Sisters of the Snake

Written by Sasha Nanua and Sarena Nanua

Narrated by Soneela Nankani

A lost princess. A mysterious puppet master. And a race against time—before all is lost.

Princess Rani longs for a chance to escape her gilded cage and prove herself. Ria is a street urchin, stealing just to keep herself alive.

When these two lives collide, everything turns on its head: because Ria and Rani, orphan and royal, are unmistakably identical.

A deal is struck to switch places—but danger lurks in both worlds, and to save their home, thief and princess must work together. Or watch it all fall into ruin.

Deadly magic, hidden temples, and dark prophecies: Sisters of the Snake is an action-packed, immersive fantasy that will thrill fans of The Wrath & the Dawn and The Tiger at Midnight.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Jun 15, 2021
• ISBN: 9780063088788

Sasha Nanua

Sarena Nanua & Sasha Nanua are twin sisters living in Ontario, Canada. Born on Diwali ten minutes apart from each other, they grew up loving stories about twins and magic, and began writing books together when they were nine years old. They are graduates of the English and professional writing programs at the University of Toronto and are also the authors of the Pendant trilogy. You can visit them online at www.sarenasashabooks.com.

Reviews for Sisters of the Snake

[Sarah Gregory · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Has everything you can ask for in a YA fantasy - romance, magic, lore, mystery, and two opposite but complementary main characters. Plus, amazing food descriptions!

[Desiree Conceicao · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Could have been good but it's so poorly written. Plotholes, so much Deus ex machina, poor characterisations. Reads like a high schooler wrote it.

[KristaWhaleyshaw.ca · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A great twist on a classic tale, full of magic and wonder. Believable characters. Set in a place similar to South Asia.

[Saida Aleksandra · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Thoughts? Not for me.
Pacing was all over the place, with some parts being extremely slow and some parts, especially the ending, extremely rushed. The characters were very lacking - I didn’t form any kind of emotional attachment to any of them, apart from the snake, I really enjoyed her sarcasm and friendship with the princesses.
Speaking of the princesses, both of them were so ridiculously stupid at times. For people trying to play as the other, they didn’t do a very good job. It’s a miracle no one grew suspicious earlier on. You had Rani, who switched with Ria (the thief sister) who frequently and openly defended the royal family. I understand that her mindset was very much the royal family can do no wrong because of the way she grew up, but it’s like she didn’t even try to play as Ria! She’s all like “oops shouldn’t have defended the king for the 20th time but am I going to stop in case people start questioning why Ria is defending people who’ve caused her life to be miserable? Hell no.” And then you had the other twin, Ria, playing as princess Rani, who spoke out of line so many times I lost count. At one point, she stood up at a dinner party and said commoners shouldn’t be dismissed because of their bloodline or something along those lines and no one batted an eye even though this was very uncharacteristic of princess Rani. I understand she’s angry and upset at the way the royal family treats servants and commoners but she to was all like “maybe I should start acting more like Rani so people don’t catch on, but will I do that? Of course not.” Ugh so frustrating.
The love interests were also extremely weak. I didn’t feel any chemistry between any of the sisters love interests whatsoever. I think it would’ve been so much cooler for them to have formed friendships. The love felt very forced in my opinion.
Also, I would’ve appreciated some comedic relief here and there. The entire book was just so tense with nothing to break up the tension. The only humour was provided by the snake but it wasn’t enough for me.
I did like the world building though. I thought that was done quite well. And the plot wasn’t bad. It wasn’t good, but it wasn’t bad. I think a lot of the story could’ve been filtered out so the plot could progress quicker which would’ve improved the pacing to.
The predictability of the events though was kind of ridiculous. I guessed who the villain was soo quickly because it was so obvious and none of the characters caught on. This was so frustrating and also made the rest of the book boring because the mystery aspect was taken away.
I’d give it more of a 2.5.

[Erica · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Good story and well written. Just not for me. Predictable villain.

[Deepa Budhoo · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is the first time I’ve read(listed) a book with characters that are like me. Hindu, brown skinned, dark eyes and hair. So I’m a bit biased. I really enjoyed it and am definitely gonna look if the story continues. Not that’s really important, but I’m 40.

[reader1009-863136 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

teen fiction (brown-skinned princess and the pauper tale set in a fictional historical land where people celebrate Diwali and where magic intertwines with royal bloodlines)A little slow to get started, but a good story with a little bit of romance and a healthy dose of adventure. More please!

[sennebec · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A princess who's more like a prisoner, a girl from an orphanage surviving as a thief with the help of a friend. When their paths cross, they end up trading places, only to discover that their connection is so much more than either could have imagined. Both must scramble to fool the boy closest to the other while learning how their magic works, how to impersonate each other, and how to avert a terrible war. Following their paths, told in alternating chapters, makes for an extremely satisfying story. The ending left me with a strong sense that more of the tale is coming in s sequel and that would be great.