Here's my review which was originally published on my blog on 3rd July 2016.
As soon as I saw the cover for The Sister I knew I had to read it. Look at it, it's gorgeous right? Well the story inside is just as fabulous!
Grace, Charlie and Dan have been friends since primary school but when Charlie unexpectedly dies Grace finds herself haunted by her best friends last words "I did something terrible Grace. I hope you can forgive me. . ." In a desperate bid to try and find out what Charlie did she goes back to the place where the pair had buried a memory box years before. When she opens the box she finds a wish list written by Charlie and one of the things on her list was to find her father, something her mum, Lexie, was always reluctant to talk about. So Grace decides to track him down thinking that it might lead to answers about the terrible thing Charlie felt she needed forgiveness for.
During a reconciliation with Lexie, Grace finally manages to get the story of how she and Charlie's dad met, along with his name and the fact that he was in a band. Armed with this new information she enlists the help of her long-term boyfriend Dan and they get to work on social media trying to find anyone who has information about his whereabouts.
It's not long before someone contacts them claiming to be Charlie's half-sister. Grace jumps at the chance to meet this mystery woman and they arrange to meet in a local cafe. Enter Anna. Desperate to hold onto any links to Charlie, no matter how tenuous, Grace takes to Anna instantly and moves her into the home she shares with Dan.
Soon after Anna moves in Grace's life starts to spiral out of control. She's convinced that someone is following her, Dan is becoming more and more distant and her life is threatened on more than one occasion but who is responsible for these harrowing experiences?
Told in alternating chapters entitled "Now" and "Then" the story of Grace and Charlie's childhood friendship is revealed alongside the new friendship that Grace is forming with Anna with each chapter ending in just the right place to leave you wanting more. The more I read, the more intrigued I was which is always a good sign in a thriller. I loved the way that the story unfolded and each character was given enough background to make them believable. I felt empathy for Grace, she'd lost her best friend unexpectedly and her relationship with Dan was crumbling so it was only natural that she was going to cling to Anna as a substitute for Charlie.
But everyone seems to have a secret which is cleverly concealed, so as a reader you're never sure who to trust. As the skillfully woven web of lies and deceit starts to untangle the author throws in a massive twist that I certainly didn't see coming and threw me completely off track with everything that I thought I'd worked out for myself.
The Sister is a definite must read for all psychological thriller fans and it's one of those books that deserves to be talked about. Louise Jensen has written a stunning debut novel that will have you on tenterhooks until the very end and she is definitely an author to watch out for in the future.
So next time you're out doing your shopping, take a little trip down the book aisle and drop a copy into your trolley. I'd highly recommend it with a bar of chocolate or a packet of chocolate chip cookies!
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