**4 Stars**

When Lauren decides to upload a DNA test to a genealogy website, she has no idea how one action will change the lives of her family forever. Sandie Jones' The Half Sister examines the inner lives and secrets of two sisters, Lauren and Kate, who have skeletons in their closets.

Kate is an independent, successful reporter who has been desperately trying to get pregnant. She has an adoring, equally successful husband who also works as a political reporter. Kate and her husband have kept their infertility struggle secret from the rest of their family, including Kate's sister, Lauren, and mother, Rose.

Lauren is a mostly stay at home mother to numerous young children who feels chained to the life she's chosen. Her husband is moody and difficult. The love she once had for him disappeared as soon as he became controlling when they married. She pines for the love she lost in high school, a love who painfully broke up with her and who has conveniently returned to their hometown.

Feeling lost and alone, Lauren seeks out companionship online via a genealogy website. A knock on her mother's door will unravel Kate, Lauren, and Rose's lives, forcing them to confront their once beloved and now deceased father's infidelities. Jess, a woman who claims to be Lauren and Kate's half-sister due to the connection made online via a genealogy website, is looking for friendship and family after growing up as an adoptee.

But Kate, who had a closer relationship with her father than Lauren, cannot believe her father, a prominent lawyer, would do such a thing. Kate, using her stellar investigative skills, digs deep into Jess' past, discovering that Jess is not who she claims to be. Will Jess destroy Kate and Lauren's family forever, or will the truths she brings to light bring them closer?

I enjoyed this book a great deal, but I think it could have been edited a bit more as it felt long by the time I was done. I saw the ending coming about half-way into the novel, but I thought it was still satisfying. I thought the characters of Lauren and Kate were well developed and enjoyed seeing how their motivations were explained. While I have preferred the Jones' other books just a tad bit more, I did not regret this read and recommend it for a summer beach book (if we can go out to the beach, that is!).

Thank you to the author, Sandie Jones, NetGalley, and St. Martin's Press for an advanced reader copy of The Half Sister! I greatly appreciate the opportunity to review Jones' books!

Thanks to Netgalley and Minotaur Books for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Lauren and Kate are sisters who have a bit of a tense relationship. Lauren has a crappy marriage and three kids, and Kate has a good marriage but is on her third IVF trial. Their father has recently died. During their weekly dinner with their mother, a young woman, Jess, shows up claiming to be their half sister. She found Lauren on a genealogy site. Kate refuses to believe her beloved father could have had an affair. Lauren had a less cozy relationship with her father and believes Jess. Their mother, Rose, knows things but won't tell.

Despite reading this book in a day, I initially thought it was a bit of a slow start. I didn't like Kate at all and that bothered me for some reason. I was also annoyed at Rose, just spill the info already! But around 40%, things picked up and I totally thought I knew what was going on, for awhile. I was wrong, and that was a good thing, because the book would have been pretty boring in that case. I liked this book more than I initially thought I would, and I think I would say the same about the other two books I have read from this author. There were just enough side stories going on to keep me guessing.

Sisters Kate and Lauren are having Sunday lunch at their mother's home when there's an unexpected knock at the door. Simon, Lauren's husband excuses himself to answer and returns with a young woman named Jess. Jess shocks everyone by saying she is Kate and Lauren's half-sister. Rose, their mother is extremely distraught since Harry, her late husband and the girl's father passed away six months ago. Kate and Lauren are opposite sides Kate is convinced her father couldn't have a secret child, and Lauren is eager to be closer to the family, welcomes Jess without a second thought. It soon becomes clear that everyone in the family has something they are hiding.
This is my third book by Sandie Jones, I thought this book would be spectacular, unfortunately, I set my expectations too high. The plot was believable a sister researching her family genealogy and discovering a possible family member. I wasn't a fan of any of the characters in this, and another problem I had with this was there were other backstories told that really didn't need to be added to make the story flow. It might have worked if Harry had told them in flashbacks, but the way it was done just made the book drag on unnecessarily. The ending wrapped everything it just ended so abruptly that I wish that there would have been a longer explanation.
I do what to thank the author and Net Galley for allowing me early access to this book,

This is a psychological thriller that has so many twists and keeps the readers on tenterhooks all the way. There were some aspects of the plot that were kind of unbelievable but the constant drama makes you go for it in just one or two sittings. I devoured it in one sitting.

