Well this was a page turner that I struggled to put down. I could not wait to see what else this book was going to bring. Really liked it and would recommend.

I will give this 2.5 stars. I didn't like anyone in this book. And the whole reason Mara won't talk about what happened in captivity made no sense. It also just seemed unrealistic Mara wasn't hospitalized longer when they found her. The abrupt narrator switch was weird too. Damian, Mara's brother in law, is the narrator for the first 70% or so of the book then it switches to Mara. Both are extremely jealous people and felt unreliable in their accounts of what went on. Lucia, the sister, would have been better off without either of them. I wanted more information about Lucia and Mara before the kidnapping. This just wasn't the story for me.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!

What an amazing book so well written and fantastic story . Kept me awake most nights, definitely book you can’t put down . The wife didn’t have a great lot of the story it was mainly the husband and sister and I couldn’t figure out who was the bad guy for most of the book , I’ll look forward to going back to the previous book from this author .

His Wife's Sister by A.J. Wills is a super twisted thriller that readers won't want to put down. Damian and Lucia are happily married with two children. They met in school and were at first friends then romance bloomed. Damian first noticed Lucia when her sister, Mara, disappeared.

After being gone for 19 years, Mara stumbles out of the woods and is rescued. What happened to Mara during her captivity? Can Mara overcome the emotional upheaval and trauma to become a part of her sister's life again? And why doesn't Damian trust Mara around his family?

Who is the good guy on the scene and who is the bad guy? It is sometimes hard to discern in this twisted book.

I took a chance on this book because I love thrillers but I had never heard of the author. I'm absolutely glad that I did. It was a very addictive book. There were twists and turns that I didn't see coming. I had a hard time putting this book down and couldn't wait to get back to it every time that I did. I would definitely recommend this to any thrillers lovers.

Mara Sitwell was 11 years old when she disappeared. 19 years later she is found wandering alone in the woods. Her sister Lucia never forgave herself and invites her to live in her home with her husband Damien and 2 young children. But Damien isn’t happy about this and is convinced that Mara is hiding a dark secret. 

Damien gave me the creeps, right from the very beginning. However, no matter how creepy or obsessive he seemed I still couldn’t help but sometimes feel bad for him in parts. 

One of the best plot twists I’ve ever read and a perfect example of an unreliable narrator. I totally believed every word until the truth was revealed. I also appreciated the way the author painted the complex way survivors can come out of a traumatic experience.

I felt uneasy when reading this book - waiting for the next thing to happen, never knowing what was around the corner. It was hard to figure out what was happening with Mara and I loved the intrigue and mystery over what happened to her in that house. 

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book or an honest review.

His Wife’s Sister

This book kept me on my toes, wondering did he do it, did she do it? I read it quite quickly, hoping to discover the secrets of the abducted Mara.

In this book we follow Damien, father of two, husband to Lucia. As a child, Lucia’s sister Mara was snatched in the night. Damien recalls his interest in Lucia grow during that horrid time in her life where all the attention was briefly on here while police searched for her kidnapped sister. Nineteen years later, Mara is found wandering in the woods, and is eventually reunited with Lucia. Damien has mixed feelings about Lucia spending so much time away from home and their kids while taking care of Mara in the hospital. Eventually Mara moves into the house. Damien thinks she knows more than she’s telling about her abductor and her relationship with him. And he thinks she is dangerous.
Could Mara be trying to get rid of Damien and the children so that she can have her sister Lucia all to herself? Why does she act so irrationally around him and then blame him for the mishaps that take place? Damien searches for answers by visiting the house where Mara was kept hostage for all those years. In the end, the truth is a dangerous monster.

Unconvincing,unlikable characters and a far fetched storyline. Didnt enjoy this book at all.Surprising ending.

I wanted to like this novel, however it was problematic for me. The Stockholm Syndrome story line, the holes in the plot, the construction of the dual POVs left a mess of confusion where there could have been a gripping, edge of your seat thriller. I also felt the writing was strong and vivid in the first third of the book but devolved into simple language and unrealistic dialog, specifically the last 20%.

