What a roller-coaster ride this book was. Kelly is the product of a lot of childhood issues centered around her parents always hosting foster care children in their home. Her husband, Mitch, is the product of an unhappy childhood in the foster care system. They have 3 young children and all of a sudden memories start to resurface from Kelly's childhood as well as strange events begin happening. Plenty of twists and turns in this book! Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC of this fantastic book which was a real page-turner that I thoroughly enjoyed.

This was sooo heart-racing! I think it is such a well-made thriller, I enjoyed every bit of it! It's just unputdownable.

Kelly takes her twin daughters to school for the first time and the pram holding her son is moved. She searches all over for him. She finds him quickly, but later begins to think something is going on as several clues are being left for her from her past. The story is told between present and past. It was not to my liking, but others will like it I'm sure.

Publication Date: 8/8/2019

Rating: 4 / 5

I received an uncorrected digital galley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Bookouture and Netgalley for the chance to read and review!

WE WERE SISTERS by Wendy Clarke captured my attention right away, so I was thrilled to get the chance to read and review! As you've probably realized, I have been binging on a lot of thrillers, so was excited to get another one to read!

Kelly is a mother of three, twin girls off to kindergarten for the first time and a new baby boy. Dropping off her twins in class on their first day, she leaves her sleeping son in his pram right outside the classroom. When she comes back, he isn't there. He is quickly found by a neighboring classroom and those helping her look assume she just mixed up the the very similar classroom doors. Kelly is convinced he was moved and the locket she finds in the pram tells her she is right. The locket belonged to her foster sister Freya and Kelly hasn't seen it since Freya died.

The story proceeds, alternating between present day and Kelly's history with Freya. In the present, Kelly is dealing with a high level of anxiety, bordering on paranoia, and no one who believes her concerns. In the past, Kelly has a family where she isn't appreciated or loved. She dreams of having a true sister after a string of former foster children in the home, but it seems Freya, full of secrets and a dark history, is not the sister she seeks.

This is a story that kept me on my toes, waiting to see what happens next. I did see some of the twists coming (which is not unusual given how many thrillers I read), but Wendy Clarke threw some extra twists at me that I didn't anticipate. Overall this was a perfectly chilling thriller with a building suspense throughout, leaving the reader wondering how much is Kelly's paranoia and how much is a true danger! I will definitely be checking out more from this author!

If you are looking for a thriller to add to your summer reading list, I definitely recommend WE WERE SISTERS by Wendy Clarke!

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The novel travels in between time periods following the main character, Kelly. Kelly Now describes her life a mother of twins that are starting school and a newborn at home. Kelly is overwhelmed and sleep deprived and begins to "see" things from her past that she doesn't believe is possible. Kelly Then introduces her unhappy childhood as her mother was more inclined to love the newest foster child and her father paid her no attention at all. When Kelly begins "seeing" things, she is forced to relive the time in her life in which Freya was a foster child in her parents home. Kelly is convinced that Freya is after her, even though she believes she is dead.

My god a real rollercoaster of a read. A dysfunctional family from hell, a psychological thriller and so much more. This read had so many heart breaking moments. The main characters Kelly and Freya both have so many secrets and all will be revealed and I must admit that I was shocked. Each chapter is given to either then or now which really fleshed out the story. Nothing is what it seems in this book, kept me well entertained, read it in one sitting finally turning the last page at 2.am. I LOVED IT!!!! An easy five stars and so Highly Recommended.
I would like to thank the author, Bookouture and Netgalley for the ARC in return for giving an honest review.

This was the first book I have read by Wendy Clark. What happens when individuals are looking to be loved -- you get a good storyline. I enjoyed the storyline and the format of the book with each chapter going back and forth between the main character Kelly's life in the past and today. In hindsight there were a few hints along the way to what the ending would be but I only picked up on them once I finished the book. At some points during the story I thought I would figure out how it ended, and to some degree I did. The book definitely kept my interest and I thank NetGalley, Bookouture and Wendy Clarke for having the opportunity to read and review this advanced copy.

The only thing I would have liked to see more of is the development of each of the characters. There were a few characters I would have liked to get to know better and see more involved in the day to day life of Kelly. And become more connected to these characters and understand why they are acting the way they are. For example, the twins, was this just a difference in personalities that they were so different from each other or did something happen to Sophie to keep her from being more outgoing? This is really the main reason I could not give this book a 5 star rating.

Now this is something that rarely happens: While I didn't particularly like any of the characters (I grew quite impatient with them for behaving so very irritating) and felt that the ending wasn't really well thought trough (everything went from disaster to pure bliss in the blink of an eye) the storyline was still gripping enough to make me want to read on and keep me entertained throughout the book.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this eBook!

