Could not put this book down I was gripped and intrigued the whole way through.
There were a lot of serious issues tacked in this novel and they were handled in the plot perfectly in fact it was so real.
A really well written rollercoaster of a ride 10/10

Take a traumatized war reporter send her back to her home town after a family bereavement throw in an alcoholic sister and let the fun begin.. This was twisty and pretty dark the two sisters were not that likable but were believable and the story kept me interested not going to do any spoilers but I would say its well worth a read.Thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers for an ARC in return for an honest review.

A good book, but takes an odd twist to finish, which doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the story well. Amazing ending, though - really pulled it out of the bag to finish.

My Sister's Bones by Nuala Ellwood is a mystery and thriller and general fiction (adult) read.
Kate Rafter is a high-flying war reporter. She's the strong one. The one who escaped their father. Her sister Sally didn't. Instead, she drinks. But when their mother dies, Kate is forced to return to the old family home. And on her very first night she is woken by a terrifying scream. At first she tells herself it's just a nightmare, a legacy of her time in Syria. But then she hears it again. And this time she knows she's not imagining it... What secret is lurking in her mother's garden? And can Kate get to the truth...before she loses her mind?
OMG an absolutely fantastic read with brilliant characters. Full of twists and plots. I was surprised near the end. Loved the story. Highly recommended. Definitely worth more than 5*. I voluntarily reviewed an advanced copy of this book from netgalley.

Very emotional book that deals with harsh topics. Not many books make me feel emotional but this book really had me looking around to see what else could possibly happen.

The family dynamic was so screwed up but the feelings that it invoked were just enormous

Wow this was an intense read. I don’t know what I expected but I did not expect THAT.

There is much going on in this book. I struggled a bit to get into the story. I was confused about the chapters about Kate being interviewed by a doctor. Something happened and we don’t know what for quite a long time. Kate is a war reporter and she has seen a lot of horrible things. She is haunted by the vision of a boy who was killed in Aleppo. She has a massive PTSD problem which she somehow denies. I was a bit annoyed by her stubbornness. There was clearly something wrong with her but she refused to see help. But after a while you see there is much more going one.

The second part is from her sister’s view. Sally deals in a different way with her demons. While Kate depends on her pills, Sally numbs herself with wine. So we have two unreliable narrators and a story I did not know where it is leading to. My first bad apprehension I would not like the book soon vanished. At least when Sally is the narrator the book gets almost unputdownable .I really enjoyed the last half immensely. The book turned out to be something completely different than I expected even after starting reading it. The way the story turns is completely different than I thought it would be after I learned about Kate and her PTSD and her hallucinations. Which is a really good thing.

After all it is a sad and disturbing and tragic story. The author did a great job, the writing and structure is superb. I enjoyed it not from the beginning but I got more captivated the further I read. This book is definitely different to other thrillers and I highly recommend it.

4,5 Stars

This book is so well written. The atmosphere, the grim realities of 2 sisters whose lives are so different and how they both cope. Loved it

"We're all of us, every day, just a hairbreadth away from evil."

War correspondent, Katie Rafter, comes home to Herne Bay after the death of her beloved mother. She'd escaped this place of nightmares -- an abusive father who beat his wife, a dead little brother, and a broken, alcoholic wreck of a sister. Katie had survived Syria but has demons of her own: the horrific memories of death and destruction that prevent her from sleeping without drugs. She's in a bad way suffering from PTSD, staying in her mother's house, wanting some closure -- but finds that something is still very wrong in this place when she keeps seeing a little boy in her mother's dilapidated garden. No one believes her...

This debut thriller was completely addicting as the story line builds to a shocking climax. The details and excellent narrative style pull you in completely as the psychological tension builds. Katie is a very interesting character, fully fleshed out, and the others in the book are seen through her eyes until the point of view changes toward the end. Nicely done! I really enjoyed this one and recommend it! I'll be looking for this author's next book!

I enjoyed the book being written from different perspectives. I thought the author explored the relationship between the sisters effectively including the impact of abuse and violence on different people. It certainly made me want to keep reading to find out what was going to happen.

