I usually read quick thrillers to help me get out of reading slumps. This book immediately drew me in and I appreciate the easy-to-read tone and pacing. The prologue was a stand-out for me as we immediately get into the mind of a young girl being abducted. Then we get into the point of view of Damian --who views the return of Mara as a threat.

The first half of the story is from Damian's point of view, and then switches to Mara's. While this was a good device, I think it would have been better to alternate throughout the story to show the different sides of the events as it happened. The switch to Mara's POV felt a little disjointed as it came towards the end and still does not explain some of the events earlier in the story.

Most of the novel seemingly paints the victim as the villain which is a little problematic. We don't get to know Mara and we can't fully invest in Mara as seen through Damian's eyes. With Damian being an unreliable narrator, we have niggling doubts as to Mara's veracity.

Mara's character was not fully developed and I think this was crucial to the story to give it more depth. As most other reviewers note, the characters were not really likeable. While I think that is purposeful (especially for Damian), it doesn't propel the story forward. The unfolding of the events was also largely unrealistic. While this it is easy for readers to suspend their beliefs somewhat, there was still a high degree of improbability here.

Overall, the premise of the novel was good, and AJ Wills' writing was crisp and clear.. It is an entertaining read, however, the payoff was not what I expected.

Thank you Net Galley and Cherry Tree Publishing for the opportunity to read this book.

The title rings of an affair or a murder committed by a woman’s husband. However, this story is not those two things.
The book starts off with a very realistic, strikingly scary account of a little girl riding in the back of the van and being taken to a strangers house, only to be secluded and locked up in his basement.
Many years ago, Lucia’s sister Mara was taken, kidnapped, and chained up in a basement. Much to Lucia and her husband’s surprise, the child called Mara was recently discovered, and she’s now a woman .
What happened to Mara? Where was she for all of those years, and who took her?

I went from being interested to uninterested so many times while reading this book.

It was quite far fetched, and the characters weren't all that likable. This is one I struggled to get through, and the ending kind of left me feeling unsatisfied.

This book wasn't really an enjoyable read for me, but maybe I just wasn't in the right mood.

I absolutely loved reading this book. It had me hooked from the first few pages.
There were a few twist and turns and I really wasn’t expecting what happened at the end.
A real page turner and highly recommended.

Such a great wonderfully written thriller!
Fast paced. Sure kept me on the edge of my seat!

If you love a good suspense read. This is for you!

Thank you NetGalley and AJ Wills for this ARC

Standard "psychological thriller. It wasn't bad, but I definitely skimmed to the end. I didn't like any of the characters. Honestly, this book is a hot mess. It is obvious from the very beginning how this situation is going to play out. Coincidences and plot holes galore and to top it all off none of this would have ever of happened had Mara just been honest about what happened to her when she was discovered. There wasn't any reason that she shouldn't have been truthful. She basically just said "I don't know. I didn't feel like it." Really???

I appreciated the chance to read this book, but it just was not my cup of tea. For me it was slow paced and seemed to go in very strange directions with two unreliable narrators. I felt terrible for Mara (and her sister Lucia) whose family had been torn apart by the creep that kidnapped Mara as a young girl. But, I did not "care" about them --I was not made to care for any of the characters. The perv who kidnapped Mara was barely mentioned at all and when he was the writing seemed lacking in my opinion. ALL extremely unlikeable characters except for the two children. I gave it three stars due to the fact that it was an original story and I did want to find out what happened in the end.
Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book.

This book was not for me.

The author had me interested for the first half. He has an easy and page turning writing style and did a nice job at writing one particularly repugnant character, who, for the first half, was fun to read about.

But about halfway through this book took a nosedive for me - first with things that were totally unbelievable like implausible plot twists and explanations for behavior that made no sense. But where I really struggled was the ending. It was both ridiculous and telegraphed from a mile away. I’ll just say, I read and enjoy a lot of stories about unlikeable characters. But you gotta give me SOMEONE well developed and interesting enough to root for.

Finally, and this is hard to say without spoiling - the main thing that pushed this down to a two star for me is that I was pretty offended by one aspect of the “resolution” of the kidnapping. Mind you, this is coming from someone who reads a lot of twisted murder stories and is pretty hard to offend, (I enjoyed Gone Girl and American Psycho, for example). But this ending was just completely off-putting.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

I knew I was going to love this as soon as I saw the cover! It was just one of those thrillers that you could not get enough of. Go read it!

I wanted to read this book as I was intrigued by the premise: a young woman, kidnapped at just 11 is returned to her family.

