Cover Image: Little Sister

Little Sister

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

The story is about two sisters Emily and Jess, who were very close while growing up. Hardly an year apart in age, they made sure to look after and complement each other. But as years passed, their relationship somehow fell part, and are now estranged. Less do we know, that the reasons for them moving apart, is far more dangerous than just a sisters fight!

Now, Jess moves in with Emily in the nice neighborhood of Isle of wight, along with Emily's husband and their family. Just as they were beginning to get close again, relishing their childhood memories (good ones of course!), things start to fall apart. Again! 

Jess babysits Daisy, who mysteriously disappears that night, and Jess simply cannot recollect what happened (She had passed out, when they found her). But Emily knows something more than she says, doesn't she? Does she feel helpless as she watches her sister suffer? Is she trustable, the good big sister? Only, this doesn't stop here at the present. It goes way back to THAT night, which led to the sister's story that drove them apart. Nobody can be trusted, behind the perfect looking family that hides the long buried lies and secrets of the past.

The story shifts between the characters, as they speak their point of view. That's where we get to see the author's crafted writing, who paints contrast in between the characters. Already gripped to the novel, I expect more unexpected twists through the plot, that I can't wait to unveil.

Was this review helpful?

Little Sister is about deception. The theme centered around trust. This story starts not knowing anything about any of these characters. You basically assume everyone is happy and loving. Not until Daisy disappears are these characters exposed of their faults and flaws.

We are introduced to sisters: Emily and Jess. These sisters were close growing up. But for the last sixteen years there was no communication between them. Something happened when Jess was seventeen that caused a riff in their relationship.
Emily is currently married to James. They have a one year old little girl name Daisy. They also have a fifteen year old daughter name Chloe from James previous marriage.
Jess and Emily are reunited after sixteen years, putting aside past mistakes. Jess moves in with Emily and her family taking care of baby Daisy so Emily can return to work. While in Jess’s care baby Daisy disappears.
Every character is under the microscope being watched and questioned regarding the events of New Year’s Eve. Eventually the detectives unsurfaced lies told and the secrets come tumbling out.

A backstory was carefully squeezed in with the present. A missing gap of sixteen years between Emily and Jess allows for many interpretations and suspicions. I got lured easily into the lies not even certain if I could believe the truth. With all these secrets there’s no way to predict the direction of the story. Every turn of events is met with unexpected shock. I loved all the bombshells of truths dumped periodically in the story. One minute a character is reminiscing about the past and the next a golden nugget of truth is revealed shocking the hell out of me. In one monumental moment every lie told had a domino effect of circumstances that fell upon each and every character. My mind conjured up all kinds of who-done it scenarios. With the introduction of more characters the possibilities were endless.

I enjoyed hating parts of Emily’s character. A villain brings entertainment into a story. Emily started off as the wife and mother who had it all, loving husband, a baby girl, and a step daughter. Then in the blink of an eye one circumstance rocked their fragile family structure. Detectives came in with suspecting eyes picking apart each family member with a fine tooth comb exposing hidden secrets that may have been forever buried.

Characters: Emily and Jess, Chloe, Daisy, and James.
Daisy’s disappearance triggers the truth serum.
All the secrets and lies are exposed upon investigation.
Hurt, betrayal, and jealousy cloud judgment.

Daisy’s disappearance was not the premise of this story, but it was the trigger of multiple events that cast of slew of secrets and lies to unfold. Meanwhile, while Daisy’s disappearance takes a backseat to more pressing concerns of which are the two sisters and there backstory it’s a sad discovery as to who really took Daisy. My favorite part in these types of stories is solving the crime, but when an author has the power to change the direction of the story by introducing characters out of thin air my task as a crime solver is done and over with.
I appreciated the time spent getting to know more about the sisterly dynamics and what brought about the distance and no contact, yet at times I felt it was too much. I needed some direction as to where the author was going with these sisters. It seemed too much was going on. The magic slipped away getting lost in the land of confusion. Once the story concluded I pondered many things about these sisters and wondered what the true intentions really were between them all.

Was this review helpful?

All families have secrets. Emily and Jess have their fair share of secrets. Their childhood was filled with lies and sibling rivalry. Fast forward 20 years and they don’t talk at all. However Jess, Emily’s estranged sister shows up on her doorstep. After a few weeks, Emily’s daughter, Daisy, goes missing. Is it a coincidence that she disappeared after Jess shows up? This book was filled with twists and turns. Some I saw coming and others were impossible to figure out. Little Sister was well-written with relatable characters. I really enjoyed this book and couldn’t put it down! I highly recommend this book for anyone that likes Girl on the Train or Behind Closed Doors. It would make a great book club read.

Was this review helpful?

Wow... this was a whole box of lies, suspense, and secrets!

Little Sister starts off with a bang.... little Daisy has been kidnapped... but by who and why? Jess has been watching her sister Emily's daughter Daisy one night. Emily comes home with her husband to her child missing.. and Jess has no recollection of what happened during the night. Jess tells her sister Emily all she remembers is sitting at the table and the next she knew she wakes up to missing Daisy.

Is Jess lying? Who is guilty and at fault?

What I loved about this book was the unreliable characters. As the reader, you're going blind into this family and honestly you don't know who to trust. I felt like I was following a ping pong at one point going back in forth in my mind trying to figure out who was lying!!

Isabel Ashdown has an excellent talent for bringing in her readers... because I HAD to find out the truth of what happened to little Daisy!

But, I felt like the disappearance of Daisy was a buffer to the actual story of the two sisters Jess and Emily. The story is told from both of their perspectives throughout the story in the first part.... and there was something nagging at me with Emily. She was the perfect character that you loved to hate. The more you find out about her character as a child and an adult... the more I grew to dislike her.

New information is emerging in this one about the family.. and Daisy's disappearance. I felt that pacing was a tad slow for my usual liking and I had trouble connecting to the story. I feel like the pacing is key in these types of stories... and if it lags too much you can lose the reader's interest. I feel like this was the case for this story and I lost interest in and out of the story.

The final ending did have a final twist... but too me it wasn't a huge jaw dropping twist I longed for after the struggle of the pacing in the story.

Overall, 3.5 stars rounded down.

Huge thank you to Kensington and Netgalley for the advanced arc in exchange for my honest review.
Published to GR: 6/2/18
Publication date: 6/26/18.

Was this review helpful?

Little Sister by Isabel Ashdown is a psychological thriller that had me turning the pages as quickly as I could to find out just what would happen. With a missing child on the line it was safe to say this one would hook me into the story and not let go but also full of shifty characters and a fast paced plot it was extremely addictive.

Jess and Emily are sisters that were close growing up being barely a year apart in age. But the old the pair got the further they began to drift apart and then had a huge falling out that separated them for years.

Now Jess and Emily have reconciled as adults and have grown close once again with Jess taking up Emily’s offer of moving in with Emily and her husband to help with their children. On New Year’s Eve Jess stayed home to watch little Daisy as Emily, her husband and teenage stepdaughter went out to celebrate but when everyone returned they find Jess passed out and Daisy gone beginning a frantic search for the missing child.

The story in Little Sister is told with alternating points of view between the sister, Jess and Emily through the first half of the book at which point another POV is added into the mix. Things mostly follow along in the current time but there are flashes in the story to develop the past between Jess and Emily to dive deeper into their relationship.

Little Sister was just what I hoped for when picking this one up, a nice trip through the secrets and lies to find just how deep the betrayal would run in this family. A nice little twisty ride that has a reader questioning everyone along the way with a bit of nail biting tension building to the final conclusion. I’d definitely recommend this one to the fans of psychological thrillers.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Was this review helpful?

This thriller really had me guessing right from the beginning. The whole book starts off with a bang. It was nice to get right into the mystery at and fill in important information later as the story continues. It's not something that I've see done very often so it was a nice surprise. The book starts off with our main character (Jess) watching her sister's (Emily) child (Daisy) on new years eve. Things are going great when all of a sudden she goes to check on the child and she isn't there. The book flips between what happened the night that the
child went missing and the police interrogation. The book focuses on the main characters trying to figure out what happened to Daisy, but it also jumps back and looks at what happened between the sisters Jess and Emily and what happened in their relationship that caused them to be distant. I was really impressed with how seamlessly the author managed to pull of the time switches as well as the point of view switches. I usually find them jarring and a little muddled at times however in this one I always knew when it was and it flowed together beautifully I don't know how she managed it. This book had a way of giving the reader tons or interesting and relevant information but at the same time it was kept nice and simple, straight forward. Really good book if you like thrillers than this is one that needs to be added to the list.

Was this review helpful?

This is the first book that I've read by this author, and I have to say I would definitely be interested in reading more books by them. The book had me constantly on my toes and guessing what the main characters might be hiding. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves a good book with a lot of twists and turns.
The books main characters are two sisters; Emily-the successful new mother and almost wife of James and stepmother to James's daughter Chloe from a previous marriage; and Jess-the estranged younger sister who has come back to attend their mother's funeral, and is now the live-in nanny to Emily's new baby, Daisy.
The beginning of the book starts out with the disappearance of Daisy, while in Jess's care. There are multiple spots in the book that switch back and forth in time, and this really helps to show the characters for who they are.
This is an ARC from Netgalley that was provided to me for my honest review.

Was this review helpful?

A very psychological thriller.. it had some really nice parts and it made me wonder quite a bit.. and the end! Plot twists!
Characters were built pretty well, the storyline was good and it was an overall very enjoyable book.

Was this review helpful?

Little Sister - by Isabel Ashdown. I loved the fast pace of this book. I read it in two days.
I felt the dual narrative really helped get to know both sisters point of view. It was a good story. Twists and turns!
I would definitely recommend this to a friend.
Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the ARC.

Was this review helpful?

I was really looking forward to this book. The cover and the description are both what drew me to this book. Sadly, it became quite apparent fast that I would not enjoying this book. Try as I might I could not find any connection with any of the characters or the storyline. The alternating chapters with the sister's voices didn't help either. This helps sometimes because it came bring me closer to the characters and in fact, I like this format for these types of books. Again, there was nothing interesting about either sister. However, this book was not for a lack of effort as I did get half way before I could not continue any further.

Was this review helpful?

Jessica and Emily two sisters are reunited after sixteen years of estrangement at their mother's funeral. Pretty soon Jess moves in with Emily and starts taking care of Emily and her husband James, his fifteen year old daughter Chloe from previous marriage and their infant daughter Daisy.On the way back from New Years party Emily finds her daughter Daisy missing and Jess passed out on the floor covered with blood. While trying to find Daisy lots of secrets start unraveling revealing that the perfect family Emily tried so hard to build was not so perfect after all.

This is a strong psychological thriller based on a dysfunctional family with twisted relationships and lots of secrets that makes it a must read for all mystery lovers. A thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining read.

I would like to thank Kensington Books & NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest and fair review.

This and more reviews at https://chloesbooksblog.wordpress.com/

Was this review helpful?

So, the truth is that I didn’t like either sister – but I did largely enjoy the book.

This is one of those books where I didn’t really like or trust any character. Yet, I was compelled to keep reading. I needed to find out the truth. The problem was that I didn’t enjoy that truth.

When we find out what exactly happens to Daisy and who was responsible, I kind of felt like it was a sub plot out of left field. It was an easy out and I wanted complex.

That issue notwithstanding, the book was entertaining. And I’d read the author again.

*ARC Provided via Net Galley

Was this review helpful?

Jess wakes up on her sister's kitchen floor with blood on the floor, a sore head and her sister's baby Daisy missing. When her sister Emily and Emily's husband arrive home Jess can't remember what happened. Emily drifts through the days on sleeping pills while the police hunt for Daisy. Many suspects become questioned. Was it the older daughter's boyfriend? Someone that doesn't like Emily and Tom? Did Jess do something to Daisy? Fast paced thriller with a good ending.

Was this review helpful?

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

Jess has been estranged from her family for 16 years, but at their mother's funeral she is reconciled with her sister Emily, and moves in with Emily's family to work as nanny to new baby Daisy. Jess has a heart condition which causes her to black out occasionally and in the early hours of New Years' Day she is discovered unconscious in the kitchen and Daisy is missing.

3.5* rounded up.

This was well-written and twisty and turny. None of the characters were particularly likeable, but the author did a good job of constantly causing us to reevaluate our perspective on the sisters and especially Jess. The shift in the narrative at the beginning of Part 2 did cause a little loss in suspense for me, and I am deducting a further star for the final chapter, which read a bit like the author tidying up and explaining all the things she feared she might not have made clear earlier.

Was this review helpful?

I really enjoyed this book and look forward to more from this author. The ending really surprised me.

Was this review helpful?

Sisters Jess and Emily have been estranged for years, but have recently decided to try to recapture the closeness they shared as children. Now, Jess has moved in with her sister, her brother-in-law, James and Emily’s teenage stepdaughter, Daisy as well as Emily and James’s toddler. When Emily and her husband want to go out on New Year’s Eve, Jess offers to babysit but when the couple return home, they find Jess lying in a pool of blood and the baby missing. Jess claims to have no memory of what happened, but Emily wonders if this is some sort of sick payback from her sister. As police investigate, the entire family falls under scrutiny, and James and Daisy turn out not to be the loving husband and stepdaughter they would appear to be. Still, the main focus, of both the police, and the story, is on the strained relationship of the two sisters. Expect a few surprises in this intriguing tale

Was this review helpful?