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A review by marilynw
The Wicked Sister by Karen Dionne
3.0
The Wicked Sister, by Karen Dionne, had me captivated at first, but in the end, all the mutilation and death of animals and humans, young and old, was too much for me. I enjoy Dionne's way with words and her story but the details were too much, too vivid, too real. Having said that, this book has a fairy tale quality to it, not like the modern, sanitized fairy tales but the dark, brutal, gory versions of fairy tales. One character can even talk to animals and insects and they talk back to her.
The story begins with the murder/suicide of 11 year old Rachel's parents, or at least Rachel's faulty memory of the event. Rachel is now 26 and in a psychiatric facility, never wanting to leave because she thinks she is responsible for her parents death and being locked up is just punishment. But when she finds out that she could not have killed either of her parents, she has herself released from the facility, to confront her older sister and aunt, who allowed her to hold on to her guilt and stay locked up. Rachel goes to the family's remote 4000 acre estate, with it's huge log cabin, hoping that being in the place of her parent's death will allow her to regain her memories of what happened that day.
We also see the story from the eyes of Jenny, mother of Rachel and psychopathic Diane. From early in Diane's life, her parents knew that she was a danger to every living thing but they refused to act on that knowledge in a way that would save humans and animals. Instead they moved to the remote family property and eventually fostered an obsession of taxidermy, in an effort to channel Diane's killing ways into something that gave her actions a semblance of legitimacy. They gave Diane all the tools she needed to perfect her love of torture and killing. I won't say more...things get bloodier and deadlier as the story goes on and as much as I like Dionne's writing, I had a hard time reading the events in the book. Others enjoyed this book much more than I did, so be sure to read other reviews for a broader understanding of the story.
Publication: August 4th 2020
Thank you to G.P. Putnam's Sons/Penguin Publishing Group and Edelweiss for this ARC.
The story begins with the murder/suicide of 11 year old Rachel's parents, or at least Rachel's faulty memory of the event. Rachel is now 26 and in a psychiatric facility, never wanting to leave because she thinks she is responsible for her parents death and being locked up is just punishment. But when she finds out that she could not have killed either of her parents, she has herself released from the facility, to confront her older sister and aunt, who allowed her to hold on to her guilt and stay locked up. Rachel goes to the family's remote 4000 acre estate, with it's huge log cabin, hoping that being in the place of her parent's death will allow her to regain her memories of what happened that day.
We also see the story from the eyes of Jenny, mother of Rachel and psychopathic Diane. From early in Diane's life, her parents knew that she was a danger to every living thing but they refused to act on that knowledge in a way that would save humans and animals. Instead they moved to the remote family property and eventually fostered an obsession of taxidermy, in an effort to channel Diane's killing ways into something that gave her actions a semblance of legitimacy. They gave Diane all the tools she needed to perfect her love of torture and killing. I won't say more...things get bloodier and deadlier as the story goes on and as much as I like Dionne's writing, I had a hard time reading the events in the book. Others enjoyed this book much more than I did, so be sure to read other reviews for a broader understanding of the story.
Publication: August 4th 2020
Thank you to G.P. Putnam's Sons/Penguin Publishing Group and Edelweiss for this ARC.