger & death defying situations. They will also learn more about Nona, and her abilities as they struggle to survive. What a fantastic climax to a wonderful story. There was an epilogue that has us waiting with bated breath for the next book in this series. If you enjoy a well written fantasy, in a unique intriguing world, with a fabulous heroine and other wonderful characters, you must read Grey Sister.

I am loving this series! Mark Lawrence does some amazing world building and writes such unique characters. I couldn't put down Red Sister and felt the same way about Grey Sister. As soon as I finished the book I was impatient for the next one.

A good sequel to Red Sister, if not as strong as the first book. There are many plot twists and turns and readers get to see new sides of the returning characters. The story provides more insight into Nona's background and motivations as the plot also continues to build toward the final resolution. The devil-on-your-shoulder plot device was also creatively developed. Fans of Red Sister will enjoy this new book about Nona Grey and the Convent of Sweet Mercy.

Grey Sister by Mark Lawrence is the second novel in the brilliant Book of the Ancestor series and once again Lawerence transported me to the Convent of Sweet Mercy where Nona must choose her path. Captivating, well-developed and engaging Mark Lawerence is a mesmerizing and skillful storyteller.

With the convent, magic, and hierarchy the Book of the Ancestors trilogy is Harry Potter for adults

I loved book one of this series and, though I was excited about reading the 2nd book, I was also a little worried. It’s been a bit since I read the first book and I was really afraid that I had forgotten everything.

The author starts Grey Sister with a little recap. And, boy, that didn’t help me much at all (except for the mention that a certain character was new – that saved some confusion!). I was still worried, but I decided to dive right in.

And, boy, I needn’t have worried. Within a couple of pages I was firmly back with Nona and lost in her world. Suddenly, I remembered everything! Every betrayal, friendship, battle, and some of the coolest powers to hit print. Our new characters were extremely fascinating, old enemies and old friends brought drama and intrigue, and I loved every minute of it.

Readers should note that this is NOT a standalone. Despite the recap in the beginning (that did not help me), you really do need to read book one before embarking on this adventure. But no worries – you should love the first book!

And I’m ready for another book. The author has me so firmly entrenched in his world that I don’t want to leave it!

Another fantastic fantasy adventure by Mark Lawrence. One thing I love about Lawrence's style is the heavy fantasy aspect that he brings to his writing. There is always background on the characters and clear world building that paints a wonderful world.

I love the whole sister hierarchy and their inner workings. I think that's what draws me into this book. There's just enough adventure and thrill to keep the story going. Great weekend read.

Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.

On closing this screening from Netgalley (thankyou) I say..

Mark you devilish bastard!

On the heels of Red Sister, we are committed to knowing how this child Nona and her cohorts are going to be raised, trained, and where they will happen upon in a world that is closing in. Ice walls, literally. With only the aimed faux moon melting a corridor during a nights sleep. Put there, controlled, and controllable only by histories are gone myth.

This book will not disappoint. First, thank you, Mark, for the lead in setting up what we know and might not. I can't tell you how often I forget where I was and a short recap is always helpful. I could have used a pronunciation guide here and there but I like made up names anyhow.

We join Nona in all her vainglorious self. Her Sister name is Cage and she is truly a wildfire in a bottle. She and her compatriots create a cast of human female figures of all types which makes for a well-rounded entourage and storytelling. My only gripe as it is wont is girls at 15.. #amirite? This too shall pass and their developing selves, feisty encounters, the idiocy of the moments, and predictability of a juvenile all must be met out in time. Plot lines all served well.

The book feels well-timed and paced. The silence within the margins only occurs as a storm builds or after one has passed and it's a needed breath before the next onslaught of perspective or ass-kicking. To that end, I could hardly put this down and caught myself up far later than I intended just to find one of those moments when I could rest, literally.

The overarching tale of a friend killed, a shipheart stolen, and the politics of empires are all in play here. I'm not sure if I found the troupe of 'new girl in new grade meets new girl pompous nemesis' (Joeli) was the right move but it was there and like an archetype of the style it's going to be an ax to grind upon. Really most of the book utilizes that as a method for achieving plot results.

Regardless of how we get there, we move forward. Nona is put through a deep crucible of fire and while at the end of this book we know she is tempered, we know Zole is also forged (I sure hope we get a novella about her adventure Mark!!) the stage is rounding out its finished look for a contest alluded to at the beginning. While a larger stage is still unknown and lingering in the shadows.

Lots to tell and we will sit here starving for the next volume. Good luck to you. Chew your brick of hardtack well it'll need to last. you!

Even though the author graciously writes down a summary of the important parts of the last book before the book properly starts, it still took me a bit of the beginning section to figure out the politics of the world. As soon as I got a handle on everything the book's pacing starts picking up. By the middle, this book becomes very hard to put down. Then it ends with me wanting more.

Awesome book. Great story. I have described the first book as Game of Thrones for Arya Stark fans. The second one does not disappoint, though it took me a few chapters to refresh on some of the characters and situations from the first book. But one thing I like about this author and this story is that it pays out information slowly and the background fills in as you read it, which can be annoying in some author's cases, but not this one.

War nuns, for the win!