𝔹𝕆𝕆𝕂 ℝ𝔼𝕍𝕀𝔼𝕎...

The stolen sisters - Louise Jensen

Buddy read with @booksinthebath_reviews41
Downloaded from @netgalley

A story of two twins and one older sister who were abducted twenty years ago by two men and hauled into a van. The story reads from different perspectives, then and now and from each sisters point of view.

Leah is married to George with a young son called Archie. She has struggled with OCD and germs.

Marie turns to drink to help her forget and Carly blames herself for what happened all those years ago.

The trauma has affected them all in different ways.

Leah starts to receive letters at her door a few days before the 20 year anniversary counting down the days. Who is sending the letters?

REVIEW;

Nicola and I are huge fans of Louise Jensen's books. As soon as we saw The stolen sisters available to request on netgalley, we knew we had to download it and do another buddy read!

I enjoyed the book and loved reading about each sister and how the traumatic event has affected them. However, at times I did get confused who was who and which sisters were the twins. Towards the end of the book, it came together.

The book is a quick and easy read with short chapters. Overall, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it. Publish date in October 2020!

Great book. I love this author anyway. The story moves along well, quite a few twists and turns along the way and a good ending.

I never repeat the blurb. I tried. I really did but just couldn't get into this. Disjointed and without any likeable characters, it wasn't for me. Sorry.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book.

A great read with lots of twists and turns. I really felt for the sisters as they’d all been through so much and their experiences were so well written

Loved this book. They don’t come around often books like these where you’re gripped from the start. I was hooked and completely immersed in the lives of the characters, rooting for them. I was very emotionally involved in their lives too and shed a few tears throughout the book. I loved the exploration of relationships and what they meant to each character. What I liked most of all was that the book left me satisfied where so many others leave some loose threads these were all wrapped up well by the end.

A novel that takes you on a tense and twisted journey into the unknown by the queen of psychological surprises. I started reading this with the intention of reading one chapter but in the end couldn’t put it down. Very intriguing & confusing plot that only became clear towards the end.

This follows the story of twin girls who are kidnapped together with their older sister and alternates between the actual kidnapping and present time. Unlike other Louise Jensen books that I have read this one did not hold either my interest or my imagination. The ending was not a surprise and , sorry to say, I would not recommend the book to other readers

Then
8 year old twin sisters typically annoying their older teenage sister, in a split second are kidnapped and need each other like never before

Now
looming over them all, the 20th anniversary of their abduction and the ongoing devastating consequences caused by their brutal captors

Leah, Marie (twins) and Carly are ‘normal’ children until an appalling decision and ultimate betrayal puts them in grave danger. In the years since, their coping mechanisms become unhealthy ones - Leah has severe OCD, Marie, a problem with alcohol and Carly’s is self-punishment. The 3 ‘stolen sisters’ tell their story from how they individually experience it alternating between the then and now style of writing.

This is a compelling story which takes a grip of you and demands you form attachments to the 3 main characters. It was very easy to do this, with the empathy flooding out of me for all of the girls. You want to care for them as if they are real and it is this which makes Louise Jensen’s books special. I would have liked for the therapist to have been portrayed in a more positive light but other than that I can guarantee you will be counting down the weeks to publication day and enjoying your very own copy of this fabulous book

Oh, my! What an amazing read. This storyline captured my heart and throughout the rollercoaster story kept my interest to the very last page.

If you enjoy psychological thrillers, this is for you. It’s much more though. Oh gosh! Where to start? And without giving anything away? .....

Leah, Marie and Carly are three adult sisters who shared a horrifying childhood experience. The book takes you into each life and how the experience has moulded them as adults. It’s coming up to the 20th anniversary and this brings many things to a head as each sister tries to work their way through their heartbreaking history. It’s got fantastic characters, it’s incredibly well written and has great twists and turns.
The chapters are short and told in the ‘now’ and ‘then’ and it flows so well.

I cried, gasped and laughed, was shocked, relieved and frightened. The descriptions of the emotional trauma these sisters went through is so incredibly well written, I was living it with them.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to preview and many congratulations Louise Jensen. A cracking read.

Review left on Instagram @fictionaltherapy and goodreads:


Oh my actual god, when @hqstories approved my @netgalley request to read @fabricating_fiction new psychological thriller, The Stolen Sisters, i almost cried 😂 @fabricating_fiction is one of my favourite authors, theres not one of her books that I've been disappointed with.

So obviously the bar was set high for her new book, The Stolen Sisters. It absolutely did not disappoint. I loved it! I wasn't sure how I'd cope with it being about missing children, it usually makes me far to emotional/sad. But
@fabricating_fiction manages to create a story thats not sad as such despite three missing girls being the main story line, its creepy, and eerie and the location and visual description are AMAZING.

