Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink

Title: Prophecy of the Sisters

Author: Michelle Zink

Genre: Fantasy/Historical

Publisher: Little, Brown Teens

Pages: 352

Rating: 4/5

Sixteen-year-old Lia Milthorpe and her twin sister Alice have just become orphans, and, as Lia discovers, they have also become enemies. The twins are part of an ancient prophecy that has turned generations of sisters against each other. To escape from a dark fate and to remain in the arms of her beloved boyfriend James, Lia must end the prophecy before her sister does. Only then will she understand the mysterious circumstances of her parents’ deaths, the true meaning of the strange mark branded on her wrist, and the lengths to which her sister will go to defeat her.

I first read this in mid-2010, after reading a good review of it on another site. I don’t read many historical novels, although I do tend to love the ones I read. I was still a bit unsure about this book, though. When I finished it the first time, I was converted and found it interesting, and probably would have given it a three out of five stars rating. If you’ve already looked at the rating above or the tags for this entry, you’ve probably already realized that I gave this book four stars rather than three. That’s because I recently reread it, wanting to remind myself what happened before I read the second book. And I found myself falling in love with this book more than I did the first time.

The story was the same, of course, but for some reason I found it more interesting, the story more engaging. The writing seemed much more beautiful, full of details and yet crisp and quick. The pacing seemed faster than it had been when I read it the first time, sometimes getting bored. I was able to keep flipping quickly through the pages even though I already knew what was going to happen in the end, I was merely brushing up on the details. And I’m glad I did – there were things that aren’t crucial to the story but still important which had slipped my mind since I had first read it.

I felt a huge connection to the characters. Lia was a very good protagonist, and it helps that I absolutely love her name (I wonder why…), although that’s certainly not her only appeal for me. She’s fairly normal, but she’s not really the type of girl who’s a complete idiot and who misses obvious signs, while she also isn’t this super-genius who seems more like an experienced adult than a growing teenager. I also felt a connection to her twin, Alice, though she is the main antagonist in this story. Zink didn’t make Alice into this completely heartless creature – yes, she did horrible things, but in the end she was the one who Lia had grown up loving, her twin and sister. Alice is dangerous but she still feels a great love to her sister and brother and I wonder if that’ll play a part in the final two books of the trilogy, though with the ending of this book I’m unsure.

The ending was something that made me cry. No spoilers, but it’s full of tense moments and tears on my part. I knew it was coming and yet I forced myself to read it all, experience it yet again, because I felt such a connection to the characters and the story. I had to read it, not to miss any details, and I couldn’t pull my eyes away from the book.

In all, I am so glad that I gave this book a second look. Sure, I loved it when I first read it, but my love grew the second time around, and it helped me as I began the second book, Guardian of the Gate, which I’m currently reading and will have a review of once I’m done.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars