Twin Crowns
This is an intensely emotional story about love, both sisterly and romantic, suitable for mid-teen readers. The main characters are twin seventeen-year-old sisters, Wren and Rose, who were separated at birth – one becoming a lonely princess who has been taught to hate witches and the other living as a witch in an isolated community. In the ever-popular life-swap genre, they trade places and learn to appreciate each other’s way of life, discovering their power in the process and meeting two handsome young warriors who sweep each sister up in their first passionate romances.
The girls’ narratives are woven through the book in alternating chapters, which keeps the action and suspense moving constantly. There is a refreshing rainbow of possible ethnicities in the book, with the use of Irish words as place names, such as the village of Amarach, and the use of Irish first names like Cathal and Grady for some characters, while also featuring characters such as Shen-Lo from the desert and Tor from the icy Gevran land.
Fans of adventure stories will like the spark and courage of the sisters and their determination to do the best for their land, Eana, even when this means going against the lifetime of indoctrination they have each received from overbearing guardians. Ultimately, they gain agency and the ability to lead as they break out of the traditions that have constrained them. Thankfully – in this reviewer’s opinion – the story concludes with an open thread and the clear possibility of a sequel …