Wow what a book! From the start I was hooked. The stolen sisters are 3 girls who were taken when they were younger and we read about how that had a huge impact on all 3 sisters later in life. Swapping from past to present this book is very emotional I felt for the sisters especially Carly and the twists in the book are slipped in at the right mom to make you gasp. As with all of Louise Jensens books this was a great read. Pre order today! Thank you for allowing me to read this book in advance I have really enjoyed it.

I enjoyed this book, took me a while to get into it though. It didn’t hook me in the way I like to drawn into a story, but it was an enjoyable, well written story.

I greatly enjoyed this book, thank you for giving me a preview copy. The plot was interesting and fast paced and I sympathised with the characters. This is the first novel I have read by this author but I hope it will not be the last!

Wow. This is my first Louise Jensen and I was hooked from the first page, finishing it in one sitting as I couldn’t put it down. The relationship between the sisters is compelling and the building tension and overriding sense of danger throughout kept me turning those pages. As a thriller reader it is rare that an author manages to grab my attention and keep me guessing until the end, but Jensen manages it here with twists that I did not see coming. I will definitely be seeking out her previous titles now. Thank you netgalley for the advance copy and for introducing me to this terrific author.

Well, I’m just a teeny bit blown away by this!! Should apologise to my kids for a very late dinner but I just couldn’t put it down!!
Sorry but not giving any spoilers or plot, but what I will say is how much I felt for the main characters in this, where we get to meet them in different timelines, which works brilliantly.
The amount of thought and research that’s evidently gone into the creation is clear to see. It’s fast paced and definitely one you just have to keep reading.
So far I’ve read every one of Louise Jensen’s books and I think this is my favourite one yet. Can not recommend this highly addictive book enough!!

20 years ago 13 year old Carly Sinclair was looking after her 8 year old twin sisters Leah and Marie when the three of them were kidnapped. Snatched in broad daylight by two men.
Now as the 20th Anniversary approaches, Carly is single, unable to trust anyone, Marie is an out of work actress who turns to drink to forget and Leah is married to George and has a young son Archie but suffers from a form of paranoia and OCD that makes her almost impossible to live with.
The sisters are besieged with offers from TV and press to tell their story but there are some things that should remain secret even from those closest to you. As they each try to navigate the anniversary in their own way, secrets from the past and the present come to the fore to threaten the future.
Great plot, I did find it a little slow in parts but the last third was absolutely thrilling. Twists I didn’t see coming. It was brilliant and original.

A truly twisty, emotional thriller with real and troubled characters. I thought Leah's OCD was portrayed very well, and the pain all three sisters still felt 20 years after their abduction was palpable. Plenty of surprises and a fast pace to keep you gripped.

This is my first book by Louise Jensen and I found it to be a very intriguing read.
I really liked the characters of the 3 sisters and enjoyed how the story went from past to present which really helped shape the story and keep you enthralled. Any story involving children and a kidnapping can be a very heart wrenching read and especially with children of your own but I feel that this was written perfectly and sensitively.
I enjoyed the chapters regarding the kidnapping and how the 3 of them once adults dealt with the trauma of what they went through on that frightful day of the kidnapping.
I did find some of the story long winded and did find myself wanting to skim the pages to find out what the next twist was but all in all I really enjoyed The Stolen Sisters and would highly recommend it.

Wow! I have loved the two books by Louise Jenson I have read previously, The Sister and The Surrogate...but this was just in a different league.

Twisty, dark, in some places quite emotional..I loved the plot twists and the ending was a complete surprise. Jensen writes in a fast paced and gripping style, with short chapters and each character giving their own point of view, this is exactly the kind of psychological thriller I remember for weeks after finishing and recommend to everyone who asks for a good new read.

I received an ARC from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I am clearly in the minority but I found this book disappointing. I have enjoyed Louise Jensen's book before but this one didn't work for me.

On the positive side, I did like the three sisters and the unshakeable bond that got them through the ordeal of being kidnapped. For me the kidnapping flashbacks were by far the most interesting and well-written part of the book, ramping up tension even though I already knew all three survived by making me wonder what horrific things they'd need to do to escape. Instead, that storyline sort of fizzled out and the end of the first part supplied a twist that not only did I find implausible but also negated all the tension that had gone before.

From that point on, the characters behaved in increasingly unlikely ways and I lost all involvement in the plot. The author seemed to be trying hard to ramp up the tension again by ending virtually every chapter with 'But that wasn't NEARLY as shocking as what happened NEXT!!'; unfortunately, that plus some chapters being only a single paragraph long only served to annoy me. If you have to telegraph the shocking nature of your plot that hard, it's probably not that shocking.

So, overall, a strong premise let down by the execution and inconsistent characterisation. Clearly most people enjoyed it, though!