Holy Sister
Mark Lawrence
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Nona Grey’s story reaches its shattering conclusion in the third instalment of Book of the Ancestor.
They came against her as a child. Now they face the woman.
The ice is advancing, the Corridor narrowing, and the empire is under siege from the Scithrowl in the east and the Durns in the west. Everywhere, the emperor’s armies are in retreat.
Nona faces the final challenges that must be overcome if she is to become a full sister in the order of her choice. But it seems unlikely that Nona and her friends will have time to earn a nun’s habit before war is on their doorstep.
Even a warrior like Nona cannot hope to turn the tide of war. The shiphearts offer strength that she might use to protect those she loves, but it’s a power that corrupts. A final battle is coming in which she will be torn between friends, unable to save them all. A battle in which her own demons will try to unmake her. A battle in which hearts will be broken, lovers lost, thrones burned.
As I mentioned earlier this week in my Grey Sister review – I binge read both books one after another, so I apologise if the reviews touch on both and the series as a whole.
So many plot twists! This book was filled with political drama and so much forward planning from characters was kept secret from our main character. This meant that the plan was revealed to me as a reader at the same time and I’d never even clicked that it could happen (a Dumbledore-esque plotter added so much to this book).
We’re back with Nona and her Sisters and it’s fully ramped up for them to finally do something about Sherzal. Whilst we’re not in the Covenant of Sweet Mercy for a lot of this book, we’re still with all the characters I loved in previous books.
Nona and Zole are by far my favourite characters because they’re such strong female characters, whilst also being very different from one another. Each of the novices are grown in this book and very different to the children we meet in Red Sister. This is really down to Lawrence’s amazing writing, as we see them mature but also recognise them as the same people.
We also get to visit the Ice in this book. Lawrence had skirted around how vicious it was and why everyone stayed in The Corridor in the previuous books, but this time we got to visit and explore. Whilst Zole feels in her element, Nona struggles at times and I loved the dynamic throughout these scenes.
Holy Sister was a wonderful ending to The Book of the Ancestor series!
Positives of Holy Sister
- Character Arcs ending
- World Building
Negatives of Holy Sister
I received Holy Sister by Mark Lawrence from the publisher. This is an unbiased and honest review
