Forgotten Sisters is a mystery, but not just a mystery; a love story but not just a love story; a horror story but not just a horror story. This layered and lush novel about sisters, grief, murder, and Chicago drops the reader into the story just after a major trauma has occurred, and ruminates in the aftermath of that horror through the eyes of Anna.
The crime podcaster lives in an old house with her sister Jennie, who doesn't seem to be doing well after the drowning deaths of their parents. The house itself seems to be grieving, and Anna is struggling to take care of her sister and herself. A string of drowning deaths in the city of Chicago sets off a series of events that pull Anna into the mystery, and her search for answers brings to light details of her own life that she isn't prepared to examine.
The story switches perspectives between Anna and two Chicago detectives who are investigating the drownings, and the switch keeps the reader guessing as to who is telling the truth and who is an unreliable narrator. And the novel is very squarely set in Chicago, so lovingly detailed that you can feel the city surrounding you.
Cynthia does a really wonderful job here, the writing is gorgeously laid out and the asides that are so clearly researched add so much depth to the plot. I really enjoyed this: the mystery is satisfying, the love story is sweet and hopeful, and the relationship between Anna and Jennie is so real. There are moments of dread throughout, and some supernatural elements that borrow from dark fairytales (The Little Mermaid is featured quite heavily).
This is the first I've read of Cynthia and I'm eager to read more!

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the copy of Forgotten Sisters by Cynthia Pelayo. The flowery and old-fashioned dialogue was hard to read so I never engaged with the story. The podcast was well researched but not very interesting to read. The idea of the story was great andI loved the description of the book. I should have looked at the genres for it in Goodreads, because I don't enjoy horror fantasy, but if you love those genres, you might love this book.

I really struggled with this book. It sounded so interesting, but I ended up baffled by it. The characters don't speak normally which made it impossible to understand what they were talking about most of the time. The detectives were okay, but they weren't in the book very much. The boyfriend was kind of just there. He didn't add much to the story and it was hard to accept this great love they supposedly had. We were told about their love, but I never actually felt it. I honestly didn't understand this book and really don't know what to say about it. I'm not sure who the right reader is for this book, but it certainly isn't me. The dogs were cute though and nothing bad happens to them so that was good.

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the ARC.

I was excited by the premise of this book - a haunted house, mysterious murders, scenic Chicago, and a little flavoring of true crime/morbid history themed podcasting? Sounds great.

I struggled with the writing style, though I feel this was a personal mismatch between myself and the book. Pelayo knows how to apply moody, richly detailed language to create an atmosphere. This was neat...for the first few chapters. I found myself skimming a fair amount of the descriptions towards the second half of the book.

I also didn't love the dialogue between characters. My favorite interactions were probably between the two detectives, which makes sense, as they're the two most 'ordinary' of the cast. By the end, I could see the reason for why Anna and Jennie spoke the way they did, but I never grew to love it.

I'd still recommend this book, but only to people with specific reading tastes. It just didn't quite work for me.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for providing an advanced copy to review

First, I want to point this author out by saying...Cynthia Pelayo is a multiple Bram Stoker Award-nominated author. She combines true crime with fairytales while also adding suspense, thriller, and love stories! I am a true crime/horror lover so this book stood out immediately.

Nothing is as it seems in Anna and Jennie's handed-down haunted mansion by the Chicago River. It is worth millions but the house will not let the sisters leave. Anna is the star of this book, she ensures the house is immaculate and upgrades it. The house is so happy it leaves her small gifts. Anna also takes care of her sister Jennie. Both Anna and Jenny suffer from "episodes" of PTSD from a car accident that occurred years prior. Anna's sole purpose is to take care of the house, Jennie, and find true love with the help of her "fairy" who lives in her fairy garden.

Anna is brought her true love by the true crime podcasts she creates about truly horrifying incidents people forget about. In the midst of all this, murders of men in their 20s continue to show up in the Chicago River drowned behind her home. Why?

Anna has to dive deep to solve this mystery while juggling her crazy life at just the age of 23. While she is solving the mystery, Anna takes you through multiple true crime stories (that are true and explain a lot in detail) so there is not a boring part in this book! I also want to add that when the true crime and horror of incidents are explained, they are horrific and will fuel horror lovers with pride!

I rate this book 5 stars and highly recommend it!

I was so intrigued by this novel, but unfortunately for me I just got confused and felt like the story was disjointed and did not deliver the way it should have for me.

I just finished reading "Forgotten Sisters" by Cynthia Pelayo, and I'm still reeling from the experience. This book is not just a mystery novel; it's a deep dive into the complexities of human relationships, the power of secrets, and the blurred lines between reality and fantasy.

