2.5 stars

I struggled with this book. It was unique in many ways, but the characters, even the villain, and the ending fell flat. Things just felt rushed. The reader is left to make many assumptions, which left the storyline feeling unfinished. I did like the African American family history angle.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for this ARC, in exchange for an honest opinion which is strictly my own.
First let me add to the consensus that "The Shadow Sister" grabs you right away with one of the most beautiful, perfectly realized covers I've seen this year.
And the book itself, a debut novel for author Lily Meade, made for a compelling, suspenseful and most urgently current read......particularly in its weaving in of black history and systemic racism.
In a biracial family of a black father and white mother, teen sisters Sutton and Casey's relationship has devolved into a toxic battleground. Casey's come to deeply resent what she feels is the family's favored treatment of her older sister, thought of as the perfect 'golden girl'.
Sutton disappears, touching off a wide but futile community search orchestrated by her desperate parents. (She's not the first black teen girl to missing.) But unlike the other missing girls she re-appears as mysteriously as she vanished. And Casey notices not only Sutton's memory of what happened to her is gone, but also her previously combative, self-centered personality.....as if her sister's been permanently altered (and somehow more humanized) by her unknown experience......
Lily Meade's expert, intuitive creation of the lifelong love-hate bond between these siblings held me in a tight grip from beginning to end. And the book's ability to blend in the growing suspense and chills of a thriller along with the heartrending legacy of the family's black ancestors left me even more impressed.
But while I was well on my way to a 5 star review, the final climactic chapter, top heavy with sudden, startling, jaw dropping reveals, became problematic on multiple levels. It came across to me like a very rushed, Hail Mary pass with an abrupt closeout guaranteed to leave a reader hungry for an epilogue. That climax packs a punch alright, swerving the book into a jarring, hairpin turn.......and hurled it into a completely different genre altogether. I guess you either go with it fully or just mutter, "Say what now?"
I cannot forget or deny, however, the brilliant use of character development and skillful writing that brings the story of these two sisters and their family to such vivid, relatable life. And combining this with all the tropes of an ominous thriller stands as quite an achievement. Even with its much worthy of discussion finish, it still came out as a 4 star page-turner for me.....and a fine introduction to a new author I'm eager to try again.

The Shadow Sister combines themes of sisterhood, racial identity, and mystery in a singular narrative that grips the reader from start to finish. Meade's nuanced characterization shines through as she explores the intricate dynamics of a complex family structure with genuine sensitivity and insight. Casey's journey, rife with a rich tapestry of emotions and revelations, is both heart-wrenching and empowering, as she navigates the intricate labyrinth of her missing sister's life. The exploration of the societal negligence towards missing Black and mixed-race girls adds a timely and thought-provoking layer to the story, thereby making it a crucial read. Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the digital ARC!

Ahhhhh this was just such a great read. I just didn't want this book to end and I was sad to turn the last page. I'm so excited to see what's next from this author.

Casey and Surton are sisters and rarely get along. Sutton goes missing and everyone searches. Did her boyfriend have something to do with it? Then she mysteriously comes back but has no recollection of what happened.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The relationship between sixteen-year-old Casey and her older sister Sutton is not ideal. Constantly at each other’s throats and getting into conflict, the girls’ interactions take sibling rivalry to an intense and heartbreaking level. But now Sutton has gone missing, and the entire town of Willow Bend has been searching for her for an entire week. Finally, Sutton is found alive, but with no memory of anything from her past. Except, that is, for Casey. And as their family attempts to find a way back to the normalcy of their previous life, secrets emerge that prove that not everything is as it first appeared, and their genealogical past holds stronger roots than they ever could have imagined.

This story is riveting from the first pages as Casey quickly becomes a protagonist that is both flawed and accessible. She speaks in the first person, often interacting with others through text messages in addition to engaging in conversations in person. Though Casey is the primary character in the novel, Sutton appears as a secondary voice whose experiences are shared in the past tense. With each new chapter, developments are carefully revealed that help to connect the initially disparate pieces of this mysterious puzzle. What happened to Sutton—and the motive behind it—remains unclear through most of the novel, keeping readers on the edges of their seats as the narrative unfolds.

Casey’s life is anything but perfect despite the financial security her family enjoys. She is part of a mixed-race family, which can sometimes cause difficulty for all of them in the wider world. The interactions between the sisters are frequently unpleasant, causing readers to cringe at their choices and the relationship they share. But at least these moments are overt; myriad additional subversive challenges exist beneath the surface and cause much more damage than the conflict between the two sisters does on its own. This book is well written from the first moments, and it expertly presents Casey’s story in a way that keeps readers engaged from beginning to end. It is important to note that the intensity increases dramatically by the end, incorporating descriptions that are best suited to mature readers. This is a compelling and intensely engaging novel that is an excellent addition to library collections for young adults with an interest in mystery, genealogy, contemporary social issues, and family connection.

