I loved the mystery of this book, there is just to many POV. I think it muddies the story. Loved the missing sister Maddie and Alex the sister that goes looking. I felt like everyone was kinda shady but I think that adds to-the story. I don’t think you will be disappointed with this one.

Alex embarks on a quest to find her missing sister Maddie in the Hampton’s, where Maddie was last known to have stayed in the pool house at the Blackwell’s mansion. With no word from Maddie for days, and knowing she wouldn't miss her birthday, Alex takes it upon herself to investigate and track down anyone who might have information about Maddie.

Narrated in alternating chapters by Alex, Maddie (from before her disappearance), Lily, Katherine, Theo, James, and even The Wharf (for some reason), this book left me exasperated with its numerous implausible moments. I found it overly drawn out and struggled to stay engaged. While not a personal favorite, I did notice mentions of film rights in the Acknowledgments, suggesting others may see its potential differently.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group/Ballantine. The book is set to be published on July 16, 2024.

I have a problem with so many first person POV's, especially when they each have their own chapter. I do have to say that the mystery whodonit factor did keep me reading until the end. The last half of the book sped up and turned out to be a roller coaster ride .of a story..

As the weather warms I start getting in the mood for beach reads, and The Perfect Sister seemed to fit the bill. A thriller set in the Hamptons…. Yes please.

When Alex’s sister Maggie
uncharacteristically fails to answer calls or texts, Alex heads to the Hamptons to find out what has happened to her. There she enters the world of the extremely wealthy Blackwell family. Last Alex heard Maggie was living in their pool house but now she is nowhere to be found. What ensues is a thriller where no one is what they seem and few people can be believed.

I loved the setting of this one- it gave me all the summer beach vibes (albeit an extremely affluent one) that I could want. Dual timelines and multiple POV’s added a complexity to this mystery that I appreciated. Everyone seemed to have secrets, making any scenario seem plausible and I was kept guessing until the very end. It’s always fun to see the rich behaving badly.

And while this is a thriller, it also dealt with the complex relationship and bonds between sisters. I liked both Alex and Maggie and found their relationship authentic and became emotionally attached them. This was my first book by Stephanie DeCarolis and I look forward to reading more by this author. The release date is July 16, so put this one on your summer tbr list.
Thank you to @netgalley for an arc of this novel.

As a fan of the psychological thriller and someone who grew up on eastern Long Island, I greatly looked forward to reading this book and really wanted to like it. Unfortunately it failed to deliver for me on several levels. The plot was predictable and the characters one-dimensional. Of greatest disappointment to me though was the portrayal of the Hamptons. As represented in this book, it could have been any beach town in any state leading me to wonder if the author had actually ever been to the Hamptons. My comparison was “The Guest” by Emma Cline which captured the staggering excess, sordid underbelly and dichotomy between have and have nots set in a place that sounded, smelled and felt like the real Hamptons.

Twists and turns as one sister is determined to find another who isn’t returning her messages and is presumed missing. Will she be found dead? What secrets will be uncovered? Will one sister put their life in harms way to find the other? “The Perfect Sister” felt slightly rushed towards the end, however makes for a perfect beach read. Thank you net galley and random house for allowing me to read and review this ARC title.

***Huge thanks to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group, and the author, Stephanie DeCarolis for this ARC in exchange for honest review***

This was a great thriller that kept me on my toes. The author did an amazing job of introducing questionable characters that could have done something to the missing sister. When I thought I was close to figuring out who what happened and who had done it, the author finds a way to twist my mind and kept me drawn till the end. It was great to read each of the characters' point of views and discovering their motives. I loved seeing them all come together to give that final realization at the end. Although the story is not unique, I still enjoyed the unpredictability and the scandalous secrets that a wealthy family can have. This book will make a great summer read and I can't wait to read more from this author.

“The Perfect Sister” is by Stephanie DeCarolis. Alex goes searching for her missing sister, Maddie, in the Hamptons. There are multiple POVs in this book - Alex, Maddie (past), four others, and “The Wharf” (odd, but there you have it). In many ways this felt like a “rich people behaving badly” book, which maybe should be a new genre because I’ve read a number of them lately. Yes, there are twists … and red herrings … and there is the overarching question “what did happen to Maddie,” but this story felt too long (or maybe it just seemed that way). I wish that the insides of the book had lived up to that fantastic cover. However, if you like books with multiple points of views, set in a rich town, where you don’t know who did it (and why) and no one is trustworthy and there is a mystery - this might be a book for you.

The Perfect Sister
by Stephanie DeCArolis
Pub Date: July 16, 2024
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
A woman’s search for her missing sister on the sandy white beaches of the Hamptons uncovers a wealth of secrets worth killing for—a sultry and sumptuous psychological suspense from USA Today bestselling author Stephanie DeCarolis.
I am one of those people who wants to read a book based on the cover alone (I mean the cover for this book is stunning). Unfortunately, for this book the cover was way better than the story. I had super high hopes for this book.
I can’t say that I would recommend this book as it wasn’t one of my favorites. However, in reading the Acknowledgments at the end it seems there are film rights for this book- so maybe I just don’t know what I’m talking about.

Alex and Maddie Walker's lives took different directions following their unstable childhood but they both make the time to spend one week together each summer. When Maddie cancels and then is unreachable, Alex sets out to figure out why. Her trail leads her to the Hamptons where things don't quite add up and she discovers she might not know her sister at all. An addictive, suspenseful read.

