i really enjoyed reading this book, the characters were great and I had a great time going through this book. I look forward to more from the author.

Twin Daggers by MarcyKate Connolly is about twin sisters that are trying to find their way in society. They have a scary secret. They are part of a magical race that is hunted and tortured. This race is imprisoned just for existing. Let's just say that these twins already have a tough go at it.

I found the first half of this book to be extremely good. I loved the characters. The world was great. It was super fast paced. Then everything slowed down. Nothing was happened. I was reading chapter after chapter wondering if the book was over but I still had several chapters left. I really don't' feel like any of the problems in the book were resolved by the end of it. This book just feels very incomplete.

Twin Daggers is essentially a Romeo and Juliet retelling. I enjoyed this fantasy take on the story. You have two warring factions, the mages, and the technocrats.
I enjoyed reading about Aissa and her family. I have to admit that between Aissa and Zandria, I am glad that Aissa was the narrator. She seemed more level headed and much less rash than Zandria. The other characters, Remy and Aro were also well written and enjoyable.
Much like Romeo and Juliet, I felt like the love between Aissa and Aro blossomed a little too quickly. I would have liked a little more between the two of them to cement their feelings. I enjoyed the story and I thought the world-building was good if maybe a bit much. There was a lot of reiteration of the feud between the Mages and the Technocrats that I didn’t think needed to be repeated.
This book was interesting, and I liked the characters, but I think it could have moved a little faster.

Thank you Netgalley for this advanced copy of Twin Daggers. As a fantasy this book did not disappoint.

MarcyKate Connolly’s Twin Daggers is billed as a fantasy spin on Romeo and Juliet, but it doesn’t quite live up to the source material.

I wish that we could stop promoting books as “a cross between this or that” or a retelling or reimagining of something else. When this happens, the book starts at a deficit. I already have an idea of what might happen, and my expectations are based on the previous story/stories.

This is definitely the case with Twin Daggers. I wouldn’t have necessarily have tied it to Romeo and Juliet without the above reference, and it would have been better for it. That’s not to say that I would have fallen in love with the book, but I would have appreciated it more overall.

Connolly is a strong world builder, though it took a while to fully understand her vision. I found the machine/technology elements particularly interesting. There are a few things that are never completely explained, leaving me to wonder if the author forgot about them or if she plans to expand on them in the book’s sequel.

Twin Daggers is not a dynamic read, and there are moments that seem to drag. However, the story was compelling enough that I wanted to see where Connolly was heading. I have a feeling the second book will be the stronger of the two. I’d recommend this as a library read.

DNF @ 25%

The writing style of this book is not enjoyable to me. The pacing is very slow, and so far not a lot has happened in the book. I lost interest in this one.

Super enjoyable and fast paced. Really enjoyed the characters and their personalities really came to life and felt real. Connolly really knows how to make a fantasy read rich as well as transport her readers into the world she has created for them. This was a great YA read for me.

THIS BOOK IS BADASS! I loved the relationship of the twins and all of the magic intertwined and associated with the hidden world kf the Magi. This is a great story for those that love history, political intrigue, and a touch of magic!

First, let me note that I am so over retellings, so this retelling of Romeo & Juliet needed to be really good to get me excited. It wasn't really good, it was mediocre, and made me swear of retellings for awhile.

Thank you Netgalley for the e-Arc to this book in exchange for an honest review. This book was good; however it was not quite what I was expecting based upon the summary given. That being said I did love the way it was written and will definitely read more from this author.

Zandria lives in palinor and has magic. I like the dialogue. I liked the characters. I was curious to see what would happen

ARC from NetGalley

I'm a bit conflicted on this one. There were many times that I was bored and skimming, but it was good enough that I wanted to get to the better parts.

A lot of this story was really obvious. I knew who the heir was. I knew who would love who. I knew who could and couldn't be trusted. It was very predictable.

This book suffers a lot from Zandria who is a fucking idiot. I can't believe that they would trust their lives, the lives of all their people in the hands of a petulant teenage idiot. Every time she is on the page, she is doing something stupid and selfish. Every time she does something, I know she is going to fuck shit up, and Aissa will have to save them. It's just.. She has no redeeming qualities and I hope she gets killed off.

