3.5/5

"I could change my looks. I could learn about makeup or curl my hair, but I didn't know how to change me. Because I didn't know what was wrong with me."

This was a suspenseful story of sisterly love and jealousy, identity, and the inherent loneliness of teenhood wrapped up with a mystery. During a senior sabbatical, two sisters go missing and only one is found but she can't remember anything from that week.

I enjoyed the structure of the story and thought it was really effective. The chapters alternate between amnesiac Grace in the present trying to piece together what happened during her absent week and the still missing Maddy during the Sabbatical leading up to the night they disappeared. Leaving off on cliffhangers in both timelines each chapter made this book very hard to put down! A creative addition were Maddy's poems after each of her chapters that gave further insight to her state of mind.

I figured out the mystery 30% into the book, which made things a bit anticlimactic for me. I usually don't figure things out, so I'm not sure if I was just really on it this read or if the hints were too obvious. It did give me additional insight to how clever the author was, however, as I got to see the clues continuing to be laid out.

I didn't really relate to any of the characters, but I think that's probably just because I'm not the target audience. When I was a lonely teenager this might have hit more, so I can't really hold this against the book.

Overall, this was a quick read with a good pace, a fun mystery, and messages about identity that teens will probably relate to.

This was a fun little psychological mystery/thriller. I'm a huge fan of unreliable narrators, and I think it makes the twists more challenging. I also really liked the sisters, Grace and Maddy, and how supportive their parents were.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this

I enjoyed trying to figure out what happened and I love that it wasn't easy. My students who love A Good Girl's Guide to Murder are going to love this one as well.

A class trip called Sabbatical goes wrong. Grace and Maddy, sisters go together and yet Grace is the only one who returned and has fuzzy memories including no memories at all leading up to the tragedy and thus the mystery unfolds. What happened?

It's a twisty psychological thriller with plenty of issues to go around including taking a look at the relationship between Grace and Maddy. The twists were a bit expected especially with the concept of the story so I wasn't too surprised, however teen readers each the conflict between them and the larger issues of school/friendships/relationships up so I know this will be popular.

This one started off strong. Both POVs were interesting. It then got bogged down my exposition and repetitive narrative to the point of becoming confusing. Throughout though, I still wanted to know Edgar happened that harrowing night.

I didn’t see the twist coming and kind of want to go back and re-read this one again just to see the breadcrumbs throughout. Even with a surprising twist the ending felt a bit underwhelming.

I liked the concept and some of the plot points. I would have enjoyed it to carry more of a punch and for it to have not included so many similar scenes. The redundancy impacted the flow.

I’d still recommend it to fans of mystery novels.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.

I thought this was fantastic. I really liked the plot with both sisters and all their secrets. The topics about their roles in high school and society expectations were relevant! Really great!

Highlights:
✨Sister dynamics: The story portrays Irish twins with an unspoken sibling rivalry, pitting the socially popular athlete against the introverted, awkward poet. There's so much depth to unpack—this would spark an engaging book club discussion.
✨Mixed media: I loved the beautiful poetry and journal entries seamlessly woven throughout the story. They provide valuable insight into the sisters' internal thoughts and add to the story's realism.
✨Mental Health rep: Davidhizar approaches the mental health rep with care. She demonstrates the complexity of emotions like jealousy, guilt, and grief. Through therapy, she shows that teens can work through these emotions. However, she also highlights that if these emotions are left unchecked, they can lead to destructive behaviors.
✨Narration: Karissa Vacker skillfully portrays the sisters, Maddie and Grace, delivering a brilliant performance in handling the dual POV. Her portrayal allows the listener to distinguish between the two characters easily. If you're familiar with Karissa Vacker's work, you know she consistently delivers a suspenseful narration that will keep you hanging on every word.

Overall, I really loved this terrific debut! The story is very fast-paced; I binged it for over two days. Fans of Holly Jackson and Karen McManus will enjoy this one.

4.5 stars

When I really love a book, it's always hard for me to put into words why I loved it so much. I've recently started doing reviews in the form of reasons why I love a book and I'm going to do that today with Silent Sister. I will say that Silent Sister is amazing and I highly recommend it for anyone who loves mysteries and thrillers. So here are four reasons why I loved Silent Sister! I can't say too much, because I always feel you need to know as little as possible when reading mysteries.

