Wow! This was thrilling from start to finish. The characterisation, the unreliable narration, it all came together to create this excellent novel! I can’t say I was ‘too’ surprised by what happened at the end, but in the same breath I was still shocked by the sheer terror of it all! Brilliant

This is one of the creepiest books I have read for a while. It was good in certain points and slow in others for me. I usually love stories where there is a disappearance and that she was found is a good twist. But what happens to people when the disappear and come back different? Very interesting concept to me.

Nineteen years ago, at the age of eleven, Mara was abducted from her backyard. Lucia, Mara's sister, a bit older, slept thru it and has been guilt-ridden the entire time. Although STILL believing that her sister is alive, Mara marries Damian and they have two small children.

I am afraid to say much more about the story so as to not give away any spoilers. This read DOES captivate at the very beginning and continues to do so throughout.

RECOMMEND!

Many Thanks to Cherry Tree Publishing and NetGalley for a very entertaining read!

Lucia and Mara Sitwell was spending the night on their garden, camping out and enjoying life. An otherwise normal and harmless activity for 2 young girls turned tragic and forever changed the course of their lives. Someone abducted 11-year-old Mara Sitwell. And she was never heard of again.

Damian Caslocke struck up a friendship with Lucia during the early stages of Mara's disappearance. A friendship that eventually led to marriage and 2 adorable kids. 19 years later, juggling family & work duties, Damian received a call from Lucia. The police have Mara and she's alive.

What should be a tear-jerking reunion was met with fright and suspicion.
Damian feels like there's something terribly wrong with Mara. He doesn't trust her. He's afraid of her. He's afraid of the safety of his children.

This book is narrated in different perspectives and somewhere in between is the truth. As I traversed its suspenseful path, I met boredom, vexation, pettiness, confusion and betrayal. Each one gave me loads of questions that weren't quite answered 'til the very end. Was there really any love at all? How can someone change that much in a short span of time?

I finished reading this yesterday and did I not like the ending! I was rooting for more, firmly believing that that can't be the reality. It's just absurd! Making this review was hard because despite what I felt, there was a feeling in my gut, something I haven't quite grasped. So I gave it some thought. I read some of the lines I highlighted - the things that just didn't sitwell (sorry, I just had to) with me. I went back and forth across the various accounts, over and over again, until I managed to silence that nagging thought with this question:

Just how reliable can one be, given their personal biases?

I really, really want to elaborate more but I can't without using spoilers. All I can ever tell you is this:

Keep an open mind.

Mara was only 11 years old when she was abducted from the garden. Nineteen years later she was found wandering in the woods and reunited with her sister Lucia who is married with children. Mara is jealous of her relationship and seemingly exploits Lucia's guilt that it wasn't her who was abducted. Full of twists and turns, a good, well written psychological thriller but a little predictable. Nevertheless kept me reading until the end.

This is a fantastic read, and full of twists. A great self-published author I didn't discover until recently on Amazon.

His Wife's Sister - is centred around a missing girl who claims to be 'His Wife's Sister', however not everything is as it seems and we all know that in thrillers, sometimes when something seems too good to be true - it usually isn't.

The author has cleverly crafted an enticing read that draws you in with each chapter. It is repetitive in the later parts, and the ending could be guessed very easily. Despite a few flaws it's an enjoyable book and a recommended read.

Really gripping and interesting. I have been trying to read alot during the lockdown and this didn't disappoint.
I like the style in which the writer explains things too

This book was so good I didn’t want to leave it to go out, but I had to. Mara was kidnapped 19 years ago. She finally escapes and goes to live with her sister and her family. Her sisters husband Damien doesn’t like that. That’s when strange things start to happen. Lots of twists and turns. Who do you believe?

Thank you netgalley and cherry tree publishing for this digital arc!
A J Wills - nice to meet you - you twisted evil genius author 😊
A woman is found alone and confused wandering through the woods. She claims to be Mara Sitwell, the little girl who mysteriously disappeared from her home nineteen years ago. She says she was abducted and has been held captive in an underground cell. Not everyone believes her. Finally reunited with her sister Lucia who invites her to live with her , her husband and their two kids. This, after Mara gets the okay from the hospital after two months of monitoring her. Damian ( the husband) doesn’t like Mara living in their home because he feels she is dangerous . Lucia won’t hear any of his nonsense! Is he right ? Why won’t anyone listen to him ? What lengths will he go to to prove Mara is a loose canon !
Oh boy ! As the story unfolds - we witness the crumbling of the marriage. We are taken through Mara,S abduction journey ! This is the first psychological thriller that had me in tears !!!! The twists and turns had me dizzy and I didn’t know who or what to believe ! I absolutely loved it and can not wait to read another novel by this author !!! Fantastic and genius !

While this is a good read I can not say it is one of my favorites. I was not fond of any of the players and the ending wasn’t a surprise to me. It is a quick read and definitely fits the thriller genre. While it kept my interest and kept me turning pages the story isn’t one that clings to me.

Damian's life is turned upside down when his wife's missing sister returns nearly two decades after she was abducted. But Mara is hiding something, and Damian fears for his family's safety. His Wife's Sister is an accomplished thriller which will keep you guessing until the end.

I enjoyed the book and thought that the clever, fast paced plot was delivered successfully.

I did not like any of the characters although they are well written. Perhaps this was the point.

The dialogue was written effectively, to the point where I found myself as frustrated as the characters in some scenes! The setting was described well which added to the creepy and eerie backdrop of the novel.

