While I loved the Gothic tone, the prose, and the imagery, this novel felt overwritten, rushed, and convoluted. There was too much going on writing-wise. The voices dragged, pacing was slow, and things were flat-out confusing at times. I love odd books and wish it was less of a rough read so I could have enjoyed it. The ending was interesting but not enough that I'd recommend it.

I really enjoyed this book. It was different than anything else I've read recently. I couldn't put it down! I will keep an eye out for this author's future work!

This novel is part haunted house/vengeful ghost story and part crime novel with some part fairy tale fantasy elements. The various narrators and genres didn't always feel balanced but that added to the sense of delusion, illusion, and mystery that the overlapping stories of the pairs of sisters evoke. Anna and Jennie are sisters saddened by the loss of their parents to a car accident while Anna and Jennie were sisters who died in a tragic accident back in 1915. The story is centered around the Chicago River, where young men mysteriously disappear, with detectives Kowalski and Rodriguez convinced a serial killer is responsible. Throw in a strange woman, Ursula, who is either a killer in a white van or the sea witch of legend. It's creepy, convoluted, and poignant.

Gosh. I so wanted to like this one, and while I'm thankful to the publisher, author, and Netgalley, this one wasn't for me.

Overall I enjoyed this horror-fantasy novel. It was beautifully written, although sometimes the dialogue would take you out of the story as people don't generally converse with each other this way in daily life.

Well, that was a page turner. Although there were times where I felt the story was a bit repetitive with some of the characters pondering, it worked in the sense that it made you feel crazy, trapped in the minds and confused thoughts of her characters. I loved the mood, the setting, the history and the characters.
I had a lot of speculation about the outcome as well, all the while wondering how to solve the who’s and why’s but was pleasantly surprised and impressed by the haunting feeling I had throughout. I loved it.

I don't think I've ever read a book quite like Forgotten Sisters, which is an intriguing blend of haunted house horror, crime noir, urban fairy tale, magical realism, and dark historical fiction. It reads like Catriona Ward meets We Have Always Lived in the Castle, but it did leave me feeling a bit perplexed and wishing for a more focused narrative.

At its heart, Forgotten Sisters is about two insular sisters named Anna and Jennie, who are haunted in more ways than one, and what happens when bodies start washing up in the Chicago River that flows behind the historic Craftsman bungalow they've lived in all their lives (and almost never leave).

This is my first experience with Cynthia Pelayo's writing, and it's clear she has a distinctive style. Her prose reads like a fever dream which entranced and confused me in equal measure and kept me off-balance for the entire book. With characters that behave and speak in strange, dated ways, the book has a decidedly gothic tone and reads like something out of time, so it's all the more startling when the modern world intrudes in the narrative, with mentions of murders and detectives and podcasts. I don't know if I've ever read a book that combines supernatural fairy tale elements with a hard-nosed police procedural, but that's exactly what Pelayo does in Forgotten Sisters. Her storytelling is so strange, so bold, so hypnotic.

Forgotten Sisters delves into Chicago's dark history, which was probably my favorite thing about it. This is an intensely atmospheric and descriptive book, and it's clear Pelayo has a lot of love for the city of Chicago. But despite that, Forgotten Sisters wasn't an entirely enjoyable reading experience for me overall. There is a lot going on in the narrative, but at the same time there isn't really much of a plot to speak of. Structurally, the book just meanders along until it reaches an intriguing, but in my opinion not fully supported, conclusion. Anna's romantic relationship feels rushed and lacks nuance and depth, and all of the various genre elements become a bit muddled after a while.

That said, I am definitely interested in reading more of Pelayo's work, because I think her writing is my vibe.

s is the first book I’ve read by Cynthia Pelayo and it will surely not be my last. This book was an
intriguing mystery full of suspense and paranormal aspects. It’s set in Old Chicago which is the perfect gothic setting and makes it epically dynamic.

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys gothic fiction/ magical realism and are fans of Sarah Penner!

DNF at 44%

While I really enjoyed the few chapters I got to involving the bodies in the river and the investigation, I found myself bogged down by the Anna and Jennie chapters.

Although this book wasn't for me, I do want to give the author another chance and check out her backlist.

This was my first time reading a book by Cynthia Pelayo. When I first started Forgotten Sisters I thought it was a book that I was going to really enjoy because it had a gothic vibe or feel to it. It’s a combination of several genres. It’s part horror/ghost story and part suspense/thriller with some fairytale mixed in. It’s about 2 sisters, Anna and Jennie, who live in a historic bungalow on the banks of the Chicago River. These sisters have experienced a tragic loss of both parents and are living in an almost depressed and hermit type existence. The story picks up when bodies of male victims are found either washed up on the banks or seen floating in the river. There are 2 police detectives that are trying to solve these crimes. Or were they really accidental drownings? This was the part of the story that I enjoyed most. I felt that all the talk about the girls grandmother and the reference to The Little Mermaid was all a bit confusing. There were parts that seemed to drag on and went into too much detail which didn’t hold my interest or attention. This book was very different from anything I’ve ever read before and I don’t feel it was a good pick for me. I felt lost through much of it. I’d like to thank both Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for the chance to read an arc and give my honest opinion. Although the book wasn’t to my liking, I’m sure that there will be many readers that will really enjoy it. I’m giving it a 3 star rating because I know the author put a lot of thought and work into it.

Ahhh can't explain my feelings. Its a good read and on the other hand i feel like few pages are filled with unnecessary details. I like straight forward plot without extra details so i skip pages but still a good story line packed with a little element of horror in it.

