Sandie Jones is back with a new novel. Two totally different sisters, who have more in common than they believe, are about to have their worlds rocked. How safe are those DNA websites? I did find the story to be totally predictable and early on called out several of the plot twists. That being said it did hold my attention during these social distancing times.

The Half Sister wasn't a bad book by any means. The story had great potential and was mostly compelling. I enjoyed getting to know sisters, Kate and Lauren, who tell their tale through dual narratives. Kate, especially, was feisty, congenial, and likable. I personally wish the novel would have delved more deeply into her story...it was the sole focus at the beginning, but then melted into the background and all but disappeared. Jessica, the half sister, wasn't at all fleshed out, and Lauren, whom I believe was meant to be a sympathetic character, wasn't.

I also agree with a few other reviewers about the slow pacing. The story gets dragged down in a beaucoup of needless information and unnecessary story lines. It most certainly would have benefited from flashback chapters told from the girls' father, Harry's, point of view. I think that would have broken things up a bit, and made a more compelling read.

Overall, this is a fairly average story. Having read Sandie Jones' earlier works, I honestly expected more.

**Many thanks to the publisher for my review copy.

I would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. I really, really enjoyed the author's first book and even the second hooked me in, but this one didn't as much. I had a harder time getting into it, although I still enjoyed the plot and characters. I look forward to what she writes next.

Nope! This didn’t work with me! When I see something illogical and nonsense point which affects the entire story’s development, I truly lose my interest. That’s exactly happened during my reading!

The story told by Kate and Lauren, two sisters, polar opposites, envying each other’s lives. Kate is successful reporter, climbing her career ladder faster, having a lovely husband Matt but she wants to have a baby, trying too hard, exhausted from IVF treatment process. She wants to have a family. And Lauren is married, with lovely children, exhausted to turn into a stay at home mom and dealing with mood-swings, mental abuse of her husband Simon. She wants a career, freedom and she misses her old love for 20 years.

Their Sunday family gathering with her mother Rose who was still grieving because of their father’s sudden decease turned into bitter, cold, weird interactions. Nobody can stand with each other. And one day, a young woman named Jess knocks their door and demands to see her father Henry. She tells them she is their half-sister! Yes, everything couldn’t be get better, could be?

Later we found out Lauren brought Jess into their lives because she was always doubtful about her father’s sincerity and thought he might have been having an affair behind their mother’s back. They found each other from DNA match side! Yes; THAT’S THE PART THIS BOOK STARTED TO FAIL: The idea of finding your sister by DNA match website didn’t make sense to me! (the same so called sister has no idea about her biological past because she is adopted and as far as I know: because of carrying XX chromosomes, for getting accurate result about DNA, you need mother’s DNA!)

Lauren also needed a confidante because she was estranged more with her family members after her father’s dying. She wanted her family back. Her intentions were sincere. (At least what she tells to herself which I don’t buy!)

But Jess has no intention to stop till she finds her biological mother and the facts about secret relationship with her father which will ruin everything in sisters’ lives and make them question everything they know about their own childhood as they see their entire family life consisted of lies and secrets!
I liked the intriguing pacing and moving chapters, fast building tension but there are things absolutely irritated me:
I
’m not genealogy expert but Lauren and Jess’ way of finding each other on DNA website didn’t work with me.
I couldn’t connect with any of the characters and I couldn’t relate with their pain, suffer and motives. They were so annoying, flat, dull characters.

The ending was also twisty but a little foreseeable and mediocre.

Overall: It was still fast pacing, quick and easy read. I didn’t get bored and but unlikable characterization and big plot-holes of the story and predictable revelation disappointed me. So I’m giving 2.5 stars to round up to 3! This turned into I didn’t love it but I didn’t truly hate it-Switzerland books!

I still enjoy the author’s writing style and I loved her previous works. But this one failed me just a little because she’s great writer and I expected more from her.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books/St. Martin’s Press for sharing this mysterious ARC in exchange my honest review.

2.5 stars

Having read and enjoyed both The Other Woman and The First Mistake , I was excited to receive an advance copy of Sandie Jones's upcoming release The Half Sister . Unfortunately, this book fell a little flat for me. I found the plot to be a little far-fetched and I didn't really like any of the characters so it was hard for me to connect with them. Overall, I'd say the book is just okay - while it certainly wasn't terrible, I don't expect it to be very memorable for me either.