Outsanding, this book dragged me in from the first page and simply didn't let go.
I loved the three parts, each from a different perspective, it really kept things simple and clear without spoiling the flow of the book
Kate and Sally are sisters, both damaged by a violent past but both use their past in different ways. Kate is a top notch journalist travelling the globe reporting on the horrors of war. Sally is a mother but a drunken one who has her demons but prefers the bottle to her family.
When their mother passes away Kate is on the other side if the world, Sally is still at the bottom of a bottle so it is her husband Paul who takes care of everything.
When Kate comes home to sort out their mother's affairs Kate begins to fall apart, her nightmares return and this is where things really get interesting....who is the little boy she sees in the garden? A nightmare from the past or is he real?
Totally unputdownable this is a must read book for 2017
Nuala Ellwood you have a new fan

Gripping and a real,page turner. Will definitely look for this author in future.

This is an intriguing story about a family that is haunted by the loss of a child, Sally's and Kate's little brother. Even as adults, the misery is still there, keeping up with the day to day things in life of both these women. And on top of that, there is even more pain.

I was captivated by this book. The characters were well built, as a reader I felt it easy to step into Kate's shoes first and later relate to Sally. There is a balanced amount of twist and turns, leaving the reader waiting for the story to unfold without being bored on the one hand or disturbed by a too high pace on the other.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book.

Kate Rafter is a war correspondent recently returned from Syria to the UK in order to get her family affairs in order, following the death of her mother. Kate is virtually estranged from her sister, Sally, but her brother-in-law, Paul, helps her navigate through the tough time she has returning to her memories of Herne Bay and her childhood home.

Kate is having some mental health issues but she becomes distracted and increasingly concerned about activities in the house next door; a young Syrian woman appears to be suffering at the hands of an unseen abuser. Increasingly, to her own detriment, Kate feels she must uncover the truth.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book; the story was gripping, as was the way the narrative slowly unfolded. I frequently thought I could predict what would happen next and was then pulled in a completely different direction. For the first half of the novel, the story is told from Kate’s perspective; she isn’t always a likeable protagonist but it’s impossible not to feel empathy for her because of the sheer amount she has seen and suffered.
When Kate leaves Herne Bay, the narrative continues from her sister’s point of view; a woman struggling with alcohol addiction predominantly to numb her own feelings of loss.
There is a dramatic and, for me, surprising conclusion and I admit to being gripped throughout.

My one hesitation in recommending the novel is the sheer amount of trigger warnings that should accompany it. As these could constitute spoilers, I have listed them in this final parargraph, so they can be avoided if necessary. Triggers include: sexual assault, death of a child, death of a parent, alcoholism, violent death, PTSD, psychiatric evaluation and confinement and violet assault.

Happy reading!

This book for a first novel grabs your attention from the first page. There are three parts to the story: the first is narrated by Kate, a war reporter who has just returned from the hell of Syria. Is she really seeing things or is it just her imagination?

The second part is narrated by her sister Sally who is an alcoholic and deals with her relationship within the family dynamics.

The third and final part is where it all comes together, the twists and turns make this a terrific read.

My Sister's Bones is an unusual psychological thriller in that the novel tackles mental health issues, alcoholism and PTSD in particular. This added to the tension and my sympathy for Kate, the main character war reporter.

After her mother's death Kate returns to the UK from Syria where she has been witness to horrific events. Her family was a dysfunctional one with a drunken father who beat her and her mother, his anger fuelled by the untimely death of Kate's young brother. Her sister, Sally escaped punishment by pandering to their father but in adulthood has followed his footsteps by becoming an alcoholic herself. Her husband, Paul, has supported Sally but at the time of Kate's return has more or less given up on his wife.

My Sister's Bones has many plot threads but the characters are well drawn and the twists and turns make it a page turner. While it is a complex novel and quite dark it is well written and very readable. I did find the final twist in the story a little OTT myself and I did guess what happened to Kate and Sally's brother, but I would still recommend this book to lovers of psychological drama. I am sure it will be a huge success.

With thanks to Netgalley and Penguin for the opportunity to read and review My Sister's Bones.

