This wasn’t the best book I have read, but it had some really good bits.
I enjoyed the before and now story and the sinister goings on, but the ending felt rushed and left me wanting a bit more.

Second book by this author, enjoyed the first a bit more. 

I like the way this author writes and develops her characters. She deftly maneuvers the story from the present to the past slowly layering details along the way. 

There are some surprises.  Some I saw coming, and others not so much. Kelly is an interesting character, unreliable and suffering from OCD and sleep deprivation after having a new baby. 

The conclusion was okay. It wasn’t horrible, really more sad. It was a strange but entertaining story. 

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and Bookouture for a copy in exchange for a review.

Wow wow and triple wow!  What a great read!  I never did have the ending figured out, even though I thought I had many times over!  Loved it!

#WeWereSisters #NetGalley

Kelly is taking her twins for their first day at school. She is exhausted by a new baby who never seems to sleep & worried about Sophie, who is very nervous & tearful about leaving her mum- unlike her outgoing bouncy twin. Coming out of the school she panics because the baby is not where she left him & when she does find the pram she finds a locket- & it brings back memories of her childhood.

Kelly was brought up in a home where many children were fostered. The foster children got far more treats & nice things than she ever did but she longed for them to stay, she wanted a sister more than anything. When Freya arrived she thought she had what she had always wanted. That was until Freya started to scare her. Kelly was sure Freya had gone for good, but this was her locket- what did she want?

I really like Kelly's husband Mitch, however I did wish he could have seen how much Kelly needed help.

Told across two timelines, when Kelly was young & now the pace kept the pages turning. It was an enjoyable read. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

A dark and sinister tale of families and the damage that they can do to one another. We Were Sisters tells the story of Kelly, whose past has come back to haunt her.
A whole cast of quite unreliable and unlikeable narrators provided me with a dark and twisted read. While I didn’t particularly like any of them, this is exactly what made this novel work for me. Lots of devious twists and tension building as the story unfolds and the truths are slowly revealed. 
All the way through, I kept guessing and having my mind changed as the author teased me with another red herring. I was compelled to keep reading and it was definitely one that kept me up past my bedtime!
My emotions were in turmoil throughout, as I swung from empathy to rage to despair.
A cracking read and perfect to lose yourself in on a rainy afternoon

Excellent psychological thriller I’d highly recommend this.  Fast paced plenty of twists you will he hooked!

Excellent psychological thriller! