“‘A haunting song. A deadly dance. An explosive finale.’ Allemar may be dead, but his cause festers in the dark. Strange beasts stalk the night as haunting music corrupts the fog. When morning comes, nothing but dust remains. Rumours are quick to spread, with many speculating that Allemar had a son…and the evil sorcerer’s heir wants blood. When an attack hits close to home, I become embroiled in a plan with the Magical Menagerie to infiltrate the palace of Sion and flush out the apprentice. Instead, I find twelve princesses, terrified and ensnared in a spell of music and death. Caught in a charade for my life, I don’t know whom to trust, for even my greatest love may be my greatest enemy. For I am Honor, one of the adoptive daughters of Lady Eville, and I’m an antimage – cursed with a gift that can kill. Forever forced to travel the ley lines to keep my friends safe, I must find the source of the rumors before the sinister song reaches its final note… And death takes his final bow.”
What is the book about?
After the events in Of Mist and Murder, Maeve succeeded where her sisters hadn’t – she killed Allemar. However, despite him being dead, his cause continued and there are rumours that Allemar had a son, who is now claiming blood and dark magic and following in the footsteps of his evil father. Not only that but strange creatures originating from the kingdom of Sion are appearing all over the 7 kingdoms, wreaking havoc and causing deaths. After Honor, one of the adoptive daughters of Lady Eville, gets involved in one of the attacks as it occurs close to the place she calls home, she seeks to find the source of this trouble and stop the young apprentice before all hell breaks loose. With help from the Magical Menagerie, Honor plans to infiltrate the palace of Sion and, even though there are many protections in place to keep the daughters of Eville from entering, the job seems easier than ever because Honor isn’t like her sisters. She is an antimage, cursed with a gift that doesn’t mean she can use magic but means she takes it and can kill without meaning to, which is why she was always kept away from her other sisters. So now Honor must find out if the rumours are correct and stop whatever or whoever is responsible for this destruction before everyone dies, but she won’t be able to do it alone…
What were your initial thoughts on the book?
My first thoughts on Of Secrets and Slippers were conflicted as I struggled with my excitement and fears. After finishing Of Gold and Greed and learning more about the mysterious 7th sister, Honor, who was always away from the tower and never with her sisters, I was intrigued and desperate to read this book, which is why I bought it. When I first got the book series Of Secrets and Slippers had not yet come out, so I waited to see if I would like the books and, as I did, I bought the final book. When I got my hands on it and I read the blurb I was even more excited about reading it and discovering more about Honor, who I had grown to like in the previous book. However, before I started reading, I also had some worrying thoughts that always plague me when I think of starting the final book in a series I have enjoyed. I was scared that the book wouldn’t be as good as I thought it was and that it would ruin the whole series by having a bad ending. These doubts were even more severe than usual since Of Gold and Greed hadn’t been the best of the books, however I tried to put them aside in order to start reading the book. Soon I forgot all my initial doubts as I started to read and began to really love the book, just like I had hoped.
Who was your favourite character and why?
My favourite character was definitely Honor, though I also greatly appreciated Rumple and his entertaining comments once again. In Of Gold and Greed I couldn’t be sure about what Honor was really like because I didn’t get her point of view, only her sister’s. However, I now know that everything I thought was correct. I loved Honor’s bravery, strength and determination. She was independent and, though her training with Lorn, she knew how to survive on her own in the wild. I also loved how she was so strong and powerful and, despite the fact that she wasn’t a sorceress like her sisters, she was never seen as the weak link, only the outcast, the one always on her own because of her power. This beings me onto my favourite thing about Honor: even though she knew she was destined for a life of loneliness and that she would also have to keep her distance, fearing killing those she loved, she never complained about it and never let those thoughts bring her down. She was so strong and I know she is definitely one of my favourite of the daughters of Eville.
What was your favourite part of the book and why?
My favourite part of the book was near the end when the help that Honor needed came. Since the beginning, Honor had always felt like the outcast of the family because of her power, which kept her far from her other sisters, travelling along the ley lines so she could take the magic from them and not from the people around her. However, despite feeling this way, her sisters still loved her like they loved all the others and at this part of the book Honor finally understood that. All her sisters came to her aid and every single one of them accepted her for what she really was (an antimage) and didn’t hate her like she had feared. Not only that but at the end of the book, when Honor needed help fixing what was broken they were all prepared to let Honor do the thing that she had always been told she couldn’t do, the thing she had always feared. This all happened because they loved and trusted her and knew that she would never hurt them on purpose and I loved that at this part Honor was finally able to see that because I knew it was important to her, even though she tried to push it down. I also loved this part of the book and the bit even further at the end because all of the sisters were back together, like they had been at the beginning of the whole series, and I loved that.
What was your overall impression of the book?
Overall, I loved reading Of Secrets and Slippers and it was definitely one of my favourite of the books in the Daughters of Eville series. One thing that I really liked about the book was the fact that all 7 of the daughters of Lady Eville were present in the book. Not only that but so were all of their love interests and any family that they had started to create. I liked seeing all of them together and liked the way that all of their powers were needed in order to really solve the problem, even though it was Honor’s adventure. Every sister had had help from one of the others and then that other girl had gone on to have her adventure and receive help from another sister and so on. As a result, I had been concerned that Honor would be on her own, which I wouldn’t have been surprised about because she was the one always on the outside looking in at the relationship that her other sisters had with each other. However, instead Honor got help from every one of her sisters and she was the thing that brought them together. Another thing that I loved about the book was the amount of plot twists and secrets that seemed to be revealed at every turn, though the biggest were only ever hinted at until the end. I honestly can’t believe I didn’t see the reveal at the end of the book coming but I had been so distracted by my own theories about the son of Allemar that I didn’t see what was right in front of me. The initial book had not had as many twists so I was glad that this book did because it made it so much more interesting. One other thing I loved about the book (which you are probably tired of hearing about as I have mentioned in all of the previous book reviews) is how easy to read it was. I am not kidding when I say that I bought and finished the book in one day and literally finished in one sitting. I couldn’t put it down (yet another reason supporting the amazing plot) and found it so fast-paced that it honestly felt like the events of the book were flying by. The fast pace also helped me feel more involved in the book and made me forget I was reading for a bit and that these characters and events weren’t actually real. Even though I enjoyed the book immensely, there were a few things that weren’t exactly perfect. One of those was the ending. Although I think it fit very well with Honor’s situation and personality, I would have loved to see all of the daughters of Lady Eville take control of every single one of the 7 kingdoms and think it would have made the book even better. However, the ending was satisfactory and I liked that everyone got their happy ending, which is rare for such crazy, deadly adventures. Another thing I would have liked for this book, as well as every other one in the series, was some different points of view including. I would have loved to see into the minds of some of the side characters and love interests, and also would have preferred a third person perspective because I find that gives the book a deeper meaning and view. But, despite all these flaws, Of Beast and Beauty, Of Glass and Glamour, Of Sea and Song, Of Thorn and Thread, Of Mist and Murder, Of Gold and Greed and Of Secrets and Slippers were all amazing and I am sad to see the series end.
Would you recommend this book?
I 100% recommend reading this book and think it is the perfect read for those over 14 who love fantasy, romance, adventure and fairy tale novels. Obviously it is important to read the 6 books previous to this one and I definitely recommend doing so as it is worth it.
Summarise the book in one sentence. (Verdict)
The perfect conclusion to a romantic and adventurous series about 7 magical sisters and 7 magical (and corrupt) kingdoms.
Reviewed by Jimena Gutierrez Reviriego
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