Sunday 31 January 2021

The Stolen Sisters - Louise Jensen

 

Sisterhood binds them. Trauma defines them. Will secrets tear them apart?

Leah’s perfect marriage isn’t what it seems but the biggest lie of all is that she’s learned to live with what happened all those years ago. Marie drinks a bit too much to help her forget. And Carly has never forgiven herself for not keeping them safe.
 
Twenty years ago The Sinclair Sisters were taken. But what came after their return was far worse. Can a family ever recover, especially when not everyone is telling the truth…?


What did I think?

Louise Jensen is a time thief!  She stole the hours out of my day when I was reading The Stolen Sisters and before I knew it day had turned to night!  With jawdropping cliffhangers at the end of every chapter it's IMPOSSIBLE to put this book down and I read just one more after one more after one more chapter until I'd devoured every single fantastic word that Louise Jensen had written.

13 year old Carly was looking after her 8 year old twin sisters, Marie and Leah, when they were abducted from the street outside their home.  The sisters may have returned physically unharmed after their ordeal but the mental scars run deep.  Each sister blames themselves for what happened, despite assurances from each other that none of them are to blame.  It's a difficult time for the sisters as the twenty year anniversary of their abduction approaches, but it's made even worse by the person responsible being released from prison.  

Blisteringly fast-paced, I absolutely tore through The Stolen Sisters at a rate of knots.  It feels like every character is hiding something so I wanted to uncover each one's story as fast as possible, as well as find out what happened twenty years ago.  As it says on the cover, the Sinclair family were torn apart by the abduction and it's heartbreaking to see the long term effects of this one terrible action.  

It's impossible to say that one of the sisters has been hit the hardest as they are all suffering terribly in their own way, however, I found Leah to be the most intriguing character.  Leah not only suffers from OCD and a fear of germs, but she has a condition called Fregoli Syndrome where she believes that she sees the face of the same person on different people.  Wow, this must be such a scary condition; just imagine that someone is out to get you and you see them everywhere you turn.  Nobody believes you are in danger from your persecutor as you suffer from this rare delusion so you're treated like the boy who cried wolf when you do voice your fears.  It's such an interesting and thought-provoking condition to give a character and it perfectly fits the storyline.

The Stolen Sisters is absolutely brilliant; it's a gripping, fast-paced page turner.  I've read quite a few of her novels and I think it's Louise Jensen's best book yet.  Set aside a couple of hours when you pick up this book as you will not be able to put it down.  It's a fantastic read and I can't recommend it highly enough.

I requested an ARC from NetGalley to read and review; all opinions are my own. 

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