This is my first Megan Collins read & I enjoyed it! I was very intrigued by the different relationship dynamics of the characters - not only the two sisters-in-law but the mother/son, flashback of mother/daughter, sister/brother, etc. I appreciated Megan’s little details that brought the characters more depth and kept me invested in how the story would play out.
I didn’t immediately have the twists figured out so once I got through the first 75% of the book, the last bit flew for me. I did feel like there were some slow parts but appreciated how the side storylines were all tied up at the end!

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Megan Collins and Atria Books for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I find I had a hard time going along with the story, which is uncommon for me as I usually like slow burns. I didn’t connect with any of of the characters however, I still found they were well developed.

There were some enjoyable twists even though I figured out the mystery early on.

All in all, the story was okay, just expected a little more based on how strong the first chapter started and the description.

3/5

Publishing Date: 11 July 2023
(Thank you to publisher and NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.)

A well written story of the trials and tribulations of finding yourself and your family while trying to solve the murder your unconscious husband has been accused of. There were times I disliked Julia and her indecisiveness and perceived weakness. Other times I disliked Sienna and her assumed righteousness and infallible belief in her brother. Though this is touted as a thriller it really isn’t. The murder honestly takes a back seat to Julia and Seinnas relationship. I didn’t fall in love with Julia and I found myself not caring for her point of view chapters. I did like Siennas complexities but at times it came across out of character for her. Overall it’s a good book but I wouldn’t find myself picking it up to reread.

Twisty, but overall pretty predictable.


Sisters-in-law and business partners, Julia and Sienna, find their relationship tested when Julia’s husband and Sienna’s brother, Jason is a suspect in the murder of his boss, Gavin.

The premise of this book was so fun. Unfortunately, most of the characters in this book were so insufferable.
Julia is very meek and quiet, to the point of shoving all of her feelings and opinions aside in favor of placating everyone around her. Oppositely, Sienna has a fiery personality that she hasn’t learned how to keep in check, and has a very overattached relationship with her brother that became cringy at points.
There were also some plot points that didn’t seem to move the story along.
However, I loved all of the side characters and how they advanced the story. I enjoyed the dual POV to see the personality differences between the main characters, as polarizing as they were. While I did guess the ending, the book definitely threw some twists in throughout to throw you off! Still a fun read for the plot!

Thank you to #netgalley and #atria books for an eARC of this book! All opinions are my own!

4.5 stars
Wow, I loved this one! It hooked me right away and just got better and better as it went along.
*
Julia and Sienna are best friends and sisters-in-law, with Julia married to Sienna's brother Jason. One night, days after his boss is murdered, Jason is in a bad car accident and ends up in a coma. At the same time, it's starting to look like he killed his boss, but Julia and Sienna are forced to find answers themselves since Jason can't speak for himself.
*
I thought this was such a fun thriller, with plenty of twists and turns and more emotional depth than I expected. I love the foil of Julia and Sienna, even though Sienna was a bit much to take at times. I really liked the nuance it provided about people's characters, and once the truth was revealed it ended up being so much more complicated than any of them had considered. I did guess one big twist pretty early, but the way it actually came about was done really well.
*
The only thing that kept me from a full 5 stars is the repetitive mantras they each had, which I think were brought up just a few too many times. But still highly recommend, this my favorite so far by @megancollinswriter!

This was the first time I read a book by Megan Collins, but it certainly will not be my last. Thicker Than Water was an emotional, thrilling read that I could not put down! This book is filled with suspense, family drama, secrets, and had an ending that was absolutely brilliant! I will be telling everyone to read it!

Oh, my... where do I even start? There was essentially nothing I enjoyed about this story. I really struggled to be invested with the characters and the attempt at creating suspense really just made the story drag.
I also felt like all of the characters were in some way, shape, or form just completely awful. I understand that writing and creating "evil" personalities can add to the plot of a story and cause the reader to keep reading in support of the "good" characters. However, just writing lying, cheating, murdering characters for the sake of creating these individuals is, well, frustrating. I was also being pulled in so many different directions trying to decide who to like and/or who to strongly dislike. All of the characters were, for lack of a better term, morally "meh" and everyone had some good and REALLY bad parts of them (which, yes, is the way real people are, but I needed a more decisive villain).
The one aspect I really appreciated was the portrayal of the sister-in-law bond between our two narrators (even though they were lying to each other throughout the story). It is a beautiful thing when two strangers become close and dear friends.

An abbreviated version of this review will be posted to my instagram @leannaslittlelibrary on 7/11/23
Thank you for letting me read!

