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.
The Shadow Sister by Lily Meade Published by Sourcebooks Fire on June 27, 2023
Genres: YA Mystery
Pages: 336
Source: the publisher
Format: ARC
My Rating:
Goodreads
Blurb:
Sutton going missing is the worst thing to happen to Casey, to their family. She’s trying to help find her sister, but Casey is furious. And she can’t tell anyone about their argument before Sutton disappeared. Everyone paints a picture of Sutton’s perfection: the popular cheerleader with an entourage of friends, a doting boyfriend, and a limitless future. But Sutton manipulated everyone around her, even stole an heirloom bracelet from Casey. People don’t look for missing Black girls–or half-Black girls–without believing there is an angel to be saved.
When Sutton reappears, Casey knows she should be relieved. Except Sutton isn’t the same. She remembers nothing about while she was gone—or anything from her old life, including how she made Casey miserable. There’s something unsettling about the way she wants to spend time with Casey, the way she hums and watches her goldfish swim for hours.
What happened to Sutton? The more Casey starts uncovering her sister’s secrets, the more questions she has. Did she really know her sister? Why is no one talking about the other girls who have gone missing in their area? And what will it take to uncover the truth?
My Review
This one took me a bit to get into. Because it was kind of hard to like either of the sisters as they were both so hateful to each other. Even searching for the one that was missing didn’t necessarily get me intrigued. However, once Sutton reappeared, I was hooked. I needed to know if she was faking it the way Casey thought, or what exactly was going on. I liked the way the author wove bits and pieces of the family’s history and even just history itself into the story in flashbacks, diaries, and the things that were happening. There was so many little misleading details here and there it kept me guessing throughout the rest of the story. The final climax was a bit different than I had expected, and added an element of the supernatural/voodoo to the story that was unique in my opinion. And I was unsure where it would go from there, but I do like the way the author ended up taking it.
The author’s note at the end was also good to read and filled in some holes for me. Overall I really enjoyed this, my only issues were a bit of getting started, and maybe I would have liked some more about what happened in the end or how it happened maybe?
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Ha, I recently read one with bickering sisters and wasn’t keen on that aspect either. I’m glad it sorted out and turned out to be a really good one.
Yeah, it was hard to get either sister’s side, although later in the story it made a little more sense.
Sounds very interesting. Maybe Netflix will make a show about it! The cover is lovely. Thanks for sharing.
Hmm, it could be a good show, or maybe a CW show even!
I like it so much when an author surprises me.
Agreed!
This sounds really good, I do like mysteries where a character comes back and can’t remember anything😁
It definitely had me interested the whole time!
I’ve been curious about this one. I may grab it from the library if I ever see it. Glad it worked out for you in the end.
If you do ever read it, I hope you’ll come back and tell me what you thought!
This looks like an interesting reaf.