I always wondered what happened to those old time classic stories that I read when I was younger. Maybe time blurred my memories or maybe it was me who changed but no matter how I tried I never reached the same feeling re-reading them as I did before. That was until I bumped into Sister Sugar by Garden Summerland. It drew me immediately into the same atmosphere as Gone With the Wind and Pride and Prejudice. I have no idea what place or time the author was thinking when she wrote the story but she managed to paint a perfect scene for me and mix two of my favorite things, a classic novel and a vampire story, together in a way that made me want the story would never end. I warmly recommend this book to anyone with a young heart and an old soul. I absolutely loved this book!
Sister Sugar by Garden Summerland (Young Adult readers) * * * * *
Sugar Cristea is a young girl who lives with four creepy women. They call themselves Sister Cristeas. Sugar is supposed to be initiated within couple of weeks when she turns sixteen and become a Serviance for Kindred with royal blood as Serviances have served Kindreds for hundreds of years but every cell in Sugar rebels against her destiny. However the sisters’ grip on her is tight and she thinks she can never escape from them and a place called Ravenscleft. She also fears that she’s doomed to live a life no better than slavery as an ancient prophesy seems to have predicted her every move since she was born. That is until she meets Emilian, a Kindred hair and they fall in love.
But not everyone is happy about their love. After all, Sugar is only a Serviance. A witch and a healer and Emilian is a royal Kindred. A vampire, and the only hair for the crown. But Sisters are too scared to do anything openly as they are obligated to serve Kindreds and Kidreds are too sneaky to act publicly. But at least one of the sisters is obviously helping another Kindred to break Sugar and Emilian apart from each other and make sure Sugar will fulfill her destiny no matter what it will cost. The world of royal Kindreds is totally different from Sugar’s previous one and it’s hard to keep up with all the skeaming and plotting around her. In the end she cannot be sure if her friend is her enemy or if her enemy is her friend.
Sister Sugar is like a cocktail of Pride and Prejudice and The Vampire Diaries. The author has managed to combine the old time atmosphere with the rhythm of modern day brilliantly, the story holds together and ‘moves’ smoothly, entwining the reader tighter and tighter inside of it and making to stop reading impossible. It is a Young Adult book but except for the prologue it will suit perfectly for a Middle Grade reader as well.
There is so much going on in this story that when you reach the last page you just want to know more. And I truly hope there will be another book about Sister Cristeas in the future, as I will buy it for sure!
I loved your review of Sister Sugar! I will be going and buying this book! Thank you so much for your review!
Thank you. I hope you’ll enjoy the book as much as I did 🙂