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    Red Sister
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    Red Sister
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    Red Sister
    Audiobook19 hours

    Red Sister

    Written by Mark Lawrence

    Narrated by Helen Duff

    4/5

    ()

    Unavailable in your country

    Unavailable in your country

    About this audiobook

    It's not until you're broken that you find your sharpest edge.

    "I was born for killing – the gods made me to ruin."

    At the Convent of Sweet Mercy young girls are raised to be killers. In a few the old bloods show, gifting talents rarely seen since the tribes beached their ships on Abeth. Sweet Mercy hones its novices’ skills to deadly effect: it takes ten years to educate a Red Sister in the ways of blade and fist.

    But even the mistresses of sword and shadow don’t truly understand what they have purchased when Nona Grey is brought to their halls as a bloodstained child of eight, falsely accused of murder: guilty of worse.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateApr 6, 2017
    ISBN9780008152338
    Unavailable
    Red Sister
    Author

    Mark Lawrence

    Mark Lawrence is married with four children, one of whom is severely disabled. His day job is as a research scientist focused on various rather intractable problems in the field of artificial intelligence. Between work and caring for his disabled child, Mark spends his time writing, playing computer games, tending an allotment, brewing beer, and avoiding DIY.

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    Reviews for Red Sister

    4/5

    617 ratings36 reviews

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    • 5/5
      One of the best fantasy I have read this year. Absolutely loved the writing and the slow reveal of the protagonist's back story!!!
    • 3/5
      The story was great but the narration ruined it for me. The voice was way too old to be that of a 9-12 year old girl. She even made the older nuns voice sound younger than the novices. I found myself enjoying the book version rather than the audiobook which constantly left me disinterested at what was going on in the story.
    • 4/5
      While reading Red Sister, I could not help but realize that this story would appeal to fans of Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers and Nevernight by Jay Kristoff. There are similarities in this story to both of these books. Do not misunderstand though, this novel is its own animal. If I had to narrow down what I felt the similarities were it would be that this story has members of a religious order that trains the candidates to become fighters and learn the art of poisons etc. similar to the characters in Grave Mercy and Nevernight. The main character Nona also reminds me of the main character from Nevernight. Nona is not without feeling but everything is black and white with her. She processes things on a different level than most people.The world development of Abeth was just so creative. The planet has been encased in ice with only a small portion called the corridor that is inhabitable. While imagining this world I imagined Earth encased in two mile high ice everywhere with the exception of a long strip that followed the equator. Loved that! Within this corridor is where all the action happens. Imagine that the entire population was squeezed in such a small place. There would always be fighting between clans just due to over population.Nona’s story is a bit misleading at the start. Her story is told between past and present time transitions and when she shares stories they are sometimes false. You don’t know that her story was untrue until later on when she explains the falsehood but when you do get the full story it is amazing! What I did know from the start was that she was given up by her tribe to the child collector for free. Usually this act is one in which the child collector pays for the child. He buys the children that parents are willing to sell for money and that he believes may show signs of ancient blood lines. Showing a strong bloodline from one of the ancient tribes is usually a good indicator of one’s fighting prowess and in a civilization that is barbaric that is a good thing.On Abeth the people descended from four tribes. These tribes were the Gerant (large in size), Hunska (very fast), Marjal (able to tap into lesser magic), and Quantal (can do greater magic). The closer the person is to full blood the greater their abilities. Once bought these children are then sold to respective buyers who are looking for certain bloodlines. Nona was sold to a man who kept the children until they either showed their full potential or he re-sold them. His purpose for the children were to be used as prize fighters. It is there that Nona’s life was shattered and she began on a new path.We meet Nona as a little girl who literally has a noose around her neck. If it was not for the quick thinking and deceptive ways of Abbess Glass she wouldn’t have a story to tell. Nona was taken to the Convent of Sweet Mercy and this is where a majority of the story takes place. This might be a turn off to some readers as a large portion of this story is training and the changes that the characters go through. Such as friendships, betrayals, angst, teacher-student relationships and dealing with the past. A whole plethora a life experiences.The story follows ten years of Nona’s life and of the other characters that live at the convent as well. At the start, all the backstories are surface level. As the story goes on the characters develop layers and it quickly becomes a very satisfying read. Do not mistake this for an easy read though. There are scenes that are without mercy and compassion and just downright cruel. In this world though, there is very little room for such things. The story-telling is vivid, engaging and hits you on an emotional level. It makes for a truly amazing platform for a series to build on. The ending is powerful and quite a cliffhanger. You will not be disappointed in Red Sister!This review is based on a complimentary book I received from NetGalley. It is an honest and voluntary review. The complimentary receipt of it in no way affected my review or rating.
    • 3/5
      I'm not sure how I feel about this book,but I'll give book 2 a try.
    • 3/5
      Everybody was Kung-fu fighting!

