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3.39 AVERAGE
3.39 AVERAGE
It started out well, but it felt like the last few chapters were rushed. It felt like there was no buildup to the climax or foreshadowing of what would happen. It was just a very odd way to end the book after being fairly decent up to that point.
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Grace and Charlie meet at school when Grace moved in with her grandparents following her dad’s death. There was a small friend group that stayed together until their teenage years. Grave and Charlie are best friends, they even bury a memory box to dig up in later life.
Siobhann, one of the friend group has feelings for Dan. Dan is attracted to Charlie. Grace really has a thing for Dan. When Siobhann sees Dan and Grace kissing, menacing letters suddenly start being delivered to Grace.
Charlie soon takes off, without even telling her bff.
The story is told is the ‘Then’ and ‘Now’ years.
The Now Years someone seems to be stalking Grace everywhere. The Now Years also have Grace befriending Anna, and even allowing her to temporarily stay with Grace and Dan. Quite a bit happens, potential poisoning, a fire, an affair, Grace’s cat is found dead, Grace gets pushed onto train tracks, and she is held hostage, people aren’t who they say they are, or who Grace believed them to be, what she believed in the Then Years are questioned in the Now Years.
It was an ok read, I didn’t find it absolutely amazing, and it wasn’t as good as her last book I read, but she does have a good style of writing and I will continue to read her books.
Siobhann, one of the friend group has feelings for Dan. Dan is attracted to Charlie. Grace really has a thing for Dan. When Siobhann sees Dan and Grace kissing, menacing letters suddenly start being delivered to Grace.
Charlie soon takes off, without even telling her bff.
The story is told is the ‘Then’ and ‘Now’ years.
The Now Years someone seems to be stalking Grace everywhere. The Now Years also have Grace befriending Anna, and even allowing her to temporarily stay with Grace and Dan. Quite a bit happens, potential poisoning, a fire, an affair, Grace’s cat is found dead, Grace gets pushed onto train tracks, and she is held hostage, people aren’t who they say they are, or who Grace believed them to be, what she believed in the Then Years are questioned in the Now Years.
It was an ok read, I didn’t find it absolutely amazing, and it wasn’t as good as her last book I read, but she does have a good style of writing and I will continue to read her books.
I think “OK” is what i am left with after this book. I had just finished “The Promise” by Katerina Diamond before thos and Lethal White by RG.... so this was an easy read but didnt entertain me as much as the prev 2 reads. I sid buy The Gift too at same time so let’s see what i think after that one... as i hear its better than this debut novel
This is a Team No One book.
The main character is so painfully stupid that I didn't really care what happened to her by the end of it. She meets a total stranger who says she has some connections to her dead best friend, and she decides it's perfectly okay for this girl to move into her home. Who dates a man for more than half of their life and then lets a stranger go to a dinner date with them when they get sick and can't go? She lets this girl completely take over her life, and she doesn't see any of the coincidences that are perfectly lined up in front of her until someone shakes her and points them out. Honestly, if someone tries to kill you once, your senses should be on high alert and you shouldn't be trusting of them, but nah, Grace thinks the world of this complete stranger. Because Grace is an idiot.
The book gets a little messy because there's just way too much going on. We have Grace's past, which includes the grief of a dead parent, another parent abandoning her at a young age; a psychopath living in Grace's home; Grace having some major paranoia and even getting followed (a plot point that really could have been left out considering what little reward it gives the reader); Grace's boyfriend acting suspicious; some mystery that litters the entire book with how Grace's dead best friend did something really horrible before she left, which turns out to be completely mundane and lame. It's almost hard to keep track of all the subplots that mostly fizzle out halfway through the book.
The ending is probably supposed to come as a major twist, but I wasn't really buying it.
The main character is so painfully stupid that I didn't really care what happened to her by the end of it. She meets a total stranger who says she has some connections to her dead best friend, and she decides it's perfectly okay for this girl to move into her home. Who dates a man for more than half of their life and then lets a stranger go to a dinner date with them when they get sick and can't go? She lets this girl completely take over her life, and she doesn't see any of the coincidences that are perfectly lined up in front of her until someone shakes her and points them out. Honestly, if someone tries to kill you once, your senses should be on high alert and you shouldn't be trusting of them, but nah, Grace thinks the world of this complete stranger. Because Grace is an idiot.
The book gets a little messy because there's just way too much going on. We have Grace's past, which includes the grief of a dead parent, another parent abandoning her at a young age; a psychopath living in Grace's home; Grace having some major paranoia and even getting followed (a plot point that really could have been left out considering what little reward it gives the reader); Grace's boyfriend acting suspicious; some mystery that litters the entire book with how Grace's dead best friend did something really horrible before she left, which turns out to be completely mundane and lame. It's almost hard to keep track of all the subplots that mostly fizzle out halfway through the book.
The ending is probably supposed to come as a major twist, but I wasn't really buying it.
Spoiler
The reader is supposed to think this new girl is just someone who Grace's boyfriend cheated on her with who wants revenge, and then, surprise! She actually IS Grace's dead best friend's twin sister who has some serious mental problems. Why add the part about cheating at all, unless you think you can throw the reader off?
