Grey Sister

Many trilogies experience a “second book slump”, where the story lags between the grand opening of the first book and the epic conclusion of the third. Not so for Grey Sister. 

The book picks up three years after the conclusion of Red Sister. Nona is now in Mystic class, though most of her friends are still in Grey. She's changed a great deal since the ranging where she first walked the Path and is struggling with containing her rage. 

We finally get to learn more about the Grey Sisters (shocking, I know), and they more than live up to their reputation as masters of discretion. Nona tends to take more of a brute force approach to problem-solving, and this leads to some interesting situations. 

There are two main things that make this book stand out from its predecessor. First, Lawrence explores the lore of the world in greater depth. Who are the Missing? Where do the devils that infested Raymel Tacsis come from? What the heck is a ship heart? Don't expect to have everything just explained to you, but there are a lot of answers revealed. Secondly, the scope of the story expands. We're no longer confined to the convent, or even limited to just Nona's point of view. Through some creative narrative devices, we're able to see through the eyes of side characters firsthand. 

Grey Sister is not without flaws. Interesting characters were set aside for nearly the entire book, intimidating villains made some questionably effective choices, and some scenes were written to intentionally obscure subtleties from the reader rather than letting them figure things out for themselves. That said, most of my concerns with the book were minor and could likely be considered positives by another reader. 

Overall, this was a strong follow-up to Red Sister. Readers who enjoyed the first book will be in for a treat. 

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.