The Third Daughter (The Third Daughter, #1)

THE THIRD DAUGHTER is an intriguing YA fantasy about mythology, magic, and power. Still grieving the loss of their mother, the Queen, Elodie and her siblings are attending a coronation for her youngest sister, Brianne. As the Third Daughter of a Third Daughter, she is proclaimed by the church to be the reincarnation of the New Maiden around whom their religion is built. As such, she will be Queen, rather than Elodie, who spent much of her life training closely with their mother.

However, since she is so young, she would need someone to guide her. While Elodie thought this might be the role she was trained to fill, Brianne's father, the Chaplain of the church has filled it and is manipulating Brianne into doing his bidding, including sending Elodie to a distant realm to marry a cruel man. Elodie has other plans though, and she searches out a sleeping potion that will make Brianne sleep for a while so she can restore power and order.

Sabine is an apothecary whose tears have magic. She and her siblings are selling their potions with their tears when she meets Elodie and accidentally switches the vial of sleeping draught with her pure magic tears. As this spirals into the loss of her sister's freedom and her family's finances, she seeks out Elodie to try to right the wrongs. Elodie is likewise seeking her to help wake her sister, as though Brianne has fallen into a deep sleep, things did not go according to plan.

As Elodie and Sabine work together, they will discover much about the religion their world believes so fervently, those in power, and the their financial differences.

What I loved: This story was based on some unique and fascinating mythology that the reader is fed in pieces throughout the story. The story of the New Maiden and the Third Daughter reincarnation is one that they all know through their religion - however, the difference between the truth and the religion is vast, and those in power of the church do not seem to have pure intentions. This twisting of religion to serve purposes of political and personal gain was a thought-provoking theme and one that is reminiscent of stories throughout history and the present.

Elodie is a fierce character who approaches life with bravery, but she is also a bit sheltered and naive, not fully grasping what life is like for many of her subjects, particularly with regards to poverty. She learns much through her interactions with Sabine and the places they visit that Elodie did not even realize existed. Sabine was also a really compelling character, who has lived her life being ashamed of her feelings. Her tears have power, for which her family is happy to use her, but they do not seem to appreciate her or respect her, and they were often cruel. These complex family dynamics played out in the story without full resolution, but it has really shaped her into who she is.

With thought-provoking themes around the socioeconomic divide, emotions, complex family dynamics, trust and betrayal, and religion and power, this was definitely a book that would be great to discuss. There were also some great twists and turns along the way. Although a big one was particularly easy to guess, there were definitely many others that were tough to see coming.

The romance was slow-building, and it had some stumbles as it was just beginning to blossom, so it will definitely be interesting to see where it goes in future books. Along those lines, there is a bit of cliffhanger ending that will leave readers eagerly awaiting the sequel.

What left me wanting more: As a small thing, the book gets caught in the minutiae in the beginning and middle parts in places which made it feel a bit slow. The mythology was also not presented in full, and I would have loved to learn more about their religion and history than we are able to in this book. Hopefully, this will be fleshed out more in future books.

Final verdict: THE THIRD DAUGHTER is a thought-provoking and engaging YA fantasy read. Recommend picking this up for fans of SEVEN FACELESS SAINTS, A SWEET AND BITTER MAGIC, and BLOOD DEBTS.