Elegant, Clever, and Ruthless: Meet The Sisters Mederos

Do you enjoy the timeless fiction of Jane Austen or Charles Dickens? Are you a fan of rogues and bandits disrupting high society? Did you like Frozen? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then I may have just the book for you.

Allow me to introduce Yvienne and Tesara Mederos, the titular sisters in Patrice Sarath’s newest novel. Those things that I mentioned above? All come together (somehow) in a delightful fantasy of manners.

The Sisters Mederos (2018)
Written by: Patrice Sarah
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 368 (Kindle)
Series: The Tales of Port Saint Frey (Book 1)
Publisher: Angry Robot

Disclaimer: Angry Robot, by way of NetGalley, generously allowed me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Why I Chose It: I like all of the things that I led this review with. I was super curious to see how they would mesh together. Plus, I have a soft spot for all things involving thieves, heists, and bandits. Furthermore, I have yet to read an Angry Robot book that I have not enjoyed.

The premise:

House Mederos was once the wealthiest merchant family in Port Saint Frey. Now the family is disgraced, impoverished, and humbled by the powerful Merchants Guild. Daughters Yvienne and Tesara Mederos are determined to uncover who was behind their family’s downfall and get revenge. But Tesara has a secret — could it have been her wild magic that caused the storm that destroyed the family’s merchant fleet? The sisters’ schemes quickly get out of hand — gambling is one thing, but robbing people is another…

Together the sisters must trust each another to keep their secrets and save their family.

Very mild spoilers ahoy – no giving away the ending, that would be rude.

Discussion: I’m going to begin by saying that this almost wasn’t a speculative novel. Despite the prologue, wherein we are introduced to young Tesara Mederos and her burgeoning telekinetic abilities, most of the plot is driven by intrigue, deception, and a desire for revenge upon those who have wronged Tesara and her older sister, Yvienne. Tesara being gifted with magical abilities doesn’t really come into play very much until nearly the end.

No, the sisters Mederos set about their goal — restoring their family’s fortune and good name — using their brains instead of magic. It’s a good thing, too: Tesara’s magical ability was all but broken out of her before Chapter One even begins. Literally broken out of her, at the hands of an unforgiving headmistress at the boarding school where the sisters spent six years after their family’s fall from grace in the shipping town of Port Saint Frey. When those six long, difficult years are up, Tesara and Yvienne return to their parents and find them as broken as the bones in Tesara’s once magical hand. Their mother has grown shrill, and their father is in an almost constant state of gentle confusion. Their once magnificent home now belongs to someone else, and the family is forced into a small cottage in one of the less dignified neighborhoods. Sarath makes a gentle point on what poverty does to people when she describes the life that Tes and Vivi come home to. There is scarcely enough money to survive. Food is bland and more than a little scarce. The family cannot even afford firewood sometimes. Their spirits are broken, and it’s no wonder why. When one goes from a comfortable life to a difficult one, it’s extremely difficult to remain optimistic.

Our heroines aren’t entirely optimistic, but they are certainly hellbent on getting to the bottom of what caused their family’s ruin. I am spoiling nothing that wasn’t in the premise by saying that, for a good portion of the novel, Tesara believes that she was responsible for destroying her family’s lot in life due to her unpredictable magical abilities. Prior to the heartless maiming that she received at boarding school, Tesara could call up breezes, move objects, and even light candles by gesturing with her hand. Despite carrying the burden that maybe her family’s misery is her fault, Tesara figures out a way to start getting some cash into the family’s pocket and working their way out of the deep hole that they have landed in. And how, exactly, does she do that? Gambling, my friend. After an old friend kindly invites her to a salon, Tesara is reminded of the card lessons that her unsavory Uncle Samwell gave her as a child. Card counting is extremely successful when one knows just how to utilize it, and Tesara has just that knowledge. I wish that there had been more of Tesara scamming her way across the card tables of Port Saint Frey’s society set. Smarty-pants scoundrels are some of my favorite characters (see The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch for some superb examples of this trope).

As for Yvienne, she has her own way of digging her way through to what she believes to be the truth about her family’s downfall. She goes about this in a slightly circuitous route: she becomes a governess for one of the newer wealthy families and intends to use that position to hunt down answers. And if she happens to become the gun-toting Gentleman Bandit (who is never hesitant to relieve a wealthy mark from his money) along the way, well, so be it. Despite my fondness for Yvienne’s thievery, I almost felt as if her story was too cluttered. She’s a governess! She’s going to write for the gossip column! She’s out for revenge! She starts robbing her former peers because she likes doing it! Oh, now she has a secret lair! It was a lot to keep up with, and the book should have been longer to let a few more of these aspects get a little more time. It all felt a little shallow. Furthermore, there was no real reason given for her decision to take up the art of … banditing? Is that a word? I’m using it. She begins her darker career because the opportunity presented herself. She kept going because she decided that she liked it. I can’t blame her; given the change, I might become a gender-bending thief.

My only other criticism of the novel was the story’s pacing. It moves along fairly steadily until the last ten percent of the novel. The slow burn that was the beginning suddenly ignites, and things are ultimately resolved. The ending is almost too neat and tidy.

I was also unclear on where this book was taking place. Nags Head is mentioned more than once, as is another city in North Carolina (I cannot recall which one at this time), which originally made me think that this was an alternate version of North America. I could be entirely wrong. It’s a small thing to complain about, but I like being grounded enough within the story’s setting to understand exactly where I happen to be. Who knows; maybe the paperback will have a map.

In conclusion: I enjoyed my reading experience a great deal. The book hit several of my buttons. I liked it enough that a lovely paperback copy is winging its way to me as we speak. Is it perfect? No. Aside from the pacing issues, the writing style takes a little getting used to. Sarath does a good job mimicking an older style of storytelling, but it still took a little work. Once I got the style down, I had no problems whatsoever. I wouldn’t call The Sisters Mederos rollicking good time, but it was definitely a fun read that I intend to revisit. Angry Robot has this listed as the first book in a series. I hope that this is correct, because I would like to come back to this world and these characters again in the future.