The characters are so well-crafted that I felt like I was part of their lives, invested in their struggles, and rooting for them until the very end. The writing is masterful, with a pace that's both suspenseful and introspective.

As someone who loves a good mystery, I was impressed by the author's ability to weave together a web of clues and red herrings that kept me guessing until the final reveal. But what struck me most was the empathy and compassion with which Pelayo approaches her characters.

She doesn't shy away from exploring the darker aspects of human nature, but she does so with a sensitivity that makes you feel like you're in the hands of a wise and understanding storyteller.

"Forgotten Sisters" is more than just a book; it's an experience that will leave you thinking long after you finish reading. So, if you're ready to immerse yourself in a gripping and thought-provoking story, then this is the book for you.

Trust me, you won't regret it!"

I mostly enjoyed this gothic novel of possession, but I think one more developmental edit would really help make it stronger. The unreliable narrator is done well, as is the foreshadowing, but other aspects remain weak, including the whole romance aspect, which is very thin and hard to believe. The protagonist--when her own persona is in charge--is also lacking in weight, and while her weirdness in changes of diction and vocabulary is explained at the very end, she needs a bit more heft to come to life. Just a bit more development, please!

As always the author manages to mix Chicago history and fiction perfectly. I’ve lived in Chicago my whole life and never heard about the SS Eastland or the stockyards. Such a beautifully sad story.

Really loved how the story connected in the end (can't say much because of spoilers). It's also very interesting how the city, the crimes in the Chicago River, and the sisters' story are intertwined. Loved to know about the ghost stories around Chicago, the haunted places, all based on real facts.

WOW! WHAT??
This book was madness. Was this poetry or was this prose?
This was perfect. And, it really made me think. I think i filled the whole book with highlighters, the words were like poetry. And, it was so unique. Really made me look at The Little Mermaid differently. Every part of the whole book is beautiful. Cynthia Pelayo really played with words here.
I would give this book a hundred stars, really.
Definitely recommended,
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for letting me have an ARC of the book. It was an honour.

This one didn't grab my attention like I thought it would based off the description/synopsis. I think people will like this story, but I just couldn't quite get into it. If I can find this for a reasonable price after to releases, I may try to get a physical copy for the library.

Rumblings beneath those dark and eerie waves of the Chicago River.

The Chicago River winds itself through the city noticed and unnoticed. The waterways have darkened and thickened over time. But what you can't deny is the fetid air in some sections and its fetid past. Chicago, itself, has been plagued with a history of disasters through fire, cholera, typhoid fever, and epic tragedies visited upon the river itself. Bodies continue to surface. This year, in truth, has added to those rumblings of a possible serial killer in the midst of this river's edge in 2023.

Cynthia Pelayo is a Bram Stoker Award winner. She's immersed Forgotten Sisters in the waters of Chicago history. If history is not your thing, keep walking rather than cast a stone. Pelayo is also a master at creating characters with the woowoo factor. Believe me, there's plenty of that in Forgotten Sisters. So pull up a chair and switch on the night light. Ya gonna need one.

Anna and Jennifer are highly unusual beings. We'll find that out as we enter into their 1912 Craftsman bungalow along the Chicago River. They've inherited this grand dwelling when their parents died. Before that, it belonged to their grandmother. Anna is but twenty-three and her sister, Jennifer, is twenty-six. They take the upkeep of this home seriously. It's been drilled into them. But there is no doubt that they are not the only occupants. Strange happenings are happening every moment. Anna is the stronger of the two and hovers over Jennie who has a "condition". Anna is a blogger of The Chicago Vault which is dedicated to haunted Chicago.

And the river runs through it. Bodies of young males have been found floating in the Chicago River as of late. A woman had been spotted in the vicinity. Connection or not?

Soon Homicide detectives, Kowalski and Rodriguez, show up to investigate. Kowalski is just about ready to retire . He resents his younger partner, Rodriguez, for being the newbie. But things will soon take on a darker persona. Pelayo's fiction will meet Chicago's actual true crimes face-to-face.

Forgotten Sisters is ladened with Chicago history. It's interesting and uncanny at times. But it will all come to the surface as the fate of the sisters is revealed. There's a hazy vibe throughout this one that can't be denied. Something other worldly is going on here. Just ask those residents.......both the living and the dead.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Thomas & Mercer and to the talented Cynthia Pelayo for the opportunity.