      "It is important, when killing a nun, to ensure that you bring an army of sufficient size. For Sister Thorn of the Sweet Mercy Convent Lano Tacsis brought two hundred men."

      It's mortal combat nuns!!!
      With this premise, I was hoping I'd be obsessed with this book. Sadly, I wasn't.
      This book had some really gripping writing and action scenes. They were great. The first and the last quarter were definite 5 star material, it's the middle chunk of the book that I had issues with.
      The story was gripping right from the start, I mean ,it's murderous nuns for Pete's sake. Problem is, I only cared about 5 of these characters namely; Nona, Abbess Glass, Sister Kettle, Hessa and Ara (she is a mood). That's it. The rest of the characters were plain boring to me & I didn't care at all what happened to them.That made for a rough time reading.

      Themes; friendship, betrayal, war, religion.

      Fave quotes:
      +The hardest lesson I ever learned was that every bad thing you see a friend do to someone else they will some day do to you.
      +I have been too young to know, and I have been too old to care. It’s in that oh-so-narrow slice between that memories are made.
      +A book is as dangerous as any journey you might take. The person who closes the back cover may not be the same one that opened the front one. Treat books with respect.
      +Hunger lies beneath all of our ugly transactions.
      +No children truly believes they will be hanged.
      +Tell me a story’ began every seduction ever.”
      +Children are like cats, only less useful and less furry.
      +Men like to talk about themselves and their achievements. Nona knew that much about men even if she was little.

      This was my bookclub's pick for March (which I completely forgot to pick up on time).
    • 4/5
      This was a really great book. I'm actually really excited for the next book, even though that's going to take another year or so to be published. Way to start a new trilogy! I like that the characters here are complex - dangerous but human. There wasn't a lot of time spent on the world around Nona, beyond the facts that the sun is failing and the world is dying. It’s slowing freezing over from both poles outward, leaving only a ~fifty mile wide strip surrounding the planet that’s still habitable. I'd like to see if that will become more of a thing in the later books because that in itself is very interesting. I like what Lawrence did with the flashes of the future in the beginning, middle and end. A little foreshadowing to keep us hooked. It's a little too soon to decide if I'm going to love this series but I don't think I'll be surprised if that's the case in the end.
    • 5/5
      Absolute must read. JUST WOW! Getting straight into the next one!
    • 5/5
      4,75 stars

      I'm usually not a big fan of high fantasy, but I heard such high praise for this that I just had to. Much as was the case with The Name of the Wind. Red Sister was much better suited for my tastes, though, even though THNOTW was also decent enough read. Where I enjoyed one, I absolutely loved the other.

      The main reason for not giving this full marks was that aside from excitement and anger, it didn't really make me feel anything, even though it had all the potential for it. I have high hopes for Grey Sister, though.
    • 3/5
      An interesting but ultimately flawed start to a series of books that involve warrior nuns. Whilst the proviso was intriguing I felt that the clock development particularly in the middle of the book sadly lacked and to be honest with you I found my attention rapidly disappearing. I won’t be reading any more of the series. It’s recommended for those that have grown out of Harry Potter but not into full grim dark.
    • 4/5
      3.75 stars, I guess???

