Another forgotten book question: time shenanigans

April 28, 2018 8:20 PM

Seeking a book about sisters (maybe twins?) in which one of them steals time from the other, making her grow old. But she doesn't know it because there's a witch who is disguising her to make her beautiful, so neither of the sisters realize what's happening.

The only other detail my partner remembers about the witch is "she was the boss bitch." There was also a boy who could rewind time, and would replay conversations over and over to get them perfect. Might have taken place at a boarding school? There may possibly have been Egyptian magic involved but I've already confirmed that my partner had this story mixed up with Orphans of Chaos and it's definitely not that so take any of these details with a grain of salt.

It most likely was published before 2010. Young adult, not children's. Metafilter, live up to the stories I have told my partner about your book finding prowess!

posted by brook horse to Media & Arts (3 answers total)

Siblings, not sisters, but this sounds a bit like Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones.
posted by asperity at 10:41 PM on April 28, 2018 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Alas they first saw Stardust (the movie) a year ago and this is something they read when they were younger so it's not that. I've read Charmed Life and I see the similarities but they are adamant it was sisters, and that the one sister was secretly growing older, not having lives stolen. The boy rewinding conversations also seems to be a detail they remember strongly.

Both good books though!
posted by brook horse at 6:16 AM on April 29, 2018

I'm coming in pretty late, but maybe you'll see this anyway. This sounds a lot like Another Faust by Daniel Nayeri.
posted by aaebig at 4:57 PM on May 30, 2018