The plot: She claims to be Mara Sitwell, the little girl who mysteriously vanished from her home nineteen years ago.

She says she was abducted and has been held captive in an underground cell.

But not everyone’s convinced she’s telling the truth.

Her brother-in-law, Damian, thinks she’s hiding a dark secret and so psychologically scarred she’s a danger to his young family.

But no one’s listening to him.

His only choice is to prove what really happened to Mara.

But the truth is never easy to uncover, especially when it’s been buried so deep...

The review: Where to begin with this story? I picked it up thinking it was going to be a predictable story thinking “maybe Mara’s in on it with her abductor” and instead the story quickly becomes obvious that Damian is a jealous psycho. I found it hard to read as the writing seemed stilted. I think the author was going for spectacular plot twists, but the plot was unbelievable (and not in a good way.) I would recommend skipping this one.
2 stars

A difficult book to add a rating to as I am not sure whether I liked it or not. I think the characters were not very likeable. Hard read

First of all, I love a book with despicable characters, so this was definitely one for me. The premise drew me in -- a woman returns to her sister have gone missing since she was 11 years old. Then the slow reveal of information and character-twists kept me hooked throughout.

I loved hating Damian from the beginning and was very satisfied with the ending.

Oh where to start...

I did not love this, at all. I wanted to.

This book was FULL of plot holes and it was just a mess.
I did not find the characters likeable, nor did I understand half of what was or wasn't happening with them. The whole thing to me was outlandish and absurd.

Thanks to Netgalley and Cherry Tree Publishing for this title in exchange for an honest review.

#HisWifesSister #NetGalley
An ok read.
He stole her childhood. Now she wants it back.
A woman is found alone and confused wandering through remote woodland.
She claims to be Mara Sitwell, the little girl who mysteriously vanished from her home nineteen years ago.
She says she was abducted and has been held captive in an underground cell.
But not everyone’s convinced she’s telling the truth.
Her brother-in-law, Damian, thinks she’s hiding a dark secret and so psychologically scarred she’s a danger to his young family.
But no one’s listening to him.
His only choice is to prove what really happened to Mara.
But the truth is never easy to uncover, especially when it’s been buried so deep...

This is one of those books where the narrative comes from different characters. I have to admit the ending was a little surprising, especially since the main character through most of the story wasn't always truthful in his descriptions of events. The book is beautilly written and the characters are very realistic. The story was frightening for a parent since it deals with the aftermath of a young child's abduction. Reading this book will entertain you but not leave you with a warm glow.

Page turner and so twisted that I haven’t seen that ending at all.
It’s always interesting to read about people’s life after living in captivity for many years and how their perceptions of nowadays living can affect everything around, especially their families.
I enjoyed this book, the twists kept coming and coming with each chapter but I didn’t expect that last part of the book at all. The author managed to create a perfect story and make us believe that one thing is happening just to prove us wrong and see the other side of the story as well.
I’m intrigued to read more books by the author now.

Edgy, fast paced, dramatic psychological thriller!

A bit unresolved for me, but overall good book.

Lucia has carried the guilt of her sister Mara’s disappearance for 19 years.
Damian was there for Lucia through it all and are now married with two children.

Their lives are normal, until Mara is discovered one day running through the woods, 19 years after yet abduction.

Mara being found really seems to be the beginning of the end of the book. The story is a bit wonky after that and nothing really feels fully explained.

Is Damian insane? Is Lucia selfish and neglectful? Is Mara even who she says she is?

I don’t think we’ll ever know.


Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC

I don’t think I have read a book where I disliked every character! That’s the clever thing about this book wether it was the intention of the author or not but either way it’s what sucked me in. It makes you question every character then suddenly everything makes sense and you change your opinions again. My review seems cryptic but I am not giving anything away, read the book!!!! It’s a fab read and I loved it I asked my 16 year old daughter to read to see her reactions and hers were exactly like mine!

I've been sick the last couple of days so not only am I eating a lot of sweets but my minds also a little all over the shop.

From the very start of this book Damian had me a little weirded out and my mind was going okay is he guilty of something or does he just come across as a jerk.

Then there’s Mara who’s been through such a traumatic experience but is also just so unreliable as a main character.

It made for a really interesting read cos you’re really enjoying the book but not the main characters as such. You don’t know what or who to believe and while reading you get a feeling of walking around on eggshells.

I really enjoyed how this one played out and it kept me guessing til the very end.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Cherry Tree Publishing for the opportunity to read this book.

Mara was kidnapped when she was eleven, chained, starved and beaten, kept in a hole under the floorboards. Nineteen years later she appears out of nowhere, found wandering in the wood, alone and traumatised. She just wants her sister back and her sister, Lucia, is ecstatic to see her and welcome her back to her family. Unfortunately, it doesn’t go as well as planned.

This has a fairly good plot, its well thought out in the main and has many twists and turns, some time of which you still aren’t quite sure which are real even by the end of the book. Some of the twists are a little predictable and a couple a bit bizarre and unbelievable. Majority of the book is told from Damian’s (Lucia’s husband) point of view and then switched to Mara, you aren’t quite sure who is telling the truth and who to believe.

The characters were well developed but none were particularly likeable. Damien is a bit weird and creepy, I spent part of the book thinking that he was connected to the kidnapping initially, although he would have been very young. He seems very possessive of Lucia but protective of his family though seems quite attention-seeking. Then he turns and it’s difficult to tell if he has always been like that or if it’s a reaction to his new situation.

Lucia is understandably excited to see her sister and to welcome her into her family, she goes above and beyond because she feels so guilty but seems to completely ignore her own children despite calling numerous times a day to check they are being cared for… it doesn’t quite add up.

