Welcome back to the final day of our book club read-along for OwlCrate's June book, Sisters of the Snake!
Just a reminder that this will be a SPOILER discussion for Chapters 37 to the end of Sisters of the Snake, so make sure you read are finished before continuing.
Discussion questions are listed below, and anyone who participates in the comments will be entered to win a free OwlCrate box! We'll be selecting a winner early next week!
The story so far...
Ria:
The following night Saeed appears panicked at Ria’s door. He has had a vision of his mother ordering someone killed at Anari Square. They run to the square to see if they can prevent the killing, but they arrive after the man has been stabbed. They confront Amara about everything she has been doing. She claims she has been giving Saeed the snake venom draft to protect him from the king discovering his magic. It turns out the cuffs she wears are the Memory Master’s talisman and she has been using them to control the Charts. Amara reveals to Saeed that Ria isn’t Rani before getting a Chart to tie them up, give them a sleeping serum, and send them to the dungeons.
Rani:
They arrive at the Vas River and Rani is able to harness her snake magic to retrieve the Bloodstone. When she emerges her father’s army of Charts is approaching, and rather than flee she greets her father.
Ria:
Thrown into the dungeons, Saeed says he forgives Ria for deceiving him. Amara appears and confirms their suspicions, she have been controlling the raja and his snake Samvir, and she was the one who convinced him to go after the Bloodstone in the first place.
Rani:
Rani confronts her father and he appears to genuinely not remember the fact that he has twins. In Rani’s shock, the raja takes the Bloodstone from her and gives it to the Head Chart. He also appears to genuinely not remember anything he is doing, about the war, the new conscription age, or even appointing Amara his new advisor. The Head Chart returns with the Bloodstone which the raja places in his scepter and agrees to let Rani return to the palace to find out what Amara is up to.
Once back in the palace, Rani speaks to Shima and discovers she is in the dungeons. Rani asks Sanya and Jas to ready the infirmary in case there are injuries, and requests Irfan try to find Amara. Amir and herself head to the dungeons. They find Saeed and Ria, and they work out that Amara’s plan must be to get the Bloodstone, bring the Soul Master back, and use his magic to reap her dead husband. Rani and Ria use their snake magic to help them all escape the dungeon and when they split up with Saeed and Amir to look for Amara they find her. She has killed the Head Chart and has the Bloodstone in her hands.
Ria:
Amara had persuaded the Head Chart to work for her and swap the Bloodstone with a fake one. Shima tries to attack her, but the Bloodstone has other magic that protects the person who is in possession of it. She reveals that she is behind the coming war with Kaama and wants to see it destroyed. Amara also, on the request of the raja and the queen, performed a charm after Rani and Ria were born to make them forget Ria so they did not give in to temptation and bring her back. Amara’s plan now is to bring back her husband, then using the lifeblood of Amran kept inside the stone, inject it into her veins and become the Master of Souls herself.
Rani:
Rani and Ria use their snake magic to invoke the name of the Snake Master and have the snakes of the Snake Pit protect them against Amara. They rise from the pit and try to attack. Eventually Rani and Ria lose control and the Pit starts to crumble and Amara falls in.
Ria:
They see no evidence of Amara’s body in the Pit, and the snakes confirm that she and the Bloodstone simply disappeared. Amir and Saeed found the queen and Aditi tied up, and they are now okay and in the infirmary. The raja is about to return to the palace.
They reveal the whole story to the raja, who in turn tells them that when he met with King Javeen on the battlefield and they found out they had both been manipulated, they cut their palms and spilled their own blood to satisfy the stipulations for the treaty and not go to war.
They go to see the queen in the infirmary and Ria meets her truly for the first time. In order to unlock the memories that Amara hid away, Shima uses her venom on the raja. Jas concocts a tincture for the queen which also helps bring back her memories of Ria. Ria agrees to stay in the palace.
Rani:
One week later everyone is settling into a newly more peaceful and less war obsessed palace. Rani is working smoothing over her relationships with Irfan and Amir.
Ria:
There is a party happening in the palace, and Ria is talking to Shima in the courtyard. Shima tells her that the snakes believe only someone very powerful could have disappeared from the Pit, and that they no longer hear the voice. Saeed finds her and tells her that he believes his mother is alive, and he’s going to search for her.
Epilogue:
She wakes in a cave and feels the voice inside her say they have waited a long time for this. “Yes, Master.”
Questions:
- Assuming we are seeing Amara in the epilogue, do you think it is the Snake Master that is with her? What do you think will happen to her plan to become the Memory Master?
- Sasha and Sarena Nanua recently made people guess what the title of book two will be - what are your guesses?
- Do you think the prophecy about the sisters will still play a roll in the next book?
- What are your predications for book two?
- What was your favorite part of the book?
Pick up your June "Go Your Own Way" box and your signed exclusive copy of Sisters of the Snake in the OwlCrate Shop!