      I'm having trouble with my rating on this one because I enjoyed myself a lot while I was listening for the audiobook for this one and I thought the world-building was amazing. However, even now right after I've finished there's not a ton that really stands out to me with the plot and I'm already forgetting details. I also didn't find the ending to be that satisfying and it didn't really make me want to pick up book 2.

      I enjoyed the characters in this book. They felt fully realized and the idea as nuns as the warriors in this world was pretty fun. I liked Nona as a main character but I didn't really understand why she was so young in this book. I believe that she was eight when it started and a couple years past over the course of the story so she never got that much older. I thought this was just an odd choice because she doesn't act how any eight year old would act. I know part of this story is about a school and I understand why you would want younger characters for that but that means the actions and attitudes of the characters are oddly discordant with their age. Please correct me if I'm wrong about the details here or if I missed an explanations. As I said, some details fell through the gaps for me.

      I think I will probably read the rest of the books in this series eventually. I liked the world a lot and I would be interested in following the characters more. I definitely think this can be a really good series and I am interested to see where we go from here and what more we learn about the world and the characters abilities.
    • 5/5
      I absolutely loved this book. Zero complaints. Grab a copy now and start reading.
    • 5/5
      I'm currently on a mission to read Mark Lawrence's books and I'm going to need a new rating system because they just keep getting better and better. I really like the way he writes and his pacing is magnificent, keeping me on the edge of my seat to keep reading.Nona Grey is not the Chosen One. I have to get that out of the way first because, while it's a common trope that I'm okay with, Mr. Lawrence turns the idea on its head here. She is, however, a little girl sold to a fight club, condemned to be hanged for attempted murder, and rescued by an Abbess to become a sister at the nearby convent. Oh, and they're on a planet where the polar ice caps are gradually taking over due to a dying sun. There's a lot more, but no spoilers. The book reminded me a lot of Robin Hobbs or Patrick Rothfuss, which is high praise. The ending is a bit of a cliffhanger which I plan to dive into right away.
    • 4/5
      Its really good, specifically the world-building, but it felt a bit Harry-Potterish at times.
    • 4/5
      AudiobookNarrator 5 stars- excellentStory 3.5 stars good but I felt like I missed somethingA young girl is saved from hanging by a nun with some different beliefs than the nuns I'm used to. She is pursued by a nasty man with revenge in his black heart. The nuns take her in fight for her, while teaching her. Some are assassins, some have a wicked mean streak. BTW This is not a religious book. The bad is relentless, super nasty, and powerful. There are powers, touched on, whispered of almost. I really couldn't nail down what were the powers, she could they could but it was never really exposed ? I felt like I missed something somewhere, did I ? Maybe this is something explored in the next bookThis could have been a 5 star book except for the long length of details and lack of action. Even so, with all the info dumping it was a solid read, fun with great characters. I enjoyed reading every page but it seemed like it took forever to get someplace.I think I'll read the next book, we'll see.
    • 4/5
      I'm glad that I found this book through a book club challenge, even if it took me until after the challenge to get to it. I listened to the audio and really enjoyed it, though this is not a book for you if violence gets to you. There's quite a bit of conflict in the story, quite a bit of darkness to the world being explored. On that note, I wasn't sure if the story was a science fantasy set in the far future on a colonized world that had reverted to almost medieval society, or if it was a fantasy as it bills itself as. I like both, so it's no nevermind to me. Nona is strong and kind, but also knows her inner violence, so if you like characters who balance pragmatism with their emotions then you'll probably like her. The magic system is pretty usual for witchy magical systems, vaguely religious and very dependent on control and learning mixed in with natural talent. Overall the book is pretty good.
    • 5/5
      A great high-magic fantasy story (Orphan goes to Magic School) with really cool world building. I feel like I would have enjoyed it more with out the non-linear story telling at the beginning, but even so, it was great.
    • 5/5
      Edit:

      I've read this book twice and listened to the audio as well. I guess that shows how much I like this book and by extension, Mark Lawrence. My shame is that I have yet to read anything else by him. I am going to correct that by reading Grey Sister next. That's about as far out as I plan my TBR since I can't stick to one no matter how I try. That's on me, not Mr. Lawrence.