With two unreliable storytellers and a magical reunifying bracelet, the novel unwinds a tale of two sisters at odds with one another as one disappears and returns ‘changed.’ It moves predictably until the girls return to where the recovered girl was found. At that point, the story diverges from the rational to an alternate eye-rolling magical unreality that requires reading the author’s afterwards post script to accept. The post script adds credence to the conclusion and moves understanding of the plot to a new level. If you leave predictability behind and embrace the hoo doo, it is immensely moving. But isn’t that the purpose of reading a good novel? To expand your consciousness and understanding of the world in unprecedented fashion? For that reason, highly recommended.

The Shadow Sister by Lily Meade drew me in with its gorgeous cover. I went in not reading anything about it. I usually love a book with some magical realism in it, but I did not expect anything like what happened at the end of the book. I did not see it coming. Just to unrealistic for me. I also figured out who the bad person was early on.

The story is about two sisters who seem to hate each other but do they really? One goes missing which makes the other sister question her feelings for her. Maybe there is a somewhat theme of absence makes the heart grow fonder?!? The authors note was my favorite part of the book where she explains why she wrote the story and what she has experienced in her life. While I did not really enjoy this book I definitely think there is an audience for it. I would classify this as a YA book with some magical, voodoo in it.

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for an ARC or this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Shadow Sister follows Casey as she tries to assist her family in finding her sister and recovering from the aftershock of someone in their family missing. This story is a quick read and fairly bingeable – I really enjoyed the dialogue between Casey and her father who is a black historian as he shared stories from their family’s past and had her assist him with his genealogical research. I would have loved additional information surrounding Casey’s grandmother’s attempts at hoodoo with the bracelet and for this conversation to go much further in depth.

I felt the actual mystery in the book ending a bit anti-climactically and was fairly predictable. The book was recommended with “House of Hollow” vibes and while I felt that a tiny bit…it didn’t truly carry through in the creepy/other-worldly sense. Would recommend this book as more of a YA mystery with a rich family story.

3.5 stars - I can’t wait to see more from this author! And my, oh my the cover!!!

Thank you to Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley for an E-ARC copy of this book.

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for this e arc**

4.5/5*

‘My sister is a bitch but that doesn’t mean i want her dead’

I was expecting just a missing girl mystery aspect but reading this book, my expectations was met differently and though at some parts of the story it was up and down with the pacing of the story, i was definitely hooked in within a few chapters in. Both sisters Sutton and Casey while they have their own personalities with different interests and hobbies, it comes to show that no matter what, sometimes sisters help one another when it’s least expected especially when towards the end, i felt i guessed and at the same time didn’t expect what happened next to them. I was impressed at the author’s debut novel and looking forward to reading more works on the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

This was a short/sweet read and I love the cover. I was interested in the beginning because of the synopsis and the fact it sounded pretty unique. This was actually a pretty textbook “girl goes missing and comes back different” story. Sutton and Casey are two opposites. They hate each other completely. The last thing Casey told Sutton was that she wished she was dead before she disappeared. Now after a few weeks of searching, she is back. Or is she? Sutton is different. Her dog is scared of her. The only person she remembers from before is Casey and she begins to attach herself to her sister. Casey isn’t used to Sutton caring about her so much. Casey begins to try to piece together the mystery of her sister’s disappearance and what happened to her while she was gone and why she isn’t the same coming back.

There were a few minor plot holes and a few “huh” moments near the end I had, but it was a still a very solid read. I enjoyed getting to know the characters and trying to understand what was going on with Sutton. I always appreciate a biracial MC because I relate way too much to what is going on with them. While I can’t relate to hating my sibling as much as these two do, I appreciate a dynamic that isn’t as explored as much and is common with teenagers.

My favorite character was Andrew, weirdly. He seemed like a solid BF and he and Sutton seemed to actually love and care about each other. She was willing to do very big things to help him and he was enraptured with her. I really loved their dynamic and hope it’s not over for them???

All in all I did enjoy this one. I liked the message of sibling relationships being hard to maintain but still loving each other no matter what, finding importance in your family history, and knowing who will have your back in the end.

I loved this! Casey's sister, Sutton, goes missing, and everyone in town is on the search. However, Casey can not come to terms with the sweet and kind girl Sutton is being portrayed as. Casey is beyond angry that she is the only person who knows how vile her sister can be. When Sutton is found, she does not come back as herself. She has no memory of anyone but Casey, whom she seems to love right now.

