Sister Sister: A truly absorbing psychological thriller

My rating isn't exactly jiving with my headline to this review, but I like the story. Also, I don't get some of the actions of the characters. So I say once again, make it make sense.Here's why. I'll start off with the action of two people without giving away the spoilers. First is the husband Luke. I understand how someone would get heated over a piece of art, but cursing someone out spitefully--calling them the 'b' word--means you don't respect that person, and what got me, the protagonist Clare just bumble and get all desperate, instead of taking up for herself and standing her ground. Also, the way Luke changes on a dime from doubting Alice to total acceptance in less than a second is just mind blowing to me. He warns Clare to take her time with Alice, get to know her, blah blah blah, but as soon as the woman shows up and Luke meets her, he's all the way in, forgetting his own advice. I had real issues with Luke and no amount of 'babe' would have fixed it or made it better. The second person is Pippa, Clare's friend. Now, according to Clare, Pippa is strong minded, say what she feels-no filters, very honest, a true friend. Great, someone in the story has some sense, right? WRONG! When Pippa's daughter is hurt, she does not call the police to report child endangerment or abuse. Oh no, that's not important, but when Pippa's car is vandalized, she call the cops and presses charges. Now, c'mon, mother bears take care of their cubs, and the one thing most mothers do in times like these is call the police.If the author was trying to make her readers mad, it worked in those two cases for me. But overall, honestly, I thought the story was very interesting. I like the twists, and I thought they fit well into the story-even the last twist at the end. Everything came together. But after I finished reading, I discovered that I didn't care for most of the characters, including Clare and her mother. I think Chloe and Hannah, Clare's daughters, were my favorite, but they weren't really center in the story.Overall, Sister Sister was a good book, definitely a page-turner.

Well this story was slow to get off the ground with "the sister" not coming on scene until several chapters into the book. The mind games were predictable, and I had the whole thing figured out a little beyond midway through the book. I will say, however, that the plot and the pace picked up in the last quarter and everything came to a head at the end. I won't give anything away. While this is not the best book I've read by a long shot, it's certainly not the worst. I gave it four stars because three and a half stars isn't an option. I'm pretty good at figuring things out plus I do little writing myself so I'm a bit familiar with plot structure and twists. One thing I didn't like in this book, as is common in most books, media, and real life, is the unwarranted obscenities. I know many authors believe it lends their work a sense of realism but I detest it. I don't like vulgar, rude, obscene, or profane language no matter where it rears its ugly head. No exception here. So as far as this book is concerned, if you like the kind of psychosis and plot twists you might find on LMN, then this is probably a pretty good read for you. See if you figure it out.

Great book. I couldn't put it down the main character is strong and doesn't readily give up. Her husband should have been more supportive. The story moved along well and maintained my interest

