2023 Book Review #2: Shadow Sister

 

A new to me author for the new calendar year.  The title drew me as did the book jacket description.  This was on the "new books" shelf at my town library. 

STORY SUMMARY

Ava grew up in a haunted mansion.....or least her mother Christine Blackworth Holland always said it was haunted...it was large and rambling and falling apart from beautiful.  Even people in town thought it was haunted.  The house was on a cliff overlooking the northern coast of California and the Pacific Ocean. Now all these years later, new homes and developments are going up.  

When Ava's mother died mysteriously, the thrills of Blackworth Mansion became more like nightmares. Ava has never accepted that her mother's death was due to a sudden syndrome.....but no one  would believe her.  She thought her mother was poisoned. 

Now it is 17 years later and Ava has come home to unravel the truth about her family, especially about her mother's death.   Her own demons follow her. Ava's estranged and vindictive father might possibly be stalking her.  But why?

And her secretive new sister-in-law Sarah appears on her doorstep with many troubles of her own.  Just exactly why did Sarah marry Ava's brother Jamie? 

And then there's the strange girl who may or may not be haunting the grounds of the mansion. Is it Didi Morrison the freaky older girl from Ava and Jamie's childhood? 

And Ava soon becomes involved in a romantic tryst with the boy from her youth....Thomas Rainier. But he is also living a life of many mysteries. 

And then Ava makes a horrifying discovery on the property and she needs to decide just how far back she is going to go into the past. Some secrets can be deadly.....especially the ones that Ava has kept hidden in the dark.  Yet those secrets will bring to light just exactly what did happen to her precious mother. 

MY THOUGHTS

Character development in this book was strong.  This is a modern  gothic type novel.  It contains mystery, suspense, drama, and a tiny bit of romance. 

It's a fast paced story and I couldn't stop reading it......I literally read this book in less than a week. It kept me up late and I even brought it to work to read on my lunch break. 

Some themes in this story: alcoholism, emotional and physical neglect/abuse; single parenthood; mental illness; dissociative disorders; suicide, murder.  Some of these scenes could be triggers for people who have been touched by suicide or drug addiction or even murder. 

Although the story sounds dark, it isn't maudlin.  It's a look at "them vs us" at the privileged vs the poor. It's a good look at what happens when pre-teens experience trauma and don't get the counsel they need to deal with it.  It's also a good look at  dissociative  identity disorder that  can happen from childhood physical and sexual abuse/trauma. 

In my opinion, this book is appropriate for ages 17 and older (due to mature content).

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this a 9.