I really felt like I read this book before but that was impossible. I didn’t connect with the characters and the plot was worn—you don’t know who to trust, who is lying, no one’s relationships seemed authentic.

Was far better and far from gripping than I thought it might be. A definite page turner with plenty of twists and turns.

Everything I hoped it would be. The cadence of story carries you along, and each character is rich and engaging. A fine escapist read with no pressure, no tension (in the right way) and jut a delightful path.

How would you feel having a sister show up in your life when you were 14? This is what happens to Maddy and she does not take it well. Turns out she has some sociopathic tendencies. But what about her half-sister? She has issues of her own. This makes for a combustible familial relationship.
Fairly quick read. The ending seemed a little abrupt.

I wanted to enjoy this book but because i couldn't connect to any of the characters I couldn't get into the plot of this story. The writing was very interesting though and I'm intrigued to see what the writer does next. This book could be better for someone who would discuss it in a book club or something It just wasn't for me

It was really an immersive experience reading this book. I was hooked and read page after page. The plot progress is neat and nicely paced. The story line is good. Totally enjoyed the book.

honestly i wanted to like this book, but it did not work for me. i wish it would have because i was so excited to read this one and to get to read it way early?! thank you so much netgalley!!!!!

Maddy had the perfect life, until her estranged half sister's arrival coincides with symptoms uncomfortably similar to her late mother's dementia. Does Maddy have an early onset version of the disease that took her mother, or do her closest friends and family have something to hide?

The first half of the book set the scene well, and Maddy and Bee's relationship was a good introduction to the characters' interconnectedness. The use of the two time periods was also executed nicely. Things started to fall apart for me around the midway point though, especially the present day arc. There is little explanation for the breakdown among certain characters' relationships, and the book ends very abruptly without any resolution to what became of any of them, or even a thread for the reader to draw their own conclusion. If this were tightened up, along with more introduction of the character Greg (I had to remind myself who he was and why he was important every time he showed up), my rating would be higher.

Note: I received a free ebook copy of Half Sisters from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A book with a great suspense. It was a fast read. The plot is great, a story of life,love and loss. It's a page turner book and will keep you hooked till end. I will definitely recommend this book to everyone. A good read for psychological thriller lovers!

A single lie becomes a defining moment in a family’s life in an unforgettable novel of psychological suspense. Here I forgot about my own life and was immersed in the world created by the author. I would recommend this book.

Oh my goodness, first of all this is a completely amazing psychological trip. I did not know who to trust, who to be angry for, and who to be happy or upset with. The imagination that Virginia Franken has to come up with all of this is impressive. I could honestly feel the emotions of the different characters, visualize every landscape and building she describes, and how different scenarios played out precisely. My only complaint is to me the ending felt rushed and flat. On the other hand, it gives you the ability to imagine the rest of the story.
Thank you to NetGalley, Virginia Fraken, and Lake Union Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thank you to the publishers and Net Galley for my free e-copy.

The story follows Maddy and Joseph a married couple living in America. It begins with Emily - her half sister - reappearing after leaving town years ago and right from the off we can tell there is bad blood between them and some things in the past may just be about to pop up again.

The book is suspenseful and tense and found myself racing to uncover the secrets and lies and get to the bottom of this families history.

Throughout the book I found myself switching between whether Maddy was a reliable narrator or not and cast doubts on whether the memories she had could be trusted, which I loved. It really kept me guessing. I also liked the mix of characters, although mostly I disliked them which was I'm guessing, exactly what the author wanted.

This is a book about family, love, loss, lies and revenge which I really enjoyed and will definitely be recommending

Thanks NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing and Virginia Franken for an ARC to review.
An emotional narration describing how can lies define a person and consequently changes lives for years to come.
I loved the book, the writing style though disliked most of the characters.

It is important to note that the majority of the themes explored in this book deal with sensitive subject matters. My review, therefore, touches on these topics as well. Many people might find the subject matters of the book as well as those detailed in my review overwhelming. I would suggest you steer clear of both if this is the case. Please note that from this point forward I will be writing about matters which contain reflections on child abuse, sexual acts (performed by minors), parental neglect, & others.

I could not finish this book because the way it was written felt horrifically as though we were meant to place the person with a peanut sized brain alongside the person who was repeatedly abused in their childhood, in the same category. 25% of the way through this book all we read about is Maddy being gaslight by her husband, or so we are meant to believe; all the while being certain that Maddy is most probably an unreliable narrator. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if she was losing her memory or not; every thing that Maddy did revolved around blaming Emily for something & it grew to be incredibly tiresome.

It doesn’t take a child psychologist to realize that Emily was being abused throughout her childhood. Her arriving to live with Maddy being detrimentally underweight was indication enough should one choose to ignore every other indicator that this child was living in an unsafe environment for years on end. Then, we have to read about Maddy being certain that every bad thing that ever happened to her was because Emily was some evil master-mind. That might be true, however, the deliberate ignorance towards the repercussions of childhood abuse was debilitatingly repulsive.

I think that had Maddy & Emily been presented in different terms, had they held more similarities rather than placing one child in an abusive home & the other within a group of people who matched her brain power, I might have been fine with reading about one person continuously blaming another for the most ridiculous things. I think that this was why I couldn’t get through this book. The entire first half is Maddy being willfully ignorant to an abundance of things - this is not to say that I would have wanted her to understand first-hand what Emily was going through as a child, but to live her entire adult life thinking that Emily acted-out because she was a brat was,…a bit ridiculous.

The writing style left much to be desired & alongside reading about Maddy being certain that Emily was wanting to live in their family home, as is her inherited right, because Maddy has no other place to live, was exhausting. You’re a grown adult person who believes that marrying someone who was your sister’s boyfriend does not put you in the wrong - you must be joking.

Again, I didn’t finish this book. Perhaps at the halfway point we reached some level of information sharing which revealed that the abuse we read about so blatantly was discussed & then something else happened to completely reveal every character as being an evil person. However, I did not have the mental stamina to get there; to get past every exhausting sentence in the first half. Therefore, take my review with an immense pile of salt. You might adore this book.

Thank you to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing & Virginia Franken for the free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

#HalfSisters #NetGalley

I was lucky to receive an advance copy from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review and opinion. I found this to be an enjoyable read that was well written with a good storyline and well developed,. I read this quickly and would definitely recommend reading,

When Maddy’s estranged half sister, Emily, comes back into her life she is thankful they can settle their finances. After all the past is the past, and it shouldn’t matter Maddy married Emily’s childhood sweetheart. Soon Maddy begins to suspect her husband is back with Emily, but can she trust what she thinks? Lately she has been absent minded and forgetting things.

This book was slow going in the beginning but I am glad that I stuck with. The anticipation very slowly builds are you wonder what is going on; what is the secret of the past, who are we supposed to be rooting for, and is there manipulation involved? All those answers will be answered in the end. I was surprised by the end and really appreciated the pacing and hints once I understood the past and what occurred.

“Whatever lay ahead, it was somewhere else. And that was what she needed; to be anywhere that wasn’t here.”

Half Sisters comes out 6/21.

This book is a fast read. I couldn't put it down! The characters are fun with very human quirks that I recognized in my own group of friends. The story could be a bit longer, but it was such a great, much needed escape from the current slog of the pandemic. The writing is excellent and the author knows how to move a story along. I can't wait to read more of her work!

Two half sisters who were forced upon each other when they were teenagers have been separated for years.
After the death of their dad, Maddy's husband Joseph finds Emily and soon hidden lies and secrets come back to haunt them.
A novel that kept me guessing.

HALE
SISTERS
VIRGINIA FRANKEN
Half Sisters
by Virginia Franken
Your review
© 29 Jan 2022
This is my first book to review from Netgalley.
At first I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy it or
not, as, at the beginning there are a lot of
different threads and you can't see how they
are going to weave together. When they start to
form a picture though, the characters become
real, flawed and brutally honest. Except for the
protagonist, who really believes her own
narrative due to her sense of entitlement.
The characters are multidimensional and there
is clever psychology in their creation. I highly
recommend this book.

thanks for the opportunity to review. This was not my kind of book i didnt gel with this no reflection on the author or how the book was written