Book Review: The Sister by Louise Jensen*

Book Review: The Sister by Louise Jensen*

Thursday, 5 May 2016

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Sticking closely to my theme of reading psychological fiction as of late, I was absolutely thrilled to receive an ARC of The Sister by debut author Louise Jensen, published by Bookouture, in exchange for an honest review. The first thing that drew me to this book was the absolutely blooming incredible cover- I know they say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover and generally speaking, that’s all well and good but you can’t say that this one isn’t an absolute delight to look at!  

Now, we all know that I’m an absolute fiend for a good psychological thriller and because I’m reading more and more of them, I’m getting more and more picky over whether I enjoy them or not. I’ll start by saying that I thought this one by Louise Jensen was incredibly good and I’m absolutely blown away by the fact that this is a debut novel. Let me tell you now: if my debut novel is anywhere near as good as this one, I’ll be over the moon.  

The story is based around a girl, Grace, who lives with her boyfriend shortly after the sudden death of her best friend. We aren’t told, at first, how her best friend has died, nor are we sure whether or not her death is homicide. We are aware though, that before her death, Charlie admitted to doing something pretty horrendous and Grace is absolutely obsessed with the idea of finding out what it is. Eventually, we are introduced to Anna, Charlie’s half-sister, and from this point onwards everything seems to go horribly wrong.

I was hooked on the story from the word go and I was SO curious not only to find out the secret that Charlie had died keeping, but also to find out the secret that Grace herself was holding onto. These two mysteries are the ones that keep the story so interesting all the way through: it’s pretty obvious from the word go who the perpetrator of the modern day disasters that are being thrown Grace’s way, with the exception of a few twists and turns here and there. I enjoyed the characterisation and the switch between the present day and the past especially. I felt incredibly sorry for Grace and really connected with her character. I have to say that I actually felt quite anxious reading certain scenes, particularly since I was reading them at night. I took special care in making sure my doors and windows were tightly locked before going to bed, I’ll tell you that for nothing! I’d definitely recommend this one to anyone who likes crime/thrillers, but you’ll have to wait a little bit as it’s not released until July!

4/5.

Goodreads: May to-read list

Goodreads: May to-read list

Monday, 2 May 2016

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Amongst my ever increasing pile of ARCs, I thought I’d pick out a few books in particular this month that I’m planning on reading. As I’ve mentioned a few times, I have final exams this month so I won’t be reading as much I’d like to, just in the evenings to chill out after a day full of revision. I’m hoping to get three books read and reviewed in May in spite of this.

Classic of the Month: To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee

I read this book years and years ago at school and absolutely hated it. I’m really sorry about that, because everyone I know seems to absolutely adore everything about it, so I thought I’d give it another go in the wake of Harper Lee’s passing a few months back. I finally got hold of a used copy on amazon for a few pounds so I have absolutely no excuse to try again and see if I can learn to love this respected classic.

Arc of the Month: Hex – Thomas Olde Heuvelt

I received this beautiful hardbacked ARC from Hodder and Stoughton at the beginning of April. This book has already been released, as of 28^th April, but I haven’t gotten around to reading it yet so thought I’d get stuck in this month and do my review as close to the release date as I possibly can. The whole concept of this book really excites me as it promises something along the lines of Stephen King, which is absolutely fantastic as far as I’m concerned. Very excited to give this one a go!

Book of the Month: Reading Lolita in Tehran – Azar Nafisi

I’ve had this book on my reading list for what feels like absolutely months and I even included it on my what I’m reading this Spring post back in March. I’m finally going to stick to it and give it a read this month and I’m really, really excited to do so.

What are your choices for May reads? Let me know in the comments!  

Goodreads: April Wrap Up

Goodreads: April Wrap Up

Sunday, 1 May 2016

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April’s been a ridiculously busy month for me, with my university course coming to an end, final essay deadlines looming and exams to revise for. I’m really chuffed to say that I managed to make time for my reading in the evenings and I managed to get through 4 books during the month of May, including one university text (but I’m definitely counting it!) My exams finish on the last week of May and it’s a fair few days before I have to get back into the swing of things and start doing work for my masters! I plan on reading loads and loads and have a ridiculously high to be read pile so it’s going to be a book filled few months on my blog!

The first book I got through in April was one for my French Literature class at university, Ourika by Claire de Duras. It’s obviously written in French, as all my set texts are at university, but if you’re a French speaker I definitely recommend this one. It’s incredibly interesting and I absolutely loved the story, plus, it’s a ridiculously short one so I got through it in absolutely no time whatsoever!

My second book of the month was You Know Me Well by the infinitely popular David Levithan, accompanied by Nina LaCour. I’ve reviewed this one in a little bit more detail here so you can check that out if you wish to do so. I absolutely loved this book, surprise, surprise! I’m actually looking into reading more by Nina as I’ve never actually read anything written by her before but I absolutely loved the character whose chapters she contributed towards. Definitely recommend if you’re a fan of YA fiction. I received an ebook copy of this from the team at St Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.

I was sent a paperback copy of Hello, Goodbye and Everything in Between by the team at Headline books this month and I was absolutely thrilled because I’d heard nothing but good things about this book. Again, you can check out a detailed review here if you want to know more but rest assured I loved this one as well. I’ve had a pretty decent month for books as I actually loved everything that I read, which is quite rare for me!

My final book came from the guys at Bookouture and was The Sister by Louise Jensen. This is a debut novel and absolutely fantastic, as far as I’m concerned. I haven’t gotten around to uploading my review of this one yet as I literally just finished it yesterday, but it was everything I love about psychological thrillers encapsulated into one creepy, mysterious novel. I’m looking forward to seeing what Louise has to offer in the coming years!

What have you been reading this month? Let me know in the comments, I’m all about recommendations!