Book Review: The Lost Sisterhood by Anne Fortier

By Tara. *Item received for review. No financial reimbursement.

"We are the Amazons. We are the killers of beasts and men. Wild ourselves, we inhabit the wild places. Freedom courses in our blood, and death whispers at the tip of our arrows. We fear nothing; fear runs from us. Try to stop us, and you will feel our rage."


A very enjoyable, fast-paced, interesting read. I was not disappointed with this one. The modern-day stories follows a woman who once had a "deranged" grandmother who left behind a mysterious notebook full of scribbles and the lots of rambling about Amazons. Diana would like to believe the Amazons really existed, but evidence and scholars say otherwise... Frankly, I'd like to continue believing they really existed, so I found Diana's running all over Europe to prove they lived and finding all their bracelets as went absolutely fascinating.

Her meeting the sexy and mysterious Nick doesn't hurt either. Sometimes you want them to get together; sometimes you don't. Just like the heroine. Very well done.

In her story, there's much confusion and I don't mean that in a bad way. She's confused, and we're confused. It just somehow worked for me. Normally I loathe not having clear answers, not knowing who's bad and good or who's after who, but this story was told in such a manner that it had me hooked and dying with suspense, unable to sleep even. It seems three different groups are after Diana and/or her knowledge, all for different reasons, one group being, quite possibly, Amazons.

In between rushing to museums, escaping thieves and bombs, and bit by bit, piecing together the mystery of the Amazons and Diana's granny, readers are treated to a historical what-if story that takes some of the mythology writings and gives them new twists. We meet the Amazons, learn their origins, why they came to be complete with the misunderstandings. The historical tale rewrites the Amazons and even the Helen of Troy  story as we have learned them, making them new and interesting.

I love Myrina and her romance with Paris. I appreciated--and maybe I'm the only one who saw this--how the story showed us not everyone is meant for marriage and there is nothing wrong with that. For some reason, this bit of the story impacted me. It was still a wonderful romance though. I love that this book gave us great romance complete with development and very little sexual details. THIS is the real deal. THIS is love.

And I loved the different forms of strength I saw in the different women. It's not all about sword-fighting.

Long review short: I loved this book, both the past and present stories. I was riveted, intrigued, I bit my lip, gasped, screamed, "OH no!", I smiled, laughed, Googled things--heck, I even looked for my own bracelet. LOL

BEST AMAZON BOOK I'VE READ.

"To me there is only one God, unnamed presence we'll never understand. Everything else is human politics. It was human beings who wrote the holy books, and human beings who made all the rules and rituals. In other words, it is human beings who turn life into hell....I try to live the spirit of God, but not by the rules, because rules are made by man, and man is nothing but a fatally conceited flea on the mammoth of Creation."

I received this via Netgalley. Quotes may be altered in the final version.