I am a huge fan of Kady Cross and her writing style, so I was very excited to read this book, and I wasn't disappointed. This story is about 2 sisters, Lark, who is alive, and her twin, Wren, who isn't. Wren was stillborn, but she and Lark have a bond that even death couldn't break. Another weird thing about them is that Lark can see the departed, and Wren can slip into Lark's body if she is so inclined.

"I stepped into my sister and took over her body for the time being. People called it possession, but I didn't like to use that term in regards to Lark. Thankfully, she was just asleep. I opened my eyes - Lark's eyes."

So cool! Lark has always been a loner because being known as the crazy kid who talked to ghosts, among other things, has left her jaded when it comes to having friends and trusting others with her secrets. Unfortunately, when some kids from school are in trouble with an evil entity they crossed, Lark is their only hope, so she bites the bullet and agrees to help them, mostly because Wren is adamant that she must.

This book was full of great characters, an interesting premise, and a lot of action! I'm very much looking forward to reading the second book in this duology.

5/5 stars. ( )

This reminds me of the Queen of the Dead series from Michelle West. I'm excited to see where the next book goes. ( )

First of all, thank you Netgalley and Harlequin Teen for the chance to read this book in advance.

I absolutely adored this book! I can't even tell you how much I loved the book, but I loved it a lot.

This was a slightly creepy book. The pacing was good and the suspense...WOW! It's been a while since a book had me so freaked out, my heart was beating wildly in my chest. And some of the details were actually kinda scary. I loved that. I also loved the dual POV. It gave the story much more depth and it made the characters seem more realistic.

I loved the twins. They were so, so entertaining. At the same time, my heart broke for both of them. There were moments when I thought Lark was a little bit too snarky with people. I did understand why though, so it wasn't a huge deal, but I would've wanted to see her be a little bit more nice to people. I liked that in the end she discovered that she did have friends and that, although not exactly perfect, they did make the perfect group for her. I also enjoyed seeing her be honest about her feelings, at least with herself. I liked that she was realistic and that although she acted tough, she knew that there was a chance things might end up bad. And I liked that she was willing to do anything to keep her sister safe.

Speaking of Wren, she was awesome. I liked how sometimes American expressions were a bit hard for her to understand and that made it even clearer that she wasn't like her sister at all, what with her being dead and all. She seems so lonely in certain scenes in this book and that really broke my heart. I am hoping that in the next book she'll get to meet other good ghosts, because I felt like she needed to spend a little bit more time with her kind.

I am anxious to see what happens next, especially with a few interesting details Wren and Lark found out about their family. There's also a bit of a mystery surrounding the girls and what they can do. I hope that this will get to be explored more in the next book. ( )

Wren and Lark Noble are twins and are identical in every way except two; their hair color and ability to breathe. Wren was stillborn and thus is a rarity among her ghostly kind. She has a special connection to her sister Lark and together they can do and see things that most people, dead or alive, can't do. So when the boy who saved Lark's life after a failed suicide attempt is marked by an evil ghost, the twins will do whatever it takes to save not only his life, but the lives of his friends as well.

This action-packed story was engaging, thrilling, and intriguing! I loved the connection between Wren and Lark. It was strong, loving, and forgiving. Though Wren is sometimes jealous of not being alive, she understands that she wasn't meant to be. Lark understands about Wren's loneliness and allows her to take over her body so she can experience things for herself. They have a great relationship and work well together.

I only had two complaints about this story. The first being that I felt as though we needed more background information on why the sisters are so special. The rarity of their connection is mentioned through the book several times and even the sisters question it, but they don't do anything to figure out what makes them that way. My other issue is that I felt the ending was not complete. Someone special helps the sisters out periodically in the story and at the end we find out who that person is and their connection to the twins but not much else. I would have loved a closer look at their importance and what it meant to the girls specifically.

Other than that, this was a great read! This was my first time reading anything by Kady Cross but I loved her writing style and will definitely check out some of her other works. I hope to see this story continue on and hopefully clean up some of the loose ends.

I was provided a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. ( )

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: A quick paranormal read about twin ghost-hunting sisters, and their unusual bond through death.

Opening Sentence: The scars on my wrist itched.

The Review:

It makes a change to read something a little different, even if it isn’t a fantastic mind-boggling read. Sisters of Blood and Spirit wasn’t the latter but was a refreshing read. I enjoyed reading something focused on siblings and their relationships first, and romance thereafter and that’s what the foundation of this book was set on; the twin sisters.

Now, Lark and Wren aren’t like other twins, and you’re probably thinking: ‘yeah, they’re probably polar opposites or something along those lines.’ Yes and no. They definitely have contrasting personalities but the main difference is that one is alive and the other isn’t. Although Wren was a stillborn and to the world never really existed, Lark has been able to see her since birth and has built a strong relationship with her, one so strong that when Wren isn’t around Lark feels incomplete.

When we were little, Lark asked me if I lived in Heaven. I told her I didn’t know. I still didn’t. It was an untruth that the dead had all the answers. We just had different questions.

I thought their relationship was very sweet and quite disturbing. I can’t imagine how Lark must have felt growing up, knowing that she can essentially see ghosts. It makes me think of the little boy in the Sixth Sense, and that was not a favourite movie of mine! They’re both there for each other, Wren helps Lark out in dangerous situations with malevolent spirits, whilst Lark helps bring Wren back to the “good” side.

I wanted her to rest, and she wouldn’t if I didn’t help. She’d lie there all night and think about how she could have done things differently so the people she’d started to care for wouldn’t look at her like she was a freak.
What she failed to realize was that we were all freaks-every last one of us, living or dead. It didn’t matter.

I read this story pretty quickly, and I imagine I’ll want to continue the series but I make no promises. It was a good enough read whilst it lasted, but it’s not the sort of book that had me craving for more.

Notable Scene:

His nostrils flared slightly. “I’m the guy who kicked in a window to get to you. The guy who found you in a pool of your own blood and wrapped your arms in pillowcases to try to stop the bleeding. I’m the guy who prayed for you to live while you begged me to let you die. I don’t want your apology.”

“What the hell do you want? Gratitude? A freaking medal?” I wasn’t yelling, but I was close.

“What do I want?” His fingers tightened on my arm. “Jesus, Lark. I want you to forgive me!”

FTC Advisory: Harlequin Teen provided me with a copy of Sisters of Blood and Spirit. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. ( )