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lianne96's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Grief, Gaslighting, Death of parent, and Stalking
Moderate: Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Animal death
Minor: Car accident, Child death, Self harm, and Vomit
allisonpitts's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed reading this book. It goes back and forth between past and present, so it was hard for me to put down because I kept wanting to read on and see how the past was going to tie to the present. I am a little disappointed with the ending though. The whole story is built around this note that Grace finds after Charlie dies. When the book ends and we find out the meaning of the note, I felt that it was a little anticlimactic. However, I would recommend reading the book.
spookedonbooks's review against another edition
4.0
A very easy read that I think would definitely help getting somebody out of a reading slump, and its definitely filled with twists and turns, however wasn't a 5* read for them as I found the last third of the book very predictable and I think it could have done with a few surprises that people wouldn't have guessed.
bookph1le's review against another edition
2.0
This was an okay book. Unfortunately fur the author, I recently read another thriller with a very similar plot, so I knew really early on whether this one was going, which dissolved the tension.
namitakhanna's review against another edition
4.0
The Sister is a fantastic psychological debut novel by Louise Jensen about a young girl coping with the loss of her best friend.
Grace comes to live with her grandparents when she was 9 years old. She starts a new school where she forges a lifelong friendship with Charlie who defends her from the school bully. They become very close but then Charlie disappears from Grace's life when they turn eighteen without any explanation. Charlie appears 5 years later but before she can explain her reasons for leaving, suddenly collapses and dies leaving Grace to find the answers behind. Grace who is traumatized by her best friend’s death becomes very depressed and is just starting to get her life together when she meets Anna, Charlie's half-sister. She invites Anna to live with her and her boyfriend Dan but strange things start happening to Grace after Anna's arrival. Somebody starts stalking Grace, and things start turning dark and deadly. Is this all connected with Anna appearing in Grace’s life and why did Charlie ask for Grace’s forgiveness before her death?
This book is very well written and goes back and forth between the past and present. It builds up the suspense beautifully and the characters are very well developed. Even though you might not love all the people in the book the author manages to express their frustrations and loss really well. An intriguing story and cannot wait to read more by Louise Jensen
Many thanks to the publisher & NetGalley for this advance reader copy in exchange for my honest and fair review.
This and more reviews at https://chloesbooksblog.wordpress.com/
Grace comes to live with her grandparents when she was 9 years old. She starts a new school where she forges a lifelong friendship with Charlie who defends her from the school bully. They become very close but then Charlie disappears from Grace's life when they turn eighteen without any explanation. Charlie appears 5 years later but before she can explain her reasons for leaving, suddenly collapses and dies leaving Grace to find the answers behind. Grace who is traumatized by her best friend’s death becomes very depressed and is just starting to get her life together when she meets Anna, Charlie's half-sister. She invites Anna to live with her and her boyfriend Dan but strange things start happening to Grace after Anna's arrival. Somebody starts stalking Grace, and things start turning dark and deadly. Is this all connected with Anna appearing in Grace’s life and why did Charlie ask for Grace’s forgiveness before her death?
This book is very well written and goes back and forth between the past and present. It builds up the suspense beautifully and the characters are very well developed. Even though you might not love all the people in the book the author manages to express their frustrations and loss really well. An intriguing story and cannot wait to read more by Louise Jensen
Many thanks to the publisher & NetGalley for this advance reader copy in exchange for my honest and fair review.
This and more reviews at https://chloesbooksblog.wordpress.com/
thephdivabooks's review against another edition
3.0
I finished this yesterday, and I'm so glad to have found this author. I found this book on a recommended staff read at Powell's books, which is where I find a lot of new-to-me authors. The cover drew me right in! How gorgeous is it? Its even prettier in person. I will definitely look for what is next from this author, because I enjoyed this book--particularly the last half! It was a strong start for a new author.
The book is about Grace and her best friend Charlie. Several months before the book begins, Charlie died. Though we don't learn the circumstances of this death for quite some time, it is clear that Grace feels somehow responsible. Grace herself lives with and is dating another childhood friend of theirs named Dan. However, Grace and Dan in present-day are not doing so well. Grace is clearly suffering from depression since Charlie's death, and through the flashbacks we also know that Grace has suffered from anxiety for quite some time. Dan obviously loves Grace, but he also seems distant and uncommunicative at times.
Grace opens an old letter from Charlie and decides to help look into Charlie's father (whom Charlie never knew) as a sort of way to stay connected with Charlie. Through this, Charlie's long lost half-sister shows up and ends up moving in with Grace and Dan. Here is where the trouble REALLY begins, because things start to unravel in Grace's life with Anna living there.