5 Stars: 5/5 Star Rating
Well, well, well, Mara is home but something just doesn't seem "right" to her brother-in-law, Damian. He is determined to find out what is the truth of the matter too. But Mara isn't talking and he begins to take extreme measures to get her to spill the beans when he receives special motivation. His wife, Lucia, is thrilled to have Mara home and takes her into their home and family, much to Damian's displeasure.
This book is full of surprises for the reader! I won't spoil it, but you will want to keep on reading without a break to figure this one out!
I received a digital ARC of this book from netgalley and Cherry Tree Publishing. All opinions expressed are my own.

Sometimes you have to reach for a psychological thriller and spend a frantic few hours chasing down the path of madness for truth. At least, that's what I tell myself. Last weekend, I found myself in the need for some quick escape and reached for A.J. Wills' His Wife's Sister, which did the job quite admirably. Thank you to Cherry Tree Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What do you say when your little sister disappears from the tent you're sharing in your backyard and isn't heard from again? What next when you feel like the outsider at school and a boy who's never spoken to you before offers to be your friend? And what do you do when your little sister suddenly reappears after 19 years? Now let's switch that around. What do you do when a little girl disappears from your town and her lonely sister is in need of friendship? What do you do when you fall in love with her? And how do you feel when her sister suddenly reappears and becomes central to your now-wife's life? Let's bring in a final viewpoint. What do you do when you're kidnapped as a child and never see anyone but your kidnapper for 19 years? How do you feel to see your sister has created a life for herself? How do you answer questions you don't even want to ask yourself? His Wife's Sister tries to engage with all these viewpoints in one way or another, and as you can perhaps tell from the jumble above, that's not exactly easily done. However, A.J. Wills'

Lucia and Damien are married with two lovely children. He works from home while she commutes into London for work. They seem pretty perfect, until they receive a call from the police that Lucia's sister, Mara, has been found after being abducted 19 years ago. Everything freezes to a halt as they try to help her adjust and let her move in with them. It is then that the real oddness begins, however, as Damien, our main narrator, starts to see gaps in Mara's behaviour and explanations. It is about a third through His Wife's Sister's first chapter that you begin to get an odd feeling about everyone involved. We spend most of the book inside Damien's head as he moves back and forth between telling us what is happening now and how he and Lucia met. Without getting into spoiler territory, most readers will grasp pretty quickly that he is an incredibly unreliable narrator. A lot of His Wife's Sister feels predictable, in that A.J. Wills sets up the dominoes in plain view and knocks them over perfunctorily. None of the characters are really likeable and sometimes slips into the weird territory of blaming a kidnapping and assault victim for their coping and survival tactics. Although I was engrossed by His Wife's Sister this was largely due to the creepy nature of the book and the fact I had to be certain A.J. Wills would bring it back around to kind of ok territory.

This is my first novel by A.J. Wills and I'm still quite torn about the reading experience. On the one hand I found some aspects of His Wife's Sister to be rather off and a lot of the twists and turns are quite clear from the start. On the other hand some moments in His Wife's Sister happen so rapidly that I was confounded and fascinated by them. Quite frequently I'd wonder, how did we get here? Why is no one concerned about this? How could this just happen? The characters didn't feel real in the sense that I truly wondered at their interior motives and if they had any. It was a shame not to have Lucia be narrator or protagonist for part of the story, as that would have grounded both Mara and Damien more and prevented it from feeling as cliche. Now, I know that the above doesn't sound very positive. It is why my reading experience was such a confusing one. Despite the above, I did enjoy parts of His Wife's Sister and found myself unwilling to put it down. But I don't know if I'll be quick to pick up Wills' next one

His Wife's Sister is a fast, gripping and frustrating read. The plot as well as the tone felt off, occasionally, and the characters weren't always believable. The reason I'm giving 3 Universes rather than 2 is because despite all this, I was hooked.

A creepy thriller with lots of twists and turn. This book was outside my normal choices, but I found it interesting if not compelling.

