This book had all the things that I look for in a fantasy book and I was very excited to read it. Unfortunately this book and I just did not mesh at all. I felt that the writers approach to executing the things that happen in this story were done poorly and that the pacing of the entire book was way off for me. Hopefully the next in the series picks up a bit.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publishers/ Author for providing me with an eARC of this title in exchange for my unbiased review.

Alice has lived life on the outskirts of town since her parents death because everyone thinks she's a witch except her only friend, Lily. When Alice recieves a letter from someone promising answers, she sets out searching for the Witches who say they can teach her about her magic. After Alice disappears, Lily decides to go looking for her. We follow both girls on their coming of age journeys discovering who they really are.

This one seemed like it had all the elements I love in a YA fantasy, but it really fell flat for me. We get both Alice's and Lily's point of views in this book. I felt like the pacing was OK, there was enough action happening to keep you going but you would also stay with one POV for a while before switching back so that made it feel a little scattered. Alice's storyline was very typical and not really unique at all. Her character wasn't really very developed enough for me. To be honest, none of the characters had much depth other than Lily. While I found Lily's storyline to be more exciting, there were times when I felt what she was doing just didn't make any sense. For example, she is supposed to be looking for her best friend but then goes off and has this love affair for a few months. It felt like a lot of things were just thrown in to serve the plot: there was a lot of insta-love and insta-trust. The writing really suits a younger audience as I feel YA writers have really turned it up quite a few notches in the past few years. It kind of felt like an unedited book to me. The ending leaves you with a cliffhanger and a ton of questions while also just having things magically fall into place.

I don't know who this book is really for. I feel like YA is too advanced now for this to fit in that category. I would say middle grade, but there are scenes in the book that are not appropriate for that age group. I guess if you like coming of age fantasy you might be interested in this. I really hope this book finds its market, it just wasn't me.

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book started out really strong- I loved the cottagecore vibes and especially the prologue. But it took a pretty quick turn downhill.

So first: let’s start with Lilly. She’s “not like other girls” in her town because she walks around barefoot in the woods and has wild hair…not to mention is friends with a witch. Her “wild hair” was mentioned so much that I started thinking she literally had “wild hair” (spoiler: it’s just super curly). There was literally other description used for her hair besides that and that got old very quickly. Lilly also sets out on this adventure to find her lost friend Alice, who she just knows was kidnapped… (technically that’s true but she didn’t know that).

Second: the setting. I can’t tell you anything about this world aside that the Shadow Lands are stuck in living in the past and the towns literal days away from each other. That’s it, I have nothing else to say about that because there was NOTHING. The witches weren’t really explained, nor anything about their powers. It was all very underdeveloped. More time was spent on Lilly’s journey than on getting an actual storyline together.

There’s mention of torture in this book before any torture is actually done. Like there’s literally a sentence that says “she’s been kidnapped, tortured, and…” and it’s like, no, she hasn’t. She literally just got there- the only thing that’s happened was her being kidnapped then knocked unconscious for three days. It’s also very instant love and while that’s fine, it’s a case of love for convenience- like of course Alice and Grace fall in love. It’s a case of protector and protectee. Similarly to Lilly and Jen.

In all, not a bad book but maybe leans toward the younger side honestly.

Sisters of Shadow started with a lot of promise. A tale of mismatched friendship, an apothecary, and two mysterious pasts. Love It! But the story of this book felt like it hard to be drawn out from the pages and that was frustrating.

The characters were well written but the switching between perspectives made the plot hard to follow. A fourth of the way through the book and I was still struggling to see what the actually story was other then an epic journey of some sort.

The excessive details of the book made the story feel clunky and slow moving. The main ideas of the book, however, are timeless and intriguing. All and all I just don't think this book was for me in the end.

