This was the first time I read @megancollinswriter and I was blown away by the way she tells the story about two friends who are family, Julia and Sienna, who are reeling from their shared love one, Jason, who is allegedly seen as a suspect in the eyes of the police for the murder of his boss. As the two of them reel from the trauma - trying to make sense of the events that have unfolded. Their relationship is consistently tested as the investigation unfolds.

It is hard to overlook the character, Maeve’s experience of sexual assault by her boss, as that becomes a focus of the novel. Tied into this narrative then is how Sienna, Jason’s sister and Julia, Jason’s wife cope with the decisions made by Jason while he is in a coma.

I found the characters to be likable but also morally gray. Also, I could relate to Sienna and her desire to help her brother and also fight for him. I would have done the same. I also could relate to Julia who was often silent and compromising, and rarely spoke her mind. I guess growing up I was somewhere in the middle.

I do believe that the thriller genre is a hard one to pull off, and has to feel like the events can happen and the realities the characters are experiencing are plausible. And, I believe that’s what Megan has been able to achieve in this novel. It’s a cutting edge novel about the politics of family and relationships, how truth operates, and how much being righteousness is acceptable. Sometimes, Jason’s righteousness made me think of him that sometimes he was way out of his way for others and overlooking those who were near and dear to him. I truly enjoyed this one! A 5✨ from me!

Thank you @megancollinswriter, @avidreaderpress, and @netgalley for the gifted copy of the novel.

Thank you netgalley for the advanced reader copy. Thicker than water was absolutely a page turner. The story kept me guessing from the beginning on who killed Gavin and how is Jason associated with it. I hated most of the characters except Julia and Aiden. This is a story of relationships and betrayal. If you are up to a quick read, highly recommend!

I gave this book a 3-star rating because there were aspects that I loved and aspects that I did not care for... so that is what I will share in this review.

I really liked the main characters - wife and sister of the main suspect of a crime. Their relationship and perspectives throughout this book are well done. It is written through their two POVs.

I was 70% in, and other than the crime and the characters contemplating if he had actually done it or not, nothing else had happened. He was in a coma, and I felt bored.

The end gave it a small twist, but I found this book very different than The Family Plot.

Wow! Totally enjoyed this read! My first Megan Collins book but definitely not my last. Loved her descriptive writing style filled with secrets, lies and tense anticipation. Fabulous characters and relationships. Highly recommend
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book

This was a one night/sitting read for me. I very much enjoyed this book! I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for getting me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This story revolves around Julia and Sienna who are best friends and sister in laws. They tell each other everything or so they both think until one-night changes everything. Julia's husband/Sienna's brother Jason is in a terrible car accident that puts him in a coma. Right before this happened, Jason's boss was found murdered in his backyard. Crazy enough evidence for the murder is found in Jason's car which makes him the number one suspect. Julia and Sienna are doing what they can to unravel what has happened without Jason around to give them any details, and they find themselves on opposites sides of his guilt. Sienna is sticking by him no matter what while Julia starts to question everything after untruth and more untruths come out without Jason to defend himself. Is he guilty or not? You will have to read to find out.

I really liked the conclusion to this book and all the in betweens! I would recommend this as a fast summer mystery.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an ARC of this book, in exchange for my honest opinion.

The cover and synopsis drew me right into this story. Julia & Sienna are sister in laws, Julia is married to Siennas brother Jason. But more than just sister in laws, they’re best friends, and also business partners. Their world is rocked when Jason is in a life altering car accident, and simultaneously arrested for murder of his boss. Working together and sometimes against each other Julia & Sienna work to try and piece together what actually happened the night of the murder, to try and clear Jason’s name. But as evidence mounds it becomes clear to Julia, Jason must be guilty, while Sienna refuses to accept that truth. As the clocks ticking will they figure out if Jason is innocent? Will they be able to save what’s left of their friendship?

I enjoyed reading about the intricate dynamic of SIL and best friends with Julia & Sienna. But also appreciated the realness of how gritty it can get when your feelings are wrapped up between family and family that isn’t blood.

The story was definitely intriguing and kept me interested as the girls try to solve the murder. But it was more a suspenseful mystery you try to solve as a reader, than a true pulse driving thriller

Thicker Than Water offers plenty mystery and intrigue, with characters that you love to hate. The plot sucks you in while the characters are a bold reflection of some your worst qualities. You’re desperately rooting for them and praying for them to get it together. Megan Collins does a wonderful job wrapping tough discussions in a dark mystery.

