Sisters of blood and spirit by Kady Cross

Lark and her twin sister Wren are seperated by death - Lark was born alive while Wren is dead born.  Desperate to leave the world behind and join her sister, Lark slit her wrists and ended up locked in a mental hospital for her troubles.  Returning to her home town to live with their grandmother, Lark is determined to pretend to be normal - which means ignoring Wren and her antics when they are around the living - easier said than done sometimes.  Lark is determined to stay off everyone's radar and fade into the background until she graduates, but fate seems to have other plans.  

A group of students from her high school have made the fatal mistake of annoying a nasty ghost who seems determined to suck the life out of them.  Lark can see the damage that is being done, and somehow they manage to talk Lark and Wren into helping them - but this big bad ghost may be more than they can handle.  Lark and Wren are more powerful than most twins because they are on both sides of the living world, but they are still relatively young and figuring out what they can do.  It doesn't help that Lark keeps having visions of Wren where she is dark and dangerous.  It is a race against time to try and save their new friends and Lark and Wren are determined to win the battle - even if it means putting themselves in harms way.

I'm not usually one for reading ghost stories or horror novels, but I was rather forcefully drawn into the world of Lark and Wren.  There is some very clever mythology here that makes the world totally believable - and more than a little bit creepy.  With ghost stories it can be cliched and boring, but Cross has taken the time to create a mythology where the ghosts are more than just a repeating echo of what they were - they are malevolent, they are protective, and they are individuals.  Lark may be the twin that is "alive" but Wren is not her shadow, she has her own personality, strengths and weaknesses.  The cast of characters built around the twins is also interesting and engaging, having strengths and weaknesses of their own.  

I read the book as an eBook so I was reading it around a tree book or two which meant the story was a little broken up as I was reading it - which probably explains why at times I struggled to remember which twin was which (they are both named after birds after all).  This is a book that deserves to be read in a sitting if you can, and I really enjoyed settling down to read the second half in one sitting because I didn't want to put my phone down as the action ramped up.  If you enjoyed reading Anna dressed in blood and Asylum then I highly recommend reading Sisters of blood and spirit.  Now all I have to do is wait for the library to get the sequel as an eBook or tree book so I can see what happens next for Lark and Wren because they are only just beginning to learn what they are capable of.  

If you like this book then try:

• Anna dressed in blood by Kendare Blake
• The unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
• Thyla by Kate Gordon
• The forest of hands and teeth by Carrie Ryan
• Daughter of smoke and bone by Laini Taylor
• Thirteen days to midnight by Patrick Carman
• Burn bright by Marianne de Pierres
• Something strange and deadly by Susan Dennard
• Asylum by Madeleine Roux
• Graceling by Kristin Cashore
• Rot and ruin by Jonathan Maberry

Reviewed by Brilla