Thank you Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the advance copy of this book.

Three sisters. One killer. Which one is SHE?

The Rowling sisters have always been people you can understand – with partners and children, homes and dreams. And secrets, the sisters have those too. But when Kate, the eldest, finally returns to buy her late grandfather's home, the dark things each sister has kept buried soon rise to the surface.

Is Kate having unexplained visions tied to a past she can hardly recall? Is Aurora, the married mother of two, finally acting out in the face of her sisters' indiscretions? Is Peggy, the youngest and a recovering addict, able to move on from the memories that haunt her?

And then there's SHE.

SHE is one of them, but SHE is not like them at all. SHE is defined only by the carnage she lets the world see, the murders that have swept through their coastal community. And as the police close in on their newest serial killer, scrutiny lands on the Rowlings, forcing them to face their demons and reveal all they have kept hidden.
I felt like the story could have used a lot more work from the author. I would have liked to see more character development.

Thank you netgalley and the publishers for the ARC of this book. This is one of my most anticipated reads of the new year. The book was filled with character development and plot development that I love. The book had elements of suspense that kept the story flowing and I enjoyed it from beginning to end.

This was an okay read. I did feel as though parts of the book were unnecessarily and oddly sexual in nature.

This was such a good book!!! It was a modern psychological thriller nd had so so many twists and turns throughout the whole book. It was dark and scary, and you never really know where the book is going. I think it was full of emotion and great writing!

Thank you to NetGalley, to the author, and to the publisher for this complementary ARC in exchange for my honest review!!!

Thank you Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

KD Aldyn’s debut novel, “Sister, Butcher, Sister,” is a dark and unsettling thriller that delves into themes of trauma, vengeance, and fractured family dynamics. Told through multiple perspectives—including that of a deeply disturbed serial killer—it offers a twisted exploration of feminine rage and the lasting effects of childhood secrets.

The story revolves around three sisters—Kate, Aurora, and Peggy—whose reunion is anything but ordinary. When Kate purchases their late grandfather’s home, the sisters are forced to confront the darkness of their shared past. But things take a sinister turn as a series of gruesome murders unfolds, and suspicion begins to cast its shadow on the sisters themselves.

From the outset, the prologue grips you with an eerie dive into the killer’s childhood, and as the story progresses, the killer’s perspective adds a chilling layer to the story. Aldyn doesn’t hold back on the gore or the voyeuristic details of the killer’s stalking and murders, which may be off-putting to some readers. The killer’s descent into chaos is particularly compelling as her obsession with punishing flawed men grows increasingly reckless and unstable. The main mystery of the book is figuring out which of the sisters is the unreliable narrator, which one is the actual killer, and you are kept guessing throughout the entire book.

I did find the pacing to be a bit uneven. The initial chapters, with their tantalizing prose and dark tension, draw you in, but the middle section lags, with a bit of a slower pace. Some characters, mainly Aurora, come across as one-dimensional and judgmental, while Peggy, grappling with sobriety, manipulation, and her own trauma, emerges as the most interesting and sympathetic of the sisters. The dynamic between the siblings is fraught with tension, and their buried secrets keep the stakes simmering, though not always boiling over as they could.

The mystery element is intriguing but lacks a strong sense of urgency, even as the body count rises. While I found it to be fairly obvious who the killer is, the story still delivers some satisfaction as the pieces fall into place and the killer’s motivations are revealed. Yet, the climax doesn’t quite pack the punch it promises, and the ending feels less climactic than it could have been. Despite this, I still really enjoyed Aldyn’s writing, especially in the way the killer’s perspective is handled and the exploration of complex emotions like guilt, grief, and retribution.

Ultimately, “Sister, Butcher, Sister” is a compelling debut. Fans of graphic, character-driven thrillers with a strong psychological angle will find much to appreciate. KD Aldyn is an author to watch, and it will be interesting to see how the storytelling evolves in future works.

The title and cover alone captivated me. I’ve read another thriller book around the same story point between sisters and was desperately looking for another story. When it comes to my thrillers I’m a “ I need to be dragged in my the first few pages” so that I can be at the edge of my seat and invested for the ride. The Prologue did just that. I was smiling because I was like oh this is going to be unhinged. But was a bit disappointed. This mystery/thriller had a slower pace, but I still found it somewhat engaging. The timeline became confusing and was hard to follow, which left me trying to backtrack to understand it better. It had the potential for a thrilling climax, but unfortunately, it didn't deliver and felt somewhat lackluster. I am absolutely eager to explore more works by this author! They possess a creative spark that has the potential to light up the literary world. While I could grasp the grand vision behind this story, it just didn’t give me that moment where I’m throwing the book across the room lol in a good way.

Thank you net gallery for the opportunity for an ARC copy for my honest book review! I will be posting my review the end of this month on Tik tok (Shecozyandlit)

Kate, Aurora, and Peggy are just your average sisters. They don’t always get along—in fact Aurora may never forgive Peggy for what she did. And also, one of them may be a serial killer…

When Kate purchases her grandfather’s old home that the girls grew up in, she is elated but Aurora and Peggy are skeptical. The house has its pleasant memories, certainly, but its halls are also filled with dark memories that threaten to take hold of the sisters’ present lives. When a string of murders occurs, suspicion turns toward the Rowling sisters causing old, buried secrets to rise to the surface and forcing the sisters to face their past.

Readers receive a viewpoint from the killer—simply narrated as “she”—which was interesting but some of the scenes could be quite gruesome. Aside from the murders and all, there is something clearly worrisome going on with the sisters and the tantalizing prose forced me to keep reading in the beginning but I started to lose steam around the 40% mark.

The passage of time is difficult to keep track of in this book; a clearer timeline could have led to less confusion for the reader. In addition, there were parts where it seemed like the author was struggling to get to what they wanted to say leading to an uneven reading experience and a lack of flow. Wordy in places; this could have easily been trimmed down to a tighter, more concise story.

For me, just an ok story that needed a lot more work. The author seems like a good writer but I don’t think that their full potential is on display here so it will be interesting to see what they do moving forward.

Thank you Poisoned Pen Press for the early copy in exchange for an honest review! Available Jun 10 2025

This was definitely a slower-paced mystery/thriller, but I still thought it was interesting. I just wish the characters were a bit more captivating. I really am such a character-based reader, I really need to be invested in the characters to care about the plot happening to or around them.

I think I also didn't feel like the stakes were high enough?? Which is very weird because people were literally being murdered, but it wasn't made to feel super high stakes. It was a tad monotone when it came to that kind of things at some points in the book.

I also found the ending to be not nearly as satisfying as I wanted it to be. This could've had an amazingly climactic ending, but it just didn't hit that way.

I would like to read other books from this author though, I can see this author creating some amazing stories, but this book just wasn't the one for my I think. And I do think this was a debut author, so I can give a lot of wiggle room for that. I definitely think that any form of art (writing most certainly included) improves over time.

Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review! My Goodreads review is up and my TikTok (Zoe_Lipman) review will be up at the end of the month with my monthly reading wrap-up.