1. Dual Timeline
Silent Sister is told in then and now. Grace and Maddy go missing during a school trip and Grace is found injured, but Maddy is still missing. I enjoyed seeing the story play out by getting the days that lead up to them going missing and Grace dealing with the aftermath of everything. It slowly gives us the story and definitely had me trying to figure out what was going on.

2. The Reveal
I have to say I had a theory at the beginning of the book, and I was almost right. While I normally don't like being right when it comes to books like Silent Sister, it really worked. I felt it was different than a lot of other books I've read. The reveal hit me in all the feels and I have to say I teared up a few times while reading. During the story there are also a few other twists and reveals that definitely get you thinking, but everything comes together so well at the end.

3. The Writing
Megan's writing had me hooked from the start and kept me hooked. This story left me guessing, but also had me so invested in these characters. I'm always impressed when an author can make me feel things. I really hope we get more stories from this author, because I need more after Silent Sister.

4. It's Not Just a Mystery
Silent Sister is more than just a mystery. This story deals with grief, guilt, finding yourself, friendships, family, and so much more. Lives can be messy and so can relationships with family and friends, but also even with yourself. Your teenage years have you discovering a lot and finding your place in this world. I feel that this story added to that in a really great way.

My review will also be posted on https://thebookdutchesses.com on August 29th.

Silent Sister by Megan Davidhizar is a tense psychological thriller that explores the dark complexities of sisterhood and memory. When sisters Grace and Maddy go missing during a class trip, only Grace returns—injured and with no memory of the event, but with Maddy’s blood on her clothes. As suspicion falls on her, Grace must piece together what happened, using Maddy’s journal and navigating the secrets of her classmates.

The novel shines in its portrayal of the fragile bond between the sisters, with Grace’s journey uncovering hidden truths about Maddy—and herself. The fast-paced plot keeps you on edge, with twists that lead to a shocking conclusion. Davidhizar delivers a gripping, character-driven mystery that is both emotionally engaging and full of suspense.

I really enjoyed this book! I thought the story was great and easy to read! It was fast paced, I loved the dual POV of the sisters and the present day, versus the past. I felt like the twists were great and age appropriate. I really like that there wasn’t anything super ‘steamy’ so it was a good age appropriate book, I would honestly even recommend to my 5th graders! I did think the end was a little messy and kept dragging on but I liked that result and felt like it was good for a YA!

The premise was great and the writing was very easy to follow! The MC were two sisters, Grace and Maddy. Grace is the present POV and Maddy is the past POV, so very easy to follow. The twist towards the end was unexpected, but interesting. I would recommend this book to others!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

For a debut novel, I do think this was a decent start for the author. I liked how there was exploration into the dynamic of the sisters and there were some nice thriller elements. I do think that it fell a little flat for me when it came to the mystery parts at sometimes because it could be a bit predictable. Overall, it was a nice story.

Silent Sister by Megan Davidhizar is a gripping psychological thriller that kept me hooked from the first page. The dynamic between Grace and Maddy, two sisters with contrasting personalities, adds depth to the story, as Grace fights to uncover the truth about what happened on their fateful class trip. The suspense builds steadily, and the use of Maddy’s journal as a tool for Grace to unravel the mystery is both clever and haunting.

While some plot points felt a bit predictable, the tension and emotional stakes kept me engaged. Davidhizar skillfully explores themes of sisterhood, guilt, and the hidden secrets that can define relationships. This is a solid, compelling read for fans of twisty, character-driven thrillers.

The synopsis gives the wrong impression. At the same time the "twist" was so predictable that I kept hoping it wasn't true. The characters were all pretty unlikable-entitled, spoiled, and unreal. I don't know how the YA crowd will read this. But a good YA book appeals to all readers but is just geared toward people of older ages. It is well written. I didn't get that here.

