Sisters is a razor sharp mystery story. Deeply depressed Sheela, a children's author, has moved her family to a remote coastal cottage. Something really bad has happened at the school of her daughter's July and September. It feels like a ghost story. The house seems alive, and is haunted with the memories of those who used to live there. Sheela rarely ventures out of her room, and the kids fend for themselves. The nature of reality seems porous. September and July are dark and light. September has a pull on July that is really unhealthy and threatens her wellbeing. The feeling of dread builds to a revelatory and shocking ending.

I love Daisy Johnson's work. And this is her best yet. The relationship between September & July is beautifully described. The Gothic atmosphere is note perfect & the tension is almost unbearable. It's a book to read in one sitting & then start over again immediately. I LOVED it & will tell everyone about it.

Haunting, surreal and poetic, I thoroughly enjoyed Daisy Johnson's second novel. When sisters July and September mysteriously move to an eerie house in the countryside, far away from their childhood home in Oxford, they begin to engage in the games of their childhood, orchestrated by the domineering older sister September. The uncertainty of the events that led to their upheaval create a dizzy suspense throughout the whole novel, which erupts in a moving and startling conclusion. Excellently paced and perfect for fans of Sarah Moss' Ghost Wall.

I had read a previous book by this author, Everything Under, so was pleased to be able to review this new one. About halfway through, though, I remembered my experience with the earlier book - that of being engaged with her prose but underwhelmed by the plot. This time I again found the plot left me cold, nothing new here, and events approached so obliquely that I had to reread sections several times to work out what was meant. Since it’s impossible to describe the story without spoilers I won’t even attempt it. Crucially, though, for me the writing here lacked the atmosphere of her earlier work that I’d admired, the house was creepy but not really creepy enough, the relationship between the sisters and between the sisters and their mother didn’t quite convince. A disappointment and not a book I’d be likely to recommend.

Daisy Johnson delivers another masterfully vivid, ominous book. Personally I seem to have been on a run of reading about small families escaping to small houses far away from anywhere, with some creeping dread sitting at the heart of them. They're my kind of book, which means *this* is absolutely my kind of book. I'm wary of saying anything more specific than this, because I rather think the less you know, going in, the better. So much so than I've deleted my initial response which was a sort of list of references along the lines of 'if you like X you'll like....!'

Johnson manages to write her characters and their situation in such a way that the reader find themselves abruptly caught in the current of their story and unable to break free. She pulls in threads of foreboding, hints at disquiet in some cases (the mother, her history, the careful building of a domestic past she has run back to, in order to escape it), and sets up outright chills in others. The whole feels inevitable - towards the end in particular, as the pieces begin to click into place, as the red herrings fall away - but even so there's always, always the sense that you'll be wrongfooted in a way that makes perfect sense to the story. The relationship between July and September, and the amorphous edges of their identities, mean that as readers we can trust nothing we are told, and we can assume nothing.

This wavering identity and unnamed dread seem to be a particular trope of Johnson's, and she always does it well and I enjoy it hugely.

Anyway - I don't want to say more for fear of spoilers. Just that if you pick up this book expecting more of the excellence that was 'Fen' and 'Everything Under' you will not be disappointed. Nor will you be bored. Johnson is still evolving as a writer, certainly not a one-trick pony, and 'Sisters' is similar enough and different enough to her earlier work to keep me reading.

Just having finished Fen I was delighted to see that Sisters was up for request on NetGalley.

I loved Daisy Johnson's writing style in Fen, the giver of secrets and revealer of ancient mythologies. This continues in Sisters, on the surface a story of an intense sibling relationship and of modern calamities.

September is the oldest of the two sisters, with July coming along less than a year after. September is the dominant personality in the family, July follows on.

September is the builder of tales, mythologies, and games. This leads to some very dark places that July has little choice but to follow.

Exiled to Yorkshire, to Settle House on the coast after an unexplained incident the darkness and claustrophobia of the house and the memories it invokes (it was their father's house) twists and becomes part of the revelations of that incident.

As you tumble through the story you get caught up in the feverish telling of stories, of the mixing of narratives, of being in someones skin and behind their eyes.

Promises are made to be kept and the conclusion brings that around so frighteningly.

Absolutely stunning work, if I was you I would preorder this ready for July and dive in as soon as you get it.

An unsettling book, atmospheric and chilling but not enjoyable for me. Well written but I was glad to get to the end.

July and September are sisters, born 10 months apart but totally inseperable. They have blocked out their depressed mother who seems to avoid contact with them and have their own language, rituals and life seperate from the rest of society. Something very bad has happened in their school in Oxford and their mother moves them up north to the coast to the sanctuary of a rather creepy house belonging to their dead father's sister. The narrative was a bit difficult to navigate at first as he story is told through July's eyes, then third person (almost as if the house is speaking), the mother and then July again. Through this we get an insight into what has been happening. There are some twists in the plot so I won't spoiler. I was really drawn into this book, so if you struggle perservere, it is worth it. I think the co dependent relationship between the sisters is really well described, how the dominant September rules July and how disaster might strike if July follows her own path. vaguely meancing and sinister with some powerful writing that captures the "outsider" feelings of youth.