For too much of this book I found myself saying "really? really." Because fucking really? Argh so much of it made me irritated. So much of it made me shake my head because it just didn't make sense for a teenage girl to be acting/thinking this way, for the cards to fall as they did, but I still want to read the next one damnit, mostly for Aro who redeems the entire thing.

There is so much that I want to say about this book, but I'm going to keep it short because it doesn't actually matter. Twin Daggers is a book that I requested because the synopsis seemed so promising. Something like Renegades, futuristic like Bladerunner, soft magic system, spies, intrigue, romance reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet. This was so promising and I wanted to believe in it so much. Unfortunately, I was wildly disappointed. This was mostly due to the fact that the synopsis overpromised what I read. The narrative moved along so slowly and I felt the romance was flat.

I had a lot of hope for this, but it wasn't my thing. I wanted to believe in this book, but I ultimately couldn't. This needed a few more developmental passes. A few more critique partners and a good dose of plot accelerant. That's my hot take.

I would still encourage you to try this book. It wasn't my thing, but it might be perfect for you. Check out a copy from your local library. Buy a copy for yourself. Buy a copy for a friend. It's a beautiful cover, nonetheless. Thank you to NetGalley and Blink for the opportunity to review this title. I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a fantasy Romeo and Juliet.
There are technocrats and magi. But magi are hidden because they are considered evil. It mainly follows two sisters until one sister is kidnapped. Aissa ends up working with Around who is her Romeo to find her sister.
I found this really bland and I skimmed through a lot of this so I probably missed a lot of the plot.

Though this was premised as a Romeo & Juliet type of book, it just didn't quite get there for me. I wanted to love this book, and sometimes I did, I just wished I loved it start to finish. The action and plot moved pretty slowly for the first half, and I really appreciated when it finally picked up. I loved the sister bond and relationship, but I wish it would've been explored deeper, and I wanted more of their relationship and issues.

Zandria and Aissa are different from the other Magi in their community. They can manipulate machines as well as organic matter. They have an important mission to find the heir to the throne. However, things don't always go as planned.

I really enjoyed Twin Daggers by MarcyKate Connolly! The characters are very relatable and real (as in experience emotions/feelings I have felt before). The idea of how their magic works seemed fresh and new from other novels about magic. The novel started out slow as the world was built and characters explained, but around about 30% into the novel, it picked up. I literally read 46% in one day because it was so interesting and different. I'm excited to see if there's a second novel because I'm invested in knowing what happens next. There wasn't a cliffhanger per se, but definitely potential for another novel.

I received a copy of the audiobook as well and will be reviewing the audiobook separately from the story.

*received free audiobook from netgalley for honest review* Ah so, good book, very quick and rather unsatisfying ending imo. like actually got into the story and really liked it but feel this would be better as a series :l

One of the best YA books I have read in a long time! The suspense was top notch, my emotions were all over the place with the characters, and I continually held my breath to see how things would turn out. Some books deserve more than five stars, and this is one of them!
Aissa and her twin sister Zandria have spent their lives living a lie. They pretend to be normal Technocrats going to school and getting ready to learn the roles they will have in their new apprenticeships. However, at night they plot how they will take down the Technocrats and help resurrect their people, the Magi from hiding. Aissa is given a new mission; she is to find and kidnap the heir to the Technocrat throne. Rumor has it the heir is one of the Heartless, a person born with no heart and survives only by using mechanical replacements. When Zandria is captured by the Technocrats and taken away, Aissa has to work everything in her power to help get her sister back, including asking from help from a young Technocrat researcher she has become close to and may be the secret to finding a cure for the Heartless.

“Aissa’s life is a web of carefully constructed lies.” One of the best opening sentences I’ve read this year. MarcyKate Connolly has crafted a fun, entertaining, heart-pounding, suspenseful read that I feel certain will be read again and again. This was my first book to read by Connolly and it is safe to say I was not disappointed. I absolutely love a great YA book; I am a big fan of The Hunger Games and the like and would easily say this book rates up with those for me. From the very beginning, readers will be pulled in with intrigue and wondering what these characters are going to have to face. It didn’t take very long at all for me to find a connection with Aissa and stick with her through the journey. The fact that she is a twin made the emotions run that much higher when her sister is captured, and she is trying to save her by herself. I’m a twin and I’ll tell you, that emotional connection is huge. Throughout the whole book every different relationship Aissa found herself in, whether with her parents, her sister, Aro, Remy, readers see a connection and each one feels absolutely real and nothing is forced. This is written as the first in a series and I am itching to get my hands on the next. That is the hard thing about finding a new author and book you love so much; you have to wait for the next to come out and it can sometimes be agonizing. I would recommend this to readers that love young adult dystopian novels with characters they can embrace and route for and a story that will pull them in from the first page and not let go.
I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.