Honestly, Grace was a difficult character to live with for me (even if just for a week). The whole book is from Grace's perspective, and Grace's anxiety and depression are major downers. At the same time, Grace is someone you want things to get better for! Jensen certainly writes a character that you want to catch a break in life. This book is really more of a character study. There isn't a ton of mystery, since it is pretty clear to everyone except Grace what is going on. I will say there are a few twists towards the end that I did not guess, and I certainly didn't guess the story about Charlie's death that finally comes out! Those were a fun treat!
I'd place this book more in the women's lit category than psychological thriller. There are some crazy things that happen in the book that make you want to call it a psychological thriller, but at the end of the day, its a book about friendship and guilt and the female struggle between strength and weakness. I thought Jensen explored the notion that females sometimes don't give themselves enough credit for how strong they really are. Grace is certainly that way! The book is sort of about our insecurities being what holds us captive, not our circumstances.
Onto the characters--Grace is tough to cheer for! She is so anxious and hyper-aware in some ways, and in others she is oblivious to such obvious things. Dan is infuriating but sweet in a way. He loves Grace so much but he is also sort of the typical male with poor communication and a lack of awareness of her most obvious hints. (I think many of us can relate to that, amirite??) Charlie is mostly present in flashbacks, and she is an attractive figure. You can tell how much her friendship meant to Grace. Lexie (Charlie's mom) is a trainwreck. Anna could have almost been left out of the book--despite her major role--and the book would have survived. Anna is almost not like a real person. Honestly by the end I couldn't really figure out what I was supposed to conclude about Anna. She steals the whole second half of the story, but she is also sort of unreal and irrelevant at the same time.
Though the first 1/3 was slow, it picked up as it went. The timeline makes very little sense when you finally find everything out. I do wish we'd found out the details of Charlie's death sooner, because it helped me understand a lot of things. A solid first novel, and there were enough good things (the descriptions in particular of the small village I enjoyed) to make me want to look into what this author does next!
The book is about Grace and her best friend Charlie. Several months before the book begins, Charlie died. Though we don't learn the circumstances of this death for quite some time, it is clear that Grace feels somehow responsible. Grace herself lives with and is dating another childhood friend of theirs named Dan. However, Grace and Dan in present-day are not doing so well. Grace is clearly suffering from depression since Charlie's death, and through the flashbacks we also know that Grace has suffered from anxiety for quite some time. Dan obviously loves Grace, but he also seems distant and uncommunicative at times.
Grace opens an old letter from Charlie and decides to help look into Charlie's father (whom Charlie never knew) as a sort of way to stay connected with Charlie. Through this, Charlie's long lost half-sister shows up and ends up moving in with Grace and Dan. Here is where the trouble REALLY begins, because things start to unravel in Grace's life with Anna living there.
Honestly, Grace was a difficult character to live with for me (even if just for a week). The whole book is from Grace's perspective, and Grace's anxiety and depression are major downers. At the same time, Grace is someone you want things to get better for! Jensen certainly writes a character that you want to catch a break in life. This book is really more of a character study. There isn't a ton of mystery, since it is pretty clear to everyone except Grace what is going on. I will say there are a few twists towards the end that I did not guess, and I certainly didn't guess the story about Charlie's death that finally comes out! Those were a fun treat!
I'd place this book more in the women's lit category than psychological thriller. There are some crazy things that happen in the book that make you want to call it a psychological thriller, but at the end of the day, its a book about friendship and guilt and the female struggle between strength and weakness. I thought Jensen explored the notion that females sometimes don't give themselves enough credit for how strong they really are. Grace is certainly that way! The book is sort of about our insecurities being what holds us captive, not our circumstances.
Onto the characters--Grace is tough to cheer for! She is so anxious and hyper-aware in some ways, and in others she is oblivious to such obvious things. Dan is infuriating but sweet in a way. He loves Grace so much but he is also sort of the typical male with poor communication and a lack of awareness of her most obvious hints. (I think many of us can relate to that, amirite??) Charlie is mostly present in flashbacks, and she is an attractive figure. You can tell how much her friendship meant to Grace. Lexie (Charlie's mom) is a trainwreck. Anna could have almost been left out of the book--despite her major role--and the book would have survived. Anna is almost not like a real person. Honestly by the end I couldn't really figure out what I was supposed to conclude about Anna. She steals the whole second half of the story, but she is also sort of unreal and irrelevant at the same time.