So much potential, thrown away because the author decided to turn the heroine into a complete moron 70% of the way through the book. Clare is a married solicitor who lives with her husband, two young daughters, and Mom in the home she grew up in. Pretty happy life, except for one thing, when she was little, her Dad took her younger sister Alice away to America for good, against the will of the Mom, and, after years of searching, Clare and her Mom finally hear from Alice, and the family is quickly reunited. But, of course, all is not what it seems.Here's the thing, the mystery here isn't that hard to figure out, it's actually pretty basic Lifetime movie plot. However, I think the author did a good enough job building the story and characters in a way that made me want to continue reading, to see the story carried out to the end. While not a page-turner, I genuinely was interested to see the plot fully realized, and enjoyed reading it....Until about 70% of the way in, where Clare turns into an imbecile. I'll get more specific below, but let's just say, Clare is supposed to be a smart lawyer, yet she had multiple opportunities to gather solid proof to prove her case, but instead goes abut asking questions, while overlooking the most obvious things. Long analogy here, but it's like in the movies/TV when someone finds out a secret, and in the process of trying to tell that secret to someone else who doesn't want to hear it, they decide, instead of just blurting out what they know like a normal person, to waste time arguing w/the other person that they have something really important to say, and just keep repeating that, pleading to be listened to while the other person refuses to listen, leaving without ever hearing the big news. All the time you, the frustrated viewer, are screaming at the screen, "Just friggin say it!" But of course, they never do, because it's a cheap plot device to drag out the secret and build tension. Those are Clare's actions (or inactions) the last 25% to 30% of this book. A cheap plot device.Plus, if I'm really honest, she was starting to get on my nerves before then for how she responded to her husband, Mom, friends, boss, and Alice. She behaved like an overly emotional child instead of the rational thinker she should be in her line of business. And why do people in books so easily doubt themselves? Sorry, but pretty sure I'd remember committing a very violent act. You'd have to be pretty insecure to be so easily convinced against yourself, no matter how emotional you are. And don't get me started on her husband. All marriages are based on trust, for him to turn on her so quickly and thoroughly, especially after being skeptical initially...I would have thrown his butt to the curb. Her ready forgiveness, to me, made her look even more dumb. At least make him grovel.POSSIBLE SPOILERSHere are my big gripes with this book:- again, she lets her family, boss, friends walk all over her. Stand up for yourself. How do you let your husband convince you that you violently attacked a painting, or think you made things up you KNOW you saw? I can be convinced, in my stress, that I forgot to send an email I thought I did, or pick something up from the grocery store I swear I did. But knife a painting???- she's a lawyer who doesn't know how to build a case or properly collect evidence. She writes down a list of questions, but instead of meticulously gathering proof just yells out random accusations, even though it was so easy to gather obvious evidence. She put herself in a position to let Alice get the better of her. She was too easily manipulated.-Trip to America: she was already suspicious of the picture due to the clock (and sorry, but dyslexia explained for mixing up an image? Maybe I'm uneducated, but red flag,) yet it never occurs to her to show the picture to the neighbor, waitress, or Roma? She never asks Roma about the dyslexia? She doesn't share her suspicions with the woman who could be her witness that Alice was not who she said she was? She had three people who KNEW Alice and/or Martha, but doesn't ask them to back her up?-Luke: so she lost her evidence, but, again, hello, tell them to call Roma or the neighbor. What about the eye color. She could have told Luke, in a rational way, what she learned, but she behaves so irrationally, pleading with him not to leave. Plot device.Tom: seriously never occurred to her she was drugged in college? 3-day "hangover?"-The cliche plot device where the main character decides to confront the bad guy at a time/place that leaves them completely vulnerable. Why, when he went to get the wine, and she heard the first 30 seconds on the call, did she not just grab it & run, before he got back?-the nudes pics: what was the point of those? And her 1st thought when she sees Leonard is to worry about him seeing the pics? Huh? How about being rescued???-There's more, but you get the point. If Clare had been written better, this could have been 4 stars...

Das mit dem Spannungsbogen muss man können - ich war nach einiger Zeit verleitet zu blättern, weil ganz offensichtlich war, worauf die Geschichte hinausläuft. Dann hat die Autorin dem aber selber Rechnung getragen und danach war es dann doch noch ein eher gutes als schlechtes Buch.

great read i would recommend this book because once you start reading it you dont want to put it down

Don't start it if you want to sleep that night. I rarely write a review but this book was so good that I couldn't put it down. Well done to Sue Fortin!

