Title: Sister
Author: Rosamund Lupton
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense
First published: September 2nd 2010
Publisher: Boekerij
Finished reading: August 6th 2017
Pages: 352
(Read in Dutch: ‘Zusje’)
“Usually time alters and affects everything, but when someone you love dies time cannot change that, no amount of time will ever change that, so time stops having any meaning.”
It may sound weird since I’m originally Dutch, but I haven’t used the language actively in years (I use Spanish all day and English for reading and blogging) and I can promise you it has become preeeetty rusty. How do I know? Let’s just say that when I visited Holland last year nobody believed I was actually Dutch when I tried to speak haha. I made a promise to myself when I came back from my trip to start reading at least one or two Dutch books a year to refresh my memories… And last month I finally decided to keep that promise and pick up my copy of the Dutch version of Sister by Rosamund Lupton. I was kind of hoping that picking up a story belonging to one of my favorite genres would make it easier to enjoy reading it, but unfortunately this didn’t end up being the case. It took me a whole month to actually finish this story, which was way longer than I had planned. Part of the problem was probably the language barrier (reading in Dutch just doesn’t feel ‘natural’ tp me anymore), but I don’t think that was the only reason why I didn’t enjoy reading Sister. The first thing that stands out is the superslow pace, which made it so much harder to keep going. I wasn’t really a fan of the writing style either, although it’s always tricky to talk about this element with a translation. Still, I wasn’t charmed by the tone or the way the sentences flowed and this made it considerably harder to stay focused on the story. And the characters… Boy, did I have a hard time with them! I wasn’t able to warm up to them at all and was mostly frustrated by Beatrice. The way the story is told is quite original though and I can’t deny the ending came as a surprise. The final part of Sister definitely made me rate this story higher than I would have thought initially, but I don’t think it actually makes up for the slow pace, writing style or characters. Most people seem to have enjoyed this story though, so it makes me wonder whether I should get an English copy some time in the future (when I don’t remember the plot twists or how it ends) and give this story another go.
Beatrice has been living in New York for quite some time now, but when she receives a phone call that her younger sister Tess is missing she takes the first plane back to London. Nobody seems to know where her sister could have gone, and as Beatrice learns more about her disappearance she is starting to realize just how little she knows about Tess’ life. Everybody seems to accept they have lost her, but Beatrice doesn’t want to let go until she finds out the full truth. But will Beatrice be able to convince the rest?
Part of the problem I had with this book has probably been caused by reading it in Dutch, but I don’t think the language barrier was solely to blame for my negative reading experience with Sister. Between the superslow pace, writing style I couldn’t connect to and characters I never warmed up to, it was quite hard to actually enjoy reading this story. It was a very slow ride and it took me a whole month to reach the final page. The last part did improve considerably and the final twist was a huge surprise that will make you reconsider everything you read before. I don’t think that made up for the rest of the story though.
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I haven’t read anything in Dutch since I left highschool, which was a looooooooong time ago! 😂
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Hahaha same here! Damn I feel old. xD
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I do enjoy a faster pace as well, great review!
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It depends on the genre or story for me (and the writing itself), but in this case it almost felt like trying to start a car with engine problems… Not the best feeling when reading a thriller haha.
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I have the same issue when I read in French. I’m much slower and unless the author’s writing is awesome, I get bored. Super-slow paced stories make me sleepy! Great review!
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Yeah it’s one of the reasons I stick to English when reading… It’s not my native language, but somehow I read it a lot faster anyway. (I’m not even talking about Spanish, because that takes aaages even though I use it all day xD )
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I get how a translation might mess up your experience with a book of course that’s not the only reason.. I have one of her books on my TBR so when I get to it I’m curious how I’ll perceive it!
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I tend to avoid translations, but since I can’t understand every language sometimes there’s no option. 😉 In this case I should have sticked with the original though… Some people did enjoy Sister better, so I hope your experience with her books will be a positive one!
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I remember struggling with this a few years ago. I just looked up my review on Goodreads to check what I didn’t like and apparently it’s because I guessed the ending early on. I can’t remember the ending but I do remember that it was too slow for me.
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I guessed the who early on as well, but not the final twist of the story. But yeah, the superslow pace didn’t really help enjoying the ride.
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I can just about manage one language!!! I admire your ability to switch between so many…
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It’s mostly two I use actively and I don’t use them for the same things… Don’t ask me to read and blog in Spanish and talk in English all day or I would go crazy haha. (Although mostly because of the Spanish bit 😉 )
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