Sisters of the Snake
Looking for a riveting, magical teen fantasy read? Sisters of the Snake by Serena and Sasha Nanua is the perfect book to fit the bill.
Ria and Rani are from two different worlds. One is a Princess and future Queen, the other is a common thief, living in the streets of Nabh. A chance encounter on the evening of Diwali sets in motion events that will change their lives forever. When staring into each other’s faces, they see their own reflections, questions arise about their past as well as their future. With the country on the brink of war, they each must walk in the other’s shoes to find the answers they are seeking.
When I first received this book I was terribly intimidated by the length. I love reading and I’m reading more and more fantasy these days but this book is pretty hefty and I was a little worried about getting lost in the world, not being able to follow where the characters were leading. I was totally wrong as from page one the Nanua sisters hooked me right into the story. I was able to enter the world they had built with ease and join Ria and Rani in their search.
Sisters of the Snake was a difficult story to put down. A mark of a great fantasy in my reading life is one where I don’t want to leave the world the author(s) have created. From Nabh to Abai, the Mailan Foothills through the Hidden Lands, I was able to immerse myself in Ria and Rani’s world and journey with them. There is a lot of fabulous dialogue throughout with enough description for the reader to understand the world but also keeping the story fast paced with clever dialogue.
There were some great romantic moments between the characters and honest, revealing, loving moments when necessary. Each chapter alternated between Rita’s journey and Rani’s journey and each character was written in first person in their chapters. The only time I got a little stumped was when both Rani and Ria were together, I had to keep referring to the name at the top of the chapter to remember which character was speaking in first person.
The magical elements were new, something I hadn’t really encountered in many other fantasy books yet but do harken back to ancient mythology. Sisters of the Snake focuses mostly on the magic of the two sisters, the magic of the Snake Master with information about all the other five Master of magic throughout
The story ends with a foreshadowing of another book to come, amazing, and I’m hoping the Nanua sisters expand and develop the other forms of magic in the world.
If you are a fan of Tanaz Bhathena’s Wrath of Ambar duology, Ria and Rani’s stories are equally as thrilling.
