ARC REVIEW: The Sister – by Louise Jensen

Title: The Sister
Author: Louise Jensen
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Fiction
First published: July 7th 2016
Publisher: Bookouture
Finished reading: July 12th 2016
Pages: 307

“We all have to carry the consequences of our own actions, no matter how heavy they are. I know that better than anyone.”

*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Netgalley and Bookouture in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***

I decided to read The Sister after a recommendation and I’m glad it turned out to be just as good as I was promised it was going to be. This debut by Louise Jensen is without doubt a psychological thriller at its best: an intriguing plot that switches back and forth between past and present, unreliable characters and many plot twists that will mess with your mind. The fact that there are so many flashbacks can be a bit confusing and in the beginning it’s hard to get a proper grasp of what is going on, but in the end it only adds to the whole mystery around Grace and Charlie. The story is well written and the character development is excellent. I can’t say I actually liked the characters, but they fitted their role perfectly and felt ‘real’. The main character Grace is a bit naive and I saw part of the big ‘revelation’ coming from a mile away, but most of the plot twists did manage to surprise me. If you are looking for a good psychological thriller and don’t mind flashbacks and unreliable characters, make sure to check out The Sister!

Grace hasn’t been the same since her best friend suddenly left town six years ago, let alone when Charlie suddenly died four months ago. She is still haunted by Charlie’s last words and decides to open an old memory box they had buried when they were teenagers. And it turns out that Grace didn’t know her best friend that well after all… Grace decides to try and fulfill one of Charlie’s last wishes and find her father. Her husband Dan helps her set up some pages that might help locate him, and then suddenly a girl steps forward claiming to be Charlie’s sister. Anna looks a lot like Charlie, and Grace believes she has found something she thought she had lost when Charlie died. But is Anna really who she claims to be? And why is Dan acting so strange? Grace life seems to be turning slowly into a big mess and she cannot deny the feeling that someone is following her. What is really going on?

Even though the flashbacks can get a bit confusing at times, I still ended up really enjoying  The Sister.  The story is fast-paced, well written and the characters were both unreliable and felt ‘real’, making it quite easy to connect to the story. Not everything in the plot was a surprise and I kind of wish that Grace would have been less trusting, but I guess The Sister does do an excellent job of showing what might happen if you trust the people around you blindly. Without doubt a great psychological thriller!

WWW Wednesdays #99 – July 13th

WWW WEDNESDAYS is a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World Of Words and is all about answering the three questions below.

• WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING?

I’m currently reading Wanderlost by Jen Malone, which is turning out to be a quick and entertaining road trip story from what I can see so far. I’ve also started reading The Neverland Wars by Audrey Greathouse because I was in the mood for a Peter Pan retelling, but I can’t say I’m enjoying it. The tone and prose don’t seem to fit the theme at all and I’m struggling to continue this one… Same goes for The Stepmother by Claire Seeber: I started reading it last week, but I couldn’t get into the story and decided to keep it temporarily on hold and read a few other titles instead.

• WHAT DID YOU RECENTLY FINISH READING?

* The first book I finished since last week is My Girl by Jack Jordan, which is probably one of the most twisted and disturbing thrillers I’ve read so far this year. If you are into the genre, definitely make sure to check out this book!
* I then finished Out Of The Easy by Ruta Sepetys, which is without doubt my new favorite of this author. The setting, prose and character development are excellent and I really felt like I was right there in the 1950s along with the characters.
* I also read The Night Stalker by Robert Bryndza, which by no means suffers from the ‘weak-second-book’ syndrome. It’s fast-paced, well written and has an intriguing plot and plot twists. It’s without doubt a very entertaining read!
* I then read The Straw King by Danielle Paige. This novella was surprisingly good compared to the last few previous stories, but I still wasn’t overwhelmed by it.
* I’ve also been able to finish Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon, a title that was on my 2015 most-antipated-releases list. I enjoyed reading it and I admit it was a ‘cute’ read, but I did have some problems with the credibility of the plot. I mean, if the main character is really that sick, doing what she did is incredibly stupid.
* The last book I managed to finish is The Sister by Louise Jensen, which I ended up really enjoying. It’s dark, messed with your mind and has many plot twists… The story jumps back and forth between the past and present and there are quite a few unreliable characters, but it only added to the whole mystery around Grace and Charlie.

• WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’LL READ NEXT?

Depending on what genre I’m in the mood for, I will read When We Collided by Emery Lord. Although I really want to read The Ice Twins by S.K. Tremayne as well, both because I’ve heard great things about it and because I want to The Fire Child by the same author. If I want something different, The Girl With All The Gifts by M.R. Carey is also high on my list… And my latest TBR jar pick is still The Hired Girl by Laura Amy Schlitz. (Which I should read soon since it’s been too long since I last read a TBR jar book.)

Teaser Tuesdays #102 – July 12th: The Sister

TEASER TUESDAYS is a weekly book meme originally featured at Books And A Beat. To participate, just open the book you are currently reading to a random page, and choose two ‘teaser’ sentences from somewhere on that page. (no spoilers!)

This week I’m reading one of my Netgalley reads: The Sister by Louise Jensen. So far it’s a really well written, fast-paced and intriguing read… It has an ‘unreliable narrator’ feel and the plot switches between past and present without giving you all the details straight away, but in this case it’s really well done. It definitely adds to the whole mystery around Charlie and Grace!

My teaser (59%):

“The engine thrummed as I sat in the car checking my mirrors, making sure I hadn’t been followed, before I stepped out and hurried down the path. I was constantly edgy, jumping at the smallest of things: the tree in the front garden casting shadows in my bedroom, dogs barking.”

What are you reading right now?