I have genuinely no idea how i managed to get an ARC of this but i'm so thrilled i did, thank you NetGalley and Penguin Random House!

I read this book in one day and just couldn't put it down. This is more of a family drama than it is a thriller like her previous works, and follows three cousins who are summoned to their family island resort to spend the summer with their grandmother. The only catch being that their grandmother, who owns and runs the resort, disinherited all of her children decades previously and hasn't had any contact with the cousins until now.

This is my favourite of McManus' novels so far, the plot twists were incredibly well done and i found the overall plot and pacing to be great.
The small beach town setting is one that I always love so i would recommend to all that love a good YA mystery.

The Cousins by Karen McManus is “the wildest, weirdest month imaginable,” as described by one of the characters.

What I Loved

There is nothing like starting with the end, but I have to say that the last page sent cold chills up my spine, which is my absolute favorite type of ending. The solution to the mystery to jaw-dropping as is. Not necessarily shocking but very complicated to the point that it is impossible to guess every little aspect. The story continues with everyone picking up the pieces, so it lulled me into thinking I was taking in a relatively happy ending. And then I read the last page, backed up and reread it, and on for the third time. Did those words mean what I think they did? Of course, they did, and OMG! The creepiest twist that I never even came close to anticipating.

I love the depth and complexities of the characters, from the three narrators to the support characters. Events that happened over 20 years ago profoundly impacted everyone – the characters that were there to the next generation must find out what actually happened and what is going on now. They each have their own unique set of scars that have molded them, for good and bad, and I enjoyed discovering the reason for every insecurity.

I loved the setting – a very dream-provoking family-owned resort island off the coast in the NE US. It fuels the imagination and maintains that small, enclosed space that is just ripe with possibilities and mystery. The picture of Catmint House that my vision created is a place that would be an absolute dream to live in or even to see and imagine living in. It is fun to have such greed and depravity in such a beautiful idyllic setting because it makes the bad that much more jarring.

To Read or Not to Read

If you are looking for a jaw-dropping, fast-paced YA mystery with and spine chilling ending that will stick with you long after you’ve closed the book, look no further. The Cousins is a must-read for mystery lovers.

Really enjoyable and engaging mystery that keeps twisting and turning right up until the end. I couldn’t have seen a lot of those twists coming and the setting and characters were clearly evoked.

I've been picking up Karen McManus' novels on release day since her debut One Of Us Is Lying. Initially I discovered her via twitter on writing community conversations.
Well thanks to Dave @ The Write Reads and Penguin publishing, this time I got an advanced reader copy of her fourth novel The Cousins!

Karen McManus writes YA thriller mysteries, perfect for teenagers and those of us adults who like to cosy up with an easy going mystery.
The Cousins tells the story of the most dysfunctional family you can imagine! When Aubrey, Milly and Jonah are invited to work at their long lost Grandmother's island resort they snatch the opportunity to finally uncover what made Mildred Story disinherit their parents 24 years ago.

True to form every character is hiding a secret. The cousins, their parents, the uncles and the locals all have something to hide. We read from the present day, first person perspectives of Aubrey, Milly and Jonah, with intermittent flashbacks to the history of Milly's mother- Allison to slowly uncover the demons hidden by the Story family.

I hadn't guessed the conclusion before I reached it. The answers weren't so far fetched or unbelievable, it all ties together perfectly. I was just so invested in the moment that my mind didn't whir ahead to try and untangle the mystery as I usually would.

As hinted by the title, The Cousins is very much a family oriented book. Themes of parenting, neglect, emotional trauma and addiction feature throughout and Mcmanus uses these to develop some wonderful arcs for the middle generation of Story characters over the course of the book.

I'd highly recommend this as a gift for teen readers this Christmas, if not for yourself!

I've been a big fan ever since 'One Of Us Is Lying' -- and while I've loved all of her work, I think that this may be Karen M. McManus' best book yet. The multi-layered mystery had me utterly hooked from the get-go and didn't let me go until *that* reveal near the end.

It all begins when cousins Milly, Aubrey and Jonah Story receive a letter from their grandmother, Mildred -- whom none of them have ever met, since she disinherited their parents before they were born. She invites them to work at her resort for the summer and their parents are determined that they go -- after all, it could be the chance to get back in their grandmother's good books.

But after the cousins arrive on the island, they soon find something is terribly wrong -- and the more they stay on the island, they realise just how many secrets their family has been hiding.

I really liked that, much like her previous novels, it was a multi-POV -- covering each of the cousins' thoughts as they were on the island, as well as a few third-person chapters with Milly's mum Allison in the late 1990s. I found that I was equally as invested in the present-day storyline as well as the one in the past -- however, I do kind of wish we got a little more from the past storyline. I just would've loved to see more about the siblings' dynamic.

Every time I felt like I had figured out what was going on (or *why* the Story children had been disinherited), there was a new twist thrown into the mix -- and once the main storyline really started to get going, my head was spinning (in the best way possible).