This book had a slow start to me; I almost put it down. I kept going and I'm glad I did. I didn't like any of the characters by the end of the book, but I enjoyed the plot and twists along the way.

As you follow Alex through her journey to find her sister, who has been missing, you begin to feel as if you are there with her. The plot is well-developed, and so are the characters throughout the book. This book had me hooked from the very beginning to the end!

The Perfect Sister has all the perfect hallmarks of a good thriller: a missing person, unreliable cast of narrator’ perspectives, and a glimpse into the not-so-perfect lives of the wealthy. Alex arrives in the Hamptons in search of her sister, who she’s had a bit of a falling out with after their troubled mother’s passing. What she finds at Blackwell Manor is a web of deceit and deep questions that leave her wondering who to trust and whether you really can know anyone at all. Good thriller, a solid 3.5 for me that kept me guessing right up to the final pages. Thanks to Net Galley and Random House for my ARC of this one… if you like thrillers and multi-narrators, this one shouldn’t be missed this July!

My review will be posted today on Goodreads at Kathryn Weast.

Okay, reading this, I absolutely knew the Blackwells had SOMETHING to do with Maddie's disappearance, but never did I imagine exactly WHAT that was. There are times I don't really love multiple narratives and narrators, but it really worked for this book. This was a fun, quick to read mystery/thriller, and would be PERFECT on a long trip or on the beach. This is the first book by this author I've ever read, but I know I'll be able to sell this book easily, and will also be on the lookout for her future books.

This thriller takes us to the land of the rich in the beautiful Hamptons. Maddie is missing, and this was her last known location so her sister is headed there to search for her. The sisters have always been close and when there is no word from Maddie her sister knows that something is very wrong. Just like her sister, Alex is taken in by the Blackwell family. While the family members seem like wonderful people they are hiding lots of secrets. And the more Alex finds out about them the more she distrusts them.
This book is filled with mysteries, surprises, twists and turns. The characters are so well developed that you feel that you know them. Some of them you might not like but they are very real to the reader. I also enjoyed that the author let the characters tell the story.
This was an excellent read and I would highly recommend it to other mystery lovers.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and author for an opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.

This is a good book to take to the beach. It’s quick and has enough suspense to keep the pages turning until the end.

I liked the idea of sisters feeling so close that they would always have each other’s back and to never miss a birthday. When Maddie didn’t send a gift or call on Alex’s birthday this year, there had to be something wrong as this never happened before. Alex kept texting her sister and yet, there was no response.

Alex decided she had to take time off from work and drive her old but reliable car from a small town in Pennsylvania to search for her missing sister. I could just visualize signs of wealth everywhere as she entered the Hamptons. Maddie was studying in NY to be a doctor and was there for the summer to make some extra cash as a waitress. Naturally, the restaurant was the first place Alex looked for her but of course, Maddie wasn’t there. Couldn’t be that easy.

Then, the brave Alex found herself inside a twisted, dark maze trying to find Maddie. There was a comparison of the rich vs. working-poor with complex characters and secrets. The story had hints along the way but not enough for me to predict what was going to happen at the end. It was certainly engaging.

My thanks to Bantam and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book with an expected release date of July 16, 2024.

Oh the uber rich. How we love to hate them. And there is a lot to fuel that sentiment here. Alex's older sister, Maddie, has gone missing. They have been very close, until a recent disagreement opened a rift between them. But no way would Maddie just disappear. So, Alex tracks her sister's last known location in the Hamptons and begins to unravel the mystery herself, since the local police, while midly interested, don't seem to be as concerned. Alex has a lot to uncover as the story unfolds and she finds out the multitude of ways that privileged rich folk behavior can hide horrible secrets from those who have it and those who covet it.

Really enjoyed this writing style! It was a quick read and I felt myself immersed in the story. I couldn’t imagine loosing my sister and trying to figure out what happened to her.

This book left me confused rather than intrigued. I didn’t understand why some of the points of view were present in the book as they didn’t seem to add value. I think this led to my gripes with the plot being long and drawn out, and borderline boring. I never did feel fully engaged or really that I cared. I just wasn’t invested. The twists were present, but because there were so many points of view, it was too convoluted.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Let’s just say that I am one of those people who wants to read a book based on the cover alone (I mean the cover for this book is stunning). Unfortunately, for this book the cover was way better than the story. I had super high hopes for this book, but it was very underwhelming. The story dragged on, and the writing felt very juvenile (maybe if I was in my 20’s or 30’s, I would have appreciated it more).

In this story, we have Alex who goes searching for her missing sister Maddie in the Hampton’s. Maddie’s last known residence was at the Blackwell’s mansion, where she resided in their pool house. No one in the Blackwell family has heard from Maddie in days, and Alex knows that she would never miss her birthday. Therefore, Alex goes on a mission of her own questioning and following anyone who may have had contact with Maddie.

This book is told in alternating chapters of Alex, Maddie (before), Lily, Katherine, Theo, James, and The Wharf (but why?!). This story had way too many eye-roll moments for me, and was super far-fetched. I’m not sure if it was longer than necessary or if I just couldn’t wait for it to be over? Anyways, I can’t say that I would recommend this book as it wasn’t one of my favorites. However, in reading the Acknowledgments at the end it seems there are film rights for this book- so maybe I just don’t know what I’m talking about.
(2.5 stars)

Many thanks to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group/Ballantine, and the author for an ARC of this book. Publication date: July 16, 2024.
Genre~ General Fiction (Adult), Mystery & Thrillers