Following on from the The Safe-Keeper's Secret, this is the second book in Sharon Shinn's young adult trilogy.
From Amazon:
Eleda sees the world in "all sharp edges and simple lines": she is a Truth-Teller, and she cannot speak a lie or hear one spoken. Her twin, Adele, whose name is a palindrome of Eleda's, is a Safe-Keeper, a listener who never betrays a confidence. Two halves of a whole, the sisters occasionally infuriate each other but frequently find that their complementary gifts prove useful--particularly as they stumble through adolescence, experiencing love and heartache, and sharing everything with their high-spirited friend, Roellyn. The novel's first half follows the girls from early childhood to their teens; the second half focuses on their seventeenth summer, when the arrival of two handsome strangers occasions both swooning romance and enough wild confusion to rival Shakespeare's most outrageous comedies. The rules governing the Truth-Telling and Safe-Keeping gifts sometimes feel too conveniently flexible, and Eleda--a slightly rigid personality, as befitting her Truth-Telling role--may appeal to readers less than her sister and the vivacious Roellyn. But the comforting, fairy-tale rhythms of the girls' stories exert an irresistible pull, and Shinn's numerous fans will welcome a second helping of the refreshing tale spinning and charmingly homespun, village-centered fantasy culture that marked The Safe-Keeper's Secret
I liked this book better than the first one, my main problem with this trilogy is that I always have the secrets figured out by the end of the book, so getting to the end is just a matter of finding out if I was right. We have already learned what it is like to be a secret-keeper in the first book, so this book offers a chance to see the opposite side of the field. Eleda tells the readers everything that she knows, it is only the things that have not been revealed to her that she does not reveal to us. It was a much more informative and happening novel than the book that came before it.
We also get glimpses of another secret-keeper when Eleda explains what her mirror opposite twin, Adele, does in certain situations. That sister is as secretive as they come, even when she hurts herself or is sick she does not reveal it to her family.
I said in the last book that I found these books read like fairy tales. This one is even moreso a fairy tale, but not like a Grimm's tale. This novel shows women getting the job done, and breaks fairy tale conventions to make a different way of looking at the events presented in this novel. So, in fairy tale style, there are princes and knights in shining armour. The twins best friend is supposed to one day marry the prince, but she doesn't want to and the prince does everything in his power to just avoid meeting her. It is safe to say that, even though the prince does not wish to make an appearance, there is plenty of romance present in this novel.
All in all, I enjoyed this read. It was better than book one, but not worthy of a 5 at the same time. So, for lack of something better, I give it a
4.5/5
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