Guest Post: Kady Cross + Sisters of Salt and Iron

Today I'm so pleased to have author Kady Cross to the blog to talk a little bit about Sisters of Salt and Iron, the sequel to last year's Sisters of Blood and Spirit. As you guys already know, I thoroughly enjoy this series and the relationship between sisters Lark and Wren, and I highly recommend it to those who love a good YA paranormal read.

Wren is an extraordinarily fascinating character, so when I had the chance to ask her a single question, I made sure to be a little nosy when it comes to her:) Welcome to Supernatural Snark, Kady!

Wren doesn't know what it's like to be alive other than what she's experienced through her sister. If she could be fully alive and in her own body for a single day, what are three things she'd be sure to do?

1. She would eat as much as she could from as many types of food as she could get her hands on. And she would stop to smell each dish as well.

2. She would probably kiss Kevin. Probably a lot, even though he hurt her.

3. She would simply enjoy being able to be with her sister and her friends on the same plane of existence.

Thanks so much for stopping by Kady!

• • • • • • • • • • • • • •

SISTERS OF SALT AND IRON

Lark Noble is finally happy. She’s trying to move on and put the events of the past behind her: the people who avoided her because she talked to the ghost of her dead twin sister, the parents who couldn’t be around her anymore and even the attempt she made on her own life. She finally has friends—people who know her secrets and still care about her—and she has Ben, the cute guy she never saw coming.

Wren Noble is lonely. Unable to interact with the living, she wants to be happy for her sister’s newfound happiness, but she feels like she’s losing her. It doesn’t help that Kevin, the very not-dead guy she was starting to fall for, seems to be moving on.

Then Wren meets Noah, the spirit of a young man who died a century ago. Noah is cute, he’s charming and he makes Wren feel something she’s never felt before. But Noah has a dark influence on Wren, and Lark’s distrust of him drives the sisters apart for the first time in their lives. As Halloween approaches and the veil between the worlds thins, bringing the dead closer to the world of the living, Lark must find a way to stop whatever deadly act Noah is planning, even if it means going through her sister to do so.

Find Kady:

Website • Facebook • Twitter • Goodreads • Amazon

Review: Sisters of Salt and Iron

SISTERS OF SALT AND IRON
Sisters of Blood and Spirit #2
Kady Cross
Paranormal Young Adult
352 pages
Harlequin Teen
Available Now
Source: ARC from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
Lark Noble is finally happy. She’s trying to move on and put the events of the past behind her: the people who avoided her because she talked to the ghost of her dead twin sister, the parents who couldn’t be around her anymore and even the attempt she made on her own life. She finally has friends—people who know her secrets and still care about her—and she has Ben, the cute guy she never saw coming.

Wren Noble is lonely. Unable to interact with the living, she wants to be happy for her sister’s newfound happiness, but she feels like she’s losing her. It doesn’t help that Kevin, the very not-dead guy she was starting to fall for, seems to be moving on.

Then Wren meets Noah, the spirit of a young man who died a century ago. Noah is cute, he’s charming and he makes Wren feel something she’s never felt before. But Noah has a dark influence on Wren, and Lark’s distrust of him drives the sisters apart for the first time in their lives. As Halloween approaches and the veil between the worlds thins, bringing the dead closer to the world of the living, Lark must find a way to stop whatever deadly act Noah is planning, even if it means going through her sister to do so.

MY THOUGHTS
The setup for Sisters of Salt and Iron is a common one (especially for second books in a series) that can be tricky, wherein a new character enters the picture and effectively drives a wedge between a previously established relationship. In this particular case that relationship exists between twin sisters Lark and Wren, but the same kind of anxiety exists as we're able to do nothing but watch helplessly as said character delivers one resounding thwack to that wedge after another, driving us closer to the moment the crack created between sisters becomes a full break.

What makes this familiar trope successful in Sisters of Salt and Iron is not only the fact that Wren and Lark are sisters and we therefore don't have to deal with an interloper threatening any kind of romantic relationship, but also that Ms. Cross keeps the drama between the girls to a minimum as Noah whispers his dark untruths in Wren's ear. Wren does fall for him quickly and grow distrustful of her sister's motives at every turn, but the moment things come to a head is relatively low key (in a good way), and the bond between sisters quickly proves to be far stronger than the charms of a ghostly boy.

A truly fascinating aspect of this second installment is the way Ms. Cross continues to highlight Wren's otherness, giving us small reminders here and there that she's not simply a young woman who just happens to be a ghost, but rather that she's in no way human given she's never lived. Born dead, Wren doesn't experience human emotion in the same way as her sister, and every now and then as we spend time with her (the narrative alternates between both sisters) we're smacked in the face with unexpected proof that Wren is delightfully and gruesomely different from us "breathers".

