The Lost Sisters by Holly Black

SYNOPSIS

While Jude fought for power in the Court of Elfhame against the cruel Prince Cardan, her sister Taryn began to fall in love with the trickster, Locke.

Half-apology and half-explanation, it turns out that Taryn has some secrets of her own to reveal.

The Lost Sisters is a companion e-novella to the New York Times bestselling novel The Cruel Prince, by master writer Holly Black.

Synopsis from Amazon

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PERSONAL REVIEW

I loved The Cruel Prince, which came out at the beginning of this year, so I was really happy to find out that Holly Black had written a companion short story to the book. With the sequel not arriving until early 2019, I thought this would be a great way to jump making into the world of Faerie. Because this is a short story, this is also going to be a short review. 

Quick Jaunt Back Into the Court Of Elfhame
It was really interesting getting more background on the events of The Cruel Prince since so much of what happens between Carden and Jude is actually because of what happened between Taryn and Locke. It puts a lot of the confusion from the first story (why Carden was constantly bullying Jude, etc) into context and gives us more insight into the different relationships in the story. I'm really excited to find out what's happening between Carden and Jude when The Wicked King comes out next year because it's clear that there are strong emotions between them, but we'll have to wait to find out if this relationship will become a positive or negative one.
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No Sympathy of Taryn (Literally, None at All)
I'm not sure if the goal for this novella was to make readers understand why Taryn betrayed Jude, but it definitely did not work for me. I never want to give spoilers, so I'll simply say that Taryn comes off more vapid and idiotic then she did in the original book. I was incredibly frustrated with her choices and her constant whining (the story is written almost as a letter from Taryn to Jude) for Jude to forgive her. She spends have the story making incredibly dumb choices and the other half moping around because no one supports her choices. She came across as a weak characters in The Cruel Prince and this novella just cemented that impression. I'm so incredibly unimpressed with her and wouldn't blame Jude if she never forgave Taryn.

I would only recommend reading this if you loved The Cruel Prince​ and want a little more background into what caused some of the issues between Carden and Jude in the story. If you are hoping to find redemption for Taryn, I don't think this novella will give you that. However, to those who loved The Cruel Prince, reading The Lost Sisters​ is a great way to remind yourself about everything that's happening in Elfheme before the sequel comes out in January!

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FINAL RATING: 3/5