I didn’t care for the subject matter in this. Mental illness, lack of interpersonal connection, seemed to go around in circles
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me this arc

Kelly has twin girls starting school and a newborn baby who is keeping her up at night, and most of the day too. She's taking her girls to school and when she leaves ends up discovering that her stroller (pram) has been moved and she can't find her baby. After a few minutes of panic, she finds him a few classrooms away, but also discovers a locket, just like her own, that her dead sister had back when they were children. Panic continues as strange things start happening and Kelly isn't sure what is real and what is in her mind.

Kelly is an unreliable narrator, and I'm discovering that I'm just not a fan of these types of stories. The story jumps back and forth from Kelly Now to Kelly Before, where we see how she became sisters with Freya and then what is going on with her life currently. Her past life is full of sadness as her dad ignores her and her mom is always looking for a better child than Kelly. Her mother brings in many different foster children and hopes that one of them will be the one they get to adopt. The new kids get the best clothes and the best food, and when there aren't any in the house Kelly's mother goes into a state of depression, ignores Kelly, and lets the house fall into a state of constant dirt and grime. Kelly struggles with the fact that her mom is abusive towards her, shows favoritism to the foster kids, and constantly doesn't know what's going on because her mother feels it's best to not speak of such negative things.

In Kelly Now, we learn that she is basically sleep deprived due to her baby waking up at all hours of the day and night to feed, the one twin is constantly picking on the other twin, and she can't seem to trust her husband to do anything. Honestly, Kelly's character during the present time is just... irritating. Her husband constantly offers to help out, either by waking up and feeding the baby, taking the girls to school, watching the kids in the evening when he gets home so she could go running, and Kelly's anxiety and paranoia refuse to let her do any of it. So, of course, they lack communication in their marriage, and Kelly starts to think that he's cheating on her, even though he's given her no evidence that he is cheating. Multiple times her husband tries to talk with her about what's going on, suggests that she see a doctor about, or just give him a chance to prove himself. She refuses at every angle.

In terms of the whole mystery/thriller aspect of this, I just wasn't impressed. The last four chapters are when everything happens, and it makes it feel that the 15 chapters before weren't needed. I just wasn't really surprised by the ending, or the red herring, and I wouldn't consider this a "gripping psychological thriller". This is more of a story about a woman suffering from postpartum depression and anxiety and refusing to seek the help she needs. It was still entertaining to read, and due to short chapters went quickly and kept me interested.

ARC provided by NetGalley and the publisher.

I liked the idea of this book and thought that it was a good read overall. I thought that the twist at the end was really good. I thought though that the story seemed long and drawn out in places which made me lose interest at times.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

I received an arc of this title in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me the opportunity to read this book in advance of its release.

I wanted to like this book, but it just didn't work for me. I thought the plot was going to be amazing based on the synopsis, but I think the execution of it just wasn't up to par. The characters seemed really one-dimensional. The main character, who I thought was going to have more of an interesting back-story, didn't seem worthy of following the entire time. I wish that the "before" chapters were more interesting than they were. Every time I felt like we were getting closer to something interesting in those chapters, it would either end or not be as interesting as it seemed. Everything was happening so slowly–even what was supposed to be more "intense" moments weren't actually all that interesting. I could see what the author was trying to do, but it ended up not working ultimately.

Kelly is taking her twin daughters to school. She has her new baby son, Noah in the pram.she lets go of the pram for a second to see the girls go into their classroom but when she turns back round, the pram with Noah in it is missing. Panic ensues, but Niah is found safe and well outside another classroom. But there is a locket tucked into the pram. It had belonged to her sister, Freya.

Kelly suffers from OCD and anxiety. We are told the story from Kelly's point of view that are told in chapters that are set in "now" and "before". The "before" chapters tell us about her unhappy childhood and the strange relationship she had with her foster sister, Freya. What a thrilling and mysterious read this is. It's a bit of a slow burner to start with but stick with it, you won't be disappointed.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Bookouture and the author Wendy Clarke for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

After years of her parents fostering children, Kelly gets the sister she has always wanted. Soon Kelly realizes she will never measure up to her new sister Freya in her parents eyes but is Freya really as great as she seems? Now as an adult Kelly suffers from OCD and anxiety, but has the type of life anyone would dream of. Twin 5 year old daughters, a newborn son and a husband who adores her. The twins, Isabella and Sophia have started kindergarten and suddenly things start to happen that Kelly can’t explain. When Kelly begins to tell her husband what has been happening he tells her not to worry it is just her forgetfulness and the anxiety she has been facing after the birth of their son. See the problem is there are things from her past that Kelly has kept from her husband Mitch and now she is having a hard time explaining her worries without giving up her past secrets.

I enjoyed this thriller although some parts were a bit slow, the ending was great!

Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for my advanced copy!