We meet Kate Rafter, a successful war journalist posted to Syria, as she is being questioned by a police psychologist, and know that all is not well in her world. After having witnessed atrocities most of us cannot even fathom, she returns to her childhood home to settle her affairs after her mother’s sudden death. Having broken off contact with her alcoholic sister Sally a long time ago, she reluctantly gives in to her brother-in-law’s pleading to go and see Sally, in a last ditch effort to help her seek help for her addiction problem. But Kate is in no fit state to face up to the past of her dysfunctional family and the childhood trauma that has damaged her sister and made Kate herself flee her home for good. Suffering from severe PTSD from an incident in Syria, she still experiences terrible flashbacks and insomnia. Worst of all, she keeps seeing the figure of a young boy standing in her mother’s garden at night, calling out to her for help. Nobody believes her that the child exists, and the neighbours are close to having a restraining order issued after Kate has knocked on their door to save the fictional child. Is Kate going crazy? Or is the past trying to catch up with her?

Whilst I was immediately drawn to the premise of the story and thought that Ellwood got her novel off to an intriguing start, there were parts where I really struggled with this book. Kate’s battle with PTSD is sensitively drawn, and it is obvious that the author has had a personal connection to the topic. I especially liked the way Kate’s two worlds collide, time and time again, as she is confronted with the vast contrast between our sheltered lives and those of the people in Syria she has come to love. Her war experiences read like the harrowing events they must have been, but also explore the human side of the Syrian crisis, through the eyes of a war reporter. With the effects of PTSD, Kate is in no fit state to deal with her own traumatic past and abuse at the hands of a violent, alcoholic father, or to try to solve her sister’s substance abuse problems. Ellwood does a good job at portraying Kate’s fraying mental state, the flashbacks haunting her, her emotional baggage from Syria, and her denial that anything is wrong with her, which makes her an unreliable narrator and gives unlimited potential to interpret the events unfolding in the novel. Unfortunately I did not feel that this potential was reached, finding the final twist much too contrived and unbelievable. I often get the impression that authors these days are trying to outdo one another by finding that “shocking twist no one will see coming” at the expense of the story. We already have all the elements of a strong story with Kate’s PTSD and family past, but Ellwood tries to pack even more into the novel, to a point where it all becomes too much to ring true. I will not give away any spoilers for those who enjoy the “shocking twist”, only to say that I didn’t – for me it was a bit too crass, when the subtle hints of Kate’s mental state could have offered so much more in the way of psychological suspense. It was like a drum roll for the big finale, which only resulted in an eye roll from me.

I was also a bit flummoxed by the sudden change in voice half way through the book (I have a preview copy only, not the final published version), when a part of the story is suddenly being told from Sally’s viewpoint. Both POVs are in the first person narrative, but there is no warning that the perspective has changed, and the style of the narrative remains the same, so it took me some time to work out what was going on. I am hoping that the publisher will address that in the final published novel.

Altogether, whist I enjoyed parts of the story, I found My Sister’s Bones to be a rather depressing read with lots of damaged, miserable characters and a mountain of issues, but without a redeeming finale that would have made my reading journey worthwhile. Unfortunately not the right book for me at this time, though I think that Ellwood has all the right ingredients to tell a good story and I look forward to reading more from her in future.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free electronic copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

An absolute page turner and a ending that will take your breath away really enjoyed this novel highly recommended

Still sitting in shock. This book is brilliant. I did not foresee the ending at all. The change in narration and the twists and the turns in the plot are all brilliantly written. The storyline is written so cleverly that the ending totally blindsided me. I will remember and recommend this book for a long time.

My Sister’s Bones by Nualla Ellwood

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley via Kindle in return for an honest review.

Oh my goodness? What a brilliant book. There is absolutely no way I would have guessed how this would turn out.

Kate Rafferty (a war journalist) returns from Syria and returns to her Mother’s house following her death. Here she is plagued by memories from her time in war zones and suffers from nightmares from what she has witnessed. It is left to you, the reader, to follow her on this journey to discover what is real, what is imagined and what is memory.

Really well constructed plot, with fantastic characters and totally, totally surprising.

Many thanks Ms Ellwood.
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley via Kindle in return for an honest review.