If you like fast paced thrillers and plot twists then you will enjoy His Wife's Sister.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. When I first started reading this book I liked then as I got to know more of the characters I found I really disliked them. I also found the story a bit far fetched so for me is 3 stars.

Lucia and her sister Mara are sleeping in the yard, when Mara gets kidnapped. That was 19 years ago. Now Mara has returned. Where has she been and what has happened to her.
Mara and Lucia's husband, Damian, don't get along. Is Damian jealous of all the time Lucia wants to spend with Mara, or is Mara mentally scared for her past. Thanks netgalley for the privilege of reading this book.

His Wife's Sister
by A J Wills
Cherry Tree Publishing
Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Titles
General Fiction (Adult) | Mystery & Thrillers
Pub Date 07 May 2020 | Archive Date 02 Sep 2020

Maybe this is another book that just wasn't right for me. There were a lot of things that just didn't make sense to me. I did not enjoy reading the book and found myself thinking while reading it... REally?
Thanks to Net Galley and Cherry Tree Publishing for providing the ARC of this book.

for me it's a 2 star.

After being kidnapped 19 years earlier Lucia's sister is found. When Lucia moves her sister in strange things start to happen and Lucia's husband, Damian, gets the blame. It's a edge of your seat thriller that has you wondering till the end. Puts a new twist on hating your in-laws.

Lucia and Damon are shocked when Lucia's sister Mara, ,who has been missing for years is found alive and wondering in the forest. Mara was kidnapped as a child and kept hostage by a missing man, James Finch. Mara either can't or won't tell much about her time as a hostage and seems to have severe anger and psychological issues.
When Mara is finally released from the hospital she comes to live with Lucia and Damon much to the chagrin of Damon who is worried for his children. After she moves in strange events happen that only Damon seems to see and experience.
I found this book reminded me in a way of the novel Gone Girl, a novel I did not like because of the characters all of which I disliked. In this book Lucia is very weak of character believing everything her psychologically damaged sister tells her and nothing of her "loving husband and friend Damon. Mara is unlikable because of her jealousy and wish to destroy Lucia's marriage and Damon is weak for having affairs while married to Lucia.
The last part of the book seems really unbelievable also and I felt the ending was unsatisfactory.

I really enjoyed the beginning of this. After Mara escapes from her kidnapper's grasp, her family are faced with how best to support her following her ordeal. Having been imprisoned from the age of 11, it's a big adjustment to the world at large, but her sister is determined to be there for Mara. Her husband, not so much.

Escaped kidnap victims are becoming an increasingly popular genre, and there's a lot of good writing being done as a consequence. This, unfortunately, isn't in that category. Initially it's exciting and intriguing, the first half from the husband's POV with the second written from Mara's. However, the unreliable witness trope is badly done so that by the end you're still not sure who was telling the truth (although the details are so minor and unimportant, it doesn't really matter, so you're confused for no real reason), while the descent of one character into what can only be described as sheer madness makes no sense. There's no good reason for it and what little justification is given simply doesn't add up.

So it's a good idea, but poorly thought through, which made this an ultimately disappointing read.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC without obligation.

Welp, I've taken another one for the team. You're welcome. 😉

Sisters Lucia and Mara were just barely eleven years old when Mara is abducted in the middle of the night. Now imagine nineteen years later when Mara is discovered lost, alone, and malnourished in the middle of the woods. How did she get there and where did she escape from?

Damien, Lucia's husband, thinks that something isn't quite right about Mara but Lucia doesn't hesitate to bring her into their home. Where else is she supposed to go?

Honestly, this book is a hot mess. It is obvious from the very beginning how this situation is going to play out. Coincidences and plot holes galore and to top it all off none of this would have ever of happened had Mara just been honest about what happened to her when she was discovered. There wasn't any reason that she shouldn't have been truthful. She basically just said "I don't know. I didn't feel like it." Really??? 2 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Cherry Tree Publishing for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars - Okay... I really enjoyed this book. It was well written and paced just quick enough to keep me turning pages. The book kept me on my toes for the entire reading but the ending left me wanting something different.
SPOILERS
I still don’t really understand Damian’s motive and in all honesty whilst I thought he was a flawed character who was a tad overbearing with his wife he had many redeemable and likeable qualities. People do stupid things and make silly mistakes - that doesn’t make them inherently evil? It was such a jump to me that Damian would send Mara back to the hole especially when not a chapter earlier he was refusing to read her diary as it was too personal. I know he’s an unreliable narrator but if he had read them he shouldn’t have been surprised to find out Mara loved James and had slept with him willingly?
I really expected the epilogue to flip back the other way and have Mara meeting James who isn’t actually dead and then us readers not really knowing the truth.

I really enjoyed this book as a whole.
I especially liked the characters, they all felt very well-rounded and real, and I enjoyed the split between Damian's and Mara's perspective. Mara's story really made you feel for her and I found her very likable, regardless of Damian's opinion of her.
The pacing was quite well done and the plot kept you engaged throughout the whole book, although I kept wishing for a shocking twist because most things which happened were a little predictable. I didn't mind that too much though because the atmosphere was still good and the plot twists were well set up and all tied together nicely.
The ending definitely really hooked me and I couldn't stop reading, and the switch to Mara's perspective was really nicely done, but I kept waiting for something unexpected to happen which never came, which was why I didn't love the ending as much as I could have. I felt like Mara's backstory could have been explained more and could have tied in more with the rest of the plot to make it seem a little more complete.
Overall this was well-done though, and definitely a really good thriller.