I really enjoyed 'The good sister'.which is an ideal holiday read. Throughout there are little twists and turns and you are never sure who is the good sister! A brilliant twist at the end

So so hard to write a review of this one without spoilers! Ryder has used alternating voices of two sisters- Josie and Valentina- to tell her tale of secrets and lies. Each is unique. For want of a better description, one is good and one is bad - but which is which? I read a lot of thrillers so it takes a good writer to keep me guessing and Ryder did it. I put this down in the evening because I wanted to read the end when I was fully awake to appreciate it and I am glad I did. I liked the info about Vikings and about Dupuytren's which oddly enough runs in both my mother's and husband's families. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Try this one for an honestly good read.

Thanks to Netgalley for my copy.

Josie and Valentina are half sisters who only learn about each other after the death of their father. He has been living two lives, one with each of the girls and their mothers. He dies whilst riding his motorbike after receiving texts threatening to expose his secrets, but which ones. He is a charismatic man and has filled the girls lives with tales of his Viking heritage. At the beginning of each chapter a Viking fact is revealed. I loved the details of these although at first didn't understand the reasoning behind them. As you delve deeper into the book they make more sense.

Josie is the quiet sister, has a good job and lives with her first boyfriend. She is a little distant from her mother but adored her father.

Valentina is the wild unpredictable sister, dressed all in black, drinking, drug taking and has a volatile relationship with her mother but also adored her father.

As these two meet and their lives become entwined Josie is influenced by Valentina's unpredictability with disastrous and devastating consequences.

I read Jess Ryder's first novel and thought it was just ok but this book dazzled me. I thought I had it all worked out but I was totally wrong. There are many twists and unforeseen turns and the characters were all well developed. As someone who has witnessed the devastation caused by a brother in law who had two separate families it was very realistic and totally believable. I loved this book

Wow! What a terrific psychological thriller. I was pulled immediately into the plot and it's many twists and turns. I could not put this book down. You do not want to miss this one.

I read this book very quickly, I found it drew me in and I was hooked!

Jess Ryder has an excellent writing style and the pace in the story keeps you engaged throughout and there are plenty of twists and turns along the way to keep you guessing right through to the last page.  I enjoyed the story and it was tense at times, that said I did get quite engaged with the book as I wanted to shout at both of the main female characters at several stages in the book!   Four and a half stars from me, rounded up to five – really enjoyed it and would recommend it – its a good psychological thriller

Just wow! This book was amazing I literally couldn't put it down. Full of twists and turns, emotions and a really well written story line. This book has everything going for it I loved it. If I could give it 6 stars I would!

The opening completely grabbed me and it's safe to say I was intrigued. It was just like a twisty mystery as Josie tries to discover her father's secrets. You can feel her shock over how big the lies he told are. It's hard enough when a loved one dies but to discover the things that Josie finds out are really tough.

I really enjoyed reading the facts at the start of each chapter they were fun and I loved how they tied in with the story. The fact that you got both points of view was perfect for me it almost gave an off balanced feeling to the story that made it pretty addictive. The transition from the two perspectives for the most part was done well and helped move the story along as you saw the two sides to the story. The relationship between Josie and Valentina is written very well and as they get to know each other you can see a dark and disturbing undercurrent just waiting beneath the surface.

The Good Sister is pretty fast moving especially as the truth unravels and the fallout starts. Tense at times with lots of twists and revelations that had me wondering what to believe. Jess Ryder has written a vivid story that just seemed to come to life as I read meaning I was completely dragged into this crazy and nightmarish situation. I read this in one go as I just had to know how it would all play out.

 A story packed full of secrets and lies that left me in a continual spin.

With thanks to Bookouture & Netgalley for my copy. This is my honest and unbiased opinion.

A really good quality page turner. I'm looking forward to Jess Ryder's next book

After going through a stage of not enjoying any of the books I'd downloaded, this was a breath of fresh air.

The Good Sister is gripping from the start and only becomes more intense as it goes along.

The tale of two sisters, who couldn't be too alike and couldn't be more different, colliding after the death of their father, this story is a truly captivating thriller.

Just when you thought you've revealed all the twists, you're met with another but it works so beautifully.

Would recommend. This is a must read.

The Good Sister hooked me from the beginning. I believed it was going to be a simple story of one family facing trauma or tragedy but it is far deeper involved than that.