Overall, Sisters of Salt and Iron is a quick read that ensures we consider sleeping with the lights on for a night or two after we close the back cover just in case one of the residents of Haven Crest decides to pay us a visit.

Rating: 4/5

Find Kady:

Website • Facebook • Twitter • Goodreads • Amazon

This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.

Waiting on Wednesday: Sisters of Salt and Iron

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking The Spine and is a fun way to see what books other bloggers just can't wait to get their hands on!

SISTERS OF SALT AND IRON

Sisters of Blood & Spirit 32

Kady Cross

Paranormal Young Adult

Releases March 2016 from HarlequinTEEN

From Goodreads:

As Halloween approaches, twin sisters Lark, who is alive, and Wren, a tethered spirit, find themselves drifting apart. While Lark is happy with new boyfriend Ben, Wren is still hurting over her own still-alive-and-kicking love-interest, Kevin, who may or may not have kissed another girl. Spending more time on the Other Side, and less time with her sister in the land of the living, Lark becomes close with the spirit of a young man, Noah, who was killed years ago. But Noah is not as nice as he seems, and his thirst for vengeance has a dark and sudden influence on Wren. With the veil between the worlds thinning for Halloween, the spirits are getting stronger and it will be up to Lark and her friends to stop Noah and save Wren from becoming a monster. But the only way to do that could be to kill the boy that Wren is falling in love with.

At the time I picked up the first book in this series, Sisters of Blood and Spirit, I was in a reading slump much as I am now, but Lark and Wren hooked me from page one and I blew threw the first installment of their journey in record time. It was just creepy enough to have me reading with all the lights on, but not so scary (scary being a relative term of course because I am a wimp of the first order) that I was up half the night listening to every noise my house made. I'm really looking forward to seeing how things progress in this book, and though Wren is dead, I can't help but want some kind of happily ever after for her!

Goodreads

Review: Sisters of Blood and Spirit

SISTERS OF BLOOD AND SPIRIT
Sisters of Blood and Spirit #1
Kady Cross
Paranormal Young Adult
288 pages
Harlequin Teen
Available March 31st
Source: ARC from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
Wren Noble is dead—she was born that way. Vibrant, unlike other dead things, she craves those rare moments when her twin sister allows her to step inside her body and experience the world of the living.

Lark Noble is alive but often feels she belongs in the muted Shadow Lands—the realm of the dead. Known as the crazy girl who talks to her dead sister, she doesn't exactly fit in with the living, though a recent suicide attempt and time in a psych ward have proved to her she's not ready to join her sister in the afterlife.

Now the guy who saved Lark's life needs her to repay the favor. He and his friends have been marked for death by the malevolent spirit of a vicious and long-dead serial killer, and the twins—who should know better than to mess with the dead—may be their only hope of staying alive.

MY THOUGHTS
Sisters of Blood and Spirit is entertaining from beginning to end, making us instantly protective of Lark as she returns to school after a stint in a mental institution thanks to a split second desire to join the twin sister no one else can see. Her classmates pounce immediately, poking at her sore spot with relish, but just as soon as our hackles rise at their mockery her sister Wren intervenes in all her ghostly glory. From that moment on we can’t help but root for the pair of them, hoping they find their way to happiness despite the enormous odds stacked against them.

We spend our time split between the first person perspectives of both Lark and Wren, privy to the pros and cons of each of their lives as they prepare for a showdown with a spectacularly monstrous spirit. Lark can be quite abrupt at times, her blunt honesty and single-minded concern for Wren requiring a little getting used to both for us as readers as well as the group of classmates who approach her for help. It’s easy to look past her very to-the-point nature though given what we know of how’s she been treated by friends, family and strangers up until now, and we can do nothing but hope this new group is sincere in their desire for not only her help but also her friendship.

While there are a number of aspects of this story that are left unaddressed by the time we reach the last page, particularly the mystery surrounding Lark and Wren’s unusual bond, they’re the type of questions that give the story legs to stand on moving forward into the next book. The storyline regarding the haunting of Lark’s group of friends and the truly horrifying ghost responsible is wrapped up nicely (if a touch easily) by the time we reach the last page, ensuring we feel as though we’ve read a complete story instead of merely part of one. 

Overall, Sisters of Blood and Spirit is pure fun in a might-need-to-sleep-with-light-on-tonight kind of way, the relationship between Lark and Wren beautifully intriguing, and the promise of deepening friendships and romance in future books enough to have us counting the days until the sequel is in our hands.

Rating: 4/5
 

Find Kady:

Website • Facebook • Twitter • Goodreads • Amazon

This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.