Cover Image: The Perfect Sister

The Perfect Sister

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

This poor woman is having a nightmare: a father with Alzheimer’s and a daughter with a rare blood disorder. Then a husband having an affair. So when a woman appears saying she’s her sister she’s caught on the hop. Is this woman who she says she is? Well........you’ll have to read this!

Was this review helpful?

Great read! Looking forward to reading more by this author! I highly recommend this book and author to all!

Was this review helpful?

Thanks to #netgalley for the ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. Omg Sheryl Browne has blown me away again with yet another great thriller. This one kept me up until the early hours of the morning I literally couldn't put it down. Claire has always wished she had a sister. Then one day she receives a text message from Sophie saying 'You don't know me, but I'm your sister'. Claire ends up meeting up with Sophie and bonding with her very quickly both of them are surprised by how much they have in common and how alike they are. For a while everything is great between them but then Claire starts to doubt that Sophie's motivations for contacting her after all this time. Was her wish for a sister something she will come to regret? A great thriller that left me breathless as I couldn't wait to see how it would all conclude. A spellbinding read. #sherylbrowne #theperfectsister #netgalley #goodreads #tea_sipping_bookworm #litsy #bookstagram #bookqueen #greatreads #thriller #amazon#kindle

Was this review helpful?

My thoughts

Would I recommend it? Yes

Would I read more by this author? Yes, in fact this is my 4th psychological thriller by since I've started reading her.

This sin't my first time reading this author as I said up above this this my fourth time reading her , so far I've read and loved.

The Babysitter

The Second Wife

The Marriage Trap

And all has been 5 stars for me, and now this one , it seems that I like going for her psychological thriller, and the darker the better. Man this didn't let me down at ll, it was everything I was hoping it would be and more. It was dark, and twisted, and the characters seemed to jump right off the page at you. Plus it also brought up some topics about dementia and Hemophilia,as for the story itself it had everything in that I love in a good dark and twisted thriller: Secrets, lies, betrayals, infidelity, mistrust, cons, revenge plots, chilling mind games, and by the time you get to the end of you won't be trusting anyone of them or even wanting to know them . With that said I want to thank NetGalley for letting me read and review it .

Was this review helpful?

When Claire meets a woman claiming to be her sister , she is thrilled but soon Claire starts to feel uneasy. After all what does she really know about her. Asking her father questions doesn't help since he has Alzheimer's disease and can't seem to remember. He does know the name but not the woman.
A fast paced thriller that will keep you wondering until the very end. This book will keep you reading into the night

Was this review helpful?

Review featured at www.books-n-kisses.com

The writing of the story is intriguing and I found myself interested in it even though the story wasn’t as interesting as I had hoped. I never really connected with the characters and was really only interested in how the author would tie everything up.

But I was a bit disappointed in how the story was wrapped up. It just seemed rushed and confusing.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

I found this a very enjoyable read although I had guessed what was going to happen to a certain extent it did have a great twist at the end that I definitely wasn't expecting. The story is based round a pretty dysfunctional family but also takes into account health conditions such as alzheimers, mental health conditions and hemophilia.

I didn't particularly like the characters, however not sure if I was supposed to.

Despite the twist at the end I did think the scene at the pub was a little far-fetched in regards to no Police presence sooner.

Was this review helpful?

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for this early copy!

Did not finish - I did not connect with the plot and writing and decided to put it down.

Was this review helpful?

★★★★ 3.5 to 4 stars

Sheryl Browne certainly wrote one twisted tale with THE PERFECT SISTER (formerly titled THE FAMILY SECRET ) and I wasn't sure how I felt about it all, even right up to the end. It's twisted, it's disturbing and yet it is still compelling. It's like a car crash...you just can't look away. Although I would have put this handful of characters down (yes, I would have loved to have put them down!!) and the story to being a train wreck...because honestly? Who would even do such a thing?! But Sheryl Browne has a knack for bringing out the dark side of human nature in her twisted tales.

Claire's life is crumbling and she is struggling to keep her head above water. Her father Bernard has Vascular dementia so she, hubby Luke and daughter Ella move into his house to help care for him. But it's getting harder and he is becoming more difficult to look after. Claire and Luke argue over her father going into full time care but, despite the fact that the two men have never really gotten on, Claire feels that Bernard is her responsibility.

Luke isn't happy with their living arrangements. He and Bernard have never liked one another, a fact that is only made worse now that Bernard very often forgets who Luke is leading the two men to butt heads even more. Claire doesn't seem to understand though to be fair he is her father. Still, in Luke's opinion Bernard's behaviour is becoming more volatile and they have to think of, not only their safety, but that of their daughter Ella's who suffers from haemophilia.