Josie comes from loving parents, has a perfect boyfriend, works hard and life is good. But very early on we find her father is a bit of a troubled soul, he rides his beloved motorcycle to clear his mind and it ends in disaster.

As with any family facing grief the tensions mount, the sadness envelops them all but as the investigations continue into the accident Josie faces revelations beyond comprehension.

The writing keeps the reader on the edge of their seat, my curiosity needed to fathom out the events but I just got drawn in deeper and deeper.

Valentina is the image of Josie .. what is the connection between them and the families?

This is told in alternating chapters, it creates a mind-boggling drama which takes some concentration to keep up but it’s well worth the effort. Each chapter begins with a passage from a Viking history fact, at first I just skimmed them because they seemed irrelevant .. I should have known better, all is revealed eventually.

While my sympathies laid in one direction they then got pulled in another .. the plot thickens and the relationship between Josie and Valentina is gripping and suspenseful. The ending doesn’t disappoint!

Thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for my copy which I read and reviewed voluntarily.

Congratulations to the author on an enthralling read that had me enchanted to the very last page. My curiosity had taken me hostage to see how this one would come to its conclusion, with its many twists and deceptive lies, I'm still dizzy from the roller coaster ride!

I found it intiguing that each chapter begins with a morsel of interesting information about the Vikings, contributing to the theme and atmosphere throughout.

The narrative is told from each sister's POV, without revealing which sister the narrative belongs to. Throughout most of the book, the reader can quite easily distinguish whose narrative it was, however towards the end, just as the sisters couldn't always be told apart, the author cleverly had me questioning as to which sister was doing what, skillfully adding to the intrigue and suspense, goading me to keep turning the pages in order to satisfy my curiosity.

My only gripes I should mention:
- I feel like the truth wasn't revealed as to how the psychiatrist got involved and the extent of the involvement.
- Was Valentina's dream a memory or not.

Apart from that, I thoroughly enjoyed and would recommend this to anyone looking for a good psychological thriller. I am
looking forward to reading Lie to Me, also by Jess Ryder.

Thank you to Netgalley, my favourite publisher, Bookouture and the author for an entertaining read in exchange for an unbiased review.

I don’t read a lot of psychological thrillers these days. I think I read too many in the past and have become a bit immune to them. However, The Good Sister, which I was initially attracted to by the stunning cover, managed to keep me completely gripped throughout the whole story.

This is a fast paced, hard to put down kind of a book. At times this was a tense, heart racing, panic inducing thriller. I found myself getting so frustrated that one of the characters was so trusting of another. Then I felt unsure who to trust myself, and doubting my own judgement of the situation. There were so many twists and turns I began to feel like I was playing a game of dizzy daleks.

I don’t really want to say much more about the plot or characters themselves, as this is definitely a book that’s best read knowing very little about what is going to happen. However, I do want to discuss the incredibly interesting historical snippets about Viking life at the beginning of each chapter, mainly as I believe it has taught me something about my own ancestry.

The very beginning of the prologue begins with the following:

Today, about a million people in the UK are descended from the Vikings. A finger deformity known as Dupuytren’s disease is found in some people with Viking ancestry.

I gasped when I read this. I had never heard of Dupuytren’s disease until my dad developed it a few years ago. As soon as I started this book I had to message Dad about it, and he explained even more about the disease and its connection to the Vikings. Next time I see his bent fingers I won’t be able to help myself imagining him holding a Viking sword.

Until now, I’ve never really thought that deeply about my ancestry. I just knew I was half Irish and half Yorkshire. The ginger hair on my mum’s side of the family wasn’t really a surprise, with her being Irish, but I’ve often wondered about the ginger hair on my dad’s side, and I’m now wondering whether that came from the Vikings too.

I grew up in York and so was surrounded by things of Viking influence for the whole of my childhood. I loved Jorvik Viking Centre, although I always thought it smelt funny. Upon meeting my husband at eighteen, who loves eating BBQ sauce, I discovered the funny smell in Jorvik Viking Centre smells just like BBQ sauce. Now, every time my husband has the sauce, I can’t help but think of Jorvik. I also loved the Viking battle re-enactments that used to take place on the river with burning boats.

