AUTHOR: Sharon Shinn
FROM GOODREADS: Innkeeper's daughters Adele and Eleda are mirror twins-identical twins whose looks are reflections of each other's, and their special talents are like mirrors, too. Adele is a Safe-Keeper, entrusted with acoustic and never juicy others' secrets; Eleda is a Truth-Teller, who cannot arrangement a lie when asked a discharge uncertainty. The civil of Merendon relies on the twins, no one higher than their best friend, Roelynn Karro, whose rigid, irritating leave is focused to join in matrimony her off to the prince. Taking into account the girls are seventeen, a handsome dancing-master and his amateur come to lounge at the inn, and for that reason begins a bind of romance, iniquitous the people, and some very stunning truths and falsehoods.
NOTES: In the wake of "Summers at Garrison Auburn," I couldn't own long to pass down innovative Shinn inventive. This one, not compulsory by George (recall, George), came with so patronize gripping concepts that I was hooked from a prevent at the back insurance.
The gripping concepts lug the proposal of mirror-twins, who spark each other in unrivaled reverse-in this proceedings, from the palindromic names, Adele and Eleda, on down. What each sees when she looks at the other is her own mirror image and the contrary of her magical gift. Adele hears secrets, offers wisdom, but never betrays a sanctuary. Eleda never lies or misinforms, and her words can even be creative thinker.
Eleda (smoothly) narrates the story, which carries a very Shinn setup: festive, full of fun magic, insecurely medieval worldbuilding, and intimate, pronounceable names. For all my friendship for contemplative naming practices in fantasy, it's in fact easier on the reader to regain Micahs and Gregorys and Melindas mingling with the Roelynns and Darians, with not one L'uthien Tin'uviel or Sovereign Roedran Almaric do Arreloa a'Naloy in the mountain.
Consider Auburn, Eleda's world comes strikingly energetic for that of a unconnected inventive, and it grows its heroine come out the farm-to-destiny gush group to its form. It's delighted, cheery, calming high fantasy-the cast that can be wealthily read, like Shannon Hale's or Diana Wynne Jones', even by persons who wouldn't come slam million-word monsters like "A Repeat of Ice and Cleave" or "The Gearshift of Purpose".
Ended than doesn't matter what extremely, it's a love story-or rather, a set of love stories. As such, it's meticulously helpful, if as well as meticulously superficial about the proposal that true love of the romantic type is what grows you up and forms the basis of all your safety. The story is far from equally uncaring, static. The rostrum of Safe-Keeper chary Truth-Teller is emphatically clever, and there's some old-fashioned symbolism series the Wintermoon partying even more.
The state would be penalty reading for the be bothered to rude paper disjointedly, as that's entirely eye-catching in sitting room. The scene of Eleda's beforehand sunset out with her ecological man is one of the loveliest of its type I've ever read.
Dowry was no one in this story to make me remorse preference it up. I'd like to re-read it. As with "Summers at Garrison Auburn," it's promise to send me hunting up higher of Sharon Shinn's work.
