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ClareR (5955 KP) rated Sisters in Books

Nov 22, 2022  
Sisters
Sisters
Daisy Johnson | 2020 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
What it’s about:
Sisters is about July and September, born 10 months apart and as close as twins. They’ve only ever needed each other. But when school bullying results in them moving away with their mother to an abandoned house on the Yorkshire coast, their relationship starts to fracture. And as they push one another to do increasingly daring things, July starts to realise that something isn’t quite right.

My thoughts:
I love a quirky read, and Sisters is exactly that. I was never quite sure what July and September were going to do next, and their demands of each other were at times really dangerous. They are very insular and don’t seems to want anyone else involved in their relationship - even their mother. Even the house they live in is unfriendly, set in a hostile environment.
This isn’t a scary book at all, but it’s packed with suspense and there’s a really uncomfortable, disorientating atmosphere.
I loved it.
  
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ClareR (5955 KP) rated Family Lore in Books

Nov 11, 2023  
Family Lore
Family Lore
Elizabeth Acevedo | 2023 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry, Science Fiction/Fantasy
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Family Lore focuses on the Marie sisters: Matilda, Flor, Pastor and Camille, and two of their daughters, Ona and Yadi. Some of these women have special abilities, and for Flor, that is being able to predict when someone is going to die. So there is great consternation when she decides to hold a living wake.

Ona is an anthropologist and decides to interview the women in her family to find out about their origins: the older sisters come from the Dominican Republic, and their lives there were very different to those of their children.

This is a family with a lot going on! If you like family dramas, then you would be just the reader for this book. There’s a lot about the different relationships between the characters, marriages, unfaithfulness, low self esteem, maternal love, fertility problems, cultural differences, family arguments and resilience.

It’s beautifully written - Acevedo is a poet as well - and all the characters really do have their own voices in this wide-sweeping novel.
  
TV
The Vanishing of Audrey Wilde
Eve Chase | 2022
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
88 of 230
Book
The Vanishing of Audrey Wilde
By Eve Chase
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

When four sisters arrive at Applecote Manor to spend the summer, all is clearly not well.

They find their aunt and uncle still reeling from the disappearance of their only daughter, five years before. No one seems any closer to finding out the truth.

Why did Audrey vanish? Who is keeping her fate secret?

As the sisters are lured into the mystery of their missing cousin, the stifling summer takes a shocking, deadly turn.

One which will leave blood on their hands, and put another girl in danger decades later . . .
______

This was good! So well written and such a sad story I love the setting just on the turn from 50s to 60s. I liked how it all tied together at the end and the characters got some closure. I’d definitely read more from this author.
  
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ClareR (5955 KP) rated The Party in Books

Sep 7, 2025  
The Party
The Party
Tessa Hadley | 2024 | Fiction & Poetry
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Even though this is a novella there’s so much packed into it. From the party in the pub to the smaller gathering in the old mansion.

The Party is richly atmospheric and descriptive. The post-war pub is lively, crowded and seems like a lot of fun! Post-war Bristol is described in such a way that I had no problem seeing the damage around the port and the pub as I read.

The contrast of the sisters is also interesting: Moira is worldly wise, Evelyn is young and inexperienced, which shows particularly at the mansion gathering. These people are clearly from a different social class to the sisters. At first, they’re not exactly welcomed by some of their hosts, but everyone warms up as the evening progresses - in a number of ways. It’s an entertaining evening!

Another enjoyable read from Tessa Hadley, and I’m reminded yet again why I’m always happy to pick up another of her books.
  
The third book in the Sisters Grimm series finds Sabrina and Daphne hot on the trail of their kidnapped parents and meeting an uncle everyone in town seems to have forgotten. Once again, the creativity of incorporating the fairy tale characters was wonderful. The book grabbed me from page one and didn't let me go.

Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2013/05/book-review-problem-child-by-michael.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.