York has been calling me back over the last year. Cornwall is just too far away from my childhood home, so I intend to move back there in a few years. Hopefully the now suspected Viking in me will be content with my return to the north. Whether I’m Viking or not, I’m more than happy to spend the rest of my life believing I may very well be. Gosh, I read a fictional book, and now I’m looking at my existence in a whole new light. How great is that!

Jerry Macauliffe has been killed in a motorbike accident. He was a professor who had a small place in Manchester where he would stay during the work week and then went home to his wife, Helen, on the weekend. When Helen receives the bad news, she calls Josie, their daughter.

Josie decides to visit her father's weekday place to see if it needs to be cleaned out and closed up. There she meets a girl who looks like her whose name is Valentina and she claims to be Jerry’s daughter too. This means they’re sisters. Both are 24 and their birthdays are 5 days apart. Valentina’s mother, Sophie, and Jerry never married as he said he didn’t believe in it.

Valentina and Josie get to know one another as both are happy to know they have a sister. However, Valentina’s rebellious past clashes with Josie’s straight line nature.

When someone starts texting Valentina telling her she is being watched, they know danger lurks but where is it coming from?

This is a very intense book which keeps the reader turning pages. Who are Josie and Valentina? Are they really that different? Which one is good and which one is bad?

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The Good Sister was a brilliant psychological thriller with an amazing twist that had me hooked and not wanting to put my kindle down, loved it!

This packs a lot of action and revelations into a mere 230 pages. I flew through it, but the 42 chapters ensure you have plenty of good stopping points. The chapters go back and forth from Josie to Valentina, but they aren't labeled as such. It led to a few moments of confusion for this reader, but actually added to the uneasiness felt while reading in a good way.

Have you ever been confused for someone else? Have you met someone who looks so similar to you, you have to do a double-take? Do you think you have a doppelganger? Josie does.

Of course, they weren't twins separated at birth... but the story is just as crazy. When Josie's larger than life father meets an untimely death, a huge secret is revealed. She and her mother were not her father's only family. He had another house, another woman... another daughter. Valentina is strikingly similar to Josie in appearance, but their personalities are vastly different. Josie is responsible and has her life together. She's been with her boyfriend for five years. Valentina lives in squalor and doesn't work. She's volatile, prone to outbursts. They may look very similar, and share a birth month and year, but inside they couldn't be more different.

They've both lost a father and gained a sister, and they cling to each other, shutting out others. They share stories, realizing dear old Dad told them the same Viking stories and played the same games. What do they really know of each other, though? Did the father kill himself, his secrets finally too much to bear, did someone sabotage him, or is it simply the accident the police think it is?

Four stars for a few reasons: it kept me reading, and I really enjoyed it. It had unpredictable moments and a few plot twists I saw coming. The texting annoyed me, because I think by 24 you're not composing texts like a teenager anymore, but maybe that's just me. I also could have done without a couple of things, but I'm determined to keep this review spoiler free. Recommended as a quick psychological thriller, perfect for a day off or the beach.

I received an ARC of this book from Net Galley and Bookouture, thank you! My review is honest and unbiased.