This is really a lower rating for me, however I rounded up because the idea of the storyline was good. I could see exactly where the author wanted to go and was trying to go, I just don't feel she delivered on it. It was dry, slow and fell flat for me. And I hate to say that, I really wanted to like this book. The characters are very bland and one dimensional, there's not any depth to their development and they make the story just drag on. And that's a shame because like I said before, the idea of the storyline is great. And even with the characters I could see who the author wanted them to be, she just didn't get there with them. And had she fully developed these characters better, this book would have been a grand slam. All the pieces were there for it to be an awesome thriller that had you on the edge of your seats, it just didn't come through in delivery. For me, the story is slow and not fast paced the way a thriller should be and I found myself bored at many points. The secrets and twists are nothing shocking, anticlimactic or ones that make you scream "What just hapoened?!". And there was the ability for this to happen had the storyline been more developed. It's disappointing because I could see the potential.

Even though I wasn't crazy about this book, I will probably check out the authors other book because it gets rave reviews.

My thanks to Wendy Clarke, Bookouture and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Kelly’s childhood was all but easy. Her father was never at home and her mother didn’t care about her at all, her whole focus was on the foster children who came and went off again. When Kelly was eight, she was promised a sister, this time to stay with them forever. Freya, two years her senior, turned out to be a very headstrong and reckless girl who soon took over control and manipulated Kelly’s mum. This is why Kelly was not too sad when she did not return after a stay at a hospital. Yet, a couple of years later, Freya is back, but now, Kelly is older and not the weak girl who puts up with everything anymore. However, all these are stories of the past, by now, Kelly has a loving husband and three wonderful kids. But, when strange things start to happen, Kelly is unsure whether to blame the lack of sleep or if she is reading the signs correctly. Is Freya back? But she saw her die, this cannot be, can it?

Wendy Clarke’s thriller “We were sisters” keeps the reader a long time in the dark. The story is narrated at two periods of time, on the one hand, the adult Kelly who tries to cope with three children and the constant fear that something from the past might endanger her lucky little family; on the other hand, her memories of the past, the disturbed family she grew up in and the encounter with her foster sister Freya. Thus, it takes some time to sort out what happened and to form an idea of what the signs she sees might mean actually. The author, however, has to offer some twists and turns which come quite unexpectedly.

I adore those stories where there is a creepy feeling that there is a threat coming from somewhere without the characters knowing where to look for it. I was really surprised by the ending as it all turns out quite differently from what I had in mind – brilliantly done. Nevertheless, even though it all makes totally sense, I had the impression that it was a bit too much. Also Kelly’s relationship - or rather: non-relationship - with her parents seemed a bit exaggerated to me, just as her feeling of being threatened without a real reason before all the strange things started to happen. Yet, I enjoyed Wendy Clarke’s writing a lot, she certainly knows how to keep you hooked.

This book kept me on edge, it was a great page turner. The story itself was a little predictable but the ending was actually really good. I liked the characters, the author did a great job bringing them to life. I liked the fact that there were kind of multiple plots going on throughout and that they ran seamlessly.

Just read What She Saw recently and was excited to read another book by Wendy Clarke. Kelly, a rather neurotic new mother, is in a nightmare situation and we are reading in the present and the past to understand her story and this is a really interesting domestic thriller with so many possibilities I really did t guess the ending. This is a great read from an author I am really enjoying!

I’d like to thank Bookouture and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘We Were Sisters’ by Wendy Clarke in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Kelly takes her twin daughters Isabella and Sophie to school for their first day leaving baby Noah outside in his pushchair. When she returns she finds the pushchair has been moved and wrapped up with Noah is a locket with the word ‘sister’ scratched on the back. Kelly knows that her foster-sister Freya was wearing the locket when she died fifteen years ago so how can it be in Noah’s pushchair?

This is the story of Kelly who realises quite early in her childhood that her parents don’t love her and only have affection for the numerous children they’ve fostered over the years. Freya joins the family at the age of ten and Kelly is two years younger, she wants them to be proper sisters but when she tells lies about Freya she’ll blame herself throughout her adulthood for what happened.

‘We Were Sisters’ tells of Kelly ‘then’ and ‘now’ and although it has good parts I found it a bit slow and it wasn’t until further into the story that it became interesting. I didn’t find it heart-pounding or suspenseful, just rather predictable, and although I thought it might become more exciting towards the end it didn’t happen which is a pity as it showed promise and could have been so much better.

Tricky one for me. It had great potential, but I just found it a bit slow and hard to get into. It seemed to take ages to get going, the characters were a bit flat, the plot was a bit blah, just all not quite hitting the mark.

I've read a lot of these sort of novels, so maybe that affected my enjoyment? I just didn't find anything that unsettling or shocking, and the ending just sort of happened. There was no build up, no real tension, it just sort of fizzled out.

A bit predictable, and lacking the style and edginess of better novels in this category.