This book is like Twitches with touches of Aladdin throughout. Some say it's like Prince and the Pauper, but Twitches is, too, and the sisters have magic like in Twitches, with both also being royalty. I thought it was such an interesting tale. It's more of a magical adventure for Ria and Rani, with Rani discovering freedom and chasing after the truth behind a prophecy and Ria discovering her parents and the truth behind her birth and magic.

<i>"We can be more than what the stars wish for. More than we ever dreamed."</i>

TL;DR: Promising, female-led story with diverse representation -- but relies too much on cringey YA tropes and dialogue -- so much that I was eyerolling my way through the last 20% of the book.
If I hadn't received an ARC from Netgalley, I would have DNF-ed the book, but felt obligated to finish it in order to review it.

Vibes: <i>Aladdin</i> with Parselmouths -- and some definite fanfic vibes. And a *dash* of <i>The Parent Trap</i>, but more on that below.
<i>Aladdin</i>, because we have (1) a thief with a heart of gold; (2) a princess trapped in a gilded palatial cage and wanting freedom; and (3) an evil villain with mind-controlling magical powers. No comical genie though, so that's a bummer.
But we do have an informative snake so that's....something? IDK. The whole snake magic thing gave me major Harry Potter fanfic vibes -- centered around the Patil twins if they were Slytherins.

Character MVP: Honestly? None of them really stood out to me. The twins were kinda interchangeable, as were their love interests. If I *had* to pick one twin, I'd say Ria-as-Rani was the more interesting one.

Verdict: A welcome break from Euro-centric fantasy, the "written-by-actual-twins" thing is a unique spin, and a promising start -- the potential for a great story was there.
A long book -- ~530 pages -- and it could have been 200 pages shorter. Or the same length if, conflicts and tensions and <i>things</i> actually happened.
Because to me, it felt like this was a fan-ficcy first draft that needed some revisions to truly stand out, because it is *heavily* bogged down in cliches and plot-holes -- not to mention that the fantasy takes a back seat* to the romance at times, and that is a pet peeve of mine in fantasy. This would make a good YA book for high-schoolers/advanced middle-schoolers: it's a "light" entry into high fantasy with good diversity/representation, but critically thinking about it just doesn't work.

(*Example: the journey to the Glass Temple -- which has been lost for centuries -- occurs largely without incidents, because they have a Super Secret Notebook that tells them the precise way there -- it's mainly a way to develop Rani and Amir's relationship.)

**SPOILERS BELOW**
✔︎ -- I did appreciate the female leads/strength in this book. Ria and Rani are clearly strong female characters, and the villain is female as well. The male leads -- Amir and Saeed -- are the token love interests, taking a back seat and not all that relevant to the story.
✘ -- The characters are VERY flat though; the attempts to flesh out are Amara fell flat to me and
she just reads like a stock, power-hungry Disney villain. And everyone was super quick to forgive
each other for huge transgressions (you know, like lying about their identities.)

﹅ -- There are so many YA cliches and tropes in this book -- and some of them are just cringey at times. Most notably is The Prophecy of Doom: one twin will The Awfulest and the other will be The Goodest and *of course* the Awfulest One will destroy the Goodest One and neither can live while the other survives. Wait...

✘ -- About the fanfic vibes. At first, it read *a lot* like <i>Aladdin</i> to me -- but with a more clearly defined fantasy-alt-India setting (rather than the culturally insensitive homogenous mess that is Agrabah).
But as we started learning more about the Masters, the fanfic vibes started rolling in. As in: The Masters, as super magical beings who came together to rule a place but then started having some hostility between them?
Totally the Four Founders of the Hogwarts.
It didn't help that the Snake Master was referred to as "cunning" at least twice in the same chapter, which if that wasn't Slytherin vibes, I don't know what is. It basically seemed like Hogwarts-with-a-twist-and-where-Slytherin-wasn't-evil-just-misunderstood.

✘ -- SO MANY PLOT HOLES. Now, I don't mind an occasional plot-hole, but when I spend the entire time reading the book eyerolling and exclaiming <i>literally out loud</i> "How is that possible???", it's not a good sign.