Absolutely full of suspense.
Fast read.
Crazy twists.
Complicated relationships.
Family drama.
Buried secrets.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

Sandie Jones has fast become one of my new favorite authors!!! I’ve loved all three of her books so far. The Half Sister was another amazing psychological thriller. There were many twists and turns and every time I thought I had everything all figured out, a new twist would come up. My only complaint would be that I thought the ending/epilogue was a bit abrupt and I wish there was a little more at the end. However, I definitely recommend this book!

Loved this book!!!!!! An addictive thriller that I couldn’t put down. I read late into the night and finished in one sitting. A must read!!

This is one of the better books by Jones. The story is unique, and one not written about often that I'm aware of.

Jess is searching for her mother when she gets a DNA match to a half sister online. That half sister is Lauren. Lauren blames her father but her sister Kate blames their mother. In there search for the truth, will the family be torn apart? What other secrets are family members hiding?

I thought this had so much drama! From murder to marriage. Deceit. Lies. Abuse. Love. Mystery. It was all over the board. I personally enjoy a story told from multiple perspectives and this was that!

The beginning was a little slow for me but after about 40% WOW! It picked up and never stopped! My jaw was on the floor at the end.

Thanks to Netgalley, Minotaur Books, and St. Martin's Press for my advanced copy!

Months after sisters Kate and Lauren’s father has passed a knock at the door throws their family for a loop. Jess,claiming you be their long lost half sister upturns the family in ways none of them ever saw coming.
Kate,a journalist and Lauren, at at home mom,haven’t been close as sisters for years,but when Jess shows up,poking doubt into each of them,against their mother,their father,their spouses & even each other,who is telling the truth?
Who can be trusted?
For fans of “The Other Woman” and “The First Mistake” Sandie Jones has written another twisting,turning,thrilling novel sure to keep you guessing until the very end.

The Half Sister
by Sandie Jones
St. Martin's Press
You Like Them
Minotaur Books
Mystery & Thrillers
Pub Date 16 Jun 2020 | Archive Date 16 Jun 2020

This is a must read if you like psychological thrillers! I haven't read Sandi Jones before and It looks like I have some catching up to do. I will recommend this to our library patrons when we reopen. I think our book club will enjoy it.
Thanks to Net Galley and St. Martin's press for providing the ARC for my reading purposes.

I love Sandie Jones’ writing style so I was excited to read The Half Sister. I wasn’t disappointed!
This book was a quick and easy read from the very first page. I really like all of the characters. Sometimes I wanted to yell at them for keeping quiet when they should have spoken up.
It was fairly predictable in the end but overall, I really enjoyed the book and would definitely recommend it.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced reader’s copy

I liked this one fine, just not as much as I’d wanted too. A bit over the top and characters a bit too flat. Just good enough. 3.5 rounded up.

That Bitch!! Seriously your gonna say the same when you read this!! I’m throwing all the stars at this one! So many twist and turns and you think it’s going one way and then the next!! The half sister has multiple stories in it, they all combined to one grander story and I was hooked from beginning to end!!

Wow! I simply could not put this down! It was full of secrets and twists, and kept me guessing right until the very end! Jones was able to build characters that were immediately relatable, which kept reading on as I was invested into the characters on the pages! So well written! Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys the genre! You will not be disappointed.

*I received an advanced reader’s copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review

The half sister

Thank you Netgalley and St Martens Press for a chance to review a digital copy of this ARC in exchange for my honest review.