The Cousins follows three teens who, unsurprisingly, are cousins who have been invited to work the summer at their grandmother's resort. This comes completely out of the blue as many years ago that grandmother disinherited her children with a letter stating "you know what you did". This is the first time since that fateful letter was sent that she has shown any interest in wanting to connect with her family.

I had previously only read Karen M McManus' debut novel One of Us is Lying which I liked however I really enjoyed The Cousins. For me I could see how her writing has really come along. Due to the nature of this being a mystery I really do not want to say much but I had a lot of fun reading this and whizzed through it. I think this is going to be a big hit with its young adult audience.

Full review available on my blog on 23rd November 2020.

Trigger Warnings: miscarriage, violence, murder, alcoholism

I am definitely a Karen McManus super-fan. One of Us is Next is one of the earliest books I requested (and got turned down for, but no hard feelings) and since the day that OOUIN released (and that I read it in one sitting) I’ve been waiting for The Cousins. To say that I freaked out when it showed up on my doorstep would be an understatement. The Cousins is quite different from Karen McManus’s other books. I think it might be a little closer to Two Can Keep A Secret in tone and style, but it’s definitely its own beast. I absolutely loved the shaken up style, and I found that The Cousins had my full attention the entire way through.

The Cousins is a family drama and mystery, more than it is a murder mystery. There’s a huge focus in this book on family trauma, a subject I love love love to read about, with complicated relationships between children and parents as a repeating theme, and I found that it really kept me invested. I wanted to know all of the little secrets the cousins were keeping just as much as I wanted to know the Big Secret. Our main characters are three estranged cousins, brought together by the grandmother they’ve never met to work on her island resort. They’ve never met her because, years ago, their parents were all disinherited with only one note.

You know what you did.

The crux of the mystery is uncovering what exactly that means, working out why the children were disinherited while the grandchildren, Milly, Aubrey and Jonah, meet the grandmother they’ve never known and get to know each other. It’s a pretty intoxicating mystery and I will admit that I didn’t guess what was going to happen. All my predictions were miles off base but, as with McManus’s other thrillers, I didn’t feel robbed. The clues were there all along, perfectly threaded into the story, I just didn’t put them together in the right ways. The mystery built to an excellent climax that had me wanting to shout at the book just a little bit, and even after I put the book away on my shelf, it’s been playing on my thoughts.

The split POVs were interesting and well balanced, though I do think I found Milly marginally less interesting because I felt like I was often comparing it to our fourth POV, a time jump to Milly’s mum to show what was going on the summer before the children were disinherited, but maybe that was just me. Despite my lesser interest in her POV chapters, MIlly and Aubrey were tied for my favourite the entire way through. Aubrey has so much character development that I absolutely adored and I found myself cheering her along in every chapter.

While Two Can Keep A Secret has retained its title as my absolute favourite McManus thriller, The Cousins has definitely fought its way into second spot with complicated family drama, intense relationships and perfect character development. This is definitely not one to miss, and would even make a great starting point if you’re new to Karen McManus but like a YA thriller. I can’t wait to see what comes next.

If you’re a Karen McManus fan you will be happily satisfied with The Cousins. It has all the features that we expect in her novels: believable and fallible teen protagonists, unreliable narration and twists and turns a plenty. Teens will become easily invested and involved in the characters and plot. There is nothing to mire this book into murky adult only territory and I’m certain this will become a very popular recommendation in every secondary school library. A sure fire success to engage dedicated fans, those new to young adult thrillers and more reluctant readers a like. Thank you Ms McManus for doing it again; you’re swiftly becoming a school library staple.

Karen MCManus has written another triumphant YA thriller - can see this being an amazing film
I loved this book - everything!

Many Thanks to the author and Netgalley for allowing me to read this book before being published in exchange for an honest review.

The last book from Karen is a well paced and suspenseful book that I thoroughly enjoyed.

The place where is set up worked perfectly fine. An island resort where the cousins haven´t been before and their parents had to leave before they reached the 25 years. Their mum didn´t want anything to do with them any more. Why?

That´s what the cousins will try to find out when they are invited to the island by, supposedly, her grandmother. When they arrive, they find out that nothing is what it seems...

I found the 3 cousins and their families interesting. I was curious to find out what happened with all of them. What they had been doing after being disinherited. and why the cousins had been hardly in contact.

To discover that one of the cousins is not who he says he is so soon is good because it adds some romance to the whole mystery story and I really enjoy a good romance.

I was instantly intrigued by the blurb for this book and it hasn´t disappointed me at all.

I will be buying the book for the library and recommending it to the students who, as I , love a good mystery story.

Milly, Aubrey and Jonah are the Story grandchildren; never met but suddenly summoned to spend the summer with their grandmother on the island where their parents grew up. Their parents are now estranged and the Story grandchildren are determined to find out why they were summoned and what happened all those years ago.

