Member Reviews

This was a charming and lighthearted novel, perfect restart er heavy reads. The premise is fun and original although the plot could get a bit convoluted and the pacing sometimes dragged. Overall, an entertaining read.

Was this review helpful?

Had a hard time connecting with this book. It just seemed to go on and on without much happening, and while I love an immersive read where we become the character through their POV, this one just felt...off, for lack of a better word. Just felt like a bit of a slog to get through, like 26% in and the other sister hasn't even appeared on the page, but we've been treated to so many rambles so far in the story. Just failed to capture me, unfortunately

Was this review helpful?

This was a really charming and sweet read. It was light-hearted, fun, entertaining and comedic. Highly recommend.

Was this review helpful?

Charming and hilarious, these are the two words I will forever associate with books by Abigail Mann and this is no exception.

Was this review helpful?

Tried reading this one and it just was not meant for me. This does not mean that it is not a good book, I just was not in the right place to be reading it and have decided to not try picking it up anytime in the near future.

Was this review helpful?

3.75⭐

I was fortunate to receive a copy of this ARC from One More Chapter.

I absolutely loved the author's first book - The Lonely Fajita - but unfortunately this book just didn't do it for me. It's a nice story about sisters being reunited but I didn't find myself rooting for Ava in the same way that I did for Elissa in the Lonely Fajita.

My favourite quote:
"He told me he hates cats because 'they have no concept of the alpha male', which is really disturbing."

Was this review helpful?

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for a review copy.

This book was pitched as the perfect, funny heartwarming read and I think it’s safe to say that it delivered.

It was so fun to read and absolutely perfect to break up your more heavy reading. So I think it’s safe to say it came to me at the ideal time.

I would say that I found some charters to be a little waffly and so the hook was longer than necessary. But that didn’t impact my enjoyment of this book very much.

Whilst I don’t see myself revisiting this book in the future it was a solid read.

Was this review helpful?

Journalist Ava takes a DNA test hoping to discover her roots.
Instead, she finds out she has a half-sister … whilst on a live stream watched by 100,000 people. Her boss thinks it’s the perfect click-bait story. Ava just wants to go to Moira’s tiny Scottish village and meet her.

But when Ava arrives undercover as a volunteer farmhand, she realises Moira – who’s her pig-wrestling, chatterbox polar opposite – might not be delighted by the news.

This was a light read but although I read it without any real difficulty - as in, I never had to force myself to pick the book up to continue reading - I didn't really enjoy it and the only reason that it wasn't a DNF for me was because it was so easy to read although I felt that it could have easily been a much shorter book. There was an awful lot of information in there that I felt was not needed.

It just didn't hit the mark for me.

Was this review helpful?

Lighthearted, funny and full of heart! I loved this adult version perfect for fans of Emma Lord's You have a match. In this story Ava takes a DNA test and finds out she has a sister living in Scotland. Taking a chance, she flies there undercover to try to get to know this new relative. I laughed a lot and loved the Scottish small town vibes! Definitely recommended for anyone who likes Beth O'Leary or Mhairi McFarlane. Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my review copy!

Was this review helpful?

This book was like going on my favourite kind of countryside holiday; full of rampaging farm animals, mud, suspicious locals and a hot priest! This was witty, lovely, brilliant bit of escapism and was much needed during the pandemic blues!

Was this review helpful?

A great fun lighthearted book. I loved Ava who sets off to Scotland to find her unknown half sister but then finds it difficult to tell her. Full of humour and great quirky characters this book will definitely brighten your day

Was this review helpful?

I LOVED The Lonely Fajita so I knew I’d love this too, and I was not wrong!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me access an advance copy of this book in exchange for my feedback.

Was this review helpful?

The Sister Surprise is a fun and uplifting book about family, love, and the perils of social media.
I really enjoyed this novel - Abigail Mann is a very comedic writer and I found myself laughing along with the story as I read it. I enjoyed the small Scottish village feel of the place, the quirky and hilarious village occupants and the run ins Ava had with them, and even the personality of a very pesky sheep! A really enjoyable read and I really look forward to checking out Abigail Mann's other books.

Was this review helpful?

This was such a fun, feel good read. The characters are lovely and the story is sweet. The only thing that stopped it being a 5 star read for me was I felt not everything was finished up satisfactory for me, it felt a bit rushed. But overall a really enjoyable story.

Was this review helpful?

I must say I am not much of a Chic Lit/Romance reader but I did find this book to be quite entertaining, easy to read, light-heartened and funny. It is a book to read between more intense style books that are long and historical or full of murder and mystery. This is just a book of fun.

Ava is a great character, a bit awkward, a bit crazy, a bit humourous. She gets up to mischief, her plans don't go according to plan and the little rural town is just so country-townish which makes the story even more charming. There is a little bit of romance but I wouldn't call this a romance story as it is more a story of finding, family, friendship and life in general.

A fun and enjoyable read and a great book to relax with.

Was this review helpful?

The Sister Surprise is a heart-warming and humorous story of love, friendship, family, and finding oneself. I really enjoyed this charming story, and though it is the first book I’ve read by Abigail Mann, it won’t be the last.

Was this review helpful?

This book was so boring... Oh, God. I am so proud that I finished it cause I have so many moments when I was considering quitting without any regrets. I finished and hopefully, I will never come back to it. Never ever again.

The idea was not so bad. Ava is a journalist and found out that she has a sister, in Scotland. She does not have an idea what is she like, who is she so decided to go to Scotland, find her (knowing only the name), get to know and them tell her about the genetic results which lead her to find a new family member. Dumb idea? Of course! But it is not the end. Her TV station decided to create a story based on her experience and published her diary written in Scotland and planned to film the reconciliation between sisters.

There are so many things that could go wrong. And did.

I don't like Ava. I don't like how she decided to be someone else just because she was too scared and ashamed to be herself. She hid, she lied, she was two-faced.

The story itself - nothing what I would like re-read. Like I said, the idea would be nice if the way the story is told would be different. I was much more interested in the Scotland itself than in the relations between lost sisters.

Was this review helpful?

This was a DNF for me unfortunately. I didn’t love this story it was a bit too slow in my opinion. Maybe I’ll give it another read in the future

Was this review helpful?

This was a DNF unfortunately. I didn’t love this story it was a bit slow for my taste. Maybe in the future but right now I didn’t love it.

Was this review helpful?

I sadly wasn't able to get into The Sister Surprise as much as I had anticipated. The plot and pacing ended up being difficult for me to get into. This ended up not working for me but will be other people's cup of tea.

Thank you Netgalley and publishers for chance to read..this was a two star rating because it was just ok.

Was this review helpful?