I read The Family Plot by the same author last year, so when I got approved for the ARC for this one, I was really excited to read another one by her. Unfortunately, though, this fell a little flat. Right off the bat I was intrigued because of the way the murder happened, and I immediately wanted more. But as the story went on, I felt like there were a few too many subplots going on that I just didn't really care about or felt like they added to the story much. I did enjoy the relationship and dynamic between Sienna and Julie, but at the same time I didn't find either of them super likable so I kind of got bored with their dynamic by the end of it. I was hoping the end would redeem the rest of the story but I was overall just disappointed. Jason ended up being kind of a weird stalker vigilante that didn't really make a lot of sense, and the reveal of the killer just felt a little predictable.

Rating: 4/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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This story is told in a dual point of view through the eyes of Julia and Sienna, best friends who just so happen to be sisters-in-law. Julia is married to Sienna’s brother Jason, who was in an accident and is now in a coma; to make matters worse - Jason is now the prime suspect of a murder investigation. Sienna and Julia combine forces to try to solve the murder and prove Jason’s innocence… or not.
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Thicker Than Water is a twisty slow burn that will have you second guessing every character throughout the entire book. I enjoyed the dual perspectives, though I found Sienna to be completely insufferable. She is hot headed and loud. Julia is much more quiet and meek. Collins does a great job throughout the book to drop pieces of information about each character to make you suspicious of them. I found that to be very entertaining and really liked how the ending played out and what happened with each character. Speaking of characters - there was such huge character growth with both Julia and Sienna - and I was all for it.
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Thicker Than Water is perfect for all my murder mystery fans! It will grab you from the start and keep you guessing until the very end! Thicker Than Water releases on July 11! Be sure to check this one out!
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Huge thank you to NetGalley, Megan Collins and Atria Books for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Atria Books for sending me an early copy. This one is out July 11.

Very very slow burn and not at all like her previous book, THE FAMILY PLOT.

This was truly a domestic suspense in every sense of the word. I always appreciate a dual POV and this one centered around Julia and Sierra. Julia and Sierra being best friends and Julie being to Sierra’s brother, Jason made for an interesting dynamic. I think that was probably my favorite part of the whole story. My husband, sister and I are a happy “three amigos” trio in real life so it was fun to see it represented.

I appreciated both women and their perspectives. While I figured out the twists quickly, I enjoyed going through them with the characters and seeing both ladies grow. The themes of trust and not truly knowing another person completely when always worrying about their feelings was realistic.

I did feel the book was slow in parts and since Jason was comatose most of the story, I felt like it wrapped up really fast at the end. I also don’t think this one should be labeled a thriller. Yes, there was a murder, but that was not really the premise.

Julia is married to Sienna's brother, Jason, and not only are they are sisters-in-law, they are also BFFs and business partners. When Jason's boss is murdered and Jason ends up in a coma following a car accident, the women's friendship is tested as they try to uncover the truth.

I am not a huge fan of slow burns in general, and this was a super slow burn with a lot of repetition and rehashing of past events, and not a lot of action or forward momentum in sorting out who killed Jason's boss. I did like how Julia and Sienna worked through some of the issues with their friendship and came out better for having talked things over.

That said -- I kind of wish Julia and Sienna had just run off together and ditched boring Jason - their relationship was much closer and more interesting than Julia + Jason. Overall this was fine, but it is not going to be a super memorable read for me.

2.5 rounded up.

4.5⭐️s rounded up to 5

A HUGE thank you to @atriabooks and @netgalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this book!  This was my 1st by Megan Collins and definitely will not be my last.  I always say communication is the most important thing to a good relationship, and this book played into that.

Julia and Sienna Larkin are not only best friends and business partners but are also sister-in-laws.  Julia is married to Jason, Sienna's brother.  When Jason's boss turns up dead with his mouth sewn shut and Jason ends up becoming the prime suspect, their relationship is put to the test.  Meanwhile, Jason can't answer any of their questions since he's in a medically induced coma after a car accident.  With time running out, can they clear Jason's name?  Will Sienna's devotion to her brother conflict with how Julia feels?

Told in dual POV, this psychological/domestic thriller was full of suspense and family drama! It had me guessing until the very end.  At one point, I thought I had it figured out, but I was wrong.  I really enjoyed the character development and the relationship between Julia and Sienna.
I would definitely recommend this book.  Remember, it comes out on TUESDAY 11/11!

Thicker Than Water by Megan Collins

Thank you to @netgalley, @atriabooks, and this rockstar author, @megancollinswriter, for the opportunity to read this #eARC in exchange for my #honestreview! This book is now available for preorder - if you preorder from the small bookstore in her bio you get the cutest notepad with your preorder. 💙

When Julia meets Jason, she is taken with him, but when she meets his sister, Sienna, she knows she’s found her person. When Julia falls unexpectedly pregnant with Aiden, it is mostly her bond to Sienna that tells her all will end well if she jumps in and marries Jason. And for years the four are inextricably connected to one another. And then one day Jason’s boss is found dead, brutally slain with his mouth sewn shut. And two days later he is in a car accident that leaves him in critical condition and, ultimately, in a medically induced coma - all while the police have concluded he’s the number one suspect. It’s up to Julia and Sienna to put the pieces together and figure out what happened before Jason wakes up. Will the truth set him free or tear this family apart?

