Title: Red Sister
Series: Book of the Ancestor #1
Author: Mark Lawrence
Published Date: April 4th, 2017
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Source: Netgalley
# of Pages: 472
Genre: Fantasy
Read: April 2017
Goodreads Synopsis
"It's not until you're broken that you find your sharpest edge
A brilliant new series from the bestselling author of PRINCE OF THORNS.
"I was born for killing – the gods made me to ruin"
At the Convent of Sweet Mercy young girls are raised to be killers. In a few the old bloods show, gifting talents rarely seen since the tribes beached their ships on Abeth. Sweet Mercy hones its novices’ skills to deadly effect: it takes ten years to educate a Red Sister in the ways of blade and fist.
But even the mistresses of sword and shadow don’t truly understand what they have purchased when Nona Grey is brought to their halls as a bloodstained child of eight, falsely accused of murder: guilty of worse."
Rating: 2/5 stars
Check it out on Goodreads!
Some Quotes
"Her last thoughts before dreams stole her were that if a shaved head were the worst thing to have happened to Arabella Jotsis so far then she had lived a charmed life."
"Nona understood better than most that even the most sacred bonds could be broken under enough stress."
"but Nona had seen a child purchased from her parents for a single penny and to see one tossed about so lightly always gave her a sense of disquiet."
"Money is at the center of everything we do: it has the loudest voice."
"She had had few friends in her life and the bonds that bound her to them were more sacred to her than the Ancestor was to any nun. Friendship wasn't something you gave up on or let slip: it wasn't something to be done in small measure or cut in half."
"She had called Clera and Hessa friends and that bond ran deeper than blood: it was the foundation of a world that she could understand. A faith that mattered."
My Thoughts
I got this from Netgalley for an honest review.
I DNF'd at 63% so my review is on what I read. Assassin nuns, sounds amazing right? Honestly it really is in some ways and this is not a bad book, it was just a "not for me" book. Don't take my less than stellar review as a reason to not pick it up if it appeals to you!
I was very confused in the beginning. I'm easily confused and I truly don't think it's the fault of this book. It's just world-building heavy and i'm not very fantasy inclined it seems. If you are very into fantasy it'll probably be much better for you! Even though I was confused world-wise I did get to liking the characters initially and really enjoyed Nona, the main character. I'm not sure what she's guilty of, where the synopsis at the end says "guilty of worse". Not sure what I missed or possibly didn't get to. She's had a very hard life and I could see the thought that went into her character.
There are several great quotes through-out the book and wonderful messages.
I really tried to get into this book and I had thought it was beginning to work for me but then the middle...something just disconnected with me and my eyes were mostly just going over the words and I was wondering when it would end. I was reading but not processing anything, and I just stopped caring as I was so bored. It gets invested in the classes, the nuns, it's like a boarding school where they raise girls to be fighting nuns. Assassins, killers, what have you. You get to go to the classes with them. To many i'm sure this would be very interesting and sometimes it was for me but something just felt...off. My best guess is I didn't click with the writing as I can't think of any real flaw with the book. The characters, the plot line...it was just me and the book didn't jive. I tried to push myself but ultimately felt a reading slump coming on and that's when I know...I need to just put the book down and move on.
If it sounds up your alley, give it a shot! My opinion is in the minority on the book, and that's ok.
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