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temberhop's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Domestic abuse, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, and Death of parent
covinsky's review against another edition
2.5
2.5 ☆
Shadow Sister is a thrilling book with moments that kept me on the edge, with a chilling atmosphere that made me hold my breath, a writing that had a mix of creepy and beauty and questionable characters all around was a novel that held me in and got me hooked. Although the pacing was off sometimes, felt a little repetitive and the timeline got me a little confused sometimes it didn't fail to keep my attention since i read basically 80% of it in a day.
However not everything is perfect and i did predict the twists which wasn't the worst part for me, i really didn't like the ending, it felt rushed and I really didn't know hot to feel or process it.
What really caught me off guard was the use of the t slur in the middle of a chapter that had no purpose except being there, it didn't matter to the story and the character never showed up again, I honestly had to reread it three times to make sure i wasn't seeing things. Even before writing this review I made sure to go back into it to see if it was actually there and I remembered it correctly, but yeah, it was. Plus there was quite a lot of fatphobic quotes. So that kind of ruined it for me.
Thank you NetGalley for sending me the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Shadow Sister is a thrilling book with moments that kept me on the edge, with a chilling atmosphere that made me hold my breath, a writing that had a mix of creepy and beauty and questionable characters all around was a novel that held me in and got me hooked. Although the pacing was off sometimes, felt a little repetitive and the timeline got me a little confused sometimes it didn't fail to keep my attention since i read basically 80% of it in a day.
However not everything is perfect and i did predict the twists which wasn't the worst part for me, i really didn't like the ending, it felt rushed and I really didn't know hot to feel or process it.
What really caught me off guard was the use of the t slur in the middle of a chapter that had no purpose except being there, it didn't matter to the story and the character never showed up again, I honestly had to reread it three times to make sure i wasn't seeing things. Even before writing this review I made sure to go back into it to see if it was actually there and I remembered it correctly, but yeah, it was. Plus there was quite a lot of fatphobic quotes. So that kind of ruined it for me.
Thank you NetGalley for sending me the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Death of parent
Minor: Transphobia
inkdrinkers's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
3.0
Shadow Sister's twisting point of views, haunting manor, and spine-chilling ghost will keep you riveted to the page until the very end.
There was a great creep factor in this book! The set-up in the beginning really solidifies the mystery of Ava's mother's death and drives the reader towards wanting to understand what happened all those years ago. I also really enjoyed the idea of a ghost haunting this manor and the way it impacted both kids as they grew up in a very clearly toxic household with parents who were struggling heavily. The "ghost" was a great representation to show the weight each family member carried after losing someone close to them as it often appeared during moments of stress for the characters.
This book was very dialogue heavy. It's my first novel by the author and I found myself struggling to stay grounded in scenes as a majority of the text is dialogue between characters and very rarely contains scene descriptions. I do feel like this book could have been tightened up in that aspect and scenes shortened, some of the character interactions feel lengthy and slow the pace of the book down even further. Unfortunately, the excitement and mystery of the beginning is somewhat tamped down in the middle and I found myself struggling as the plot dragged. I also feel like my enjoyment of this novel was impacted by me figuring out the twist early on. I loved the split point of views, but it made it very easy for me to deduce where the ending was going.
I also wished there had been a content warning for some of the plotlines and throwaway additions in this book. Going into a thriller, I don't expect a lighthearted plotline, but I think some of the more uncomfortable implications of Didi's backstory should have been warned about like sexual abuse and fatphobia throughout. A simple one page warning with some of the content wouldn't take away from the impact of said content in the novel, but it would help readers understand this isn't a simple ghost story.
Overall, I enjoyed the author's writing! I think Marcott has a great voice, but I struggled with some of the decisions made in regarding to plot and character. I went into this book hoping for a haunted house story with a little more of a punch and instead got a revenge tale. I would be willing to check out more by the author at a later time.
Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for providing me with a copy for an honest review.
There was a great creep factor in this book! The set-up in the beginning really solidifies the mystery of Ava's mother's death and drives the reader towards wanting to understand what happened all those years ago. I also really enjoyed the idea of a ghost haunting this manor and the way it impacted both kids as they grew up in a very clearly toxic household with parents who were struggling heavily. The "ghost" was a great representation to show the weight each family member carried after losing someone close to them as it often appeared during moments of stress for the characters.
This book was very dialogue heavy. It's my first novel by the author and I found myself struggling to stay grounded in scenes as a majority of the text is dialogue between characters and very rarely contains scene descriptions. I do feel like this book could have been tightened up in that aspect and scenes shortened, some of the character interactions feel lengthy and slow the pace of the book down even further. Unfortunately, the excitement and mystery of the beginning is somewhat tamped down in the middle and I found myself struggling as the plot dragged. I also feel like my enjoyment of this novel was impacted by me figuring out the twist early on. I loved the split point of views, but it made it very easy for me to deduce where the ending was going.
I also wished there had been a content warning for some of the plotlines and throwaway additions in this book. Going into a thriller, I don't expect a lighthearted plotline, but I think some of the more uncomfortable implications of Didi's backstory should have been warned about like sexual abuse and fatphobia throughout. A simple one page warning with some of the content wouldn't take away from the impact of said content in the novel, but it would help readers understand this isn't a simple ghost story.
Overall, I enjoyed the author's writing! I think Marcott has a great voice, but I struggled with some of the decisions made in regarding to plot and character. I went into this book hoping for a haunted house story with a little more of a punch and instead got a revenge tale. I would be willing to check out more by the author at a later time.
Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for providing me with a copy for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Fatphobia, Suicide attempt, and Gaslighting
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