WOW

DIOS MÍO

First thing first, thank you Netgalley for the arc of this book. Second, I am bewitched by this authors style and narration. The story is woven with such expert pacing. I was hooked til the very end.

This is the first novel of Ms. Pelayo's that I've read, and if nothing else, I am definitely finding and picking up Loteria. This is her take on The Little Mermaid, and focuses on two sisters, one with a very obviously deteriorating mental state, a possible haunted house, serial murderers who leave their dead in the Chicago river, a podcast focusing on Chicago's more grim history. There's also a bunch of POV switching, as a heads up. There's almost too much going on at times, especially towards the end (I'm not entirely sure how the ending came about honestly, so that is the only reason it's getting knocked down a star), but it's still eerie as hell and worth reading when it comes out next spring!

Forgotten Sisters is a gothic, fairytale retelling with a hint of police procedural. It follows sisters, Jennie and Anna, who live in a riverside home in modern-day Chicago, as well as 2 detectives investigating a supposed serial killer. While intriguing, the further I got into the story, the more confused I became. At times it took me a page or two to figure out which perspective I was reading from, as the character’s narration was too similar.
Anna is the primary character and she survives on a mysterious inheritance and the money she makes from a podcast about Chicago’s haunted history. She is also the caretaker for her older sister, Jennie, who is absentminded; which we’re told is the result of an unspecified accident. Anna and Jennie’s house is occupied by the echo of residents past and frequently throws fits in an attempt to communicate with Anna. Anna is at times smart and driven, researching tirelessly for her podcast and at other times ditzy and obtuse, rendering her the most frustrating character; worse even than Jennie, who exclusively speaks in riddles and questions, like a regency era damsel. Anna’s correspondent turned fiance, Peter, has all the intrigue of a piece of wheat bread.
Infrequent, alternating chapters follow Detective Rodriguez, who is investigating a series of murdered men found in the Chicago River, while he trains his replacement. We’re given little information to actually convince us that the men have been murdered, rather than just victims of their own drunken stupidity. My attention was held for the first ⅔, but after that, the plot takes a sharp left into a firmly weird storyline, featuring ghosts of a previous shipwreck and mermaids. Unfortunately, this bizarre blend of ghostly murder mystery was not for me. But if you enjoy fairytale retellings, it's probably worth a read.

This a story of sisters, the grief that consumes their life, and the river and house that haunt them. Part murder mystery, part ghost story, and part fairy tale. Filled with Chicago's dark history.

As much as I like many elements of the book, I could not connect with the characters. The story felt disjointed, which did not make sense until the second half of the book. Then, the fairy tale came to life and the past revealed itself.

An ARC to be published on 19 Mar 2024

I would like thank NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for an early copy of the book.

This newest entry into Cynthia Pelayo's Chicago Novels does not disappoint. Unlike the previous two books, where the focus was at least equally on the police who were investigating strange happenings and those involved in the strangeness, Forgotten Sisters focuses on Anna and Jen, two sisters who tragically lost their parents to an accident that plunged them, and their car, into the Chicago River.

The two are tied to their family home, which is filled with memories and sorrows, ghosts and strange visions. Not far from their home, they discovered the body of a young man drowned in the river. he is only one of many, a string that is looking very much like a serial killer. There are blue diamond symbols at many of the sites where the bodies were found. There is on a tree outside the sister's home.

As Anna works to renovate the old house, and Jen does her best to prevent it, things only get stranger and more surreal. Anna is also working on her life, battling the memories and haunting visions, meeting a man and planning a renovation of her life similar to that she offers the old home.

Lush with Chicago history, insight, and passages that often require a second reading, and a highlight for their clarity and insight, this is a darkly beautiful novel of crime, tragedy, love and an old city filled to overflowing with history and death.

I loved this book.

This is a very weird book, in a good way. I did wish there weren't pov chapters from the cops (the synopsis made me think they were an even smaller presence than they were, which is on me). The melding of crime novel, thriller, and horror/dark fairy tale was fascinatingly executed.

Forgotten Sisters is absolutely haunting. The sounds, smells and atmosphere of the house and the sisters who live as though lingering only millimeters from the other side left a lasting mark inside of me.
Cynthia's beautiful lyrical writing made me read and reread passages, not for clarity but to feel them deeply all over again. The sister's story line is perfectly contrasted and entangled with the true crime style aspects of the book which made for a robust reading experiencing. I never knew exactly what course was coming next but I was always well fed when I got there. Forgotten Sisters makes me feel a sense of dread and delight when I think about returning to the book, it will live on in my nightmares and strange sounds in cluttered homes forever.