I love Megan Collins! Thicker than water is a great who done it! I loved Sienna and Julia! Awesome strong, multidimensional, flawed female characters are my jam! Unfortunately the male characters were a bit one dimensional, caricatures rather than strong characters. Having said this, I still really enjoyed story! This is a quick read. .Alternating POV between Sienna and Julia kept me reading.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria books for the copy of Thicker Than Water by Megan Collins. This is the third book I've read by Collins and it started out great, the writing style drawing me right into the story. This isn’t really your standard thriller. Yes, there's a surprising reveal that some readers might call a ‘twist’ but this is more of a look at female friendship and self-discovery, so don’t go in expecting a lot of action because much of the book is about Julia and Sienna’s search for the truth about the murder.
It was so interesting that Jason was in a coma so his wife Julia and his sister Sienna are the ones to deal with the accusations against him. Sierra was a really annoying character because she thought Jason was perfect. I think there was a better way to show that Julia and Sienna were really close other than constantly using their pet phrases because that really got old fast. I will be ecstatic to never read or hear “motatoes’ or ‘cool your fire’ again when this book is over. It’s also hard to believe that neither one of them ever watched or read a detective story before going out and looking for evidence on their own and leaving their fingerprints all over anything! I really enjoyed reading this book, although the end felt a little flat to me. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

Thank you NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. This was a slow-paced thriller told in alternating points of view. It makes you question how good you can ever really know anyone.

After Jason's boss is found murdered, he is in an accident that leads to a medically induced coma. His wife, Julia, and his sister Sienna, are more than sisters-in-law. They are best friends and business partners. Each tells her side of the story as the plot advances as the police begin to suspect that Jason killed his boss. His coma means he can't tell his side of the story so the women are working to try to solve the murder and determine what Jason's involvement is before he wakes up.

The plot of this story was good, but it was a slow burner. The twist at the end didn't shock me too much. This was worth a read, but left me a little underwhelmed.

A sister is hiding a shameful secret. A brother is in the hospital after an unlikely accident. A wife is trying to hold her loosening family ties together. And an employer is shockingly found deceased with his lips sewn shut.

There's plenty to unpack in this slow-burn murder mystery! I really enjoyed her writing style and the complex familial dynamics told from their separate points of view . . . the prose is fully immersive and endearing. By the end, I was much more concerned with how these relationships would ultimately pan out than with who the killer turned out to be. I highly recommend this novel to big fans of domestic suspense.

I received an advanced copy of Thicker Than Water for my unbiased evaluation. 4 stars.

First off, I sincerely want to thank NetGalley and Atria Books for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. This was easily one of my favorite books this year, and I don’t think I would have picked it up had I not been approved through NetGalley to read it.

This was my first book by Megan Collins but I’m going to immediately go binge her other works now. I sat down to start reading after putting my son to bed, and I didn’t get up again until I was finished with it almost 5 hours later. I’m usually a fast reader, but this was the first time in a long time where I was literally glued to my seat (and my couch isn’t that comfortable).

I absolutely adored the dialogue and the relationship between the two main characters, and I really liked how the author positioned their strengths and weaknesses to illuminate how much they each grew by the end of the book.

I also really liked that the overall theme of the book spoke to the idea that recognizing injustice isn’t enough, swift and appropriate action is needed. I really appreciated the way that the author framed several social issues that have been prominent in modern society, and how by the end of the book all characters recognized their shortcomings in perspective to their own involvement in those issues. One character was blindly devoted to her brother and refused to even question his morality- she only saw things in black and white, in right and wrong. But by the end, she was able to call out the bad parts of his character while still loving the good. Another character was too distance and silent to speak her needs, so she never really received what she needed; she suffered in silence. By the end, she recognized how she hid in her sister-in-law’s shadow as a means to never have to stand up for herself or to truly be uncomfortable around others. But she didn’t just acknowledge those shortcomings, she actively worked to fix them! How often does that actually happen, whether in fiction or in real life?

There was more character development that I could ramble on about, but I’m already skirting the boundaries of spoilers and I know that I’m going to cross that line of I keep going.