Really good thriller

Review is with certain details of storyline.This wasn't a bad read. It kept me invested in the story to the end. Despite the book blurb that was supposde to keep the reader guessing, there was never any doubt as to who was the manipulative sister. This was Claire telling the story and from the start I was in her corner. But oh how I disliked Clare's husband. There was a complete lack of support from him. He was supposed to be the loving husband and their marriage was introduced at the begiining of the story as one that was steadfast and true. And yet not at any time or point after the arrival of the 'missing sister' did Luke give his wife Claire the benefit of the doubt when strange things started to happen in the household. To a certain degree Luke losing his cool with Claire when he first saw the damaged painting was understandable - but only understandable in those first initial moments. I can give him those few moments and the lashing out in anger because on the surface Claire was the only 'possible' person to have destroyed the painting. But if this were a real life situation, I would like to think that it would be more natural for a loving husband to take a step back after the initial sense of incredulity, to look deeper, think deeper. After all, he KNEW his wife from the inside out ... he has had years to love and KNOW her. But to continue to carry doubts of her was disloya of Luke. It made me want to kick him for the way he talked to Claire. He told her he couldn't stand the sight of her at that moment. It was a terrible thing for a 'loving' husband to shout at his wife. He then pushed her -- yes actually PUSHED her out of the house. The scene where she stood outside looking in through the window at the 'family' inside and felt she was no longer a part of her family, was due to Luke's actions. It was such an act of betrayal. It wasn't even his house as his family was liviing with Claire's mother!Throughout the story, Luke never once stopped to consider if maybe he should start to feel some loyalty to his wife. Another scene when Cliare was taken away by the local police for questioning, Luke stood at the door and shook his head at her. Now that scene made me want to smack him - hard. It was a show of disapproval. What loving husband would chastise his wife in that manner, by SHAKING his head at her? He then retreated into the house and closed the door on her while she went away to be 'questioned' by the authorities. That whole scene did not bode well for the marriage - or at least in real life, it would have been the beginning of the end for a real life couple.The defining moment for me was when Claire thought she could at last catch up with Luke after her trip to America. There she was, recovering from the car incident, in a hospital bed - desperately wanting to be believed at last. You would think that THIS was the momment of truth for Luke. HIs wife had just arrived back from a truth-finding trip from America - where her 'newly discovered sister' had lived during all the missing years. So surely Luke would finally be able to be on the same page as his wife and listen to what she had to tell him? Never mind the months of disbelieving her and the withholding of his support ... it was finally time to allow her to convince him. But to the bitter end Luke refused to believe his wife. He reacted worse than before. Told her he had had enough and was removing the kids from what he saw as her mental instablity. He decided that they should be away from Claire's influence. To be AWAY from his wife ... THAT was his response to the truth that she was so desperate to share with him. He forsook his wife all through the turmoil that the newcomer 'sister' had stirred up.Claire was worried that the removal of their girls to his parents' was meant that he was leaving her ... he assured her it was a temporary arrangement. This was a wife who was clearly more besotted with her husband than he was with her. she couldn't see that she contributed more to the marriage than he did. Tom was right - Luke didn't really pull his weight. He was practically living on his wife's earnings and under the same roof as his wife's mother. Of coures he and their girls' stay with his parents was only ever going to be temporary. He wouldn't have been able to financially support himself and his kids all on his own, would he!. He needed Claire for that. And she was fretting that he was about to leave her!If this was a real life situation played out over those many months, when a wife had to live through the many instances of being disbelieved by her husband, the scales would have eventually fallen from her eyes. Husband Luke was the one above all others who should have believed her - and he didn't. He was a total prick. No loving husband however provoked in the immediate aftermath of a shocking discovery (the destroyed painting) would have stated that he couldn't stand the sight of her ... or summarily pushed her out the door ... or shook his head at her when she was being taken away by the police. Those were crisis moments when he was at his most disloyal. I know this was 'that' kind of story - Claire was meant to be without support and was to be 'left out the cold' to lend a sense of isolation to her predicament while things happened. So Luke and Claire's mother doubting Claire was a necessary plot line. Her mother refusing to believe, I can at least understand. She had just had her younger 'daughetr' back in her life .. she didn't want to risk losing her again. So yes, I can appreciate the mother wanting to hold on to this newly found daugher after the missing years. Luke was a different matter. I could accept his doubting Claire for a while at first - or even in the later stages (although by then I was getting increasingly annoyed with him) - but to shut her down even AFTER she came back from her investigative trip? THAT was when I washed my hands of Luke. And Claire should have too. He did say he was sorry once the truth was finally made known, but one paltry "sorry" couldn't redeem him in the end.