The book was hard to believe; if that was the point, then OK. The "silent sister" was a hard character to read. I think I am the wrong audience for this book, as I've seen a lot of reviews say that actual YAs will enjoy this. I"ll leave this for them!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 4 stars
Thank you to the author for providing me with an eARC of this book via TBR and Beyond Tours in exchange for an honest review!
Silent Sister is a book about Grace and Maddy, two sisters 10 months apart who when missing during their sabbatical school trip. When only Grace is found, injured and with no memories of the five day trip, she is determined to uncover what happened.

“The face on a missing person poster is supposed to be a stranger”

After reading the synopsis I was immediately sold and couldn’t wait to dive into this brand new mystery novel!
I loved the beginning of this book! It was done really well and in a way that drew me in! The intriguing part is that this book follows two POVs and two timelines, with Maddy’s POV from the past and Grace’s POV the present. The POVs alternated each chapter and with little cliffhangers, it was hard to put this book down once I started reading.
I’m not the biggest fan of poetry and don’t read a lot, but I loved the poems at the end of Maddy’s chapters! As she is someone who writes, it was really cool to see her thoughts on paper like that. I also felt they really contributed to the story.
Maddy and Grace are sisters, very close, but with distinct personalities. Maddy is the quite one with a mind that goes 100 miles an hour, while Grace is the easy outgoing and sporty one. I liked the contrast between the two and how easily distinguishable both were.
The mystery aspect was well done, with Grace having no memories and little bits kept coming to light both in the past and present. At some point, of course, Grace is a person of interest, but I still liked how the author went about it.
While I did like that, the big reveal felt just very anti-climactic to me and a bit unrealistic. I think if it would’ve been more believable if it had been foreshadowed a bit more, but for now I feel like the ending just didn’t do the rest of the book justice.
Overall, it was a very cleverly written book with interesting progression!



<spoiler> I understand how trauma can hide memories and how delusion can happen, but since the two girls are so differently portrayed, it just felt unbelievable that it was Maddy in both timelines. I also didn’t expect Grace’s death to be an accident </spoiler>

This book … had me so mad, LOL. I had NO idea what was going on, the MC has amnesia, and you are finding out the truth right along with her … it wasn’t happening fast enough, I was having trust issues with everyone in this story! I thought I had it figured out, but the spin the author put on it made me question my sanity, only to find out I was almost right, and that made me mad 😂 seriously, if you like psychological mystery books about people losing their memory, you need to add this to your TBR.

Written in alternating sisters POV and timeline (before the accident, during, and after). Each chapter ending in such a way I had to keep reading for resolution. Thoroughly enjoyed this roller coaster of emotion ride to find the truth.

Silent Sister is a solid YA Thriller. We follow Maddy in the past and Grace in the present. Grace and Maddy go missing during a school trip, and only Grace is found.
At first, we follow the investigation in the aftermath as the police are looking for Maddy while also getting the lead-up from Maddy's POV on what happened that caused her and her sister to go missing. Then Maddy is found deceased and the investigation takes a turn. Grace can't remember what happened to her and her sister and thinks the police suspect her of hurting her sister so she takes matters into her own hands and starts asking questions to the other students who were on the trip

Grace and Maddie are complete opposites, As the story goes forward we uncover things the sisters didn't realize about themselves or each other. There are some great twists and turns, one of which I called early on. Even though I guessed the twist it didn't diminish my enjoyment of the story I wanted to keep going to see if anyone had any idea that this thing was going on. The ending and what ultimately ended up happening was a surprise that I didn't see coming.

3.5 rounded up to 4 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC!

This book was very interesting. It has two povs: Grace in present day, and Maddy a week ago. It was easy to tell the characters apart and I didn't mix up their chapters because the two plots and settings were very distinct.

I didn't really like the plot twist at the end of the book, but that was the only fault in my opinion.

This was a great ya mystery. I'm surprised it was a debut novel because it was really good! I'd definitely read another one from the author in the future.

This book.

The characters.

The twist.

The end.

What?! I can honestly say I didn't see it coming. In my mind the grief I am imaging this family is feeling I think causes me to miss the signs to this ending? I don't know.

A hot minute though I was about to be ready to come through the book for Adrian.

Such a good YA thriller can't wait to get it on the HS school library shelf and recommend it out!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read and review.