Having read and happily recommended every Karen M. McManus book, I seem to always get stuck on saying “oh my god the mystery is so great you have to read it”.

What doesn’t get said enough by me, or by many, is just how fantastic McManus is at writing contemporary novels.

Yes, her mysteries are always on point, but the heart of the story is always with the characters. You start to care so deeply for these people in the way that is common for a contemporary novel. I think contemporary wise, this was McManus’s best book yet. You get so lost in the lives of the Story family. She creates an addictive read just because you want to know more about these people.

Don’t let my reading dates fool you. I read this pretty much in two sittings. Being in a funk/reading slump really bites. And I’m glad this book helped to bring me out of it.

Wow! McManus does not disappoint with the Cousins. The story moves along and keeps the reader intrigued on what happened so long ago for the Story heirs to be disinherited. Do the cousins have to pay for the sins of their parents?

Twists and turns and family drama. Karen McManus does it again. Threw in some curveballs I didn’t see coming. I liked the three POVs of the Cousins. This was a slow burn mystery, one her fans will enjoy.

This was an amazing family drama/thriller. It was a little slow to start, but I was really interested in the characters, and how the family saga would play out. I kept wondering what terrible thing the parents did to get disinherited. I thought it was clever how the timeline switched between the past and present, and also between the cousins' viewpoints. I loved this book overall, and would highly recommend it!

*3.5 stars!

Okay that was such a wild ride and I could never have predicted who done it. The book took a good while to pick up and I couldn't get into it immediately. I wish there were more little crumbs from the start of the book because at the first half it didn't really feel like a mystery? Everything kinda got squeezed into the last bit of the book, which I get but I wished the first half of the book was more mysterious I guess? At the start, main characters did and talked about stuff that wasn't really relevant to the mystery and I wasn't really interested in that to be honest 😅 The overall vibe and writing also felt a bit different to her other books. But, like I said, the book picked up later on and I grew to like the characters more. Overall, I liked this but it isn't my favourite Karen M. McManus book. If you're looking for a quick YA mystery/thriller though and you've read all her other books already, I would still recommend this!

I enjoyed this book. I like McManus' other works as well so I had high hopes going into this one and she doesn't disappoint. The twists and turns keep coming and just when you think you have figured it out...another twist comes popping up! I really enjoyed this book.

Family secrets come out when three cousins who barely know each other are all invited to Gull Cove Island to work for a resort. The island is the home of the grandmother who disinherited all four of her children before the cousins were born. Each one has a different reason to want to reconcile or at least get to know their grandmother.

Milly Story-Takahashi is the daughter of Allison, the only girl. She is named for her grandmother and has a difficult relationship with her own mother who seems to have unreasonable expectations for her. Milly would like to get to know her grandmother.

Aubrey Story is the daughter of Adam who is the oldest Story child. He was always his mother's favorite but hasn't had a very successful life since he was disinherited. He wrote a book which gave him fifteen minutes of fame but has done nothing since. He lets his wife who is a nurse support him while he dwells on his own sense of entitlement and keeps putting his daughter down. Now, he has done something that Aubrey is finding hard to forgive and it is a secret she's carried with her to the island.

Jonah is supposed to be the son of Anders Story. He is an imposter who has dreams of revenge since Anders convinced his parents to take part in an investment scheme that cost Jonah all his college fund and has almost driven his parents to bankruptcy and the near loss of their business.

When they arrive at the island, they find that their grandmother wasn't the one who invited them to come and really wants them all to leave. They also begin to have a number of questions about their family.

Part of the story also includes Milly's mother Allison's activities the summer of 1996 which laid the seeds of all that comes later.

This was a wonderfully twisty mystery with intriguing characters. I enjoyed trying to solve the mystery along with the cousins. The story had a nice mixture of suspense and development of the characters of the cousins. All of them grew and changed over the month they spent on the island before it all come to a fiery conclusion.

**I received a copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.

Holy wow! I always seem to get pulled in by Karen M. McManus' work. This book had so much intrigue and confusion. It felt like there were trap doors and big signs that I kept falling into and missing. I loved reading about Milly, Aubrey, and Jonah. The idea of being cousins, but not knowing each other and the small island that holds family secrets kept me locked in and fully committed to finding out if the family could become whole again. I really enjoyed the time jump to understand how the siblings lived their last summer before being excommunicated by their mother.