Basically, Ria and Rani know each other for all of TEN MINUTES -- and they immediately accept that they're twins (thanks to some handy-dandy memory magic) and agree to switch places.
Look, I've seen <i>The Parent Trap</i> more times than is probably healthy because the Lindsay Lohan one is, inexplicably, one of my dad's favorite movies. They spend, what is it? Days? Weeks? Anyway, they spend so much time learning everything about each other so that they can successfully switch and Jessie still figures it out within, like, 10 minutes of Hallie being back on the ranch.
But here? NO ONE SEEMS TO NOTICE THAT THEY SWITCH. Even though Rani makes a big deal of pointing out that Ria is thinner, tanner, and just rougher (because she's an orphan thieving on the streets for the past 8 months). I get that the mom not noticing is because...she's...I don't know. A terrible, distant mom? But everyone else? Doesn't really have an excuse. Saeed and Rani have been together for THREE years, and he doesn't notice that all of a sudden, in the course of an evening, his fiancee looks totally different? You're telling me that Rani didn't slip up with palace etiquette once? She knew all the silverware to use, where all the rooms were? Nope. Not buying it.
That's the biggest one -- there are so many others. (<a href="https://www.goodreads.com"> This review has a good list if you want to see more.</a>)

✘ -- World-building: Another, if not the biggest, pet-peeve of mine. <i>Sisters of the Snake</i> started out promising, with the mythology of the Masters and the Bloodstone and the disappearance of most magic from the country.
But -- if you know me, you know my big thing is that fantasy *has* to have rules. You can't use the fantasy world to just make up whatever you want just to move your plot forward. And that happens here with the Seventh Master, the magic cuffs, the convenient Ratanian scholars who know All The Things and Amara's tricks/"plot twists" that appear at the end.
--It might have helped if we got to know more of the other parts of the country, and not just
Abai. Each is supposed to have it's own magic, because it was founded by a Master, but we stay
really narrowly focused, and other magics only pop up when the story demands they do.
--The timing was also off -- since it was split between Ria and Rani's POVs, the stories should
have lined up. But sometimes, each storyline would jump ahead, and then we'd have to go "back
in time" to catch up with the other sister's actions.

✘ -- I don't object to multiple POVs on principle -- some of my favorite books have multiple POVs, and I think it *can* be done effectively. It just wasn't effective, for me, here. If I stopped in the middle of a chapter, I had a hard time figuring out which POV right away. The voices of Ria and Rani just sounded the same to me.

✘ -- Pacing. This book felt very "even" to me -- that is, a book like <i>Fable</i> was fast paced with hills and valleys (okay, for that one, it was pretty much a straight upward slope) on the plot diagram. Here, the energy was the same for me, because there didn't really seem to be any stakes or deadlines to up the tension. Ria and Rani just kinda...meandered. I know the day the truce ended was *supposed* to be the big climactic moment, but it just didn't feel like we were building toward that.
Aaaand there's a big info dump at the end, with Amara Evil Villain Monologuing for quite a bit.

I feel like when I started reading, I was ready to give the book 3 stars, because it was "fine" -- an okay read, but nothing that really stood apart from what I've read before. But the farther I got into the story, the more exasperated I got, so 2 stars it is.

This was on of my most anticipated reads of the year and let me just say!! Totally worth it!! I fell in love with the magic, Indian mythology and sisterly love that Sasha and Serena showed this novel! I cannot wait to see what they come up with next!

I absolutely adored this book. The worldbuilding, the writing, the characters, just all of it. It was fun and kept me interested throughout the whole book. I think my main issue and probably only issue with it was how quickly the two sister’s started acting like sisters after just meeting. I feel like their relationship rushed past the awkward stage and they immediately started acting as if they knew each other which caught me a little off guard but I would still highly recommend it.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book for this honest review!