This is a page turner for sure but a lot of plot holes and unanswered questions. It’s a really creepy read and one you keep reading as you want to KNOW what’s the outcome. The characters I found hard to understand and it’s only on reading you will see why. The plot comes across as being far fetched and underdeveloped and it’s like you missed a huge chunk of the story coming up to the conclusion. I did enjoy this for sure and it really kept my attention but it left me wanting and with so many things not explained along with thinking “Come on” on the side of believability.

Thanks so much to Netgalley for the chance to read this ARC and review that was published on the 7th of May...

Wow! This was thrilling from start to finish. The characterisation, the unreliable narration, it all came together to create this excellent novel! I can’t say I was ‘too’ surprised by what happened at the end, but in the same breath I was still shocked by the sheer terror of it all! Brilliant

This is one of the creepiest books I have read for a while. It was good in certain points and slow in others for me. I usually love stories where there is a disappearance and that she was found is a good twist. But what happens to people when the disappear and come back different? Very interesting concept to me.

Nineteen years ago, at the age of eleven, Mara was abducted from her backyard. Lucia, Mara's sister, a bit older, slept thru it and has been guilt-ridden the entire time. Although STILL believing that her sister is alive, Mara marries Damian and they have two small children.

I am afraid to say much more about the story so as to not give away any spoilers. This read DOES captivate at the very beginning and continues to do so throughout.

RECOMMEND!

Many Thanks to Cherry Tree Publishing and NetGalley for a very entertaining read!

Lucia and Mara Sitwell was spending the night on their garden, camping out and enjoying life. An otherwise normal and harmless activity for 2 young girls turned tragic and forever changed the course of their lives. Someone abducted 11-year-old Mara Sitwell. And she was never heard of again.

Damian Caslocke struck up a friendship with Lucia during the early stages of Mara's disappearance. A friendship that eventually led to marriage and 2 adorable kids. 19 years later, juggling family & work duties, Damian received a call from Lucia. The police have Mara and she's alive.

What should be a tear-jerking reunion was met with fright and suspicion.
Damian feels like there's something terribly wrong with Mara. He doesn't trust her. He's afraid of her. He's afraid of the safety of his children.

This book is narrated in different perspectives and somewhere in between is the truth. As I traversed its suspenseful path, I met boredom, vexation, pettiness, confusion and betrayal. Each one gave me loads of questions that weren't quite answered 'til the very end. Was there really any love at all? How can someone change that much in a short span of time?

I finished reading this yesterday and did I not like the ending! I was rooting for more, firmly believing that that can't be the reality. It's just absurd! Making this review was hard because despite what I felt, there was a feeling in my gut, something I haven't quite grasped. So I gave it some thought. I read some of the lines I highlighted - the things that just didn't sitwell (sorry, I just had to) with me. I went back and forth across the various accounts, over and over again, until I managed to silence that nagging thought with this question:

Just how reliable can one be, given their personal biases?

I really, really want to elaborate more but I can't without using spoilers. All I can ever tell you is this:

Keep an open mind.

Mara was only 11 years old when she was abducted from the garden. Nineteen years later she was found wandering in the woods and reunited with her sister Lucia who is married with children. Mara is jealous of her relationship and seemingly exploits Lucia's guilt that it wasn't her who was abducted. Full of twists and turns, a good, well written psychological thriller but a little predictable. Nevertheless kept me reading until the end.

This is a fantastic read, and full of twists. A great self-published author I didn't discover until recently on Amazon.

His Wife's Sister - is centred around a missing girl who claims to be 'His Wife's Sister', however not everything is as it seems and we all know that in thrillers, sometimes when something seems too good to be true - it usually isn't.

The author has cleverly crafted an enticing read that draws you in with each chapter. It is repetitive in the later parts, and the ending could be guessed very easily. Despite a few flaws it's an enjoyable book and a recommended read.

Really gripping and interesting. I have been trying to read alot during the lockdown and this didn't disappoint.
I like the style in which the writer explains things too