After yet another argument with Claire Luke storms out of the house and ends up at a club where he meets the very attractive Anna. He hardly gives her a second look until he sees her in a tussle with a man who is obviously bothering her. Anna is extremely upset so Luke, being the gentleman that he is, escorts her home. Anna claims the man is her ex-boyfriend who has been stalking her and has been violent with her. After ensuring that she is safe, Luke leaves to stay at his best mate's place to give Claire a chance to calm down.

Meanwhile Claire suspects Luke is cheating on her given that he spends so much time away from home. On the night he'd stormed out, a friend sees Luke with a very attractive woman and snaps a photo of them kissing before sending it to Claire. That is all the evidence Claire needs so when Luke returns the following morning, she throws him out. I could have slapped her then and there - she doesn't even give him a chance to explain or to discuss it like the two adults they are meant to be.

But Luke has other problems now. Anna, it seems, has latched on to him seeing him as some kind of saviour and keeps texting him. Luke doesn't know what to do. Nothing happened between them and yet Anna is alluding to a relationship that doesn't exist. Her texts become more demanding and aggressive that he has realises he has no alternative but to confront her. But when he arrives at her apartment, he discovers blood throughout the place and no sign of Anna. The next thing he knows is he has been arrested for harming her and possibly killing and disposing of her. He pleads with Claire for her help but she doesn't know what to believe anymore.

In the meantime, Claire has been contacted by woman on Facebook claiming to be her half sister. Bernard, it seems, had a long standing affair with this woman's mother resulting in fathering a second daughter. Luke was understandably wary but Claire had always longed for a sister so she was thrilled to discover her existence, dismissing any nagging doubts she may have had. The woman, Sophie, knows things she shouldn't unless what she says is true. And she could really do with a sister right now. Especially with the problems she is facing with Luke, who is becoming increasingly aggressive. She knows he is desperate but can she risk Ella's safety?

Claire is thankful to have someone on her side who is sympathetic to her problems. But how helpful is it to keep telling her that she needs to keep Ella away from her father because he might be dangerous? Why would Sophie want to keep them apart? And now she's bonding with Ella, who adores her new aunty.

But is Sophie really who she claims to be? And is trusting her new sister with her daughter her biggest mistake?

So did he or didn't he? And is she or isn't she? THE PERFECT SISTER is seriously a train wreck not because of writing or the story, but because you just want to slap the main characters throughout the entire thing! Luke for being so trusting and naive falling into a beautiful woman's trap and Claire for believing a total stranger over the man she has shared years together and a daughter with. Who does that? How quickly she was to believe the worst of Luke without even a second thought or even hearing him out. And when she begrudgingly does, she refuses to believe a word...trusting instead a total stranger who claims to be her half sister. What proof does she really have? Her father is now in residential care and his memories are dwindling fast, so she can't rely on whatever answers he gives her. So instead of weighing up all options, she goes with ditching Luke and trusting Sophie. I wanted to slap her!

Secrets, deception, lies, mind games and family drama combine to create a toxicity so poisonous that will have you turning the pages of THE PERFECT SISTER long into the night. And yet I still couldn't decide how I felt about it... In all honesty, the characters were unlikable and clearly stupid. And despite Bernard's role in this huge debacle, I felt a sadness for him as he now is. Dementia is a cruel disease and his story tugged at my heartstrings.

A cleverly woven story, the reader can quickly guess that Anna and Sophie must be one and the same. But the fun part is clearly watching them come to this realisation. I wondered how long it would take them to get there as I figured it out quite early on. But no matter how predictable the story appears, you will not be prepared for the end game.

Another twisted tale from the queen of dysfunctional family plots, THE PERFECT SISTER is an entertaining read for fans of domestic thrillers.

As an aside, the title was changed from THE FAMILY SECRET to THE PERFECT SISTER before publication. I personally think THE FAMILY SECRET works better for this story...but that's just my opinion.

I would like to thank #SherylBrowne, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #ThePerfectSister in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

This was a great read and one I couldn’t put down.
Claire and Luke are happily married with a daughter Ella.. All is well until Claire moves the family in with her father who is suffering from dementia.
Luke resents then having to be there, especially as Bernard is becoming ever more forgetful and aggressive - he’s worried for Ella as she is a haemophiliac, so all the more fragile.
Eventually Claire realises she will have to seek outside help for her father and arranges a care home for him. In the meantime, Luke flies out drinking with his friends and Claire’s best friend sends her a picture of him with another woman.
Things spiral put of control and Claire is devastated. Luke too isn’t torn and doesn’t know what to do for the best.
Then Sophie gets in touch, she claims she is Claire’s half sister - Claire is so desperate for help and affection, she arranges to meet Sophie.
Luke meanwhile seems to be stuck with Anna, the woman he kissed, and she becomes ever more unstable.
I did work out a good chunk of the plot, but there were still twists I hadn’t seen coming and I still couldn’t wait to read “just the next page, just the next chapter” right until the end.