      Everyone who is here reading this review almost certainly knows at least the rough outline of this novel. But for those who don't, it's essentially a YA following the theme of Harry Potter and their ilk. The prose is strong if a tiny bit too deep on the metaphorical side. The story structure and plot are very well done. Characters are deep and interesting. Recommended.

      Title: Red Sister

      Author: Mark Lawrence

      Publication Date: Apr 2017

      Genre: Fantasy

      Score: 5/5

      This is a reread since I got the Audible version. It’s essentially a boarding school trope but done very well. The worldbuilding is expansive and rich. The characterizations are done well. The writing is solid with several minor climaxes that lead to a big climax. The pacing is just right.

      I’m mainly writing this review for the Audible version of this book. There are several places in the narration that are obviously rerecorded and added later and break your submersion. Also, in at least one place, ten seconds or so get repeated. It’s odd and the first time I’ve noticed this behavior from Audible. I hope this is an aberration.

      Recommended.
    • 5/5
      Brilliant! Interesting mix of older, more technically advanced civilisation mixed in with the present. The present being a semi feudal society where the knowledge and understanding of genetics, their environment and the tech they have or uncover is understood but not fully as scientific knowledge has long passed. It’s not quite seen as magic though there is ‘magic working’ like sigil. They sort of know what they’ve lost so solving their problems such as the encroaching ice takes some devious planning by the Abbess.
    • 3/5
      I have… A lot of mixed feelings after putting this book down for the last time. For example, I can’t decide whether this is a hard 3-star rating, or if it’s more of a 3.5-ish.Honestly, I do think reading this in Mass Market Paperback format might not have been the right move because I’m not sure whether my difficulties paying attention to the words on the page were because of the words themselves or because of the formatting of the text (All small and close together as MMPs are.) Truthfully I ordered the MMP on accident because I didn’t want the hardcover and didn’t realize there wasn’t a trade paperback from Ace for this book. (Which… questionable decision on their part, IMO, but I’m not a publisher nor do I work in the publishing industry, so I digress.) So I thought I would be receiving a trade paperback and what I got was a mass market which did disappoint me a little but that’s the fault of my own dumb bitch flaws.That said, the book itself didn’t make me feel…. anything?I liked the action, the gore, the magic system. I liked Nona, and I especially liked her friendships with Ara and Hessa. I didn’t like Clera, but not in the way that makes me think that was a fault of the writing or the book and I’m pretty sure it was a strength as some characters are meant to be unlikeable by design (as hard as that concept is for some readers to learn…)And I do want to continue the series. I’m excited to read Grey Sister, but I think I’ll be getting a copy of the hardback from the library to avoid this confusion about whether my apathy is a fault of the book itself or the format I read it in.However, even though there was a lot that I liked… there just wasn’t quite enough for me. I ended up skimming a lot of paragraphs, and I feel like I didn’t miss much in doing so, which means that a lot of the stuff I skimmed probably could have been cut. The writing style does get a little boring in certain parts. I mean how am I reading about a young girl murdering a man, and all these gory bloody descriptions, and yet my only thought is essentially a non-reaction and “Okay, then what?” I think it’s really just the voice that Mark Lawrence wrote this in that made it difficult for me to really feel connect.I’m excited to read the next book. Then again, I was also excited to read this one, so I’ll try not to get my hopes too high.
    • 3/5
      3.00

      I really wanted to like this book. There was so much HYPE. Grim Dark? Yes please! Assasin nuns? Bring them! A headstrong pint sized heroin, growing into her powers? My favorite! Magic and fantasy mixed with a little sci-fi? As a fan of Jemison's Fifth Season I was excited for another helping.