I loved this messed up dynamic between the sisters and the way the truth was revealed. Sutton had some chapters showing her side of the story and even more drama later that.... let's just say this is a tangled web!

I had a lot of fun reading this, particularly the parts about their family history and ties to folklore. I think this story was really well-developed, and I can't wait to read more from this author!

Out June 27, 2023!

Thank you, Netgalley and Publisher, for this Arc!

This beautiful and tragic book looks at inter-generational and family drama in a biracial home.
Casey is having a hard time with the fact that her sister is missing. Everyone paints a picture of Sutton’s perfection: the popular cheerleader with an entourage of friends, a doting boyfriend, and a limitless future. But Casey knows what Sutton is really like and hates this fake adulation. The truth is people don’t look for missing Black girls-even biracial girls-without believing there is an angel to be saved.
Sutton suddenly repapers and a new host of issues arise. Sutton isn’t the same. She remembers nothing about while she was gone—or anything from her old life except for Casey. She depends on Casey and the new goldfish that she watches swim around in circles. Sutton’s strangeness drives her friends away, and Casey knows something deep and sinister happened to her.
At first, this seems like a missing girl book shining a light on the fact that girls of color disappear, and they aren’t looked for like their white counterparts. The end transforms this into something more transcendent which makes it unique from the many books I’ve read.
I loved that we get different perspectives between the two sisters. Sutton talks about how evil Sutton is and how she might be faking her abduction. Casey thinks Sutton is a spoiled brat who is messing up her relationship with her boyfriend. You get to see how both are right and wrong about the characters. I loved this dual reality.
There is an element I can’t touch on. I can go on and on about how powerful and beautiful this book is but because I am white, I don’t truly understand how important and meaningful this book is. Lily Mead explains in the Note from the Author that this book was like a therapy to her. To help her take power. Psychology I can see how beautiful this is, but I am unable to truly appreciate the trauma she has inherited and how hard writing as an author of color can be. For that aspect, please check out reviews written by other people of color.
The Hoodoo magic (including conjure and rootwork) and the ancestors' power give this book an edge over other books about missing girls. The Shadow Sister is powerful, moving, and thought-provoking. For a full picture, check out reviews by people of color.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

At first Casey and Sutton really annoyed me and drove me nuts with how childish and immature both of them are. I enjoyed the mystery of Sutton’s disappearance and return where she could not remember anything. I could not wait to find out how she returned and what happened to her when she disappeared and who done it. I just wish Casey and Sutton, in her flashback chapters, were not so annoying and whinny and immature as that made it difficult for me to get into the book at first. I just wanted to shake both of them.

I'm gonna start this off by saying I was pretty sure I hated both sisters for a good bit of the book, and I mean that as a compliment-- I really didn't like Sutton or Casey, but I desperately wanted to know what happened to Sutton and how every little problem played out. MCs I dislike are such a hard sell for me but Lily Meade freakin nailed it. I was hooked from the very first sentence (talk about a phenomenal opening line), and it just kept getting better from there.

Casey's sister Sutton has gone missing, and Casey is annoyed about it. Mostly because this is exactly the kind of thing Sutton would do--something dramatic that makes her the center of attention. Casey hates Sutton, and she knows the feeling is mutual. But when Sutton returns, she acts like she loves Casey, who's annoyed at her newfound caretaking role for her sister who supposedly remembers nothing about what happened to her--or about her life before the disappearance.

The Shadow sister is a really beautifully written story about the complexities of family--the people we're forced to be with, for better or for worse. It's also an examination of faith and spirituality, racism, and the love that binds people together. This was one of my favorite books I've read in a while, and I can't wait to read more from Lily Meade.

Casey and her sister, Sutton, don't get along. I would even go so far as to say they hated each other. The latest conflict is a bracelet that belonged to their grandmother that both claimed Ma Remy wanted them to have. When Sutton goes missing Casey isn't sure if she wants her sister back or not but then a couple weeks later she is found wandering at night naked and the only person she connects to is Casey but she seems different. Even Sutton's dog won't go near her. Not having a sister I found the love/hate thing a bit hard to connect to. Their Dad is an historian and works from home and mom is maybe a TV reporter. As far as characters go the only ones really developed were Sutton and Casey. I found it to be a quick read that kept my interest but then the ending was so abrupt. I can't say that I saw that coming but the why of it eludes me.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for providing me with a digital copy.

Casey never wanted Sutton dead, not really. Not even the huge argument they had over their late grandmother’s bracelet. They’re sisters, after all, even if they hate each other half the time. But when Sutton goes missing, and Casey is forced to fit into a narrative that makes Sutton sound like a perfect angel, she can’t help but squirm inside. She feels even weirder when Sutton is found, having completely lost her memory except for a single thing: she remembers Casey, her sister. Convinced that Sutton is pretending for an ulterior motive, Casey struggles to live with her supposedly amnesiac sister, even as the world changes around them. Can Casey figure out exactly what happened the time that Sutton was gone? And can she put things to rights?