In all seriousness, this was such a good book. Maybe it’s because I lack a real sense of family in my life, but the way the bond between the two main characters was written just really drew me in and fleshed them out into real people.

I truly adored this book.

Love Megan collins!! Her thriller books are one of my favorites.
This book is about best friends and the things that come between them and connect them. The twists and turns of this book were so good. I’d highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing this DRC in exchange for an honest review.

I have read all of Megan Collins' books to date. I'm not sure if it is my life circumstance (newly in graduate school) or the plot, but I cannot help but feel like this one fell a bit flat.

The dynamic built between Julia and Sienna is very good. I enjoy the growth both of them experience. But I was never drawn into the plot the way I expect with a Collins book.

While I may not have been wow'd, this will not keep me from reading, and hopefully loving, Megan Collins in the future.

3.5/5 stars for this one. Julia is married to Jason and best friends with his sister Sienna. Jason gets in an awful car accident 3 days after his boss was killed in a horrific way. When the police find evidence that implicates Jason, Julia and Sienna are torn apart when one believes the evidence and the other believes in the man they both love. Which one of them is right? Will their friendship survive? Will Jason?

Great premise, great storyline but it was a slow burn. It took until about the 70% mark for the story to really heat up and I found myself annoyed at Sienna (her rage, selfishness and childish behavior).

Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC.

I guess you expect men to lie and disappoint you- but you don't expect your best girlfriends to do it.
Of course in the end - Well I can't go into that but it SO twisty.
It gets even better at the end.

I just love this author and Thicker Than Water proves why. This book is fast paced and unexpected. I was completely entertained!

When her husband Jason is a suspect in the murder of his lecherous boss, Julia becomes haunted by her mother’s insistence that men can’t be trusted. His sister Sienna, who is Julia’s best friend and business partner, can’t fathom the possibility that Jason is guilty. Julia and her son, however, know her husband has been keeping secrets.

The perspective alternates between Julia and Sienna. Both characters grow as a result of the story, but their illusions about the strength of the relationships with the people they love are forever changed.

Collins sets the mood immediately by focusing on the rooster wall paper that reminds Julia of blood stains. The plot revolves around how secrets and obsessions affect trust and have the power to destroy relationships.

The story shows how our perceptions of others are colored by our interpretations of events, which in turn affect the way we see those people and our relationships with them. Reading a book that focused on key characters rather than dealing with the dynamics of a large cast was a pleasure.

As a writer, I loved how, in the acknowledgments, Collins thanks her past self for persevering and finishing the novel. Writing is a labor of love, and the labor part is rarely acknowledged.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thanks to Atria Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc., for providing an Advance Reader Copy via NetGalley.

Thicker Than Water
By: Megan Collins
5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

WOW!! Julia Larkin is married to Jason and his sister Sienna is her best friend and business partner. Sienna has always been close to Jason and thinks he is perfect. So, when she meets Julia, they have an instant connection and consider each other soulmates.

They get the call that Jason was in a car accident and is in a coma. Julia does not know how to tell her son who is a typically teenager and seems to be pulling away from the family.

A shocking discovery is made when Jason’s boss is brutally murdered, with his lips sewn shut.
Jason becomes the primes suspect as details come forward. Julia is starting to believe her husband is guilty and Sienna is desperate to prove he is innocent. How will these two navigate their friendship hoping Jason comes out of his coma?

I have read all of Collins novels, and loved them all. I highly recommend to my mystery, thriller booklovers. Her books kept me glued to the story. I love a good book where I am sad that it is over, but thrilled I did not see the ending coming.

Thank you, Megan, for your novel. I cannot wait to see what you write next! This novel is due out July 11 and TRUST me you will want to add this one to your summer list. Thank you @thrillerbookloverspromotions for introducing me to this author and helping promote her.🖤

#thickerthanwater, #megancollins, #atriabooks, #booksconnectus, #bookreview, #bookstagram, #stamperlady50, #arc

A husband and wife and the husbands sister and a grisly murder, and so begins a twisty, suspenseful tale that will keep you guessing the whole time. The characters are likeable and story is well written. I enjoyed this read as I was on the edge of my seat throughout the whole book. Thank you to Netgalley, Atria and the author for sharing the arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.