The Truth-Teller's Tale Mass Market Paperback – April 5, 2007

Elada and Adele are twins and mirror images of each other in both personality and appearance. Elada is a truth-teller, unable to speak an untruth and compelled to always tell the truth. Adele, on the other hand, is a secret-keeper, as closed-lipped and good-naturedly duplicitous as her sister is outspoken. As the twins grow up and into their roles, their abilities help them provide the functions of confidant and advice-giver for the entire town. Occasionally the townsfolk mix up the twins, to sometimes humorous, embarrassing, or disastrous results, accidentally telling secrets to Elada and expecting honest advice from Adele. The secrets they learn unravel over a backdrop of the sisters discovering love, loss, betrayal, and friendship as they first blossom into adolescence and then adulthood.I adored this book. The plot may not sound like anything exceptional, but this is an incorrect assumption as the characters and world Shinn creates are truly delightful to read about. Shinn's exceptional writing brings this book a cut above standard YA fare, creating numerous passages that are simply beautiful. The story unfolds at a languid pace, but I found myself completely enthralled and immersed after the first page. Though the book is relatively short, I feel like I've know the characters my whole life. Their joys and sorrows were powerful and evocative.The world Shinn created is as full and real as her characters. The idea of truth-tellers, secret-keepers, and dream-makers blended seamlessly into the more standard fare medieval-like world. Never did these abilities feel gimmicky or out of place. It was amusing to read about how these abilities brought comfort, strife, and humor into the lives of the various characters. Highly recommended to both YA and adult readers.

I enjoyed the characters and the story was cute. I'm sad it was over so fast.

When you think of YA fantasy, you tend to think of either magical kingdoms overrun with beasties, or teens suddenly saddled with the knowledge that they are a wizard / god / vampire.But what Sharon Shinn shows is that there's a lot more satisfaction in building complex characters with problems that are human problems. Sure, there are some abilities here that go beyond the everyday -- but only just beyond. This "world" is one that you can easily fall into, and these characters are ones that you can easily identify with.A lovely series of books with lyrical writing and lots of beautifully executed background. This series deserves to be widely read and well known.

This book is fabulous, flat out.Solid world building, terrific use of light fantasy elements, well-rounded characters, careful handling of sensitive topics, tight plot, and overall magnificent writing. This is actually the third time I've purchased a copy of this book, because I keep loaning them out.I've been reading Fantasy for over 30 years, and, though I love the genre, there can often be a sense of story fatigue, like I've read it all already. These stories feel at once fresh and also timeless. Can't recommend the book enough.

Not my favor but it was entertaining and easy to read

This is a story about a set of "mirror twins" who are essentially each others opposite; one cannot tell a lie, and one cannot divulge deep secrets. This story follows them through their childhood until about age 17, along with several of the town's inhabitants. Very well-written and engaging--a solid piece of young adult fiction from Sharon Shinn. This is supposedly the second book in a series, but reads as a stand-alone.

While this is the second in a series, after "The Safe-Keeper's Secret" it has almost entirely different characters and would stand alone perfectly well. TSKS felt more medieval, while this one feels more like 1800, with the waltz and a music box, but no trains or other signs of industrialization. Magic is integrated into the culture fairly modestly, with a few people having special powers or qualities. While there's some evil, like the first book, this one seemed a bit lighter to me. I'm afraid I saw through the major plot device immediately, but then I'm far from the target teenager audience. That didn't keep me from enjoying the tale. Shinn is superb at creating close communities of characters, attractive cultures, and visually arresting images. I can't wait to read the third and final book in this series, Dream Maker's Magic.

Absolutely delicious, romantic and fun. Ir's the second book in a three-book series, but I loved this without having ever read Book 1 - it stood alone perfectly. (But now, of course, I want to read the other two books in the series immediately!) The characters are all fabulous, I love Eleda's blunt narrative voice (the ups AND downs of always telling the truth about EVERYTHING), and her romance was so much fun to read.

It has an obvious plot twist, but I wasn't bothered by it. I just enjoyed the journey, like with many of Sharon Shinn's novels.