      The problem was, Lawrence's dive into all of these elements was...well....meh. This wasn't the grimmest of the dark, as I expected The character of Nona I have read before. The world was only slightly developed (also...can I get a map?) The magic system was interesting, the characters were solid. The twists were pretty much revealed early on with fairly large hints. Also, the mixture of sci fi, fantasy and magic worked, but not on the same level in Jemison's, even only in light comparison. I just want wowed. I like the characters and storyline enough that I am going to continue on to Grey Sister, but if this doesn't pick up, I'm putting this series down for good.

      Review to come...
    • 4/5
      When Abbess Glass finds Nona, she has only moments left to live, a hangman's noose ready to end her life. A child who has never known friendship, or the comfort of a warm home. With her dark hair and pale skin, Nona stood out from the rest of her village. The word monster whispered behind her back due to the violent and bloody trail she's left behind. The hint of an old blood rests within her veins, one that could prove to be a powerful weapon. Abbess Glass is no ordinary nun, and the convent of Sweet Mercy is more than just a place to learn prayer. Saved from certain death, None will be thrown into a new world in the convent, where she will learn the extent of her powers and discover friendships she's never had. But with learning to trust others, also comes the inevitable betrayal.The first line alone hooked me into this novel. I had a similar experience when I picked up Prince of Thorns off the book store shelf, also by Mark Lawrence. I decided right then and there I had to read it. I was also extremely interested in his take on writing a female main character.I will have to admit I was surprised that parts of this book were a bit slow. However, Mark Lawrence is setting the ground rules for a new and fascinating story of forgotten abilities and magic. Watching Nona struggle to understand people and the rules that surround interacting with them was so well written. Her frequent bouts of anger and frustration perfectly mirrored what a young girl growing up experiences. She also had to learn that even though the people of her village thought she was a monster for being different, it wasn't something to be ashamed of.Despite the main story being about Nona learning and progressing through the teachings at Sweet Mercy, there is a plot that lurks in the background. Short glimpses into the future at the beginning, middle, and end of the novel. The characters growing up before your eyes are being pushed into a situation you just can't picture them being in. It made me continue reading, trying to put the pieces together that would eventually lead to these scattered moments. Even by the end of the novel, you wonder how they went front point A to point B. I am eager to read the next, even though I know I'll most likely have to read the whole trilogy to form a complete picture.
    • 4/5
      I liked this, but parts of the structure didn't really make much sense, its very much written as a trilogy, and by the end of the book you're still left wondering a bit how it's all going to come together. It's a very unusual world setting for a fantasy novel - much of which is never explicitly clear. Gene-altered space-farers arrived a long time ago to Abbeth, and parked a rectangular solar mirror in orbit. This foccused enough light and heat onto the frozen world to create a habitable Corridor around the circumfernce of the world. It's only about 50miles wide with towering ice walls covering the rest. AN ingenious solution to one of fantasy's common problems, where does everyone else live? Here there is nowhere else. Farming and rich cities are at the centre of the track and the Grey subsistence villages are found closer to the ice at the edges of the Corridor. Oribatl mechanics unknown to the current populace slowly drift the Corridor across the face of the planet burying some civilisations under the Ice and revealing Missing artefacts occasionally.
    • 5/5
      This book was full of unexpected surprises. Very engaging.
    • 4/5
      Really fun read with great characters. I highly recommend it.
    • 1/5