Man, what a let down! I’ve read The Other Woman and The First Mistake by Sandie Jones and while both were a little far fetched, they were entertaining enough to make me let that go. This book was far fetched, all over the place and slooooow. At 30% I almost stopped for good but decided to skim to see if it got any better and unfortunately it didn’t. Can’t recommend this one, sorry.

3-4 stars. I hate not giving a 5 plus star rating, because normally I love, love, love Sandie Jones writing and the twists at the end, but this one I honestly wanted to start skipping parts of it mid way. I think that it just wasn’t exciting enough and realistic enough to find very believable. I think done in a different manner it could’ve been much more realistic, chilling, shocking, and twisty; but in the format I got it was way more of a domestic drama with a little twist at end. I’ll still look forward to more by Jones, even though this was not my favorite book. I didn’t think it was awful, just not what I’ve come to expect from Sandie Jones. I had the twist figured out, but did finish, so can’t rate too low, so 3-4 stars is my vote.
Will make sure to let many know about this upcomg release.

This was another good ready by Sandie Jones. I found this to be an interesting and complex family drama, not exactly what I was expecting from the "thriller" description. It read quickly and had some good dramatic moments. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

***Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of THE HALF SISTER, by Sandie Jones in exchange for my honest review.***

THE HALF SISTER is built on the notion that women can definitively find each other on a DNA match website if they share the same father. The premise that Jess took the DNA test and based on matching with Lauren she assumed Lauren and Kate’s father was hers is nebulous. I understand the paternal conclusion because older children would presumably know of their mom had been pregnant.

I’ll bet most readers won’t be as distracted as me by the genetics and I only am because genealogy is a hobby. I was distracted for the whole book by science which isn’t addressed until near the end of the book (not a spoiler). The first thing my new found cousin and I did was compare family trees. Because Jess was adopted and had no biological family knowledge, she probably assumed any information Lauren had to be accurate.

Aside from distraction, the third person narratives alternating between Kate’s and Lauren’s perspectives lacked an emotional connection where I felt the sisters’ hearts. I wanted to feel their angst as must as move the plot forward.

I enjoyed how each character had secrets and made assumptions based on what they didn’t know and others did. The satisfying conclusion was my favorite part of THE HALF SISTER.


Why I was distracted:

Because women have XX chromosomes, her DNA results only include maternal haplogroup information that comes from mitochondrial (mother’s) DNA. Because males have XY, the results have both maternal and paternal haplogroup. If a woman and her brother or take DNA tests, she can glean paternal haplogroup from him as well as if her father takes the test. Nearly identical paternity tests would show if the women share a father.

Even though women don’t have Paternal Haplogroup information without a male on her father’s side, she could find a percentage match with an individual that shows a family relationship, half-siblings share approximately 25% of DNA, the same as grandparents. DNA results can suggest possible relationships, I’ve found maternal second cousins once removed, but we had to figure out our relationship through examining family trees. My great grandmother was the older sister of her grandmother.

I broke from the book a few times to Google genetic info because I couldn’t concentrate.

This is the second book I’ve read by this author. She has a way of drawing the reader into the suspenseful storylines. Halfway through this one the story began to get bogged down unnecessarily. I will say she follows a plot line of who is behind the evil in both books I have read. I would recommend this book, being a seasoned reader it still kept me engaged until the very end. Overall a good suspenseful easy read.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of The Half Sister!

Sandie Jones, you’ve done it to me again!! I got approved for this book YESTERDAY and it was perfect timing because I had just finished another book (and I was so super excited!!!!!!!!!!) This is the third book I’ve read by Jones and while it wasn’t my favorite of the three, it was still really good and really fast-paced. Kate and Lauren are sisters, living completely opposite lives when Jess shows up and claims to be their half sister, sharing the same father. Kate and their mother Rose refuse to believe Jess but Lauren is more accepting, but why?? Obviously because Lauren has a secret... and Kate has a secret... and Jess has a secret... and Rose has a secret... Everyone has secrets and this book proves that if you are just honest with the people you love, a lot of chaos can be avoided!

I love this author and was thrilled to be given the opportunity to read her new book! This book was definitely different than her other books, although I still enjoyed it! It had more of a feel of a “family drama” instead of a thriller, as O had anticipated. That being said, I liked the intricacies of the relationships between sisters and their mother—there were also a few surprising twists in the story that made for an interesting read.

Kate and Lauren are incredibly close sisters and they lean on each other even more after the death of their father. Then they are approached by a woman who claims to be their half sister, and she has the paperwork to prove it. Who is the man Kate and Lauren called their father, and what secrets is their half sister about to reveal? A taut and intelligent domestic thriller