Sisters of Shadow by Katherine Livesey is billed as a YA fantasy, though more mature middle grade readers might also enjoy it if they can handle a little darkness.
The story is one of friendship adventure and magic and while it is certainly enjoyable what really stood out for me was the writing style which was very evocative of a traditional fairy tale. Both Alice and Lily are strong characters though we spend more time with Lily in this book so I feel like we have come to know her better. There is a creeping darkness in the book that gives a sense of menace that I think many readers will enjoy. I believe there is at least one more book planned , and I would be keen to see where the story is going..
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

Sisters of Shadow is the debut book of a YA fantasy trilogy featuring a pair of young heroine's destined to find their magic, courage, strength and love in this entertaining story. The story takes place in the Shadow Lands, in the village of Alder Vale, where best friends Lily Knight and Alice Blackwell live. Lily assists her Uncle Alf in his apothecary shop, loves everything about nature and has a world of knowledge about plants and potions. Alice Blackwell is known as the 'witch-girl' and is shunned by the people of Alder Vale and so she lives alone in the woods with only Lily as company, as she desperately tries to bring the magic she knows she possesses to the surface. When a mysterious letter arrives, Alice decides to leave Alder Vale to seek the answers and power she wants so badly. However, when Lily arrives at the cabin in the woods, it looks like Alice didn't leave, but was kidnapped. Lily sets out by herself to find her friend and along the way she discovers stories of secretive sect of terrifying witches, a brotherhood of men, and an unforeseen ally in her search for Alice.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this story, I liked both Alice and Lily and especially as the book went on I liked the relationship between Alice and Grace. The descriptions of the apothecary shop and all the plants and different types of potions was very well done. And while the events moved fairly quickly which kept you engaged, the drawback was that the world building felt a little thin in places. If felt like there were opportunities to delve into the magic and how and where did all this power come from, it just felt like it was hinted at but not really explored fully. Maybe that will come in the next books, and maybe part of it is having read so many other fantasy books with really well defined magic systems. It left me wanting just,...more. Hopefully in the next book of the series, there will be more about the magic system and the world will be fleshed out a little more, I look forward to reading it and seeing where the story goes from here.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with this e-arc. Sisters of Shadow follows best friends Alice and Lily after Alice is abducted by a mysterious group of supposed witches and Lily is desperate to find her. When I first heard about this book I was really excited and I knew I had to have an advanced copy of this. I was hoping for this to be amazing and super witchy but I was left just a tiny bit disappointed at some moments. The world felt underdeveloped and this meant the villains had no explained motive, as well as this the characters just felt very one dimensional at the beginning which made the book difficult to read. However the romance in this book is well written and quite sweet.
Another problem I had with this book was that the writing style was quite simplistic and the book felt more of a middle grade fantasy than YA but then there were scenes of torture obviously aimed at an older audience. This made the book feel like a jigsaw puzzle that didn’t quite fit together sometimes.
I gave this book 3 stars because it did have some stronger moments of writing and plot. There was also a very good cliffhanger making me interested in reading this series in the future.

Absolutely loved this book, and literally just devoured it.

It’s the first in the series, and it leaves you on a cliffhanger that you would not believe!

The author has a writing style that enabled me to step straight into the book and feel like I was there, I was able to visualise so easily the settings, etc.

Really really enjoyed this, I can’t wait to see what happens in book 2!

My thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review

I really thought this book was a fun read. The world building and character relationships were believable. I loved the little bits that reminded me of Peter Pan (maybe not on purpose) and the magic in the world gets me excited to see what will happen in book two.

this book was exactly what i was hoping for. witchy, found family, sapphic, everything. it was really great and i’m looking forward to the sequel because that ending was something to say the least. i really enjoyed the author’s writing style and hope to read more books by them.

The book description had me at “Anne of Green Gables meets Diana Wynne Jones” and it didn’t disappoint. A sweet story about friendship, self-discovery, family and magic. The ending felt a bit rushed, but that cliffhanger… Hopefully there will be next book, because I am looking forward to continue the journey with Alice, Lily and their newfound friends/family!

I received a digital ARC from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The premise of this novel sounded great, and the cover is just BEAUTIFUL. And to be honest, I was good for the first 30 pages or so. But the longer I read, the more I realized that the execution of this story was not going to live up to the promise of the story premise. I blame this on two things: 1) an uneven narrative pacing and 2) a writing style that I really struggled with.

The narrative switched back and forth between the two main characters' POVs, which is fine, but there wasn't a good rhythm to this alternating perspective, and the story stalled in several places. Also, there were a number of things that were brought up early in the novel and weren't mentioned again. I assume they'll be addressed in one of the sequels.