Though the first 1/3 was slow, it picked up as it went. The timeline makes very little sense when you finally find everything out. I do wish we'd found out the details of Charlie's death sooner, because it helped me understand a lot of things. A solid first novel, and there were enough good things (the descriptions in particular of the small village I enjoyed) to make me want to look into what this author does next!
paulabrandon's review against another edition
3.0
Another day, another psychological thriller with an "unreliable" female narrator! Grace has a complete breakdown after the death of her best friend Charlie. A year after the death, she opens a memory box and learns that Charlie's greatest wish was to know her father and sets about tracking him down. It leads her to meet Anna, Charlie's half-sister, who quickly moves into her home. That's when weird things in Grace's life starts happening....
I didn't find anything here to set it apart from the dozens of other thrillers cluttering the bookstore shelves these days. There was no brilliant twist that I could see! Grace's sheer stupidity in regards to Anna is highly frustrating. Anybody with even a two-figure IQ would have given the bitch the boot within days! The book requires its characters to behave in non-believable ways in order to keep the plot going and artificially create mystery behind certain events when there's no need for it. There's no conceivable reason for the details behind Grace's father's death to be kept secret for so long! Nor the reasons behind Charlie's death either! The climax is lackluster.
After a slow start, it makes for a diverting read, but if a book is going to stand out in this extremely saturated market, it needs more thrills and spills than what is found in these pages!
I didn't find anything here to set it apart from the dozens of other thrillers cluttering the bookstore shelves these days. There was no brilliant twist that I could see! Grace's sheer stupidity in regards to Anna is highly frustrating. Anybody with even a two-figure IQ would have given the bitch the boot within days! The book requires its characters to behave in non-believable ways in order to keep the plot going and artificially create mystery behind certain events when there's no need for it. There's no conceivable reason for the details behind Grace's father's death to be kept secret for so long! Nor the reasons behind Charlie's death either! The climax is lackluster.
After a slow start, it makes for a diverting read, but if a book is going to stand out in this extremely saturated market, it needs more thrills and spills than what is found in these pages!
suvata's review against another edition
4.0
Advance Reading Copy disclosure:
I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
It's really hard to believe that this was Louise Jensen's debut novel. It's a very well-written psychological thriller. It was a page turner with lots of twists and turns that I never figured out until they hit me in the face. The story is about a young woman (Grace) who suddenly loses her best friend (Charlie). It could have been a typical story on loss but Jensen takes us on a wild ride as we discover the facts behind what really happened. Excellent mystery. Can't wait to get my hands on her future books.
Merged review:
Advance Reading Copy disclosure:
I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
It's really hard to believe that this was Louise Jensen's debut novel. It's a very well-written psychological thriller. It was a page turner with lots of twists and turns that I never figured out until they hit me in the face. The story is about a young woman (Grace) who suddenly loses her best friend (Charlie). It could have been a typical story on loss but Jensen takes us on a wild ride as we discover the facts behind what really happened. Excellent mystery. Can't wait to get my hands on her future books.
I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
It's really hard to believe that this was Louise Jensen's debut novel. It's a very well-written psychological thriller. It was a page turner with lots of twists and turns that I never figured out until they hit me in the face. The story is about a young woman (Grace) who suddenly loses her best friend (Charlie). It could have been a typical story on loss but Jensen takes us on a wild ride as we discover the facts behind what really happened. Excellent mystery. Can't wait to get my hands on her future books.
Merged review:
Advance Reading Copy disclosure:
I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
It's really hard to believe that this was Louise Jensen's debut novel. It's a very well-written psychological thriller. It was a page turner with lots of twists and turns that I never figured out until they hit me in the face. The story is about a young woman (Grace) who suddenly loses her best friend (Charlie). It could have been a typical story on loss but Jensen takes us on a wild ride as we discover the facts behind what really happened. Excellent mystery. Can't wait to get my hands on her future books.
nm_young's review against another edition
4.0
⭐⭐⭐⭐
I really like this book . It’s a very enjoyable story, but just short of epic. Certain areas may not be as fulfilling as they could have been. I’m not quite as captivated or blown away, but still had a great experience. I’d recommend this book to others and continue reading from this author. I would probably re-read it.
I really like this book . It’s a very enjoyable story, but just short of epic. Certain areas may not be as fulfilling as they could have been. I’m not quite as captivated or blown away, but still had a great experience. I’d recommend this book to others and continue reading from this author. I would probably re-read it.
rebelkiss's review against another edition
2.0
It was just an okay book. I saw the twist coming nearly from the get go.