Book Review – Sisters of the Lost Marsh

Hello hello and welcome or welcome back to my little bookish corner of the internet. Today I’m sharing my review of Sisters of the Lost Marsh, a recent middle grade release by best selling author Lucy Strange. A huge thank you to Olivia over at Chicken House for the copy that was sent my way.

Synopsis
Life is hard for Willa, Grace and Freya, and their three younger sisters. Six motherless girls working a farm, living in fear of their cruel father and the superstition that obsesses him – The Curse of Six Daughters.

With the arrival of the mysterious Full Moon Fayre, there’s a chance for the eldest girls to steal a moment’s fun, but the day the fayre moves on, Grace vanishes.

Willa goes after her, following a trail that leads into the dangerous Lost Marsh, where it is said a will-o’-the-wisp lures lost souls into the dark waters of the mire. If Willa is to survive and reunite her family, she will need to unravel the secrets her father has kept hidden, and face her own deepest fears …

Review
This book was an utter triumph of a read. The sheer magic and wonder of the tale of these six girls, their drunken father and wonderful grandmother was a story I could have been lost in forever. I never wanted it to end.

Willa is determined not to break under the weight of her father’s behaviour, no matter how harsh his treatment of her and her sisters. There to support her is her older sister Grace – until she isn’t. And when she isn’t, Willa finds that her stubborn and wonderfully wild streak comes into full action, as she powers off to save her.

The dynamic between the sisters was adorable to see. Sometimes when there are multiple siblings in books you find they all blend into one, and yet here the author manages to keep each girl well defined, just as if they were people you could meet and know and love, as you do in these pages. The other key dynamic at play is that between the girls and their grandmother, who teaches them not to bend under their father’s whim, or the pressures that society might try and press upon them. I got a bit emotional reading some of their interactions as I feel like every child, especially every girl, needs a role model like that in their lives as they grow.

Another thing I adored about this book was the beautiful world that was created for the story. From fairy tales to funeral rites, there was a who universe ready for this book to fall into, and it allowed the characters to be created in a more 3D fashion, with us able to imagine whole backstories we were unaware of, but had influenced who they were.

Powerful, emotional, wonderful – this is a book ready for everyone, whatever their age.

Thanks for stopping by today for my post about this lovely book, and a big thank you to the equally lovely people who sent it in my direction.