My biggest issue was the writing style. This is a book that needs a good editing. The author constantly overstates things, using multiple words for the same action, when just one strong verb would suffice. Additionally, she kept using words that don't fit. For example, at one point, the author talks about a "cacophony of warm scents." Yes, cacophony implies that there are several things all mixed up, but that word only applies to sounds, not to smells. This happens over and over and over in the novel, and once I saw it, I couldn't unsee it.

To me this felt more like a middlegrade fantasy than YA, and it's not at all like Anne of Green Gables. I understand that publishers try to attract more readers by saying a book is 'a mix of'or a book is 'perfect for fans of', but the problem with this is that readers will be disappointed because of false expectations, while they might would enjoy the story more if they hadn't expect something else. That is more a publisher than a writer thing I guess.

I think this is a nice story and a promising debut, I liked Alice and Grace's story most. The playlist at the end of the book was also a nice add,

Absolutely loved the story, magicky and witchy and fun. Great ideas. I also absolutely adored that there was a queer central character. Lovely. I wasn’t mad about the writing though. It felt oddly formal, but then every now and then there would be a jarring modern swear word, which didn’t seem to go with the rest of how it was written. Slightly odd. Loved Alice, Lily and Grace. Found Jem annoying. I wished we’d got more witches and magic and learnt more about the dark side. I also found the ending abrupt and the cliffhanger really irritated me because it felt like we were only given half of a book rather than a complete story. So fun and readable for sure, but no spectacular (for me).

Just reading the synopsis it sounded like it had all the best elements I absolutely love. Witches, sapphics and adventure compared to Anne of Green Gables and His Dark Materials. Unfortunately none of these made up for how much I really hated reading every second of this book. The pacing of the narrative with long, drawn out descriptions and rapid developments in the main plot was very jarring. The ending as well, I felt was nothing more than all the problems solved far too easily via coincidences. I know this is the author’s debut novel, but it still requires heavy editing to make it readable, and also reads as if it should be for younger readers, not YA.

While I enjoyed some of the imagery and atmosphere of Sisters of Shadow, I found there was too much emotional exposition, a lot of telling me how the characters felt rather than showing through the story. I also didn’t know going in that it was the first in a series, so the ending left me unsatisfied, but I didn’t enjoy the book enough to want to continue.
Thank you to HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter and Netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

As soon as I read “Anne of green gables” I just knew that I had to read this book.
Sadly it ended up not being my cup of tea, which saddened me because I had high expectations.
It would probably fit a different reader.

This is an excellent book for people who are setting or character driven. Actual action scenes can be scant for those who are action driven.
I really enjoyed the characters and their development in this book. Did I skip over a lot of the setting and descriptions? Yes, sometimes. But I believe this book has elements that will appeal to everyone and it was fun to read.

I didn't particularly enjoy this book. Maybe I'm just the wrong target audience. I found it difficult to find a connection with the characters. I think a younger audience would absolutely love this. The premise of the book sounded good but it just wasn't the right book for me

I would like to thank NetGalley, HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter and Katherine Livesey for providing me with an ARC of ‘Sisters of Shadow’ in exchange for an honest review.

Full of adventure, friendship, queer representation and magic, ‘Sisters of Shadow’ tells the story of two girls on a quest to find themselves and each other. When Alice is kidnapped by a coven of malicious witches, Lily throws herself headfirst into a quest to save her friend. Told from the dual perspective of Alice and Lily, Livesey masterfully takes the reader right into the emotional and mental states of the central characters, allowing the reader to experience the world through the eyes of Lily and Alice.

When both characters found love within the book, it was refreshing that their budding romances were not the source of their strength and courage in the face of adversity, but it was their sisterly-bond and love for each other that fuelled their individual quests.

Whilst I did enjoy the book, I did find it quite slow in places. Nevertheless, I found the character’s and the inter-character relations were well-developed and maintained throughout.

I would recommend this book to fans of middle grade/young adult fantasy fiction. I look forward to finding out what happens to Alice, Lily and their newfound family in the next book and what secrets Alice and Lily will unearth.