Karen McManus has once again written a story full of mystery, intrigue and cliffhangers that made me devour this in one sitting. I'll be recommending this to everyone.

I have read previous books by Karen McManus and have enjoyed them and this one did not disappoint.

Three cousins are invited to the island home of their grandmother who they have never met as she cut her children off before they were born.

Why has she reached out now?

As Aubrey, Milly and Joshua get to know each other on the island other secrets are exposed, will the cousins find the truth or is it better to let sleeping dogs lie?

A really good read with lots of twists and secrets being exposed, that come from nowhere. The ending is realistic and comforting.

Another gripping read by this author. Family politics at its best. As you read this book, if you’re anything like me, you will have millions of questions zipping round your head- why did she leave? What will happen to them now? Why invite them back now? As the story about the Storys unfolds you will not be disappointed. Very twisted, but we’ll thought out. When all the pieces come together, I guarantee you’ll be shocked. Great book!

A Karen McManus book is never destined to stay on the library shelf very long, sometimes they never even make it there before being snatched up by an eager reader! 'The Cousins' will be met with open arms by the McManus fans old and new. Whilst the story is more of a family drama, with secrets aplenty, than previous books, the mysteries are there to untangle, romance may be on the cards for some characters and there's plenty of twists to keep readers guessing.

I liked this, it had just the right amount of intrigue and family drama - and teen angst of course! The Story family are infamous, yet cousins Milly, Aubrey and Jonah have never met their grandmother,as their parents were disinherited before they were born. So when a letter arrives, inviting them to work at the summer resort their grandmother owns, they're shocked and curious. As soon as they arrive, it's clear that there are secrets to be discovered. And they're going to find out what they are. Entertaining with plenty of twists and turns.

Thank you for the advance copy. I'm delighted to see that Karen McManus is bringing out another book as her books are very popular with the libary's teen readers. This book like her others is fast paced and exciting and the characters leap of the page as if watching a movie. I will certainly be including it in the recommended teen/ya reads for the library.

Another fantastic book by this author. Kept me guessing until the end and still threw in some surprises! I did get confused a few times with characters but that’s probably just me, I confuse easily... Loved it. Super exciting and also entertaining. Honestly, you can’t go wrong with a Karen McManus book if you’re looking for YA edge of your seat stuff!

Scheduled for release in December 2020, I don't have to stress how excited I was to get approval for this on NetGalley. McManus has quickly become one of those authors that seems a guaranteed winner for a story that draws you in and leaves you feeling more than satisfied with what you've read. Having just finished The Cousins earlier this morning, I can safely say that she's onto what I think will be another hit.
Having raced through the previous books by McManus, I was struck by the relatively slow-paced start to this. We are in a very different world, but one in which characters are just as duplicitous and where we are waiting for the secrets to be unearthed from the moment we start reading.
Our main characters are Aubrey, Millie and Jonah - cousins who are not close, and who haven't really seen each other in years. But when they each receive a letter asking them to go and work for their grandmother's resort for the summer you can't help but be curious. Even more so when we realise that the cousins have no relationship with their grandmother, and that she cut off her children years earlier (after the sudden death of their father) and has refused contact with them since.
Each of the characters has their own reasons for deciding to agree to this mysterious demand. Once they arrive at the resort, however, it is evident that their grandmother had no idea they were coming. Her best friend seems determined to keep the cousins away from her, and an old man in town - the family doctor - drops a hint that there is more to this story than anyone has been prepared to let on.
Once we get our teeth into the mystery things pick up. We have sections of the story from years earlier, giving details of the original children and their interactions, which offer little clues as to what might have happened and how it might be resolved in the present. As our main characters start to piece together the events leading to the family break-up, the pace really cranks up...until I found myself racing to finish and find out exactly what had happened.
By the time I got near the end I was already knowing this would be a read I'd heartily recommend to others. Rather unexpected, and it offers some resolution of a potential issue with the book, but it also offers a delightful hint that we might not be fully done with this world just yet.

I loved this book, it's the first I've read from Karen McManus and certainly won't be the last. Family secrets come crashing down when three cousins go to stay on their Grandmas island after her request for them to go and work there for the summer. What are people willing to hide or to try and forget? And how far will people go for revenge? Really good page turner and unputdownable.

Many thanks for giving me the opportunity to read this novel, will definitely be recommending to friends and family.

The Cousins is a brilliantly crafted YA book interweaving the three narrative points of view of the titular Cousins, as well as interludes into the past. What happened to the Storey family? Why did their mother disinherit them and why now does she want to meet her grandchildren?
There are plenty of plot twists and reveals to keep you guessing until the end, with the usual sprinkling of teenage angst, young love and a search for knowing where you belong. McManus is well skilled at writing for the youth market and I'm sure that this will yet again prove a great hit. Highly recommend.