My personal goal for this year was to read a book every week, but sadly that didn’t really happen for the first half of the year as I was busy with work, school, wedding, honeymoon and the move away from home. But now that I’m pretty much settled down, married and on a year’s break from work, I finally found some time to finally get back to my reading habit.
I used to read a lot but as I grew older and life got busier, somehow the first thing to go was reading. It really doesn’t have to be, but I find it hard to pick up the same book again if I had to stop for awhile. It’s also really hard for me to put a book down if I’m very into it, so sometimes when I read I tend to not go to bed which is disastrous when I’m working.
Anyway the first book I picked up to restart this reading habit was The Sister by Louise Jensen. This was recommended on my Kindle store, and being only $0.99 that day with rather good reviews, I decided to give it a try.
**This part of the review may consist of Spoilers
I’ll try to do this review without giving too much spoilers because it’s not a bad book. It’s positioned as a psychological thriller, with some mystery in it. The book switches between the past and the present, pretty much on alternative chapters.
The novel is about Grace, whose best friend Charlie just died, though we don’t know how just yet. For some reason, Grace is also always filled with guilt, though we don’t know why just yet. She grew up with Charlie so she feels really broken without her, and she also didn’t understand some of the last words that Charlie told her so she tries to solve it. Then she connects with a young woman named Anna who claims to be Charlie’s sister. But not everything is as it seems, and weird accidents starts to happen.
Grace thinks she may be going crazy because she feels like someone is always watching her. Then there’s Dan, her boyfriend, who really hates Anna for some reason and really wanted Anna out of their house when she came to stay with them. There’s also Lexie, Charlie’s mostly-drunk mother, and a few other characters that are apparently unimportant but actually important to explain why Grace is so guilty.
Final Thoughts
It’s not an amazing book, but it’s not terrible either. A Gone Girl, this is not. But comparison aside and on its own, it’s an easy enough read for summer and not too intense. I guess its not really that thrilling; it doesn’t keep me on the edge of my seat but I can take a nap and pick it up again easily after. The pace is not exactly fast, but it’s not too slow and enough to keep you continue reading till the end.
The main characters are not too endearing, but at least not overly annoying. Grace seems to be always in need of help, a rather helpless and not too bright woman. I guess my biggest complain is the ending, because it’s kind of a let down as the big ‘secret’ and the way that Charlie died is kind of anti-climatic and a little bit far-fetched. But at least all the loose ends were tied up, even though it may not be in my favourite way.
So in all, it’s not amazing but I think it’s a pretty good for some summertime light reading. Have you read anything lately? Any good books to share that I can take a look at?
The Good Life Bunny 