Sisterhood can be a funny thing. You can love your sister, hate her, follow or resent her, but you’re always bound to her, even if you don’t know she exists. How similar are you- and what if one of you is dangerous?
That’s the basic premise of Jess Ryder’s latest novel, and man does it make for a riveting read. The two sisters in question are Josie, a sensible, stable twenty-something year old who has a boyfriend and a career, and Valentina, the crazy one, who lives just on the wrong side of the tracks and doesn’t care what anybody thinks of her. But here’s the catch: though they’re almost the same age, they were born to different mothers, and the full scale of their father’s deception- and their discovery of each other- only becomes clear upon the death of their father, Jerry, at the start of the novel.
Ryder mines the book cleverly for thrills and suspense, especially when it comes to the relationship that the two sisters have with each other. There’s a shifting sense of unease that underpins the story- and their reactions with each other- that only grows throughout the book, and as more twists and turns are revealed. On Valentina’s side, she’s dealing with being the ‘wrong’ sister: the one who was born out of wedlock, and who had to be kept a shameful secret from the rest of the family; on Josie’s, she’s wondering who in her family knew about her father’s secret, and didn’t tell her.
Ryder’s masterstroke, in my opinion, is the fact that she narrates the book from the point of view of both sisters- but doesn’t divulge which one it is at the start of the chapter, leaving it to the reader to work it out. At the start, it’s easy, as the sisters appear as different as yin and yang, but as Josie and Valentina get to know each other, Valentina starts to affect Josie’s life, her relationship with her boyfriend, and encourages her wild side to come out- and the lines start to blur. By the end, you’re no longer sure which sister is which, and who’s doing what: they have effectively merged, and become one, which is unsettling in ways you won’t believe until you read the book. The tension it creates, as both sisters grow angrier and angrier- for different reasons- leaves you biting your nails as the powder keg of emotions built up suddenly explodes, and leaves you doubting both of their viewpoints.
The other theme running through the novel is the Vikings. The girls’ father, Jerry, is referred to as ‘The Viking’ throughout the book, and the stories he tells the girls in their childhood show in their attitude towards each other- both the fierce anger that Valentina encourages in Josie and the fact that they think of themselves as warriors. Their ‘Viking’ side is the savage anger that gradually builds up through the book and erupts in violence. Personally, I blame Jerry for that (damn it, Jerry).
Interesting and twisted, The Good Sister is a fascinating study of sisterhood, and of how people are often more similar than they appear at first glance. Also about Vikings. It’s a tense, riveting read that should definitely make it onto your summer reading pile- as long as you don’t have a sister!

Nail biting, riveting, intense. Jess Ryder did an amazing job capturing the readers attention from the beginning. As soon as the two sisters? meet so many twists develop that you have no idea what direction you mind will go next. The question of who is the evil sister Valentina or Josie is just another addition to the book that makes you question everything you are actually reading.

Thank you NetGalley and Jess Ryder for allowing me to read and review this book.

Josie and Valentina are half sisters that don't know about the other until their deceptive father passes away. Even better than that, they look like twins. The book summary lies. There is a whole lot more than one secret within the pages of this book! Some are a bit predictable but as the book progresses the lies pile up and threaten to destroy everyone, guilty or innocent. The next lie: don't compare it to Girl on the Train or Gone Girl. The twists and turns are much sneakier. You won't gasp. But you will chuckle as you see just how warped life can get for fictional characters. Ms. Ryder does a terrific job of telling the tale, flipping the narrative back and forth between the two sisters. My advice: don't get past 70% of the book unless you have the time to completely finish it!

I would like to thank Bookouture and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Good Sister’ by Jess Ryder in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.
Following the death of her father in a motorbike accident, Josie discovers she has a sister Valentina who has the same auburn hair and blue eyes, the only difference being that Josie is quiet and law-abiding and Valentina is wild and into the dark side of life. Josie is warned to stay away from Valentina for her own safety but she can’t understand why as they are sisters after all!
‘The Good Sister’ is a terrifyingly sinister psychological thriller which has been brilliantly written. I could feel the menace building up so that half of me wanted to continue reading and the other half was scared to. There were twists and turns that became increasingly shocking and incredible with an ending that was completely unexpected. This novel is compulsive reading and one I can highly recommend.

After Josie’s father dies in a motorcycle accident, she discovers that he has been leading a double life, with another woman and a half-sister Valentina she never knew she had. They were born in the same hospital a few days apart and they look so much alike but, that’s where the similarities end. They both lived very different lives and their personalities are completely different to one another. Josie lived a life so different to Valentina’s. Josie lived a life of wealth, went to private school and lived in a wealthy neighbourhood and has a good job and boyfriend. Where Valentina lives in a poorer part of town, has no job or prospects. Josie get warned by her Brett and Aunty Lisa to steer clear of Valentina. Because she is trouble but Josie doesn’t listen and goes out with her to a party where she gets raped.

The story is narrated alternately by each sister. But, the author doesn’t say who is who and you have to keep guessing who it is and helps you decided who is the good sister and show is the bad. But this is a good thing, as the story got more intense and suspenseful and it just made me want to carry on reading. I liked the excerpts of Viking Mythology that their father taught them when they were children. It made this story different to other thrillers I have read.

I really enjoyed this book. This is an edge of your seat thriller that I couldn’t put down. I loved every minute of it. There is so many twists and turns and it has so much in this book that I didn’t realise that it was only 230 pages until I finished the book. As this is my first Jess Ryder book I will look out for her first book and any more books to come. 5 Stars.