This book is for those who want a feminist Arthurian retelling full of women who disguise themselves as men in order to fight in knightly tournaments and defeat boastful men wrong. It’s about a sisterhood and finding your place in the world and not necessarily going along with what’s expected of you, but forging your own path and overcoming the challenges that come with your choices.

I really loved this book! The writing was so detailed and conveyed imagery like a movie plus the author wrote combat scenes so well that I felt like I was right next to Cas fighting and training along with her. What made this book even better was the depth to each character.
They were flawed and morally grey but just so real that I couldn't help but be invested in their story!
And when i say invested, I mean invested! It only took me a few hours to finish this book in one sitting! It was not a fast-paced story, but there was still so much of the story being revealed and told that it didn't have to have action every second to keep me interested.

I really do recommend this book, especially for those who enjoy amazing combat scenes and developed characters!
I just can’t say how much I enjoyed this one! It may seem like not much is happening but the intrigue, suspense and fast pace will keep you reading into the night!

Thanks so much to Netgalley and the author for letting me read and review this.

Laura Bates debut fantasy Sisters of Sword and Shadow is a feminist reimagining of Arthurian literature. A theme close to my heart I was eager to see how this would translate and found it to be a perfect YA for young female readers. Laura has written non-fiction feminist novels and her passion is clearly evident in this historical fantasy.

This is a unique take on the legend of the Knights of the Round Table. Fun, engaging, young adult feminist retelling of what I would consider historical fiction rather than straight fantasy. It showed potential but needed writing that invested readers more in the main characters.

This seems to be a duology hinting at a follow up and I am hoping that a second book will bring promised revelations to the fore. Overall, powerful tale of collective sisterhood.

‘You’ll find you are capable of things you never dreamed of, if you give yourself a chance to stretch beyond the idea of yourself that you’ve always known,’

Sisters of Sword and Shadow is clearly a passion project and I was keen to see the author bring their feminist nonfiction background to a YA audience through a fantastical reimagining of King Arthur and his knights.
While the writing is super dreamy, I got a little lost with the plot and pacing after the initial problem of Cass not wanting a typical life and arranged marriage was solved within the opening chapters.
I was invested in all of the side characters and would’ve love to explore their stories more, or even read the book from their perspective.
There was so much potential (seriously, lady knights!), but I was really let down by this one.

4⭐️

{ARC review - many thanks to @simonschusterau for this copy in exchange for my honest review}

I love me an Arthurian retelling and this one was no different! Laura Bates created an immersive, beautiful world that was easy to get lost in. Sisters of Sword and Shadow is a YA novel and to me it is such a great example of how rich and multidimensional YA novels can be, while still being accessible and fun to read.

My main critique of this novel lies in the pacing - it was quite slow paced especially to begin with. This was partly due to the world-building (a necessary evil) but I think going into this knowing it was YA, I expected the plot to unfold at a quicker pace. It did pick up towards the end, and even during the slower parts the language used by the author was so captivating that I still enjoyed myself.

Also, can we talk about this cover?! I’d be lying if I said that wasn’t at least half the reason I went for this ARC. I love books with strong female characters, and I love that this book tells you straight up using the cover art that that’s what you’ll find here.

I would recommend this to anyone looking for a female-focused Arthurian retelling, or anyone who thinks that YA books are flaky and not worth their time - you just need to read the right ones!

Sister of Sword and Shadow is an immersive feminine reimagining of Arthuninan Legends, where our protagonist Cass is whisked away from village life where her future would doubtlessly lead to marriage and monotony by a mysterious warrior woman and led into adventure. Props to the front cover, the art is stunning and it really hyped me up to read this!

From the very beginning I was struck at how descriptive the writing was, I could imagine being in the forest, the movement of the horses, the whistling of arrows in the air. The battle scenes in particular were vivid and immersive, really beautifully crafted.

There were times where I felt the pacing was a bit off, just a bit, slow. I felt for the first half of the novel, there was nothing overarching to drive the story and that there were snippets of plot amongst a lot of descriptive prose and world building. I found the pace increased in the last third and I enjoyed myself thoroughly.

Thank you to NetGalley, and the publisher Simon & Schuster (Australia), for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review, these thoughts are all my own.

And yet again I find myself reading a book with facets of Arthurian Legend, and I'm not mad.

We have a lovely tale here, full of found family, friends and female empowerment.

The cover is gorgeous. The descriptive language beautiful. The losses are heart wrenching. And the tender moments are stunning.

Plus we have a heavily pregnant woman being an absolute BOSS.

That being said, I did feel like I spent the whole book waiting for the big reveal. There was hints of a grand destiny right at the opening, and nothing really happened to follow on from that until the last few pages.

But again, I really enjoyed the book, just almost wish we had gone without the hint at the beginning in hindsight.

Struggled to rate, because i enjoyed the read but i think spending the whole book waiting for a reveal that doesn't really happen was a bit of a struggle.

"Sisters of Sword and Shadow" is a really fun YA. I can't wait to see this on our shelves. I actually wish it was going to be released just a few weeks earlier, because this would be my go-to Christmas recommendation for teens.

Some things I loved:
- Laura Bates' biggest strength is writing battle scenes. I could feel the frantic energy buzzing through the pages.
- I also loved the focus on friendship, rather than romance.
- I appreciated how Bates brought the cruelty of knighthood to the forefront. Most books focus on the heroism of knights, while ignoring that many were born into that privilege, and then abused their power.
- You can really tell that Bates did her research. There was so much detail in everything, from the way they fought, to how swords were made, to the feel of holding a joust.

Some things that could have been better:
- It had some pacing problems. There were moments where nothing was happening, or the things that happened didn't do anything to pull the story forward.
- Because it has been put into the sci-fi/fantasy genre, I was expecting more fantastical elements.

Nonetheless, I absolutely loved it, and the cover is stunning. I'll be on the edge of my seat until the next book is released.

This writing! It was stunning! I also don't know much about legends surrounding King Arthur but this one was such a good story and it made me want to learn more about the legend.
I really liked the depiction of mental health and depression in this story. Sometimes all it takes is endurance and perseverance to get through the tough times. I was hurting a lot for our main character but I can't wait to see where she ends up <3

Thanks to Netgalley for a copy for an honest review

I really enjoyed ‘ Sisters of Sword and Shadow’ by Laura Bates it was good I liked the setting and the characters were really good.

I would highly recommend it 😊

Rating 4 Stars