Was this review helpful?

This was a typical family drama.

I thought that it was OK but very predictable and felt that it could have been more exciting.

The ending was quite confusing and disappointing for me.

Was this review helpful?

While the storyline may not be original, Sheryl Browne gives The Perfect Sister a couple of surprise twists that will have you turning back pages because you had to have missed some clues! I have to agree that Claire's acceptance and trust of a complete stranger who then moves in with her family was probably not the smartest moves a woman could make but it worked here. The story moved quickly towards an ending that was definitely NOT what I thought was coming. Good read!!!!

Was this review helpful?

Thank you NetGalley for a copy of The Family Secret aka The Perfect Sister.

This is a seriously dysfunctional family... you have Claire who is trying to be the perfect everything. Luke, her husband, who is slipping away from her and trying not to argue after she up and moves them into her fathers house. Bernard, her father, who’s been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and is declining rapidly. Sophie who is Claire’s long-lost half sister Claire never knew about... or is she?? There are so many lies going on in this book it’s sometimes hard to keep track. I did find myself wanting to scream at Luke “what are you doing???????” when he meets Anna. I found this book to be a pretty quick read but a little predictable. Almost everything I suspected what happen and was happening, did, with the exception of the very end... literally the last page is a “oh wow” moment you probably didn’t see coming!

Was this review helpful?

This was a fun and addictive read - finally a book I couldn’t put down and if I did, one I couldn’t stop thinking about. I enjoyed this book a lot and found myself swept up in the twists and turns of the narrative.

Was this review helpful?

January 26th 2020
1

I could not for the life of me get into this book. Every choice claire made me sigh in frustration. Like someone texts you saying she’s your sister and you just accept that? Let her move into your home without even doing a blood test first. YAWWNNNN
Been there, read that. This plot has been done so many times and at this point I’m questioning why authors are still doing it

Was this review helpful?

What can I tell about The Perfect Sister? Well, mainly that it’s another great addition to my Sheryl Browne collection! Sheryl writes the most easy to read thrillers, and I mean that as a huge compliment, I can’t just sit there and read slowly, I FLY through them. They are marketed as unputdownable and that’s exactly what they are, this latest addition is no exception. As always, I got sucked in right away, raced through it, and before I realised it, I’d reached the finale.

The Perfect Sister is all about Claire, and Claire is struggling bigtime, her little girl has haemophilia and her dad has early onset dementia, leaving Claire between a rock and a hard place: as her dad’s sole caregiver, she and her family have moved in with him to be able to take better care of him, and keep tabs on him, but the situation, not to mention her dad’s violent outbursts, is beginning to weigh on her marriage. Enter Sophie, the half-sister Claire never even knew she had, but before long, it’s like Sophie has always been there, she’s indispensable. Or is she?

Let’s not beat about the bush, we’re all clever readers here, when the title of a thriller is The Perfect Sister we all know said sister will be anything but perfect, yeah? We all realise from the get-go that the characters we’ll be reading about will most probably be put through the ringer by this perfect family member, of course we do. The element of surprise is not in that, but there ARE elements of surprise, little twists along the way. I won’t lie, I saw one of the big twists coming very early on, but that didn’t spoil my fun at all, if anything it was a reason to speed through the book even faster, to find out if I was right. Still, Sheryl did manage to catch me unawares with a few other things, so I’m actually a very happy reader: I got to feel clever AND I was surprised, perfect!

The Perfect Sister is a quick, fun read that I’d happily recommend to all you thriller lovers out there!

Was this review helpful?

I received a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review(thank you @netgalley):

Even though I knew where this book was going, I couldn’t put it down, I wanted to know how it was going to get there. I was bit confused on how the book was wrapped up, but I’d still recommend!

Was this review helpful?

I enjoyed this book, but I considered it to be a family drama with a lot of diversities. Not really a thriller, but a good read nonetheless.

Was this review helpful?

Thank you for the opportunity to read this. I will be posting a full review to Goodreads, Amazon, and Instagram.

Was this review helpful?

A book about dysfunctional families. Lies/secrets you name it. Its got it. I knew what had happened but that didnt change anything. The writing had me emotionally connected with the characters. Her writing had me wanting more and more.

Was this review helpful?