Mara is a complex and difficult character, she is obviously very disturbed by her treatment over her kidnapping but at the same time James Finch, her abductor, is the only person she has known for 19 years so she is attached to him. She seems to be awkward and difficult, wanting her sister to herself but not necessarily as disturbed as you would imagine.

This was a good book in that it drew me in well and kept me focused and entertained throughout. It has a good pace and, although it left me with more questions than answers I really enjoyed it. The ending is a little too quick and convenient which spoilt it slightly. It’s well written and the words flowed nicely, with plenty of descriptions but not too many.

Mara was kidnapped when she was eleven. She was kept kept chained, starved, without light in a dark hole at the bottom of a house. Nineteen years later she was found wandering in the woods, alone and traumatized. Her sister is ecstatic about having her sister back. She had always felt guilty about Mara being taken instead of herself. Things ate quite different not for Mara. Her sister is married with two children and a full time job. Also, both of their parents have passed. There are a lot of changes. The one that is hardest for her is having to share her sister with others. Namely the husband. Even though he says all the right things and smiles and tries to feel welcoming to her when she moves onto their home she knows he's not sincere. The hs only go from bad to worse when the husband and Mara start pitting each other against the other. The wife of course takes her sister's side. The husband not knowing what to do, only that his marriage and family are being taken from him, retaliates. Games will be played, lies will be told and strategies will unfold in this skin tingling thriller. Highly entertaining!

His Wife's Sister by A J Wills is a disaster. A lot is wrong with the book, the least of which is switching between two spellings for the name of a character. An eleven-year old gets abducted and comes back after nineteen years of captivity. Her elder sister, who now has a family, takes her in laden with guilt. The husband feels neglected, but goes on to do what?!

Even though most of the twists are predictable, a few of them are truly outrageous. That is simply not how one builds up a suspense. Vague words are endlessly used to build up to an underwhelming ending. Totally disappointed.

Thanks to the author and the publisher for the ARC.

Verdict: I read it so you don't have to.

This isn’t a bad book by any means, but it just didn’t seem like it was for me. I enjoy the psychological suspense genre and this fit that that to a tee. My issue was I couldn’t relate to the characters. For example, it seemed Lucia was very disassociated with her family once her sister came back into the picture and moved in. How she and Damian handled certain things just didn’t ring true in a normal family dynamic. The first two thirds were more of a slow burn and then it really picked up speed at the end. I do believe other readers who enjoy this genre would like this book.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this copy

“His Wife’s Sister”—AJ Willis [3 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️] The description of this book definitely drew me in and the beginning and middle were so good, but then I was disappointed with the end and how things turned out. It’s hard to describe, but I didn’t find any of the three main characters likable, but then at times I felt sorry for them in their own ways. Mara Sitwell was eleven when she was abducted, where she claims she was held captive in an underground cell the whole time. She reappears nineteen years later and her sister Lucia is thrilled to have her back after all these years. Lucia has carried around so much guilt since Mara’s disappearance, so she insists she live with her at her house with her husband Damian and their two kids. Damian doesn’t think it’s a good idea at all as he thinks Mara is hiding a big secret and he thinks she’s a danger to his family. Overall, it wasn’t a bad read, it just wasn’t what I was fully expecting, so I would still recommend checking out to see what others think. *Thank you to NetGalley and Cherry Tree Publishing for providing me a free copy of this book I’m exchange for my honest review* 📚

I really enjoyed this book I could not put it down when started to read it, it had me hooked from start to finish it is the first book by this Author I have read & definitely would read of of this Athour's work 10/10

I really enjoyed this book. Character development was good. The plot was very interesting. Not a lot of typos.

His Wife's Sister was a creepy and interesting read for the first 3/4's of the book. His Wife's Sister is about Mara who was abducted by James Finch when she was 11. She is found again 19 years later in a hospital having run away from Finch's house. Lucia, Mara's sister is delighted to have found Mara as she always knew her sister was alive. Damian, Lucia's husband is not so thrilled. Mara moves into their home and Lucia is making sure everything is perfect for Mara. The first have of the book is fast-paced and I turned each page waiting for what will happen next. The last 1/4 of the book fell flat for me. I couldn't wrap my head around why Damian reacted the way that he did. In thrillers so many of the characters are unpredictable but this one went a little too far off for my likely. Overall an enjoyable summer thriller but was disappointed by the ending. Thank you to Cherry Tree Publishing and Netgalley for my advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC, I liked the first part, from the husband's POV. It was intriguing and interesting, with a lot of underlying tension. Then th part form Mara's POV everything changed and suddenly we were expected to believe HER. And the story suddenly was not as intriguing, and any underlying tension was gone, maybe because everything was just out there in the open. I don't like books that describe disgusting things/acts/violence against women, so I think this book was not for me.

A woman returns , 19 years after being taken from her backyard. Her sister is overjoyed, but her brother in law is suspicious....

I was hooked , none of the characters were hugely likeable but I think this added to the thriller and made it more realistic. You're not going to come back from 19years with your kidnapper, a box of fluffies and if you have a sister in law move in after never meeting her, it's going to be a tough adjustment.

This reads like a classic psychological thriller with a twist at the end. I did leave the book with more questions that answers and would have liked to see a couple of loose ends tied up. I guess I will have to use my imagination, or perhaps the author wanted to leave it ambiguous to let the reader make up their own mind? Either way, I would have liked things in the last chapter better explained.

Overall, an enjoyable read. Those who enjoy a creepy thriller will enjoy this, and would be great for those who enjoyed the likes of Gone Girl.I can't wait to get stuck into the author's other books.