Johnson's sophomore novel is an intense ride with July and September, two sisters from Oxford who move with their troubled, elusive mother to Yorkshire, to Settle House, a property belonging to their estranged Danish father's sister. One of the beauties of this book is the spare, sparse prose - and the insight readers get into the lives of July and September.

It is clear from the outset that the girls, very close in age, are so very alike in many ways - but that September, the older of the two, controls many things that July does. They ramble around Settle House, doing what they want, when they want, all unbeknownst to their mother, someone who is evidently in pain as she writes about the lives of her daughter, particularly that of September.

Spoiling the plot and the twist would be easy and I am not going to do this. Johnson weaves a tale here which works in different ways: it is fantastical, with July and September living a free life, behaving as they wish; is it also sad, with Johnson clearly stating how bullying affected the girls; it is also thought-provoking in so many ways, specifically towards the end when the novel comes together and all becomes clear. Saying any more at this stage would be damaging to future readers.

I haven't yet read 'Everything Under', Johnson's debut, but it is now on my list - and I am sure this young writer's first book will not disappoint.

Sisters September and July, along with their mother Sheela have moved to Settle House near the cost of the North York Moors, following an incident in Oxford.

The relationship between the sisters is at the focal point of the story. Inseparable to the extent that they isolate themselves from making new friends, and even their mother. September is very much the dominant older sister whose influence over July appears an abusive one. Playing games like, ‘Hide and Seek’ and ‘September Says’, where July carries out various tasks, one’s that at times inflict pain on herself and September. July questions Septembers motives, but certainly looks up to her sister and loves her unconditionally.

Sheela who shares her perspective in part two, appears broken and isolated from her family. The destruction of her relationship with her daughters father, and the isolation from September and July. She is reminiscent of a time when the girls were younger and they were more of a trip than a duo.

The novel concludes with a powerful and unexpected surprise, which to an extent left me feeling almost content with how some of the characters are left. Although in many ways upsetting, it seemed as if the gloom had been almost lifted from their lives.

This books is phenomenal! I haven’t been absorbed by a book like this for years. Daisy Johnson’s writing very much reminds me of Shirley Jackson’s work and the haunting tension both authors seem to master, to make their stories unsettling, dark, in some ways relatable and yet addictive. I now want to read Everything Under by Johnson, and hope for more works such as this!

A beautifully written, profound and significant narrative from the mighty Johnson. ‘Sisters’ is so powerful in its evocation of sibling connection, and the eerie unpredictability of mind and space. It is compact and thrilling, and I wolfed it down. It is another wonderful novel from a hugely talented young writer.

Like Daisy Johnson's previous two books, this short novel pulls you slowly but very firmly into its world of two isolated and closely aligned teenage sisters, their history and their tragedy. Slightly more firmly linked to a world like our own than Everything Under, her last novel, it is very good on the difficulty involved in trying move from childhood into adulthood and the sisters' hopes, uncertainties and power struggles are nicely mirrored in the book's dream-like and nightmarish sections. At one point she writes of the sisters' mother, 'She had always know that houses are bodies and that her body is a house in more ways than most" and, like Johnson's previous work, the house is an important third character with real effects. I thought this was excellent.

Thanks to Random House and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

'Sisters' is a difficult novel to categorise and an even more difficult one to precis without giving way some dreaded spoilers. There is the twist at the end, of course, but this is not the essence of the book. Rather, the story is a powerful psychodrama about an extreme, co-dependent relationship between sisters. It is also about love in all its myriad forms. I am not talking about love that is necessarily a positive expression of feelings, but a distorted form of love that threatens the very integrity of individual identity. If this is what Daisy Johnson has tried to convey in her sumptuous narrative, then she has indeed done a masterful job. As the novel progresses, the thin, almost gossamer-like thread that separates July and September as distinct persons, vanishes entirely. This is almost a cannibalistic relationship, with September the voracious eater of souls, and July her willing victim. The imagery in Johnsons lyrical, yet earthly prose, is evocative of the visceral limits of human bodies when the psychological limits of the individual has already been conquered. Contextualised within a dreamlike atmosphere, where the intrusions of modern life form a jarring juxtaposition, this is a novel of contrasts, fragmentation, and eventually all consuming, almost diabolical unity, that is co-dependency taken to extremes. I could say more, but I won't. Read this for yourself, and savour every page. Daisy Johnson is a born storyteller, with 'Sisters' an apt exemplar of her prodigious talent.

About two thirds of the way through this book I had a revelation. I was completely confused, could not work out what was going on and nothing made sense - but as the book was about teenage girls, this made perfect sense, that was how I felt at 15 and that is how the girls in the book feel. I gave myself a pat on the back and carried on reading with a new understanding of the confusion. .

But then there was a 'surprise reveal' - I had got it completely wrong, so I was back to looking nonplussed and muttering 'what?' Ok, I did get 'it' in the end but it did not feel worth the hours of bafflement. Not for me!