      Just got this book and I’m starting to think I'm reading a different book than all the reviewers. Seems like Z writing at best to me. Nona is an interesting character at times and a terrible anime like character in others. There is a horrible amount of repetition in the book in terms of X shows up, X happens, few chapters later X shows up (different character) X happens (pretty much exact same outcome). There are large chunks of chapters that seem like wasted space where he describes a mundane task just for a girl to say "I don't like her" or something. It was a slog to get through, but because I just don't like leaving books half-finished... I didn’t even enjoyed the supposed worldbuilding and the lore was also somewhat lacklustre but the inconsistent main character and her lack of any growth of substance and a cadre of nameless side characters along with the other issues is made this quite hard to get through.Nona just being along for the ride and not really having a destination that she's seeking. Perhaps this is because of her circumstance of being a young orphan who doesn't have much control of her life. The only motivation I really noticed was her desire for revenge. I also wondered where all of these nuns go when their training is complete. The convent seemed fully staffed. And why are they all trained to kill? Maybe to protect the shiphearts? After Nona got rescued, her backstory with the flashbacks really dragged the story and even when she arrived at the convent, I wasn't sure if she was actually going to stay and what the end of the book could look like. If you don't notice this I think you can have a lot of fun with the book, but I had some questions that were just never answered and on top of that the role of nuns and their religion in the world is super unclear to me.There are probably simple reasons too why this kind of SF is being published in this day and age, but shrugging and saying 'the public like simple' rather weakens the case that there's much, much more to SF than that. I reserve the right not to only like what a lot of other people like, but more to the point, I think other people might like the less, um, generic work if it were more widely available. The process of 'othering' in this rather linear world of the tabloids is very weak at best. Many fantasy works examine this process either directly or as a side-effect of the way we read fantasy. "Simply 'Good vs Evil' stories" aren't as satisfying. I've read all that before and done infinitely better.
    • 5/5
      A little slow to start, but a fast finish. Can't wait to see what happens next. The interaction between the children feels real. The world setup is interesting. I like the conceit of a dying star and a people with no space flight. How do you live with less heat each yea? But if there is no spaceflight, who made the Focus? So many questions....
    • 5/5
      SO GOOD! Intense, sprawling, murderous. Young girls are admitted into the Abbey and trained as assassins. Normally, their families pay tuition, but Nona is rescued from the gallows by the Abbess and told she has hunska blood - a rarity that makes her faster and more deadly than others. As she grows and learns and makes friends (despite herself), she grows increasingly conscious of a threat to the Abbey from the world outside.So very, very good, with complex intrigues and violence. Recommended for fans of Six of Crows, Grave Mercy, and Queen of Blood.
    • 5/5
      This was SO GOOD. This was my first Mark Lawrence book, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The writing was so compelling and I was completely sucked in. This book tells the story of Nona, and boy does she have a story. I really enjoyed her character and the way that we followed her on her journey. We really got to see into her mind, and understand her thought processes. It was done really well. I also enjoyed the secondary characters, and her connection with Hessa. The plot was fast paced, involved nun assassin school (which was super cool), and had enough depth and mystery to keep you reading and wanting more. I enjoyed how the story was woven together and how all the connecting threads converged. I also was intrigued by the prologue and epilogue, they were really cool, and made the story so much more intriguing. The world building was also well done, but it was very closed. We definitely only got to see some of the world that this is set in, but it's Nona's immediate surroundings, which were described in great detail, and it felt very rich. I'm hoping that as the series progresses and Nona gets older, we'll get to explore more of the Corridor and the world. Overall, I highly enjoyed this and can't wait to get my hands on Grey Sister!
    • 4/5