This was a wild ride! I do want to start by saying the actual wrap up of the investigation was not overly twisty, so don’t go in with the expectation of a mind blowing maze. But this story is so much more than the actual investigation. It’s an analysis of friendship and family and how far we will go, what lines we will cross in the name of doing what we think is best for those we love. How we will blind and contort ourselves to fit the mold we think others expect us to fit into. Every single character in this story had a secret and nearly every single one had a great character arc of growth that reminds us we’re capable of those things too. This had such an incredibly satisfying ending even amidst a state of general unrest and fear of the unknown for the characters. May we all aim to be a little Si and a little Jules.

TW: SA, violence, AA, drugging, blackmail, financial crimes, cheating, stalking, harassment

3.5 stars

This was a fairly straightforward character-driven suspense read. It featured two FMCs: Julia and Sienna, who are sisters-in-law and close friends. Jason, Julia’s husband (and Sienna’s brother) gets into a car accident, resulting in a coma. To make matters worse, he’s the lead suspect in the investigation of his boss’ death. This was certainly more of a slow burn, and it is clear that Collins focused on developing her characters. Still, I would have liked a bit more plot, and I ultimately found this to be enjoyable but not super memorable.

4.5⭐️ rounded up!!! Dual storyline told from Julia and Sienna who are sister in laws, Julia is married to Jason and Sienna is his sister. Julia and Sienna are twisted by marriage but have a much deeper bond and always thought they’d be in each others life. A car accident lands Jason in a coma only a few days after his boss was brutally murdered and now evidence has been found in his wrecked car linking him to the murder. Will the girls bond be severed by this news and all the secrets that unfold during the investigation or will it strengthen their bond? Writing for their friendship is phenomenal, you will feel like you know as much about them and their friendship as they do. Writing captures true family dynamics, every relationship has secrets and needs honesty to survive and the ability to view forgiveness differently. I enjoyed this book immensely and will be thinking about this story for awhile. First by this author for me and i will definitely be checking out more of her books!!

Thanks to Netgalley and Atria books for my electronic advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book was really great and I couldn’t stop reading it. The relationship between Julia and Sienna was really dynamic and I couldn’t wait to find out how it all turned out. I was a little disappointed with the ending and wish it gave more information.

This is my first book by Megan Collins - it will definitely not be my last. This story is very unique - a thriller/ mystery with a family drama at the center. But for me, the family drama is what really stood out.

Julia is married to Jason, and Jason is Sienna’s brother. But from the beginning of Julia and Jason’s marriage, Sienna and Julia became inseparable. They even started a business together. One evening, they get a call that Jason has been in a car accident - Jason is in a coma.

Julia and Sienna also are informed that Jason is the prime suspect in the murder of his boss. They both set out to prove Jason’s innocence. What follows is a journey that will test their relationship.

The mystery in this thriller is solid. We learn a lot about Jason and the secondary characters. It comes together in a way I did not see coming. I really liked the ending of this book.

I have to say that Julia and Sienna’s relationship was the standout here for me. The author wrote two of the most fully developed characters I’ve ever read. Their journey in this story was revelatory, soul crushing, and redemptive in many ways. I don’t want to give anything specific away.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the advanced reader copy of this book - I am so appreciative of the chance to read this incredible book early. It releases on July 11th. It is perfect for the beach, by the pool, or on your porch. I highly recommend this book!

I chose to read this book because I had read and enjoyed Megan Collins' [book:The Family Plot|55711692] and [book:The Winter Sister|40381942] and enjoyed them both.

This book centers around a two sisters-in-law, Julia and Sienna. Julia is married to Jason, Sienna's brother. Jason had been putting in long hours at the office for awhile as he worked towards a promotion. Then Jason's boss is killed in a grisly murder where his lips are sewn shut. A few days later, Jason is involved in a car accident which leaves him in a coma. Then the police come and Julia and Sienna find out Jason is the prime suspect in the murder of his boss. The women work towards solving the murder to exonerate Jason. While Sienna is certain Jason didn't do it, Julia begins to have some doubts, threating the women's strong friendship bond.

This was a whodunit that kept me wondering. I have to admit there's quite a lot of evidence pointing to Jason. Did he do it? Who else could it be? I love a good mystery and this one kept me wondering. I think Megan Collins has another hit book!

Thanks to Atria Books through Netgalley for an advance copy. This book will be published on July 11, 2023.

Reminds me of We Were Never Here by Andrea Bartz in that the love story is between best friends. I’m impressed with the author’s ability to craft unlikable but relatable characters and I wasn’t sure who to root for. I predicted the murderer but was let down by the reveal. The murderer admits it too easily and their motive was boring compared the the gross murder details. Interesting the main suspect isn’t conscious for 80% of the book, which by that point I was speeding to hear their side of the story.