The storytelling in this book is what really kept me captivated. I felt like I understood what was going on, but twists kept pushing me around. I so loved kind of being in the dark about almost everything in this book. The characters were also amazing! I didn't feel like anyone was a caricature or not fully fleshed out. I knew that once I began reading, it would be hard for me to accomplish other tasks. So this is really something to read all at once. You'll never really know what's going on until it ends!

This is a must purchase for my library as all of McManus' books are big hits.

I read this all in one sitting. I love all of McManus' books. She writes such great mysteries with so many unexpected plot twists AND sympathetic, three dimensional characters. I fell in love with these cousins and their plight to be seen. And who doesn't love a mystery surrounding dis-inherited teenagers?

This was a serviceable teen family drama mystery. The twist was actually surprising, and the three main characters were likeable. The uncles were hard to keep track of (Anders, Archer, Adam) but were eventually given enough character to be distinguishable. The story did jump ahead at times and didn't always take advantage of the buildup; i.e. there is talk of a party that all the locals and the cousins will be at, they are at the party, the party is over. There is a lot of buildup to the gala, they are at the gala, there is a confrontation and they leave the gala. Still an enjoyable, fast read.

Karen M. McManus has done it again! This was a great, fast paced thriller, with an interesting story and set of characters. She is fast becoming one of my favorite Young Adult authors, and anytime I recommend one of her titles to my students they always end up coming back for more of her books.

The Cousins follows the younger generation of the Story family as they, Milly, Aubrey, and Jonah as they attempt to re-unite with their grandmother. The cousins’ parents were dis-inherited years before they were even born under mysterious circumstances, and all of their parents claim they have no idea why. Pushed by their parents, Milly, Aubrey and Jonah reluctantly accept the invitation sent by their grandmother to come live on the family island and work in the resort, but once the arrive not everything is as it seems-family secrets, imposters and murder abound.

While the story starts off a little slow as we are introduced to the characters, it quickly picks up the pace once the characters all come together on the island. The story has multiple points of view and it unfolds through alternating chapters from the cousins, interspersed with flashbacks to the parents’ time on the island during the summer before they were dis-inherited. Milly, Aubrey and Jonah were all strong characters, and I enjoyed learning more about them as they learned more about each other and the family past. McManus is an expert in employing just enough twists and turns to keep the story fresh, but also believable. The ending was great and really kept me guessing to the very end, and it seems like there might be a sequel in the works, I can’t wait.

The Cousins by Karen M. McManus is a young adult mystery not to be missed.
When long-lost cousins Milly, Aubrey, and Jonah each receive an invitation from their estranged grandmother to visit her at her island estate, they have high hopes that maybe their uber-rich grandmother may finally be coming to her senses. Twenty-four years ago she had sent their parents packing, banishing them from the island and cutting them from their inheritance with only the ominous message of "You know what you did."
Eager to get back in her good graces, they each accept the invitation to work in her resort and finally meet their grandmother. But when they get there, things seem off. Grandmother barely acknowledges their existence and isn't available to meet with them for more than a brief greeting. Why would she bring them all this way just to ignore them? They each have their family secrets, but are they enough to keep grandmother from giving them a second chance?
Definitely getting this one for our library.
#thecousins #netgalley #KarenMMcManus

Karen McManus has quickly become of my fave go-to authors for psychological thrillers. That being said, in my opinion this wasn't one of her better books. It started off slow paced and a tad bit predictable but by mid-way through the pace picks up and I was drawn into the story by one of those (by now) classic McManus twists.

This story of 3 distant relatives trying to get their families back into the family matriarch's good graces has quite a few twists and surprises. All in all, this was a good read with a jaw-dropping ending that leaves an opening for a possible sequel.

The luxurious Gull Cove Island resort off the coast of Massachusetts, which is the setting for The Cousins, contains many Story family secrets. In the 1990s the widow Mildred Story disinherited her four children without explanation, except for a letter send by her lawyer that read "You know what you did." Twenty years later her grandchildren, Milly Aubrey and Jonah, receive letters from her, inviting them to work at the resort. Their parents, hoping to get back into their mother's will, force them to go. However, upon their arrival at Gull Cove Island, they find their grandmother displeased to see them. She obviously had not invited them. They settle into their jobs and getting to know each other, and try to uncover who invited them and why. There are many twists and turns, as family secrets are revealed, making this a fun read for McManus fans.

