Review: Woman Power!!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 10, 2013
I liked the story and the characters. It was wonderful fiction. It started with a young girl starving, feeling useless, unwanted and unloved because she has been taught she had no value. The Shadow Sister had no self esteem but she is afraid to die especially from physical hunger simply because she is female and deemed unnecessary. Shortly after being verbally chastised by her father for having eaten some meager amount of food, she is afraid she will be whipped or killed simply because she is a worthless female. Instead her father is shamed by a woman known as a Shadow. She purchases the girl for a pittance. Although her lot in life improves tremendously when she is taken in by the Shadows she doesn't understand and all she knows for a long time is, she must do her best and be the best or return to her previous uncertain life of poverty. She learns the shadow purposes and wants to remain and works even harder to remain with them. She learns that there are 2 permanent roles of a shadow. One which involve killing. She does not want to be an assassin but she does want to be the best despite her self doubt. She works hard and masters several skills but not all.At the end of her training she takes a test that allows her not only to remain in the Shadow sister hood but she also becomes both  an apprentice spy, her goal, and an apprentice assassin as well. In addiction the Senior Shadow Sister who supervises the school also gives her the marks that make her both senior Spy and Assassin. She is confused. She is the best student they've had in a long time and there are Shadow sisters who being killed. She is given the task of finding out who is killing them and why and bringing that information back to the Senior Shadow Sisterhood Supervisor. What she is asked to do may cause her death and though she simply wants to live a helpful and modest life, she believes in the sisterhood and will give her all to assist those she believe to be her family.This modest but untraditional young woman faces many challenges on her journey that would scare off many of her sisters.  She will do all she can to save the sisters and the many colorful and interesting people characters along the way. She will kill if she must and forge new alliances while growing and learning much about herself and life along the way. She is vulnerable, but strong. She learns her weaknesses and enlists the aid of others by promising not to hurt them and/or to come to their aid  when needed.This is a terrific book and I literally couldn't but down as I wanted to find out how much more she would have to do and how much pain she would have to endure. She sacrificed much for those she loved and I wanted her to be well loved for the wonderful person she always was and the phenomenal woman she became.