Synopsis:
Sisters Lauren and Kate are eating a nice family dinner with their mother and Lauren’s husband and children when they get a knock on the door from a woman claiming to be Lauren and Kate’s half sister, Jess. Jess was adopted many years before and after going on a DNA match site like Lauren, they have a DNA match. Now their father has recently passed away and isn’t their defend himself or his past actions. Kate doesn’t believe Jess’s stories or that her father could have done this to their family and being a reporter is going to search for the lies in the story. Lauren is desperate for a bond and is willing to believe it and gain a new relationship. But what is really going on? Is Jess who she says she is?


Review: 4/5. I’ve never read anything by Sandie Jones before, but am definitely looking forward to reading more now. I love a good thriller and this was just that. I loved that there were twists even until the very last sentence, but still happy moments in between. There were times when I “knew” I had it figured out just to be told “girl sit down, you don’t have a clue” and I love that In a book. I did take a point away because I felt there were parts that were not super realistic, but I would definitely recommend.

Rating: 3.5

I think that this book was quite a good thriller. The dialogue made the book easy to navigate and it was nice that it was so character heavy. One downside to this book was that I thought the ending was very rushed. It could have used more space to breathe because it felt like the whole book was going at a steady pace and then the ending was like sprinting to get done. Overall, it was a good book though.

Lauren and Kate are sisters that usually don’t see eye to eye. While at their family’s Sunday lunch ritual there’s a knock on the door. It’s a young woman asking to see Harry, Lauren and Kate’s late father. She claims she’s Harry’s daughter. Kate, who was always close to her father, refuses to believe it. Lauren has no doubt at all that Jess is her half sister and welcomes her into her life. Kate puts her journalism degree to use and starts researching Jess and quickly realizes that Jess may not be who she says she is.
I really liked this book. It was well written and fast paced. I connected with Lauren and her situation with her husband and with the sister dynamics. The ending was great and didn’t leave me hanging. Overall, a great read!

I love Sandie Jones's books and was delighted to get this one and of course it didn't disappoint! Sisters Lauren and Kate couldn't be more different as Lauren has three children and a sometimes-abusive husband, and Kate is struggling with IVF and has a supportive husband. They both have very different memories of their late father who died a year ago, so when a young woman appears claiming to be their half-sister, they (as well as their mother) are flabbergasted and don't know how to react to this news. What follows is the unraveling of many secrets and deceptions in their pasts and just when you think you have figured it out...BAM! No you haven't! This is one of those novels that you may need to read in one or two sittings as it's hard to put down, so prepare to enjoy your time in quarantine for this one!

A family is thrown into turmoil at the arrival of Jess, a young woman who claims to be the love child of their family patriarch. Quickly insinuating herself into all aspects of their life, her presence stirs up long kept secrets. Split narrative structure details the two sisters’ very different reactions to this shocking news. Older sister Lauren, still hurting from her difficult relationship with the now deceased Harry, eagerly welcomes Jess—and the distraction from her unhappy homelife. While adored daddy’s girl Kate is livid at this disloyalty and the insult to her father’s memory. Her efforts to keep the man on his pedestal leads to increasingly ludicrous mental gymnastics and schemes that are by far the novel’s weakest points. Complicated family dynamics and the regret of not being able to make peace with lost loved ones could be fascinating themes to explore but these authentic emotional beats are unfortunately abandoned in favor of a pile-on of plot twists and frustrating miscommunication.

This is the second of Jones’ books I’ve read. I enjoy how she creates characters with backstories and depth of them and the complicated relationships between them. Two sisters, each with secrets and struggles of their own, are in for a shock when they learn something about their family history. They both deal with it in very different ways. I found some of the reactions to be slightly far fetched, but enjoyed how the plot twists came together at the end. An enjoyable read. Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a pre-published version in exchange for my honest opinion.

Despite really disliking some of these characters, I really liked the story! Sucked me right in from the start and kept me up late trying to figure out the answers to all the questions.