Livesey has written a story about love, both platonic and romantic love and this is something I liked about this book as I think platonic love between women is an important thing.

The story is about Alice Blackwell and Lily Knight - two young women who are childhood friends. When Alice goes missing - possibly kidnapped by a mysterious cult - Lily drops everything to find her friend.

This was pretty interesting but I also found myself being quite bored reading. I actually read it twice as I, the first time, realised that had read about 33% without really knowing or remembering what I had read. I also thought the story started stronger than how it ended and yes, I know this is Book 1 in a series, but I feel like there were too many loose thread.

All in all - liked the theme but the story itself didn't really catch me.

I didn’t connect to this story. Although the writing was fabulous, lyrical and generous with the descriptions I couldn’t get into the story, which was disappointing. I did, however, enjoy the two timelines, and it was interesting to pick out similarities. I don’t think I’ll be picking up the next book unfortunately but maybe the book just wasn’t for me!

I love the Anne of Green Gables influence on this book as well as magic. The two main characters Lily and Alice were great and balanced each other very well. It was a great read, full of love, friendship, working together to overcome fears and if the battle of good vs evil.

Sisters of Shadow is a YA fantasy novel focusing on the two main characters of Alice and Lily, who were best friends despite their many differences after Alice disappears due to mysterious circumstances. The novel features many fantasy elements and folktales which make a very interesting read.

The novel as a whole was good, it followed Lily's journey as she gained bravery and Alice as she discovered her true self, however, I did find it difficult to fully connect with the characters. I knew the two girls were best friends from the beginning but I never truly understood their bond as the book barely touched on those part. Which made it difficult to really connect to these characters and why they did what they did throughout the book especially towards the end.

I also found the book to be paced fairly slowly, as it focused more on the journey taken to get to the ending rather than the ending itself, I also would've loved to have more of an insight into the backstories and folklore within the novel. Although some of this may well have been left for the sequel.

However, I did really like the fantasy elements of the story as the writer has developed some brilliant lore about the shadow sect and I do really look forward to seeing what comes next of these characters especially with such an open and dramatic ending!

Thank you so much to NetGalley, HarperCollinsUK and OneMorePage for giving me this ARC in exchange for an honest opinion

I thought this book was quite good - the Anne of Green Gables series will always be one of my favourite book series and I love witchiness as well.. Both Alice and Lily were interesting characters, and I loved the way their characters complemented each other

However, this book feel like it was meant for younger readers than YA at places ( I can imagine someone 11-13 years old really enjoying it), and some parts of it were a little laggy in pace and rushed in other parts.

Overall, a good book (especially for younger readers)

While this was labeled middle grade and YA, I believe there was a vast difference between the two audiences. This definitely should have been purely middle grade. By the time I was trying to switch gears from YA to middle grade, I lost interest in the characters.

Thanks to the publisher for providing an eARC of Sisters of Shadow in exchange for an honest review.

I was ecstatic for Sisters of Shadows because it's promise of sapphic witches and Anne of Green Gables comparison made me think it would be made for me, but it's not. That doesn't mean it's a bad book, it just probably shouldn't have been placed on YA shelves because were a few scenes toned down a tad, it'd be 100% middle grade. The whole time I was reading it I kept thinking that while I wasn't really enjoying it, I probably would have in middle school so when you get to the end and read Katherine Livesey's authors note where she talks about how this book is written for her 12 year old self, everything quickly makes a lot more sense.

Two girls, one magical journey. Alice has always lived in the forest ever since her parents abandoned her. She is feared by most people and lives in exile. She only has one best friend, Lily. Alice and Lily are like exact opposites yet they are the best of friends. Lily is the sunshine and Alice is the moon, but they just work. They call themselves “sisters of shadows”. One day Alice goes missing and now it is up to Lily to rescue her. Lily finds a note at Alice’s home and thus sets her on her journey to find Lily. This story has queer girls, witches. friendship, and is a coming of age story. This is the first in a series and definitely feels like a middle grade rather than a YA read. While it has all the aspects of things I love to read about sadly this one was a bit flat for me and just wasn’t what I was expecting. It wasn’t as engaging for me as I had hoped and I wasn’t all that attached to the plot or the characters. However, that’s just me. Maybe this will be a better fit for a younger reader but it sadly just didn’t work for me.

*Thanks Netgalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

I received an ARC from NetGalley, for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Our initial two main characters are Alice and Lily. Lily lives with her uncle Alf, the apothecary. Alice lives alone on a mountain.  The people of the village shun Alice and suspect her of witchcraft, and blame her for all that goes wrong.

Despite this, the two girls are the young, to the other's yang. Lily is a ray of sunshine, bringing light to Alice,  and Alice us the shadow to Lily's brilliance. The two have a fast and strong friendship. They call themselves the Sisters Of Shadow.

On a visit to Alice, Lily find the door open, but no trace of Alice, save a letter from a Hecate Winter.  Lily rushes back to her uncle, letter in hand. Having never left her village on her own before, Lily is full of trepidation as she sets off to rescue her dearest friend Alice.

From this point in the novel, we see things as they transpire for both Lily and Alice.

We see Lily overcoming her fears, and setting off alone to try and rescue het dearest friend. We see Alice chained up and alone by the people who stole her from her home.

This was a gripping read, full of love, friendship, working together to overcome fears and if the battle of good vs evil. This was a thoroughly enjoyable read and should definitely be added to your TBR.

I loved how this book started. I was enjoying how lily thought and her love of walking around barefoot to feel the ground. Which is honestly me all over.
"Nature was Lily’s tonic."
I even liked how this was setting up. With Alice and Lily being best friends in a Ying and yang sort of way.
However, At some point I lost interest. I no longer cared what was happening or about the girls. I don't think this book was for me in the end.