From start to finish this story had me totally and completely hooked! I loved how both the then and now parts of the story were interchanged and that we got to see both stories develop at the same time, it almost made everything seem more sinister. Every single time I thought I had something figured out my theory was completely blown out of the water and I was just left with my jaw hanging. There were just SO many things that I didn’t see coming and it made for such an exciting and page turning story! My only instinct that turned out to be right was my instant dislike of Anna. I knew something was off about her right from the start and boy was I ever right!
This book was incredibly boring, hard to follow, and just drug on! If I didn't want it to count for my Goodreads challenge, I would have DNFd it. . . .
I loved this!! Such a nice thriller to read; I really enjoyed the switching the two tenses, the plot developed nicely and although the culprit may have been obvious, the reasoning behind it wasn't.
It's a very good debut novel, can't wait to read Louise's other novels.
It's a very good debut novel, can't wait to read Louise's other novels.
Meh. It tried too hard. I might be over the unreliable narrator genre...it's all getting very cliche with the sleeping pills and alcohol.
"A Psychological Thriller with a brilliant twist you won't see coming"
Blurb Extract: Grace hasn't been the same since the death of her best friend Charlie. She is haunted by Charlie's words, the last time she saw her, and in a bid for answers, opens an old memory box of Charlie's. It soon becomes clear there was a lot she didn't know about her best friend.
When Grace starts a campaign to find Charlie's father, Anna, a girl claiming to be Charlie's sister steps forward. For Grace, finding Anna is like finding a new family, and soon Anna has made herself very comfortable in Grace and boyfriend Dan's home.
But something isn't right. Things disappear, Dan's acting strangely and Grace is sure that someone is following her. Is it all in Grace's mind? Or as she gets closer to discovering the truth about both Charlie and Anna, is Grace in terrible danger?
There was nothing she could have done to save Charlie ...or was there?
summary
I had read a variety of reviews on this book prior to reading it with drastically different views on how the plot played out and the pace of the story.
The story alternates between the past and present and tells the story of how she met Charlie, how they became best friends and how she is coping after her best friends death.
It starts in the present. Grace goes to out to dig up a memory box that her and Charlie buried years before to find out what Charlie had put inside an envelope that was sealed inside the box. Once Grace opens it and realises charlie wanted to find her father she tries to locate him. In comes Anna , who claims to be Charlie's half sister. Grace feels a connection with Anna, who claims she needs help with a new job and place to live. So she moves in with Grace and her boyfriend Dan, who isn't best pleased about the who situation. Things go from bad to worse for Grace....
I enjoyed reading "The Sister", however I do feel it was a very slow burner and although Louise Jensen has great story telling ability it did take a very long time to get to how Charlie died, and what she meant when she said "I did something terrible, Grace. I hope you can forgive me."
If I am being truly honest it was kind of obvious to me how it was going to turn out, there wasn't really any amazing twist. I didn't really feel excited by this , which is a shame as the majority of reviews had been really positive.
I did find that I was glued to the book ( I read it all in about 7-8 hours) but It was more so because I wanted to it to get to the point and find out what this big secret was that lingered throughout the whole book.
I am a really impatient person so it may just be me but i do prefer a book that gets in to the nitty gritty a lot sooner.
All in all it was a fun book so i give it a 3 out of 5
Blurb Extract: Grace hasn't been the same since the death of her best friend Charlie. She is haunted by Charlie's words, the last time she saw her, and in a bid for answers, opens an old memory box of Charlie's. It soon becomes clear there was a lot she didn't know about her best friend.
When Grace starts a campaign to find Charlie's father, Anna, a girl claiming to be Charlie's sister steps forward. For Grace, finding Anna is like finding a new family, and soon Anna has made herself very comfortable in Grace and boyfriend Dan's home.
But something isn't right. Things disappear, Dan's acting strangely and Grace is sure that someone is following her. Is it all in Grace's mind? Or as she gets closer to discovering the truth about both Charlie and Anna, is Grace in terrible danger?
There was nothing she could have done to save Charlie ...or was there?
summary
I had read a variety of reviews on this book prior to reading it with drastically different views on how the plot played out and the pace of the story.
The story alternates between the past and present and tells the story of how she met Charlie, how they became best friends and how she is coping after her best friends death.
It starts in the present. Grace goes to out to dig up a memory box that her and Charlie buried years before to find out what Charlie had put inside an envelope that was sealed inside the box. Once Grace opens it and realises charlie wanted to find her father she tries to locate him. In comes Anna , who claims to be Charlie's half sister. Grace feels a connection with Anna, who claims she needs help with a new job and place to live. So she moves in with Grace and her boyfriend Dan, who isn't best pleased about the who situation. Things go from bad to worse for Grace....
I enjoyed reading "The Sister", however I do feel it was a very slow burner and although Louise Jensen has great story telling ability it did take a very long time to get to how Charlie died, and what she meant when she said "I did something terrible, Grace. I hope you can forgive me."
If I am being truly honest it was kind of obvious to me how it was going to turn out, there wasn't really any amazing twist. I didn't really feel excited by this , which is a shame as the majority of reviews had been really positive.
I did find that I was glued to the book ( I read it all in about 7-8 hours) but It was more so because I wanted to it to get to the point and find out what this big secret was that lingered throughout the whole book.
I am a really impatient person so it may just be me but i do prefer a book that gets in to the nitty gritty a lot sooner.
All in all it was a fun book so i give it a 3 out of 5