Rating:

The Truth Behind The Lies

Author: Holly Black

If you’re picking up this tiny little novella, then that means you’re addicted, and you have questions. Holly Black’s immeasurably immersive Folk of the Air trilogy took us through the loves and losses of Jude, a human child stuck in faerie who grows up to match wits and ruthlessness with the best and bloodiest. In The Lost Sisters we get to hear the story from another side: from Jude’s traitorous sister, Taryn. The girls seemed close in the beginning, but as Jude tries to fight against the strictures of faerie and the cruelty of its royalty, Taryn chooses another approach, a meeker one. And then, there is Locke, the man who came between them.

Fans have long wondered what impelled Taryn to accept Locke’s double-crossing ways and why, oh why did she switch sides to join him against her sister? This then is her story – a half justification, a half apology. It takes us through the early days when Jude and Cardan begin sparring, up through Locke’s engagement to Taryn. Sadly, we do not get to keep following Taryn’s tale to the dark night when she murders her horrible husband (perhaps, dear Holly, that will come in a later novella?)

While the material is short, it is delightful and answers many questions. I certainly don’t like (or side with) Taryn here, but I finally understand her. Only Black can take such flawed characters and give them a dimensionality and a voice that demands empathy and engagement. Now, don’t get me wrong, I would still LOVE for Jude to tell Taryn off and give her a dose of her own medicine, but now there is a greater sadness and depth to Taryn. Plus, the entire Locke story makes a lot more sense.

Altogether, this is a short but delightful interlude, one that I hope indicates many more to come. Recommended.

 

The Folk of the Air Series

 

– Frances Carden

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Frances Carden
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