I really enjoyed this!!! rtc

Thank you to HCC Frenzy for sending me an ARC via netgalley.
4.5/5 stars

This book was really fun to read. It was an engaging fantasy story about twins with magic, a kingdom on the brink of war, and quests to discover secrets and powerful objects. The authors did an amazing job of crafting the world with all the various legends and stories as well as the culture shining through. The characters were interesting and likeable, and they had good development.
This book gives off major Princess and the Pauper vibes, and I had the song from the Barbie movie stuck in my head the whole time I was reading. Even though it had this basic plot point of twins switching places, it was really well executed. The twins, Rani and Ria, are the narrators with the book jumping back and forth between their perspectives in each chapter. I thought their voices were unique in that I wasn’t confusing them, but at the same time they shared a lot of similar things. I was rooting for both Ria and Rani the whole time.
I liked the magic system in this world a lot. I thought it was well explained and developed and I was able to follow along with it. I thought the snake magic was really cool, and I loved Shima!
The other characters in the book are also well developed and thought out. They felt purposeful and they added more to the story through their interactions with Ria and Rani, and also as the plot unfolded and secrets were revealed. I really liked the villain arc in this story, and I cannot wait to see what happens next!
I found the writing style easy to follow and engaging. It was a great read for escaping into a new world. I think fans of YA fantasy who like to see strong female protagonists and stories of betrayal, secrets, magic, and family will really enjoy this one!

Twin sisters, separated at birth, lead very different lives. Rani lives as a princess in a palace. Ria lives as an orphaned street rat. When their paths collide and they learn of one another's existence, their lives change forever. They opt to trade places. As they each play the role of the other, they face new dangers and must work to restore order to a kingdom out of balance. This YA fantasy novel has prophecies, gilded kingdoms, love stories, friendship, snakespeakers and dark magic. With a well-developed sense of place, this book takes the reader through the halls of the opulent palace and the alleyways of the dusty town, but don't get caught in the snake pit, or you may not get out alive.

With a pretty simplified writing and dialogue style and a tendency to over-explain plots, relationships and environments, I would highly recommend this Prince and the Pauper retelling to younger teen audiences.

This was a refreshing take on a classic story with new magic systems and interesting family dynamics. I appreciate the instinctual distrust between Ria and Rani and how their relationship deviated from the usual insta-bond that happens with long lost sister and doppelganger plotlines.

I also appreciated seeing the men and romance plotlines taking a backseat to a story centering these two young women and their emotional development as characters. with that being said, the chemistry for the love interest felt slightly off but I didn't read the story for them anyways.

I would've loved to see the girls interact more but overall, this was an easy-to-read and quick story that I thoroughly enjoyed.

twin story involving snakes and one is a princess, and one lives in the slums. It reminded me of the princess and the pauper story but with an Indian flair and mind-reading twisty snake magic. The twins are identical, so when they switch places, no one is the wiser. The princess has lived her whole life in the palace, never out in public while the other roams the streets as a thief escaped from an orphanage. The thief meets a princess, and a light bulb goes off, and it is only supposed to be three days but ends up being weeks—their a love interest with both twins as well as a snake familiar. Dark secrets are being kept in the palace, and the switch starts to bring things to light. Sisters of the snake are the first of the series about these twins, and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4! Thank you so much to Harper Collins for sending me an ARC in exchange for review!

When I first heard about this book, I knew I had to read it. The premise is everything I could want in a book: two magical twins separated at birth, one a thief and one a princess, who switch places with each other. So many of my favourite tropes wrapped into one book! It is also an #ownvoices South Asian inspired fantasy, and that made the world feel so fresh. I adored the magic system as well, and the creepy-yet-epic snake magic the sisters use.

Another thing this book did well was romance. Or perhaps I should say, the romance was to my personal taste. It was lightly sprinkled throughout and very innocent (so for those who read for smut, this isn’t for you). Both sisters have their own romantic arc, each wonderfully developed so that I really shipped both couples! They were so wholesome and healthy, which is a nice change from the broody and angst-filled sagas we often see, hahaha. (Though don’t get me wrong, I love angst too!)

There are a few reasons why this was ultimately a 3.5 star read for me. The biggest is that I felt the book was somewhat lacking in conflict. The sisters solve the problems that arise with ease and without much cost to themselves or their friends. Because of that, I sometimes felt that the plot just happened, rather than the sisters needing to make difficult choices to drive it forward. Secondly, this book is dual POV, and just for me personally, I didn’t enjoy one of the sisters as much, so I found it hard to be invested during her plot line. And finally, I also did not resonate with some of the dialogue, finding it occasionally stilted.