However, the writing and storyline just didn’t live up to the early promise. The characters were all unlikeable and the big twist wasn’t so much a twist as the author deciding things had happened differently and saying it was so. There were also procedural mistakes that grated- there is simply no way that the police wouldn’t have checked the garden and Damien would never have been able to get access so easily. I read a lot of crime and these are the sort of details that can really ruin the enjoyment of a good story.

I’m really disappointed as I wanted to love this but it was mediocre at best. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for my copy of this book.

This book wasn’t terrible. I never found interest in any of the characters because they all loped back and forth from decent to disturbing. The twist was different than I would have normally expected out if a thriller and was also somewhat of a let down. Give it a chance if you’re looking for a simple read.

4 stars: I really enjoyed this book and finished it in a day - I just couldn’t put it down!

His Wife’s Sister is a fast-paced psychological thriller that quickly builds suspense from the first chapter and keeps you guessing throughout.

The plot moved along quickly and kept me interested; I just had to know what was going to happen next!

My opinion of the main characters kept changing throughout the book, especially Damian, whose character was the main point of view. Most of the time he was unlikeable, and came across as controlling, but he also seemed to care about the best interests of his family.

The twist was unexpected, but as it developed it became more unbelievable. There are still some unanswered questions, but I quite like that not everything is perfectly tied up.

I’m glad I discovered this book and will be looking out for more to read from this author.

If you enjoy psychological thrillers and looking for a page-turner, then give this one a go!

What a page turner. I couldn't put this book down.

Damien's life is turned upside down when his wife's sister moves in with them. She is held for 19 years by her abductor. You can just imagine the psychological toll this would take on someone. That being said, Damien gives you hints that he's not exactly a good guy either...

I loved the way this story was told, it kept me on the edge of my seat. I also appreciated the change in narration from Damien to Mara towards the end of the book to give a different perspective.

Thank you to Cherry Tree Publishing and NetGalley for a free copy of this ebook.

I received a copy from Netgalley in exchange for a honest review. I liked this book, could see parts of it coming but it didn't detract from the story. The ending seemed fairly obvious and expected.

This was a thriller that left me reading late into the night. Disturbing and so likely that it left you thinking how easily this could happen.

I enjoyed this book. The only criticism I have (without giving any spoilers), is I felt it was highly unlikely the police would leave a framed photo in the shack, that was later found. I don't think this adds to the novel at all and could be removed, leaving it even more realistic.

When a woman suddenly resurfaces after vanishing mysteriously as a young girl, the world is gripped by the mystery. Her sister, still dealing with the guilt of not protecting her sister, is overjoyed that she has her sister back. Her husband smells a rat!

As things start to unravel, husband is pitted against sister and the reader is taken on a rollercoaster. This book had me on the edge of my seat and is a real page turner. Although as mentioned above, there were a couple of periods where it left me questioning the reality of this situation. There are a few areas that need tweaking to keep this real (if that is the intention of the author), but a great escape novel. I am being super critical, I am just one of those readers that finds a story depicting possible real circumstances needs to have the content to back it up.

Still one I would recommend. Had me guessing all the way through.

I really liked this one. Quite dark and creepy but with a storyline that was easy to follow. Twists and turns made it a book that I had to finish to see what happens in the end

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

Mara was abducted 19 years ago and then one day her sister Lucia receives a phone call that they've found someone wandering around in the woods who they believe to be her long lost sister.

This book has a shocking twist which makes your mind real and question much of what you read earlier in the story.

This book is a great psychological thriller which shocked me towards the end as I didn't see the twist coming.

I enjoyed this book and read it quickly. I did find it difficult to put down, trying to find out what happened.
The storyline was easy to follow, although it wasn’t a very pleasant story., I could imagine it happening in real life.
There were a few twists I didn’t see coming.
I felt Damien was a weak character at the beginning of the book and so didn’t feel much sympathy for him. However I thought Lucia was so involved with her sister, that she didn’t give the proper place to her family.
Perhaps none of the characters was very likeable, with the exception of the children. I felt for them.
Thank you for letting me read this book.
.

Easy enough read and kept me interested but it wasn’t something I will think of often honestly.

Lucia’s sister Mara was kidnapped and 19 years later she’s back. Lucia’s husband who is obnoxious from the start doesn’t trust her and they have a hard time forming a relationship. Honestly I didn’t find any of the characters likable so it was difficult to connect with. The story line was ok but in the middle of the book it switches to a different point of view with a completely different set up. Not even in a twisted thriller WOW movement but a what the hell are you talking about? It wasn’t a smooth transition for me and I just felt a bit underwhelmed in the end.

Thank you netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I will rate His Wife's Sister by AJ Willis a 3/5 stars. The book started out okay with the prologue and I was kind of interested in what happened next, but the next few chapters became boring and drawn out. The ending was not that good either. Something about this book just did not sit right with me.