If you’re a Karen McManus fan you will be happily satisfied with The Cousins. It has all the features that we expect in her novels: believable and imperfect teen characters, unreliable narration and numerous twists and turns. The start to the book is a little slow. Most of the first several chapters are used as character development, exploring the characters and their families, which can sometimes get a little confusing due to the number of characters in the book and the fact that most of their names start with the same first letter. Around halfway through the book, the clues to one mystery begin to expose many more until the exciting conclusion of the book.

The story follows three young people (Milly, Aubrey and Jonah) who come together after they receive a letter from their grandmother Mildred Story who shockingly disinherited the entire family twenty-four years ago. The three of them are invited to work for a summer on their grandmother's island, which serves as an upscale resort. Because of the family history, and the fact that they have not seen each other in a long time, family secrets are revealed. As the mystery develops, the reader is drawn into the secrets and lies which haunt the Story family. Milly, Aubrey and Jonah attempt to uncover why their reclusive grandmother suddenly wants to have relationships with her grandchildren. There definitely seems more to this fraught reunion than meets the eye. Each chapter is told from the point of view of one of the cousins, with some flashbacks to Milly's mother in 1996.

I enjoyed this book and it's multiple points of view. The characters were well written and it was fun to watch their relationships develop over the course of twists and turns of the story. The ending was a surprise and not close to what I was expecting. It was well written, fast paced and hard to put down. Solid 4 stars

I am a big fan of Karen McManus' previous three young adult mysteries, which are very popular at the high school where I work as a librarian. Unfortunately, The Cousins is not as good as the other mysteries. One of the things that I liked about her other books is that there were always surprising plot twists. The Cousins was very predictable and I figured out all of the secrets before they were revealed. There wasn't even one plot twist that surprised me. I am curious whether the teens in my library will feel the same way. I also did really care about any of the characters which didn't help matters. I had high expectations for The Cousins and I am really disappointed.

I know an author has done her job when I'm 70% into the book and still have no clue how it will end! My students will enjoy reading The Cousins because it will keep them turning the pages as all the family secrets and gossip are revealed! I like the island resort setting and the ideal of "old money" and all the greedy people who want to get their hands on it. The characters could have developed a bit more, but overall, it is a satisfying read.
3.5 stars

The underwhelming title does not do this book justice. This is my favorite Karen McManus to date. This book checked several boxes for a fun and entertaining mystery/thriller. McManus expertly weaves family drama, deception, and rich jerks into a fun beach town atmosphere. Once I started reading, I couldn’t put this one down. This could also be enjoyed by someone who loves mystery/thrillers, but doesn’t usually read YA.

I absolutely loved this!!! I was supposed to be reading another book for book club, but I could not put it down.I would have liked just a tiny bit more!!

I really do enjoy books by this author. Her characters are always so likable and believable and her mysteries always leave you guessing till the very end. This new book is just as good as the others, and will keep you on the edge of your seat till the very end.

The present day part of the story is told mostly by the three cousins. There are some flashbacks to what happened 20 years ago that caused the rift in the Story family which are told by Allison the only daughter of that generation. Flashbacks told by someone not involved in the main story do not always work, but they do in this case and was a good way for that part of the story to be told.

Milly was a little bit hard to warm up to, but once I did she quickly astonished me with her smarts and loyalty to her cousins. She does at first come off a bit shallow and self serving, but as she gets to know Jonah and Audrey, her true self starts to shine through.

Even though Jonah was a bit of jerk at first, I kind of liked him. Once the truth of his past comes out, I liked him even more. He was actually kind of funny in many of his observations, although he was a bit of a hot head which got himself and the others in trouble at times.

Aubrey was amazing. I really liked her the best. She was also smart and pretty brave, but she had her doubts about her cousins and their situation mostly under control. She was maybe the one to loose the most in this whole situation.

The plot was really fast moving after a little bit of a slow start. There were many layers to this story and to the mystery of why their parents had been cut off by their mother. The setting was good, although a bit unbelievable maybe. It has both the small town vibe and the rich vs. townies issues that are common in New England. But the setting was really my only complaint. I loved the way the cousins mostly worked together to both discover the answers to their problems and how their families troubles influenced their decisions. I also like how the story that Allison was telling wove into the present day story of the cousins.

Another win for this author. If you liked her other books you will be sure to enjoy this one too.