Aissa and her sister Zandra work as Technocrat apprentices, but at night plot to retake the city from them. Aissa is given the mission to kidnap the Technocrat heir, who is rumored to be Heartless - a person born without a heart that survives with a mechanical one. Her mission is complicated by researchers hoping to find a cure for the Heartless, and someone capturing her sister. Aissa will do whatever it takes to get Zandra back, even if it means working with the enemy.

From the beginning, I was drawn into Aissa and Zandra's story. They aren't supposed to exist, as Mages were decimated in the wars against the Technocrats. The classic magic vs. technology story was taken to the most extreme form, leading to several wars between the factions. On top of this, the twins have the ability to use their magic on technical things, which they have to hide from their fellow mages for fear of being ostracised at best, obliterated at worst. Of course, there are the usual bits of having to hide their magic from techno friends and bosses and the practice that the twins have to do to keep their skills sharp. Their code name within the Mage group is Twin Daggers, and Aissa often uses a dagger. Zandra usually is fast enough not to need one.

There are some parts that I could guess right away, as to who the Heartless heir was, who the spies were, and who the traitor was. The Queen is shown more than the King of the technocrats, and she is exceedingly cruel so that the reader will want to take her down as much as the twins and the mages. The true history of the wars and the factions was hidden from each side and is revealed over the course of the novel. There are many features of the classic Hero's Journey in this, but that doesn't detract from the characters. Some aren't well fleshed out, but I felt for Aissa and Zandra, and that their journey took a lot out of them emotionally as well as physically. There will be more to their story, and I know I'll enjoy reading that, too.

Aissa and her twin sister, Zandria, are Magi living with their parents in a Technocrat society, looking to infiltrate it. When they become well placed in society they are given a mission to discover the heir to the Technocrat throne. What at first seems an easy mission becomes more difficult as Aissa discovers that perhaps not all Technocrats are as evil as she has been taught to believe. When Zandria is captured she will do whatever it takes to get her back. Even if that means betraying those around her.

The beginning of the story had me very interested in the rest to come. Aissa and Zandria are creeping through dark tunnels working on a mission given to them by the Magi counsel. They must map the tunnels below the palace in order to find ways into it, and also looking for the Magi lost library. This library, they hope, will hold the key to getting back their lost magic and knowledge, pulling their people out of their decline. While the girls find this trivial, I thought this was a great set up for what I hoped was a book filled with adventure and intrigue. Unfortunately, the beginning was not an indicator of what was to come. While we did get some action, and it was exciting at those times, the story was very bland. We spend most of it in Aissa's head rehashing the sames things over and over again. There were a few twists and turns in the story, but not enough to truly make it an exciting read. The story and the plot felt flat, and the people and this world did not get the attention to detail that it needed.

The concept of Twin daggers was intriguing. Twin sisters looking to help avenge their people and give them back their power, from the evil Technocrats bent on their annihilation. The Magi being those who could wield magic, while the Technocrats were those who are magic-less and bent their heads towards technology and knowledge. The biggest issue I had with this is that thought we had this huge info dump and the beginning, it still seems like I'm left without a good grasp on what lead to the animosity between the two people and the reasoning for the initial war. We are so much in Aissa's head, but all that I can grasp is that the Technocrats are all evil. It wasn't nuanced enough. Also, these two girls have grown up in this society, surrounded by Technocrats, yet continue with their blanket hatred of this group of people. All their friends they keep at arms length with an underlying animosity that they keep hidden. How have they not made any lasting connections with these people?

While I think this story needs more detail, I am somewhat interested in the sequel (if in fact there is one). The ending left me to believe the next story would be filled with that adventure and intrigue that I found so lacking in Twin Daggers.