The Sisters Grimm by Menna van Praag

Not all gods are merciful.  Grimm is not.  He has thousands of children and amuses himself by pitting them against each other in an intricate game that ends in death.  The male children are soldiers and to stay alive must kill a female Grimm and take her essence.  The female children are shown a wonderful playworld called Everwhere.  There they start to learn about the powers given them.  But they are banned from visiting at age thirteen and must live here on Earth.  At age eighteen, they return to Everwhere for a battle in which it is kill or be killed and where they must make a decision to their father; good or evil.  The males are pretty much loners.  The females who share a birthday are sisters and meet each other in Everwhere.

The eighteenth birthday is coming up in a month for a set of  four Grimm sisters.  Each controls an element of the world, although their powers are not evident to them.  Goldie is on the earth but in her regular life she is a hotel maid trying to make enough money to support herself and her younger brother.  Bea is a creature of the air and the only sister who knows anything about the upcoming battle as her hated mother has told her all about it and makes it clear she is to choose evil.  Liyana's power is over water; in her earthly life she is a swimmer and wealthy although her aunt has just informed her that all their money has been lost.  Scarlet is a creature of fire.  She tries to keep her grandmother's bakery going and her grandmother happy as she battles a fading memory and depends on Scarlet for everything. 

As the thirty days go by, the sisters start to remember about their childhood visits to Everwhere.  They all find love relationships which in some cases strength them and in others lead to betrayals.  More importantly, they start to rediscover their powers and to find each other; first in dreams then in real life.  Can they ready themselves for the ultimate battle they must soon fight?

Meena van Pragg has created a modern day fairy tale that empowers female readers to reach for their dreams and for happiness.  Each of the four sisters is deftly captured and the reader is drawn into their lives and loves.  Different readers will relate more to different sisters and that is a reflection of the issues in their own lives and where they dare to be powerful.  This book is recommended for readers of fantasy.