Sisters by Daisy Johnson is a creepy and complex novel exploring the close relationship between teenage sisters July and September. I spent most of the time a bit confused as the book moved between different places and time periods, but I found the viscerally described atmosphere so engaging that I didn't mind. Everything became much clearer by the end of the book. I really related to the distant and depressed mother - not sure what that says about me!

Having enjoyed Everything Under by the same author, I found the descriptions of place to be just as memorable, sinister and gothic. Johnson does not shy away from describing smells and textures to conjure up dank and fetid places. This, together with the disturbing and dysfunctional relationship between the sisters, meant that the book was not exactly fun to read, although I think it was definitely worth the time.

A recommended read for those who like their psychological thrillers to be creepy but literary.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing a review copy in exchange for honest feedback.

Wow. This tiny, punchy, head-messy book about sisters and growing up and trauma is stunning. I read it in the bath in one go and it was a wild ride. I love Johnson's writing, there's something magical and deeply freaky about it and I would read anything she would like to write. This one reminds me of her short story collection which is one of the best things I've ever read. I give it all the stars out of however many stars there are.

This book is very atmospheric with lots of unsettling scenes the two sisters seem like twins. There is a feeling something goes unsaid throughout the book which compelled me to read it quickly.
There are lot of questions which means the reader is not quite aware of the situation which makes for a queasy strange read. I enjoyed it's strangeness.

Sisters is a difficult book to review because there is a massive potential spoiler that must be avoided; and without referencing it, the review is really not getting to the point. But being obliged to post a review in exchange for early access to the title, needs must.

July and September are sisters and the novel concerns a move from comfortable Oxford to the Settle House in an undisclosed northern location, probably somewhere near Whitby. Most of the novel is narrated by July, the slightly younger of the sisters (if you assume they were named for their birth month, this could place them only ten months apart and in the same UK school year). They are close (at lease according to July) almost to the point of telekinesis. At times, July feels as though they are the same person. Yet September seems to have an unhealthy and dangerous controlling influence over July. They are both somewhat emotionally stunted, turning to one another for company and friendship rather than building links with their fellow school students and this is not to their advantage. They are described as being very young for their age.

Then there is Sheela, the mother. Sheela narrates a couple of small sections. She is a writer although she hides this talent well in her sections. She is an emotional wreck. Her life in Oxford has been uprooted; the sisters have driven her to making a bolt for the Settle House.

This is one of those novels that Has a gentle and straightforward first half and then things go weird. And, as I often do, I think the straightforward section was more successful. It created some beautiful characters, a quietly unsettling scene and hints of darkness. Then when the weirdness starts, the lucidity evaporates and events are referenced in obviously and deliberately opaque terms. It really feels like a cop out. Writers from past times - Sheridan Le Fanu, for example - had no difficulty in creating strangeness while remaining quite lucid. Sarah Waters manages it in modern times. The strangeness should come from the ideas rather than the language. And Daisy Johnston was managing it perfectly well in the first half.

Sisters is a short novel but the second half (from Sheela’s first narrative onwards) feels painfully long.

Sisters by Daisy Johnson is an outstanding novel by the Man Booker nominated author Daisy Johnson. After an unspeakable event, sisters July and September move to an old family home. Darkness surronds the whole family and secrets lie within every part of this novel. The whole novel creates a nervousness in the characters and it leaves a unsettling feeling within the novel, a haunting book but a pulsating read. As someone who struggled with her acclaimed breakout novel I was absorbed by every page in this novel. I would be surprised if this book did not get the author on plenty more award short lists later this year and as a summer release will cause plenty of converations and uproar in summer 2020.

This excellent novel is the story of sisters September and July and their mother Sheela. The girls are so entwined it’s hard to know where one starts and the other ends. Following an incident in Oxford they go to Settle House near the coast of the North York Moors and what happens there is emotional, powerful and full of intriguing questions. The story is principally told by the two sisters.

This story is beautifully written and full of atmosphere provided mostly by the house. To Sheela the house is a living organism as it’s somewhat creaky, it has cracks and flaws which sums up her disastrous relationship with the girls father Peter who died several years ago. The girls personalities come across strongly, September is disruptive and dominant but she fills the gaps in Julys more fearful personality with the two making a whole. It’s like the girls are pieces of a jigsaw that fit together and conjoin. The girls are both outsiders but it’s bothers September less and she copes better than July.

There are many themes in this story - there’s destruction which is symbolised by Sheela and Peter’s relationship; there’s isolation which is what happens to the girls at school but also both girls isolate Sheela as they don’t need her like they need each other. There’s control - September of July and their mother and there’s also grief and sadness. The end is extremely overwhelming in its power and it’s also unexpected.

Overall, I love this beautiful and very different story. At times it’s a bit weird and you don’t see the big picture until the end which I really like. The cover is stunning and a terrific reflection of the story. Highly recommended.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK, Vintage Publishing for the ARC.