Book Review: Guardian of the Gate by Michelle Zink

Title: Guardian of the Gate
Author: Michelle Zink
Series: Prophecy of the Sisters #2
Publisher: Little, Brown Books
Release Date: August 1 2010
My Source: Library

My Rating: 3.5/5

Goodreads Summary:
The ultimate battle between sisters is nearing, and its outcome could have catastrophic consequences. As sixteen year-old Lia Milthorpe searches for a way to end the prophecy, her twin sister Alice hones the skills she'll need to defeat Lia. Alice will stop at nothing to reclaim her sister's role in the prophecy, and that's not the only thing she wants: There's also Lia's boyfriend James.

Lia and Alice always knew the Prophecy would turn those closest to them against them. But they didn't know what betrayal could lead them to do. In the end, only one sister will be left standing.

My Review:

This is the second book in the Prophecy of the Sisters trilogy. I gave the first book, titled Prophecy of the Sisters, a 4/5 stars, and I'm only giving this one a 3.5. I wanted to explain this- I didn't like this book any less than the first book, only looking back on PotS, if I was rating it right now I probably would only give it a 3.5, but I'm not going back and changing it, of course.

I like this series a lot, but they have flaws. Mostly, I found it hard to keep engaged in this book. I didn't feel like there was a lot of tension with the plot, and in reality, over the course of this whole book NOTHING happened. This was my main problem. In the end it picked up a little, leaving us with a good cliffhanger for the third book, but before that, there just wasn't a lot of plot happening. Even though it was good, it felt a little slow. I was expecting more action from the second book in the series. It didn't really happen for me. (Maybe the third one? I'm hoping.)

The writing was as beautiful as the first book. Lia's voice is elegant, and I almost feel like I'm reading a paranormal story written by Jane Austen, without SO much romance (does that even make sense? Maybe that's just me). The smooth language and flow is amazing. Since this book does take place in the 18th or 19th century, it makes sense that Lia would talk and think the way she does. It's very appropriate to the time. I loved it. If you read my first review, you'll also know I loved the mythology of the story. It's very well developed, if not entirely unique.

The ever present YA love triangle shows up in this book. I liked the introduction of the newest character- Dimitri. I won't say much about him, but he's great and provides a good contrast to James. I'm interested in seeing how Lia will deal with the inevitable conflict between the two that was only briefly mentioned in this book.

One tiny complaint I have- where is Alice? She hardly appeared in this book. What was she doing while Lia was going through all her happenings? There wasn't much confrontation between the two sisters after the first couple of chapters. I practically forgot about Alice's existence. I understand the book isn't from her point of view, but it's good to have villians that actually appear sometimes! Alice was such an intriging and creepy character in the first book, I missed having her around most of the time. (Though she wasn't completely absent- She was still present throughout, just not as much as I would've liked!)

If you loved Prophecy of the Sisters, you'll love this one too. Overall I give this book (and the trilogy so far) a 3.5/5 stars.I would recommend reading this series if you're a fan of mythology, historical books with good romance and storylines! If you haven't read Prophecy of the Sisters, you have to read it first, but if you like it, be sure to continue by reading Guardian of the Gate!

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Book Review: Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink

Title: Prophecy of the Sisters
Author: Michelle Zink
Series: Prophecy of the Sisters #1
Publisher: Little, Brown Young Readers
Release Date: August 1 2009
My Source: Library
My Rating: 4/5

Goodreads Description:

Sixteen-year-old Lia Milthorpe and her twin sister Alice have just become orphans, and, as Lia discovers, they have also become enemies. The twins are part of an ancient prophecy that has turned generations of sisters against each other. To escape from a dark fate and to remain in the arms of her beloved boyfriend James, Lia must end the prophecy before her sister does. Only then will she understand the mysterious circumstances of her parents' deaths, the true meaning of the strange mark branded on her wrist, and the lengths to which her sister will go to defeat her. Debut novelist Michelle Zink takes readers on an unforgettable journey where one sister's fateful decision could have an impact of Biblical proportions. Prophecy of the Sisters is the first of three books.

Prophecy of the Sisters is a story about good against evil, where the good and the bad are represented by two different sisters. The main character is one of the sisters, Lia. Before reading this book, I expected it to be told from the point of view of both sisters, which would've been cool and added a different angle to the story, but it wasn't. In the beginning I assumed Lia was on the good side of the prophecy, but throughout the book it becomes apparent that even though this is a tale that filmly divides good against evil, Lia and Alice aren't distinctly on either the good or the bad side.

The myth/fantasy aspect of this book is neat. The "Prophecy" is that throughout generations there have been a set of twins, one the Guardian and one the Gate, the Guardian (usually) the good one who keeps bad souls from getting released, and the Gate the one who releases them. Lia and Alice find that they are the Guardian and the Gate (I'm not saying which is which). Lia realizes she has the power to stop the prophecy forever and end the war with the souls, if only she can decipher it's meaning. From the best I could tell, it was set in the 1800's, though I missed the location, but I think it was in America. I wish the time and place was better established. It was hard for me to understand at first, and it could have been clearer. In general though, I thought it had a great plot.

The characters were good, though not great. As I already said, I liked Lia and Alice, though I really wished we could've heard more about Alice. This book really only focused on Lia. There wasn't much romance, which was okay with me but might disappoint some people. Lia's boyfriend James seemed like a flat character, and there was nothing that really made me care about him or whether Lia ended up with him. More depth and involvement of his character would've been nice.

The writing is really good, flows nicely and Lia has a distinct voice. The twists weren't jaw dropping, but they were entertaining and suspenseful. It actually took me a while to get into this book though, I spent about two weeks reading the first half, then picked up the rest and got so into it I finished it in one day. There wasn't a lot of interesting or funny dialouge or outlandish characters, which usually holds the interest of a book for me, so that was probably why it was a little hard to get into, but I still really enjoyed it.

I can't wait to read the sequel- it's set up so well. You can tell it's definitely only the first book in the trilogy. A lot of questions are unanswered, but not all. Most of this book was spent setting up the mythology, and now in the next book I expect to see a lot more action.

Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who likes good mythology, late 19th century, and tales of good and evil! It's a good book, and though I've read better books with similar themes, I still really liked this one.