The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth (2021) Welcome once again to the world of domestic thrillers, where nobody's what they seem and probably every narrator involved is misleading you......sometimes they're going this without a clue, or sometimes they're doing it out of pure malignant intent.
The fun of reading books like this comes from trying to figure out who's really doing what and why.
This book didn't seem that much like a thriller through its first third - more like a comfy-cozy unlikely romance between two lovable oddballs. Our duo consists of Fern, a sweet, vulnerable autistic librarian and Rocco, a kindred nerd who's a millionaire tech genius living off the grid a la "Normadland".
( For an extra cuteness factor, Fern dubs Rocco "Wally" since he resembles the European version of the "Where's Waldo" guy)
Don't worry thriller fans, there's darkness afoot here in Fern's joined-at-the-hip relationship with her fraternal twin Rose, who's spent a lifetime (if you believe Rose's journal entries) protecting Fern from the poisonous psychological abuse of their monstrous mother.) Mom's currently living out her remaining years in a nursing home after a brain damaging drug overdose.
Rose's helicoptering control over Fern comes from the terrible, terrible thing Fern did when the sisters were children.......and per our policy, we've arrived at the point where we refuse to go into any more plot details or twists 'n turns.....for fear of spoiling all the juicy fun of discovering it all for yourselves.......
We will tell you that "The Good Sister" delivers a fully loaded package of sharp wit, suspense aplenty and all sorts of Big Reveal surprises in its final chapters. (and even a few heartrending moments that might cause you to dab an eye.....)
It made us do what every good thriller should do.......made us stop what we were doing, skipped the TV watching and settle down to swish those pages fast to find out how things will turn out.
And that makes this book a 4 star (****) experience for sure. BQ says put it on the top of you 'coolest summertime reads' list.
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