      4.5 Stars.I received a copy from NetGalley in return for an honest review but I will buy a copy as soon as I can, because I really loved this one. In fact it was one of the most enjoyable reads this year so far."It is important, when killing a nun, to ensure that you bring an army of sufficient size. For Sister Thorn of the Sweet Mercy Convent Lano Tacsis brought two hundred men."I fell in love with Red Sister just a few pages in. Mark Lawrence's writing is beautiful, almost poetic. You can tell he chose each word meticulously. If I was one to highlight, half this book would be highlighted by now.I enjoyed Lawrence's Broken Empire but Red Sister may as well have been written by an entirely different author.It's a dark story. It's right there in the premise, of course: a convent where young girls are raised to be killers. But it's oh so beautiful. At no point is the violent excessive and at no point do bad things happen just so the author can claim his work is grimdark or gritty.The protagonist is a young girl, Nona. She's a terrific character and not only feels real but is well developed and someone I could immediately connect with. She's damaged, but fiery and passionate and fights for what she believes in.The magic system and world building are both mesmerising and full of potential and possibilities. It's a captivating world. The main theme is friendship and a lot of what happens is heartbreaking.I'm not usually a fan of the school trope and I found some of the time we spend following Nona through her training dragged a bit, but that's the only criticism I've got. Other than that I loved it and can't wait for the next instalment.Highly recommended to any fantasy fans.
    • 5/5
      Want to hear an opening that will pique your curiosity and grab you by your giggly bits? "IT IS IMPORTANT, when killing a nun, to ensure that you bring an army of sufficient size."Want to hear more?"NO child truly believes they will be hanged. Even on the gallows platform with the rope scratching at their wrists and the shadow of the noose upon their face they know that someone will step forward, a mother, a father returned from some long absence, a king dispensing justice . . . someone..."In this third person narrative, we have a demonized outcast protagonist (called a few things but best known to all as Nona)is not only young (only 8 years old when she is rescued from the threat of swinging from the gallows for her "murderous" crimes)but is unnaturally agile and displays a very distinctive set of skills to boot. Nona is to be raised and educated as a nun in service to the Church of the Ancestor, a church of assasin nuns that take in and train special young girls. The beginning and ending of this book are high octane awesomeness!! I have read other reviews that say the middle feels like a boring snooze-fest. I, for one, really liked the super specialized break-neck training, catty classmates, coming of age and into one's powers, extreme loyalty and inevitable betrayl of (first) friendships and all the melodrama that accompanies. I found them all to be interesting vital-to-the-plot reading goodness. The writing is sublime. The World building, Magic System and Character Development are incredibly complex and perfectly executed (no pun intended). The plot twists were built to a steady creceiendo, crafted and brilliantly divulged. There were sad deaths, sweet deaths, physical/mental capability twists and maulings galore. Though at the core there is Hope, Friendship, Sisterhood and Belonging wrapped up with a gorey bow of violence. Among all of this there are jewels, nuggets of truth and wisdom and beauty:"be warned, young Nona: a book is as dangerous as any journey you might take. The person who closes the back cover may not be the same one that opened the front one. Treat books with respect.” I must I must reiterate, Red Sister is undeniably violent, extremely stabby with a touch of unapologetic comfort zone crushing. There is violence towards (and the killing of) young children as well as extreme brutality and murder of a helpless animal... BUT... if you can find a way to partition and store that in a portion of your brain labeled "Absolutely Unacceptable, Deplorable Actions that Are Only Tolerated in Fictional Settings", you'll LOVE the rest...I pinky promise. "Violence is the language of destruction, flesh so often the subject, fragile, easy to break beyond repair, precious; what else would we burn to make the world take note? Your death has not been waiting for your arrival at the appointed hour; it has, for all the years of your life, been racing towards you with the fierce velocity of time’s arrow. It cannot be evaded; it cannot be bargained with, deflected or placated. All that is given to you is the choice: Meet it with open eyes and peace in your heart, go gentle to your reward. Or burn bright, take up arms, and fight the bitch."There is much highlighting in my copy. The story is gripping and the writing, poignant. There are paragraphs of situations that are detestable. There are prose to ensnare and even words to live by:"The trip from could to should is short and allows little time for reflection."Reflect on that!!It also has an excellent quote to wrap up this rambling review:“Every star, turning in the black depth of heaven, burns for no better reason than that humanity raised its face to look. Every great deed needs to be witnessed. Go out there and do something great.”Go ahead, do something great! Be a force of Good in the world...that and come back and join me for book #2!