I LOVED IT! I am so grateful that I got the chance to review this book in exchange for my honest opinions because, honestly, I can't rave enough about it.

I loved McManus' other books, and was so excited to read something else written by her not in the 'one of us...' universe. And it didn't diasppoint! I was really taken to a place, the setting was well described and the characters were well-rounded and believeable. Family stuff is so tough sometimes, and it just so happens that this family has even more secrets and issues than normal.

Recommend highly!

Ok so the premise of this was really interesting. The setting of the gull cove island was different and intriguing. The story is told from the point of view of the three cousins. Usually you’d find one of the main characters irritating or prefer one to the other but I enjoyed reading Jonah, Aubrey and Milly’s chapters. Every so often there is a chapter from the point of view of Milly’s mum when she was younger and these add another aspect to the story. They also help you piece together why Mildred Story may have disowned her children. As a Karen McManus story of course there are twists and the ending was nothing I would have ever guessed!

Exactly what you’d expect but it felt a bit tired this time around. Three cousins head to a holiday dairy to try to win over the Rich grandmother who downed their parents, without an explanation, before they were born. It wa a fun easy read, but The characters felt too familiar, the reveal was a bit clunky and the actual explanation of what/ why/ how was weak.

Another triumph of twists and turns from Karen M McManus in what may be her most thrilling story yet.

Milly, Jonah and Aubrey are the Story cousins and they've barely spent any time together since their family fell apart. Disinherited parents, an elusive grandmother and a mysterious island resort mix up a cocktail of thrills and bombshells that will delight any lover of mysteries.

My favorite part of the book was how real and sometimes unlikeable all of the main characters were. KMM has a gift for writing relatable, fleshed out characters who aren't 100% perfect and frequently make you question their motives.

I devoured this book because I was desperate to know more, and the spectre of the "You know what you did" letter hangs over every page until the climax of the story. This book does not disappoint and will be one of my top three reads if 2020.

Cousins Aubrey, Milly and Jonah Story have barely met. Their parents, two brothers and a sister, are part of the Story family, owners of the largest property on an East Coast island. Powerful but dangerous, the siblings were disinherited decades ago and have never heard from their mother since. That is until the three cousins are invited to work on the island for a summer, and to meet the grandmother who has never seen them. The trio feel they have no choice – but what awaits them is intrigue, lies and big decisions. It’s clear that some secrets deserve to be kept hidden. A great read, tying the fact that the protagonists are 18 with adult themes nicely. A perfect YA book.

Cousins Milly, Aubrey and Jonah receive an invitation from their Grandmother Mildred to spend Summer on her island home. Not unusual? But as Mildred had cut off their parents from all contact with her 24 years previously, her grandchildren had never met her. Plus it comes with stipulations that they work as part of the team recruited to serve the tourists on holiday on the island. None are particularly happy about this, but all parents see it as their opportunity to reconnect with the Mother who cut them off with no explanation from all contact including any likely inheritance.
Although the cousins had met one another previously it was a while ago, so the ferry over to the island is the first time they and the reader start to get to know one another.
All the island’s wealth comes from the Story family investments in the tourist resort, so everyone gets to know who they are. But some things don’t quite add up, and as the days and weeks pass, another ‘fact’ gets blown out of the water.
Meanwhile, back in their respective homes life is continuing to implode around their parents as the secrets are not just contained on the island.
The chapters alternate among the cousins’ point of view with the occasional chapter from young Allison’s perspective over 24 years ago when it all started to go wrong.
With characters who are very different from one another - one with confident girl power, another downtrodden and lacking confidence while the last cousin is not what he appears to be, this book has all the McManus twists, turns and big reveals which characterise a thrilling read and compel the reader to race through to discover what really happened to cause such a family schism.

This was my second wish granted in two days - thank you NetGalley for all the excitement! I love Karen McManus' previous three novels with their clever twists and turns, especially 'One of us is lying'. Despite it being slow to get going, the intrigue and drama of 'The Cousins' lived up to its predecessors.

Twenty-four years ago, Mildred disinherited her four children, barring them from ever setting foot on Gull Cove Island again, the location of their childhood home. In the present day, out of the blue a letter arrives inviting three cousins to spend their summer working on their grandmother's island. As the mystery unfolds, the reader is drawn into the secrets and lies which haunt the Story family, attempting to uncover why the reclusive grandmother suddenly wants to forge relationships with her grandchildren. There is definitely more to this fraught reunion than meets the eye...

The story is narrated in turn by the three cousins, Milly, Aubrey and Jonah, with some flashbacks to Milly's mother in 1996. The variety of narration drip feeds clues for the reader, gradually uncovering the family's sordid past. I felt the mystery took a while to get going but the quality of the twists raised my enjoyment considerably. I had many theories (some of which were half right) but the main revelations are very unexpected and kept me on my toes which was great, leading to a quite unexpected ending.

Overall, this was classic twisty McManus with a healthy dash of Lockhart's 'We Were Liars' and Jackson's 'A Good Girl's Guide to Murder'. A worthy new contribution to the YA mystery/ thriller genre and a recommended read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher who provided an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed The Cousins. It was faced paced and kept me reading late into the night - this in my opinion is the sign of a good book.

The novel tells of three cousins:
Milly - spoilt rich girl
Aubrey - swimming superstar
Jonah - science geek

who receive a letter from their estranged wealthy grandmother - but all is not at it seems. Each cousin has a secret - each has a rather fraught relationship with their parent. Intrigued by the letter, the cousins travel to their grandmother's hotel and this is where the drama unfolds.
We learn about why their parents are estranged from their grandmother and why she cut off all contact.

The book flows well, the characters are realistic and believable and there is an unforeseen twist at the end of the story.

This book threw me. I wasn’t sure I was going to like it when I started it. The book is as well written as macManus’ previous offerings, but I just wasn’t feeling it.
Then BAM! We get to the island and I was hooked and all in. I couldn’t put it down.

You know what you did.

Another excellent thriller from Karen McManus, with a great blend of character intrigue and mistery

The Cousins, Karen M McManus. 4/5. ⚓️

The Storys are the envy of their neighbours, four rich, beautiful siblings who rule the stunning island resort they own the biggest property on. Until one day it all falls apart. Banished by their mother with a single note “you know what you did”

The siblings grow up and grow apart.

Years later their children, three cousins, Aubrey, Milly and Jonah receive invitations to the island resort, their parents leave them no choice but to go and meet the woman who has been an enigma their entire lives. But this is a summer that will change everything, the Story legacy is built on lies and these cousins are about to pull them out of the dark.

The Queen of YA thrillers returns. Honestly Karen M McManus writes such smart, believable leads and whilst she adds romantic subplots, they don’t overwhelm the suspenseful arch of the story.

The Cousins is McManus’s tried and tested formula of several narratives, Milly, Aubrey and Jonah all have unique perspectives and whilst Milly can often be the domineering voice, I think this is often the case with a duel perspective.

The other elements here that just work are the big, ominous house. Creepy, shadowy relative, lots of family secrets and a town teeming with secrets. This YA thriller would pair nicely with Megan Mirandas The Last House Guest.

I could not see where this one was leading, those final plot drops caught me completely off guard. The medium of suspense thrills in YA fiction has to tread a careful line. It needs to be smart enough and dark enough to keep interest without crossing into the kind of depravity that adult fiction handles. McManus is brilliant at walking the line between YA and Adult fiction, understanding that the age range she writes for know, understand and have likely experienced sex, miscarriage, death etc. and writes this in an age appropriate way. Its one of the reasons I appreciate her YA fiction.

The Cousins just solidifies what i already knew. Karen M McManus is a must read for YA Fiction.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #PenguinRandomHouse for my ARC of The Cousins.

I enjoyed the subversion of the rich people behaving badly trope. This is a quick Fast read. Didn’t guess the ending.

This is sure to appeal to Karen McManus's fans. A good thriller. Young, rich and attractive but yet there is a mystery to be solved.

Kept me guessing right until the very end!
Every time you think you've figured out the mystery of the Story family, new twists come to life and muddy the waters. Genuinely likeable and believable characters draw you in, I was so invested in what was happening I could hardly put the book down.
Karen McManus is already one of my favourite authors but she's really outdone herself this time!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for an early copy.

So, listen. I know it would make me sound a lot fancier to say I love reading highbrows books, and all of that.
But, truth? Truth is, I'm a sucker for easily read books. It gives my easily overwhelmed brain a nice break, and it's just, you know, a pleasure to read.

So, yes, YA thrillers are the perfect read for me. And, obviously, Karen McManus just can't be missed when we're talking about YA thrillers.

I really liked One Of Us Is Lying, and One Of Us Is Next. For some unknown reason, I havent read Two of Us Can Keep A Secret yet, and shall do that ASAP.
My whole point here is that, when I saw Karen McManus' name, it didn't take me a second to ask for a copy.

And yet.... I am slightly disappointed.

This has all the elements of a good YA thriller.
A nice setting – an island from which you can't escape, a luxury manor, what else could we ask for, really?
A good and solid set of characters, who all have their flaws and qualities. Jonah, Aubrey and Milly are all convincing teenagers and act like teenagers – sometimes, it has to be said, quite stupidly, but it's easy to forgive them.
It has the romance, because it just *has* to have a romance (I could've done without, but then again, I'm weird).
It has the multiple plot twists, which will make your jaw drop and your eyes widen.

And despite all this, I didn't close the book thinking "Waow! I loved it".
I think it's partly because I saw the final plot twist coming, which, obviously, makes for quite an underwhelming (though still enjoyable) last pages.
It's also because family stories tend to bore me quite a bit in thrillers, which is a very personal thing. Where some readers might love reading all about family drama, I'll just meh at it. Possibly because I'm sporting quite a crazy family, myself.

And finally, and here, I'm looking at ALL OF YOU aspiring and already established writers.
Please, for the love of all that is holy, PLEASE, stop naming your characters with such similar-sounding names. I get that there's this tradition in the book's family of naming each kid with a name starting with A, but holy crap, it just completely lost me.
I am begging you, choose names that sound completely different. Archer and Anders sound too much alike.

Anyway, all of this summarised, I can pretty safely say that a lot of people will like this book. It's got all the necessary elements to a good YA thriller, and many readers will love the characters and the twists.
For me, it just didn't quite work like I was expecting it to. Sometimes, that happens!

I really enjoyed reading this book, it felt different from previous books written by Karen Mcmanus and I think that difference is incredibly well received. She knows how to leave you guessing right until the very end of the plot while continually learning and empathising more with the main characters.

When I saw that this title was available, I jumped at the chance to read it. Having enjoyed previous books by this author, I was looking forward to seeing what was next. I was not disappointed!

The mystery and relationships between the cousins is wonderful, and I couldn’t tell how it was all going to end. I’ll definitely be recommending this one to my customers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Children's UK for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this book. The characters are great and the plot is really clever with a great twist.
Anyone who wants to read crime teen or adult this book is perfect.

Cousins Aubrey, Milly and Jonah Story receive a mysterious invitation to spend the summer at their grandmother's resort, with grandmother they never met. But grandmother obviously never contacted them, as she terminated every contacts with her children, so who did and what is the secret behind Story family?

So well written, thrilling and joy to read!

A delicious, dark and twisty narrative dripping with the old money of New England as three estranged cousins are brought together only to discover that everyone has secrets, some even have secrets that they would kill for.
Another brilliant page turner from an author I just can’t get enough of, great characters, a mind blowing double narrative and the type of ending that you won’t see coming. Great stuff.