However, as I said, the concept of this book makes it a worthwhile read! It’s also wonderful to see more #ownvoices POC authors get their moment in YA. And the authors of this book are Canadian, so, as a Canadian, that’s awesome for me as well!

If you read it, I’m sure you’ll agree: Shima is the true MVP.

Sisters of the Snake is about long lost twins finding each other and finding themselves. One of them has lived in riches and is almost spoiled and the other was in an orphanage and definitely had different circumstances to deal with. The food imagery in this book was really great.
I liked how the snake/magic was involved in this book and did enjoy it overall.
But! I so wish this was longer to maybe delve a little more into what its true potential was.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an early copy of this book.

What a delightful read! I wasn’t bored at all through this despite it being a retelling, there were some unexpected plot twists and turns I didn’t see coming! There were some crumbs of romance which I enjoyed. I would have liked to see some more of the sisters bonding I feel like they switched too quick and it was kinda rushed. However this book is fast paced and gets to the point which I appreciated!

Sasha and Sarena really managed to create an engaging and entertaining story that captured me from the start. The pacing was perfect and each chapter had me turning page after page to find out what was going to happen next. The writing style flows perfectly and was very easy to follow along. The heart of this book are the characters! I was rooting for these twin sister main characters the whole time. I loved their bond that strengthened with the story. Even the side characters roped me in. I just wish there had been a tad more world building. Overall I'm sticking with a 4/5 star rating. I can't wait to see where the sequel will take us!

This was such a fun read. I love stories about long lost twins and this had everything it needed for a great story. I definitely got Parent Trap mixed with Aladdin vibes from it. Ria and Rani were great characters, both unique and full of life. Rani really seemed to come to life during the switch, but I felt like Ria stumbled a bit. For someone so street smart and tough I expected a little bit more out of her. I also had a few moments where I would get confused about the who was who, but it was mainly when they were referring to each other in their opposite roles. I also really enjoyed the world building through out. Over all a great book. I can't wait for the second one.

Sisters of the Snake is a book about long lost twins finding each other and embarking on their own journeys of self-discovery. Think the parent trap, but with magic, a raja, and a future queen. Each twin struggles with things that their lives have dealt them. Rani, the future queen, chafes against the rules and restrictions that her status (and father) has imposed on her. She is not quite a spoiled princess, but she definitely does not appreciate the things she has nor has she taken time to think about what life outside the castle is for her people. Ria grow up in an orphanage and has become a skilled thief. She does not have the luxury of having everything given to her and finds herself conscripted into the raja's miltary. A change encounter during Diwali allows the girls to meet and trade places. Both of these young women have male love interests, but of course things go awry when they trade places.

I enjoyed the inclusion of magic/snake speak in the book. I actually wanted to have more interaction with Shima the snake, she was a great character that I wish had been further developed. The writing was not great, but not terrible either. I felt the chapters with Ria (as Rani) and Saeed were more interesting and compelling for me.

Spoiler alert: I wish this book had been longer and delved deeper into aspects of this story, especially since the book ends with unanswered questions and an epilogue that sets up a sequel.

Overall, a decent book.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a free copy to review.

Super cute book that reminded me of some of my 90’s favs like the parent trap and it takes two!
Overall I really enjoyed the book and would recommend it to fans of YA and fantasy. I especially love knowing that the authors are twin sisters that write together. I can’t wait to get my hands on the next book in the series when it’s released!

Thanks to the authors and Harper Collins for the gifted ARC copy so that I could read and review!

I am grateful for Netgalley and the Publishers for providing me with an e-arc.
The book follows two twin sisters Ria and Rani who were separated at birth, Ria is a thief and has lived in an orphanage, while Rani is a princess who is not allowed to leave the palace. The book has an interesting use of snake magic and also has a talking snake familiar.
The book is fast paced and very readable. Maybe you could read this book over a weekend or even a day. I am a super slow reader and yet I was able to read this quickly. While going into the book, I didn't know this was a Prince and Pauper retelling. I am not much familiar with the retelling to see how similar or not similar the book is to the original source. But the book was reminiscent of 70s/80s Bollywood movies, the trope of siblings getting separated at birth and reuniting later is probably in the psyche of all Indians. Being a Bollywood fan, I quiet liked this :D
If you are looking for a quick, easy read with some Indian aesthetics, then I recommend Sisters of Snake.

