Disappointing last quarter
I really liked most if this book and was really excited to see what developed in the story and kept reading intently. The issue came when the narrator changed to be Mara and it seemed like it was a completely different author, I thought it was a disappointing last part of the book and the ending was weak. An ok read but could have been so much better with an interesting topic

Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review. Almost 20 years ago an 11 year old Mara was abducted from her garden. Lucia, Mara's older sister slept through it and has been wracked by guilt ever since. A while after Mara's abduction Lucia gets involved with Damian; I must say from the outset I didn't like Damians character he was dark and controlling but even this didn't prepare me for how this book turned out. A really well written captivating book I would highly RECOMMEND!

Following through the eyes of husband Damien, we watch as his wife Lucia is reunited with her sister Mara after she was abducted at age 12 and escaped after 19 years.

While the twist was a fun time, I felt that there wasn't enough distrust in the narration for me. I would have preferred to have both of the points of view we get from the start. The way it went fell a little flat for me.

This book started off well with enough mystery and built up curiosity to make you keep reading well past lights out time. However after a few chapters I found that I didn't like any of the characters..... not even the children. The final quarter of the book which included the big reveal became more and more sensationalist. Yes I kept reading as I was curious but it left me disappointed overall.

This book was disappointing. From the start I didn't like the main character, but was intrigued enough to keep reading. I continued reading and began to like or dislike each character at different times, but what was always consistent was my distrust for each character. I, however, kept reading. I wanted this ending to be worth it so badly but the shift in POV was just too much. I couldn't wrap my head around the first 50 chapters being complete lies and the truth being in the last 10. It was just a very disappointing ending and I felt like this book had so much potential but it just didn't live up to it.

From the depths of Nicole’s Book Cellar (Instagram.com/nicoles_bookcellar):

Book: His Wife’s Sister (Release Date: June 7, 2020)

Author: A.J. Willis

Genre: Thriller, Suspense, Mystery

Rating: 4.5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ and a half

Positives: A lot of crazy in this book! All the characters are unreliable and you just want to know what happened so you keep reading! I literally was YELLING (in my head-I’m not that crazy) at the characters and was just angry with them most of the time-which is a good feeling as a reader, in my opinion.

Negatives: If abductions, torture, or abuse are a trigger then this isn’t the book for you.

Recommend?: Absolutely! I want to see who’s POV do you believe!

Plot: Mara Sitwell was abducted when she was 11 years old. The police looked for her for and had no leads. Almost 20 years later, she just resurfaces from the woods claiming to have been held captive, underground for all those years. But where is the abductor and why is Mara so secretive about things that happened?

Lucia, Mara’s sister, has never given up on her and her guilt of her sister being abducted has weighed on her for twenty years. She decides to move her sister in her house along with her husband, Damien, and their 2 kids. Damien doesn’t trust Mara and believes she is hiding something and potentially dangerous. But is anything or anybody what they seem?

Thoughts: So this book, as I said before, has some unreliable characters. You just have to decide who is lying and who is telling the truth. I did not like any of the characters but also was rooting for them at certain times in the book. Even by the end of the book, I could not decide if one character in particular was redeemable.
I loved the mystery behind what happened to Mara. As sick as it is, you want to know what happened during all those years in captivity. Willis makes you unsure of what is happening in the current days with Mara, Lucia, and Damien. I was so uncertain and certain at the same time in this book and wrong so many times.
Final drinking thoughts: If you want to read a book that makes you unsure of not just the characters but yourself-this is the one. This book had mystery, thrills, and showed what happens when compulsion and infatuation takes over.
Thank you to @NetGalley @IndependentBookPublishersAssociation (IBPA) #AJWillis for the advanced copy of #HisWifesSister
#NetGalley #Books #Wine #LitFiction #BookReviews #thrillers #ILikeBigBooksAndICannotLie #Bookstigator #GoodReads #WinerRead #Kindle #AmazonReads #Drama #Booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #bookstagram #Mystery #nicoles_bookcellar

Thank you to the publishers for letting me read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'll start out by saying that the author did a great job of building suspense. Relating to the characters was easy and I'll admit, for 3/4 of the book, I developed a hatred for Lucia and Mara for reasons given in the book (I'm not one to spoil).

With that said, the last 1/4 of the book, it took an awful turn. The reader is built up with suspense and then dropped. Was Mara's perception true? We don't know. Was anything true about Mara's story? Again, we don't know.

There was a lot of promise to this book but once it hit Mara's perspective, it went out into left field, ruining the entire book for me. Had it kept up with the perception we were given and the readers given an insight into Damian's perception, the book could have easily earned 4 or 5 stars.

I loved the first 3/4 of this book. It was creepy, and suspenseful, and interesting. The ending for me came kind of out of left field, but I was still glued to the book to see what would happen. I look forward to reading more from this author. I received a copy of this ebook from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley for the preview of this book. This book began well as it was exciting and enthralling, It was easy to get into and the plot was fast moving with baby twists and turns. The only thing that let it down was the final few chapters where the pace of the novel fell flat and the ending was poor.