I have mixed feelings about this one!
There were many shining moments but there were also parts that dragged. It was packed with Chicago history - while interesting, it bogged down the plot significantly. The writing focused on a lot of irrelevant details when I would have preferred it to stay on track with the mystery/crime procedural sections which I found most interesting. I do love history, especially that relating to maritime events, so I didn’t hate those sections per se, but it didn’t really work in the story imo. Some of the elements also felt repetitive, but I understood what the author was trying to accomplish by doing so. If you love ghost tales and Chicago history, this might be worthwhile for you!

In this tragically beautiful story of sisters in two different times interwoven through fate and fairy tale. Sisters Jennie and Anna are all that each other have left as they navigate their new lives through grief , while also dealing with a house that has something unusual going on with it and the Chicago river that holds more secrets than either sister could’ve been prepared for. Once again, Cynthia Pelayo hits it out of the park with her storytelling and her ability to grab the reader and hold onto tight until the very end. Not to mention everything that came crashing down at once towards the end of the novel was mind blowing and I highly recommend going into this as blind as possible so you’re in for all of the fun! happy reading!!

if i could just simply describe this book with a few words, i'd say: hauntingly and poetically beautiful. it's a book about grief, hope, love, tragedy, depression, anger, resentment, family and familial responsibilities, past and present, life and death, and everything in between.

i really enjoyed this author's writing style. there are times when things don't make sense... until they do. it surprisingly gets vividly dark and really spooky, and those parts really caught me off guard and made me gasp out loud-- but i loved it. it's a testament to the author's clever story telling.

i give this a solid 4 stars! it just felt a bit repetitive at times. but in the end, everything fell into place and that made up for it. nonetheless, it's something i would definitely recommend.

thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for allowing me the opportunity to read this book. i received this as an ARC and leave this review voluntarily.

A mystical blend of crime and the supernatural, FORGOTTEN SISTERS pits two investigators against a haunted Chicago, as young men begin missing and showing up drowned in the Chicago river. A clue leads them to a house with a story in and of itself, where two sisters, Anna and Jennie, reside.

The story itself is told well. Anna and Jennie have an interesting siblings-with-secrets idea to them. Think SUNDIAL meets CSI with a couple hidden supernatural bonuses thrown in. An extra bonus I enjoyed, aside from the POVs of Kowalski the retiring investigator and Anna, is an entertaining half a chapter into the head of Peter, and he provides a refreshing breath of fresh air when his intentions are shown.

The chapters get heavy at times with the exposition of Chicago, and peeling the layers back of Anna and Jennie’s story does get long, but the climax is rewarding and the haunted atmosphere does give way to a thrilling conclusion. Get ready to see a side of Chicago you did not expect.

There's a lot going on in Forgotten Sisters. Some true crime, a little fairy tale, a bit of historical fiction, a dash of horror, and a love letter to Chicago. Anna lives with her sister in an old house on the river. She hosts The Chicago Vault podcast, chronicling stories from the city's past. We also follow Detective Kowalski. Men are disappearing - there may be a serial killer on the loose, and Kowalski is on it.

Even with these two distinct perspectives I had trouble keeping track of the action and was confused through most of the book. I did love the Chicago setting!

My thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the ARC.

I just finished a NetGalley copy of this book and loved it all. It was fantastic from opening sentence to final sentence. Not a sentence out of place. The setting of the house on the Chicago River was so well written I felt like I had been there. The ambiance from the writing was like a dreamlike underwater reality that was dizzying and you feel like you never quite get your footing on what is going on and I loved it. I can’t quite put into words the writing of this book but it will blow you away.

My first novel length read of this author. And hopefully not my last. I really enjoyed the storyline and the characters. Some interesting bits of true history were included in the plot that I had to look up and guess what? They were true! Highly recommended.

“Chicago is an October sort of city, even in the spring.”
“This is the beginning of the end of it all.”
AHHH!!! This book!!🖤 This is so much more than the story it tells. On the surface (pun intended) this is a missing persons/murder tale with supernatural elements. Ohh, but the history, the old school fairy tales, and the promises kept make this a frightening, and enlightening story that had me melting with heartache.
This is a story of two sisters living in their ancestral house on the river in Chicago. Maybe because the house seemed to play a character or maybe because the sisters were quirky but the book reminded me of The Haunting of Hill House combined with We Have Always Lived in a Castle. I truly believe you can say that Pelayo is a combination of Mary Shelley, Shirley Jackson, Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, and Emily Dickinson. I have read my fair share of classics and the style in this book is a readable poetic grace.
Cynthia is passionate about Chicago and it’s history and it is evident on every page.

Part gothic fairy tale, part love story to old Chicago, Forgotten Sisters by Cynthia Pelayo is one unique and haunting thriller.

Anna and her sister Jennie live in a bizarre home on the banks of the Chicago River and have found themselves on the outskirts of a police investigation. Detective Kowalski is certain the sudden abundance of drowned bodies is not a coincidence and instead a serial killer is at work. Pelayo has a way with words, making this thriller atmospheric, eerie and brimming with folklore - although at times it could feel a bit repetitive. I tried to piece together who the killer would be, realizing my initial suspect was too obvious to be fully true and instead the ending was more haunting than I had anticipated.

This thriller was an enchanting walk along the rivers edge, while hearing the siren song.

Pelayo writes "genre-blending novels that incorporate elements of fairy tales, mystery, detective, crime and horror" and I'd add historical fiction into the mix as well (at least in terms of this book); I ended up learning a lot about Chicago, and it really made me want to read more thrillers based in the windy city!

Thank you NetGalley, Kaye Publicity and Thomas & Mercer for the complimentary copies to read and review.