Book Review: The Lost Sister by Elinora Pane and Alexa H. Michaels

The Lost Sister

Housekeeping!

Firstly, thank you Book of Matches Media for the chance to be a part of this book tour!

The Lost Sister is a high fantasy book that just came out on the 8th of Feb! I was part of the tour for this, which mean I was sent the ARC some time ago, but I’m easily distracted which is why you’ll get my review today!

Disclaimer: My review will have spoilers, which is why I’m posting the blurb first! You can absolutely check out other reviews on goodreads or on the tour instead of reading mine!

One of my edits that I’m not sure as an insta post because why do I have a cactus in all this water?

Blurb:

Meira:

I’ve lived two hundred years without my sister–my twin. And the worst part is she doesn’t even know I exist.

Now, I’m sneaking into the kingdom where I was born, right under the nose of our megalomaniac father, who happens to be the king.

He can’t know I’m here, or we’ll both be trapped.

I can only pray that my sister isn’t cruel like him. That she will accept me and want to escape. I have to save her. Or die trying.

Rina:

My father is a tyrant king. And now he’s betrothed me to a monster. This palace is just a gilded cage, and I have to find a way out.

Just when I give up and decide to do something desperate–a miracle. My mirror image appears in the market.

This stranger claims to be my twin. She promises me escape.

If I don’t go with her now, I’ll be trapped here forever.

#QOTD: Do you have this song stuck in the back of your head?

Review:

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

The lost sister follows Rina and Meira after they rescue the first from their evil father and go on a hunt for something to stop him for good. With them we have Cas and Avery, Meira’s adopted brother and Rina’s royal guard, respectively, both of whom have complicated feelings for one of the girls near them.

I do appreciate that Meira and Rina are so different from one another, but are very strong in their own way. I love that we learn through Silas the significance of a fae being able to use a conduit for magic, and then see Rina use one. I also love that Meira has no interest in being part of the random love triangle forming right next to her.

Now, the not so good!

The reason why I put this down to 3 stars and not higher is because it’s not a bad read, but it needed a thorough editing, and at the end of the day I didn’t care for any of the characters.

We have Rina, born and raised a perfect princess throwing out, “I couldn’t do nothing,” which was kind of jarring in the context. The writers also try to throw in a lot of sexual tension between Rina and Kotosh, and it didn’t work. It felt really forced. Yes, we see there is a pull between you. You want to make out. This has no more meaning than that.

While Meira is pretty badass, they ruin her with lines like, “She’d tell me not to let a penis control my life,” which could have been phrased differently and made more impactful.

Also, I’m so sure that this is not meant to be high fantasy! It’s okay to be YA fantasy or New Adult fantasy, and some of the best books I’ve read are! But high fantasy, which is defined by The Lord of The Rings or things like the Witcher… this isn’t that category!

So all in all, a decent read, just maybe not my cup of tea! I still wish the authors luck and I hope their next book is even better!

Am I completely wrong about high fantasy?