"His executions are more painful than a sword through the chest. The royals use snakes. They twist their fangs in your gut and don't let go."

What a fun adventure this was! As someone who thoroughly enjoys reading books based in cultures outside of my own, it was refreshing to submerge myself in an Indian YA fantasy and learn about the food, the setting, and all the other glorious cultural details along the way. Even though this book is fantasy fiction, I felt like I learned so much from the authors' inclusion of their own voices. It's about time that we got a Prince and the Pauper type of retelling featuring diverse characters, and I cannot wait to continue on with the story in the next book and learn more about the magic system. Also? This cover is stunning!

☆☆☆☆,25 /5

L'histoire tourne autour des jumelles Ria et Rani, qui chacune n'a aucune idée de l'existence de l'autre. L'une vit dans les quartiers d'Abai et vole pour survivre, tandis que l'autre est la princesse héritière du royaume. Les deux jeunes filles se rencontrent lorsque Ria pénètre dans le palais et tente de voler des joyaux afin de pouvoir se payer un faux-passeport et quitter le royaume qui va bientôt entrer en guerre. Cela dit, Rani, elle, souhaite arrêter son père, le roi, pour que la guerre n'ait pas lieu.
Afin de sauver le royaume tout entier, la vie de tous les habitants et la promesse d'un monde meilleur, les deux soeurs vont échanger leur place et user de leur talent avant de parvenir à leurs fins.
¤
Et j'ai été complètement charmée par cet échange de vie. Dans le roman, nous suivons le point de vue de Ria et Rani, en alternance. Au début, j'avoue avoir été un peu perdue tant les prénoms se ressemblaient, mais également la manière dont était dépeint les deux points de vue. J'ai eu de la difficulté à savoir qui je suivais à chaque chapitre. Cela dit, une fois les 3 premiers chapitres passés, les pages se sont enchaînées. L'intrigue a commencé à se mettre en place et à s'accélérer. J'ai énormément aimé voir comment les deux jeunes filles se sont adaptées chacune à la vie de l'autre. Tout en ayant des obstacles et des difficultés, les jumelles ont su faire preuve de grandes capacités d'adaptation, d'introspection et de débrouillardise. Leur psychologie et leur personnalité ont bien été travaillées selon moi. Au début, j'avais peur qu'il y ait trop de similitudes, que l'on tombe dans le cliché que la soeur jumelle est la copie de l'autre sur tous les points et finalement, j'ai été agréablement surprise par les différences entre Ria et Rani, qui s'opposaient et qui se complétaient en même temps.
¤
Je ne l'ai pas cité au début, mais le récit se déroule dans un monde fantasy à la culture indienne. J'ai apprécié en apprendre beaucoup sur les légendes, la magie et le fonctionnement du royaume via des instants de répit entre les personnages, les classes d'Histoire au palais. C'était assez immersif. Cela dit, j'aurais voulu en apprendre plus sur les différents types de magie, on n'en voir que peu et sinon le reste est seulement mentionné, sans être expliqué ou exploité.
Également, j'ai été dérangée par le rythme de certaines scènes, qui n'était pas assez équilibré pour moi. Notamment, la scène de rencontre entre les deux soeurs au début roman. Je trouve que Rani accepte un peu trop vite l'existence de sa soeur jumelle. Puis lorsqu'elles switchent, les deux jeunes filles n'ont aucune information sur la vie de l'autre. Pour moi, ce switch était précipité, il n'y avait aucune préparation et je dois avouer que j'ai trouvé le début d'adaptation un peu irréel, bien que les auteures semblent s'être rattrapées par la suite.
¤
En bref, j'ai énormément aimé ce roman, ce premier tome introductif dans lequel il se passe quand même beaucoup de choses ! J'ai très très hâte au second tome, qui sort l'été prochain !