I received an advanced reading copy of The Shadow Sister in exchange for an honest review.

The Shadow Sister is a young adult novel by Lily Meade. It’s a novel I’m actually struggling to classify a little bit, because while it’s mostly a thriller-type book, there’s speculative elements in here, so that you could argue that it could be fantasy. They’re very minor, though, so I think you can consider it as either.

This book contains so much, and yet I read the whole thing in only two days. It’s not particularly long, but I’m mostly talking about the many themes in here, as well as the characters and how complex they all are.

Our main character is Casey, of course, but so much of her story also includes Sutton, her sister. Now, if you’ve been reading my blog for any amount of time, you would probably know that I’m a huge fan of stories about sisters. I love reading about this relationship, as I find it to be something I can easily connect with. Sisterhood is complicated, and it’s always interesting! Here, for example, we have two sisters who seem to absolutely hate each other. Their last words to each other before Sutton disappears is that one hopes the other was dead, and the other hopes the one had never been born. Harsh, right? But I loved how, instead of remaining on the surface, Meade goes into more of the complexities of their relationship, and how it eventually got to where it did. We get a lot about these two in these pages, and who they are, and how they connect to each other, and it was honestly my favorite part of this book.

But there’s more to them than the fact that they’re sisters. Casey and Sutton have one white and one Black parent, meaning that a lot of what they live through is straddling both worlds. Meade presents a painful critique of the current state of things in our world when the family is forced to present Sutton as an angel to the media, rather than as her true self. This family knows, as well as so many Black families in the United States, that it’s too easy to sweep a missing Black girl under the rug. That without the attention, without showing Sutton off as a true victim, people just wouldn’t care. Or would blame her disappearance on her being a runaway, rather than something else.

There’s also a deep connection to their family involved here, which is initially reflected in how much both girls love their grandmother. But there’s more to it than that. It’s so hard to explain, especially without spoiling the whole thing, but their family’s history also shines through the entire book.

I know I’ve been so focused on characters and relationships so far, but that was truly the best part of this book. That isn’t to say that there’s not a compelling plot in here, though. In fact, it was the plot that initially pulled me in, and the characters then quickly took over. But by the second half of the book, I was practically unable to stop reading. I wanted to find out more about what had happened to Sutton, and why she was acting so weird. I wanted to know if her disappearances were connected to other events going on in the book, and more than anything, I wanted to know if Sutton and Casey’s relationship would ever be repaired. Was it? Well, obviously I can’t tell you that, but you can find out if you read the book yourself!

The Shadow Sister was a surprising but engrossing read. I’d recommend it to fans of thrillers, mysteries, and maybe even a little bit of horror. Also, to fans of speculative elements in their books, and fans of stories about sisters!

The Shadow Sister will be released on June 27. You can pre-order your copy from Sourcebooks Fire here.

Sutton and Casey are as different as sisters can be and do not get along. When Sutton goes missing, deep down, Casey feels that Sutton is pulling something to manipulate everyone. Even when Sutton is found and is not acting like herself, Casey doesn't trust her. But with two other black girls missing that the authorities don't seem to care about, it might be up to Casey to find out what happened to her sister and the other girls.

I wanted to like this book. I liked the dynamic between the sisters, although it got a bit too dramatic at times. I thought the ending wasn't earned enough. I wanted more about the voodoo/hoodoo that Casey's dad talking about with their family history.

Sisterly bonds, heritage, and healing describe The Shadow Sister. An amazing YA debut by Lily Meade portrays the relationships of two sisters struggling and competing with each other to fit into their community. But when one of them vanishes, the other sister must pick up the pieces as the family falls apart.

Sutton is the popular sister—cheerleader, surrounded by friends with an admiring boyfriend. Casey resents her sister’s status and always feels like she is in the shadows. Sutton disappears one night, disrupting her family, then reappears as a shell of herself. Casey becomes suspicious of her sister’s changed demeanor and works tirelessly to find answers, only to discover the truth is not what it seems.

Meade writes from the heart with inferences about her family background and heritage. I enjoyed the two distinct voices of the sisters and how their relationships develop throughout the book. I thank Net Galley for letting me read and review The Shadow Sister. #NetGalley, #The ShadowSister #YA

While we never find out why there hasn’t been much publicity about the missing girls, we do work through the discoveries along with Casey. The ending surprised me, and not just what happened, but how it was revealed. A clever finish to a captivating tale.