Reviewing this story is difficult for me, as it has all the elements of things I like. The usage and execution of those things, however, fell flat on its face. The pacing of this doesn’t seem to make much sense, and I tended to find it jarring. Things would happen quickly, in a blink and you miss it kind of way. Then, things would slow back down to a snail’s pace- or we would switch points of view.

I really wanted to like this story. It’s queer, it has witches, there is an evil society of power-hungry people. Yet, the writing really didn’t allow me to enjoy it to its fullest extent. There was nothing wrong per se with the book- but it felt like reading the second draft rather than an almost final edition. It could have done well with more fleshing out, and a little bit more aging up of the character interactions.

Blog review to be posted at a later date.

This story follows two girls named Alice and Lily who are these “sisters of shadow” – or witches. When Alice mysteriously disappears after trying to find her way with magic, Lilly has to set out to investigate her disappearance.

I liked that this book has a coming of age aspect to it and that it was fast paced. I can never get past slow books, but this story definitely isn't slow in my opinion. However, I really enjoy more character developed stories and I feel like this book was missing that in some aspects because it was too fast paced. I also initially thought this was a standalone, but it is not based on the cliffhanger at the end. I’m not sure if I will continue with the sequel and my main reason is that it seemed like it was more for someone who enjoys Middle Grade books. I tend to favor upper YA and onwards so I did struggle a bit with this one. While this was marketed as a YA, it didn’t really come across as a YA book to me, especially with with the writing style. It’s great writing, but geared toward someone in the younger YA audience (or anyone who likes younger YA books). If you like middle grade books, you would enjoy this story a lot. Especially if you love witchy vibes! Thank you to Net Galley for providing a copy in exchange for my honest review

This book is hard to rate.

“Sisters of Shadow” follows Alice the town witch as she is kidnapped from her cottage and thrown into the fight her family tried to shield her from and Lily, the apothecary’s daughter who is hellbent on rescuing her only friend no matter the cost.

My biggest issue is that this book is marketed as YA but every bit of the writing suggests a younger audience. The characters themselves are very dramatic and naive in the way that the YA crowd will find this dragging rather than racing towards the finish.

Both characters are fine but again their faults lie with the overall tone of the novel as these very sheltered girls seem to have little trouble in the real world and trust strangers after a passing glance.

The story itself follows the fairy tale like formula I suppose though it gives me some Dr Sleep vibes it it managed to really go there when it came to this band of witches stealing children but alas this was not that book.

Not bad but not for me, I hope the next batch of readers can enjoy what I could not.

**special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**

This was quirky, full of the whimsy that I would only expect from something that uses Anne of Green Gables as a reference. But, this was also full of raw, dripping magic. Characters that are complex, something that I would expect to come from V E Schwab. I ingested this story, let it settle in my mind, and now I cannot get it out of my head. I need more, MORE, from Livesey. Great work here.

I enjoyed this book quite a bit. It was hard at first getting past a few things but if you stick with it it’s totally worth it. Thanks to #NetGalley for allowing me to read an earc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Sisters of Shadow was a pleasant and easy read. I enjoyed the connection to Anne of Green Gables and the magic system the author created. However, there was nothing spectacular or interesting about the story that kept me engaged. I felt at points in the novel I would get distracted from the story or bored at the plot. Although the book is marketed for YA, it read like a middle-grade book. I would recommend this for people who are just beginning to read fantasy, but for someone who has read a lot of fantasy and magical books, this one felt lackluster.

I DNF'd this book at 30% which is very unusual for me. I love YA and fantasy but for some reason, this story didn't hit the mark. The main characters of Alice and Lily were supposed to be 17 and 18 years of age, but to me, it felt like I was reading a middle-grade story and the characters were maybe 12 or 13. I found myself bored with the story and at 30% just didn't want to read on.

Sisters of shadow is a Coming of age fantasy that follows two girls, Alice and Lily. When Alice,who has lived alone as an outcast since her parents died receives a mysterious letter;imploring her the join a shadowy group who claim they can teach her magic, she sets out to find the letter’s sender....

Lily Knight, an apothecary apprentice, who embarks on a mission to find her best friend Alice, whose disappearance follows the whispers of a magical group called the shadow sect—a group rumoured to lure and abduct children for nefarious purposes.

Their paths may be divided but with a little help and the bonds of friendship they just may find a way back to each other...

I saw this being described as Anne of Green Gables meets His Dark Materials so I jumped at the chance to be able to review it.Unfortunately, I just didn’t really enjoy it. Although it’s a Coming of age fantasy and has witches (a combination I adore!) I just couldn’t connect with the characters.

The writing (though lovely) did at times feel geared towards a younger audience, though there were later scenes that made it apparent that it was YA.

I did enjoy the dual storylines between Alice and Lily, especially the similarities in their circumstances and the differences that led them on separate paths. I did also originally think this was a standalone and so I was a little disappointed it ended on a cliffhanger.

Overall, it was a solid story but I think personally it just didn’t resonate with me. I’d still definitely recommend to lovers of Coming of age fantasies and middle grade/ younger YA fiction.

Thank you to One More Chapter and Net Galley for the Digital ARC.

A YA fantasy novel for young ladies with a LGBT element - good on the whole.

This story centers around tow young ladies, Alice and Lily, fast friends, who end up separated from each other as witches conspire to harness Alice's magic. It's about Lily's search, the characters she encounters as well as those who help or hurt Alice. The fantasy element is about the Shadow Lands and the magic that some characters can use. It's a relatively simple story with a few original ideas and the language is fairly aimed at the YA readership. It's enjoyable enough - I am not the target readership - and will lead to a sequel. Recommended to a female YA readership who will enjoy it, I am sure. I received a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Sisters of the Shadow by Katherine Livesey

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