As always I want to start by saying that I was given an e-ARC of this to review as part of a @thebooknetwork.co.uk book tour and on Netgalley. My review is honest and left voluntarily. Thank you as well to Aconyte Books and Marsheila Rockwell. Also while I will give a brief overview of the novel I will try to avoid spoilers beyond things that happen in the first few chapters to ensure enjoyment of potential readers.
Sisters of Sorcery is a story about sisterhood for want of a better word and the obstacles that can be overcome, even sometimes between each other, when working together. I am a tad biased to Marvel witches or sorceresses so I was more than a little excited when I saw the title alone. When I read the blurb I was a lot more excited, who doesn’t love Clea, but then when I got a few pages in I was in full fangirl mode. We have some stable sorceresses in here; Agatha Harkness (in spectral form but still powerful), her apprentice Holly LaDonna, Elizabeth Twoyoungmen ( The Talisman) and Margali Szardos. The only thing that could have made this perfect book any better was a cameo of Amora but that may have finished me off completely!
We enter the Dark Dimension with this cast of fantastic magical females to defeat a supernatural tyrant (who just so happens to be Clea’s mother) and save a being of Cosmic power, Ardina, before Umar the Unrelenting uses her prisoner to conquer the whole of the Splinter Realms not just the Dark Dimension.
As we already realised I am a massive fangirl for Marvel witches but even if I wasn’t this novel was top tier. It reads just like a comic but with the added extra of getting a deeper insight into the characters within. What I mean is we have amazing action scenes and adventure, fantastical and dark settings and even cameos along the way. It makes this almost impossible to put this down once you start. Even when it isn’t in your face action with demons and beings of the Splinter Realms the novel still keeps you hooked with learning more about the characters fears and desires, seeing them overcome their distrust or dislike of each other and ultimately seeing them finally form a sisterhood.
Rockwell manages to introduce each sorceress with such ease that even those who may not be familiar with the characters will quickly understand what makes them tick. I particularly loved Holly LaDonna, arguable the lynch pin that ended up tying the women together with her quirky humour and unwitting charm. I would actually love to read more about her and hope we may see her again in the future, bonus points if Elizabeth and Agatha are involved. Of course we have Clea who is, as always, perfect. Margali who’s sarcasm and animosity helped to create more problems for the women to deal with but ultimately helped. Elizabeth who is and was amazing. Again she brings her own brand of sarcasm and magic to the team. The sisterhood that she and Holly developed was also something I really enjoyed and hope is expanded on. On top of these amazing four we have the spectral form of Agatha Harkness, who while being killed by Scarlet Witch, is still there and arguably as powerful as ever. While not a main character on the adventure I adored her inclusion and how she managed to rub everyone up the wrong way. In short Rockwell mastered the characterisation of these powerful females and it made a thoroughly enjoyable read.
The setting of the novel was also amazing. The description of the dimensions visited really did evoke images as if you were there, as I said early like you were reading a comic and seeing the settings on the page. It was wonderful and refreshing to see other realms and the rulers of these. Each creating their own issues and problems the females have to face. Again I like to avoid spoilers but I will say I adored the inclusion of The Dreamqueen and how she affected the team.
Another refreshing aspect was that while dealing with this powerful sorceresses Rockwell manages to show their humanity or rather vulnerability both physical and mental. Our heroines suffer, they get hurt and bleed, they have to face their own fears and overcome these in order to continue on and complete their mission. I found this making me like them even more. Well it’s fun to have a strong and badass characters who seem to always win no matter the odds its always nice to see them struggle and fail. I find this makes them more human, easier to relate to and understand and creates a deeper bond between the protagonists and reader.
All in all I could not recommend this one enough. I knew I would love it but I didn’t know how much. I really hope we see these women back again in the future for more adventures, laughter, tears and struggles. Definitely one of my top ten of 2022. It just ticked all my boxes. A must read for fans of Marvels should it be cap m leading ladies, of mystical fantasy, Marvel fans, good fantasy adventures, and people overcoming differences to take down the big bad. You will not be disappointed.
About Marvel Entertainment
Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the world’s most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of more than 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media for over eighty years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in entertainment, licensing, publishing, games, and digital media.
For more information visit marvel.com. © 2022 MARVEL #Marvel #MarvelEnt #Aconytebooks #review
A Reader Lives a Thousand Lives 
Leave a Reply