I hated all the characters in this book! But I rather enjoyed the story! Usually there's one character that I'm rooting for but I really didn't find myself doing that with any of these people. So I'm surprised I enjoyed it. The ending was a little unrealistic to me tho. Not sure how we ended up getting there, just seemed a bit too messy. But overall it was a good story....

Dark, twisty, compelling and addictive. What more could you want from a novel.
I particularly enjoyed this novel, would definitely read more books from the author

I wasn't crazy about this book. The characters were not likable and the plot was not always believable. I was surprised by the ending and felt that it was not realistic at all.

A difficult book to add a rating to as I am not sure whether I liked it or not. I think the characters were not very likeable. Hard read

First of all, I love a book with despicable characters, so this was definitely one for me. The premise drew me in -- a woman returns to her sister have gone missing since she was 11 years old. Then the slow reveal of information and character-twists kept me hooked throughout.

I loved hating Damian from the beginning and was very satisfied with the ending.

Oh where to start...

I did not love this, at all. I wanted to.

This book was FULL of plot holes and it was just a mess.
I did not find the characters likeable, nor did I understand half of what was or wasn't happening with them. The whole thing to me was outlandish and absurd.

Thanks to Netgalley and Cherry Tree Publishing for this title in exchange for an honest review.

#HisWifesSister #NetGalley
An ok read.
He stole her childhood. Now she wants it back.
A woman is found alone and confused wandering through remote woodland.
She claims to be Mara Sitwell, the little girl who mysteriously vanished from her home nineteen years ago.
She says she was abducted and has been held captive in an underground cell.
But not everyone’s convinced she’s telling the truth.
Her brother-in-law, Damian, thinks she’s hiding a dark secret and so psychologically scarred she’s a danger to his young family.
But no one’s listening to him.
His only choice is to prove what really happened to Mara.
But the truth is never easy to uncover, especially when it’s been buried so deep...

This is one of those books where the narrative comes from different characters. I have to admit the ending was a little surprising, especially since the main character through most of the story wasn't always truthful in his descriptions of events. The book is beautilly written and the characters are very realistic. The story was frightening for a parent since it deals with the aftermath of a young child's abduction. Reading this book will entertain you but not leave you with a warm glow.

Page turner and so twisted that I haven’t seen that ending at all.
It’s always interesting to read about people’s life after living in captivity for many years and how their perceptions of nowadays living can affect everything around, especially their families.
I enjoyed this book, the twists kept coming and coming with each chapter but I didn’t expect that last part of the book at all. The author managed to create a perfect story and make us believe that one thing is happening just to prove us wrong and see the other side of the story as well.
I’m intrigued to read more books by the author now.

I don’t think I have read a book where I disliked every character! That’s the clever thing about this book wether it was the intention of the author or not but either way it’s what sucked me in. It makes you question every character then suddenly everything makes sense and you change your opinions again. My review seems cryptic but I am not giving anything away, read the book!!!! It’s a fab read and I loved it I asked my 16 year old daughter to read to see her reactions and hers were exactly like mine!

Mara was kidnapped when she was eleven, chained, starved and beaten, kept in a hole under the floorboards. Nineteen years later she appears out of nowhere, found wandering in the wood, alone and traumatised. She just wants her sister back and her sister, Lucia, is ecstatic to see her and welcome her back to her family. Unfortunately, it doesn’t go as well as planned.

This has a fairly good plot, its well thought out in the main and has many twists and turns, some time of which you still aren’t quite sure which are real even by the end of the book. Some of the twists are a little predictable and a couple a bit bizarre and unbelievable. Majority of the book is told from Damian’s (Lucia’s husband) point of view and then switched to Mara, you aren’t quite sure who is telling the truth and who to believe.

The characters were well developed but none were particularly likeable. Damien is a bit weird and creepy, I spent part of the book thinking that he was connected to the kidnapping initially, although he would have been very young. He seems very possessive of Lucia but protective of his family though seems quite attention-seeking. Then he turns and it’s difficult to tell if he has always been like that or if it’s a reaction to his new situation.

Lucia is understandably excited to see her sister and to welcome her into her family, she goes above and beyond because she feels so guilty but seems to completely ignore her own children despite calling numerous times a day to check they are being cared for… it doesn’t quite add up.

Mara is a complex and difficult character, she is obviously very disturbed by her treatment over her kidnapping but at the same time James Finch, her abductor, is the only person she has known for 19 years so she is attached to him. She seems to be awkward and difficult, wanting her sister to herself but not necessarily as disturbed as you would imagine.

This was a good book in that it drew me in well and kept me focused and entertained throughout. It has a good pace and, although it left me with more questions than answers I really enjoyed it. The ending is a little too quick and convenient which spoilt it slightly. It’s well written and the words flowed nicely, with plenty of descriptions but not too many.