•°•°•°•

The story follows twins Ria and Rani, who each have no idea the other's existence. One is a thief to survive in the streets, while the other is the princess of the kingdom. The two girls meet when Ria enters the palace and tries to steal some jewel so that she can afford a fake passport and leave the kingdom before there's a war. That said, Rani, she wishes to arrest her father, the king, so that the war doesn't take place.
Finally, in order to save the entire kingdom, the lives of all the inhabitants and the promise of a better world, the two sisters will exchange their places and use their talent to do what they think the best.
¤
So, I was completely charmed by this exchange of life. In the book, we alternate between Ria and Rani's point of view. At the beginning, I have to admit to having been a little lost because the first names and the way the points of view were written were alike for me. I had difficulties knowing who I was following in each chapter. However, once the first 3 chapters passed, it was like a pageturner book. The plot began to put in place and got really interesting. I really enjoyed seeing how the two girls adapted to each other's lives. While having obstacles and difficulties, the twins demonstrated great adaptability, introspection and resourcefulness. Their psychology and their personality have been well worked in my opinion. At first, I was afraid that there were too many similarities, that the authors would fall into the cliché that the twin sister is the copy of the other in every way, but finally, I was pleasantly surprised by the differences between Ria and Rani, which were opposed and which complemented each other at the same time.
¤
I didn't say it at the beginning, but the story takes place in an Indian fantasy world. I enjoyed learning a lot about the legends, the magic and the functioning of the kingdom via moments of respite between the characters, the History lessons at the palace. It was quite immersive. Having said that, I would have liked to learn more about the different types of magic, we only see a little of it and it would be interesting if that was not only mentioned, but explained or exploited. Also, I was disturbed by the rhythm of certain scenes, which was not balanced enough for me. In particular, the meeting scene between the two sisters at the beginning of the book. I thought that Rani accepted the existence of her twin sister a little too quickly. Then when they switched, the two girls have no information on the life of the other. For me, this switch was rushed, there was no preparation and I have to admit that I found the beginning of adaptation a little unreal, although it was better afterwards.
¤
In short, I really liked this first book, which is introductive and in which there is still a lot going on! I can't wait for the sequel, which comes out next summer!

3.5 stars but I rounded up!

This book is described as a desi, fantasy Princess and the Pauper retelling and it does not fail to deliver! Our main characters Ria and Rani have lived very different lives - Ria growing up on the streets and becoming a theif and Rani growing up in the palace training to become a queen one day (in case you couldn't tell from her name). As expected, they meet and their worlds get thrown upside down and they have to work, both together and apart to make sense of their lives, pasts, connection with each other and the secrets surrounding them and their country.

The worldbuilding in this book? Amazing! Usually fantasy stories are a little slow with the worldbuilding but in Sisters of the Snake the world building is tied so well into the plot. Rather than introducing the world with an info dump in the beginning, Sasha and Sarena use story telling within the plot to build the world and help readers to understand the setting, making the world building quite easy to get through and keeping readers (namely me) hooked and guessing because we learn about the world in pieces.

Speaking of hooked and guessing, the plot is A M A Z I N G. I was hooked 2 chapters in and had already started with my little theories of what was going to happen. And for those of us who can't manage books with no romance? The romance in this is so good, it feels natural and is a total soulmate trope tease. I felt so much with this book, with the romance, the relationships, the details, and honestly the whole plot. So good.

It's not really the fastest read in the world, I had to take some breaks because it got a little slow in the middle but once you get past that hump? Amazing. It's totally worth it for the beginning and end which suck you in. It is a dual pov, which works for this book honestly. You can clearly tell the difference between Ria and Rani and it helps you to connect with them both so well. The parallels between the 2 povs and the way their stories end up intertwining is so so good too, but I must say if you are anything like me and your memory SUCKS you might get a little twisted up with the constant pov shifts. Honestly though? It's not bad enough to not read and enjoy the book. All in all it wasn't life changing but I throughly enjoyed it and will be waiting anxiously for the next one!

(also side note for my desi readers? the letter in the start? Drove me to tears it was so relatable and meaningful and got me so so excited for the book and to meet our characters).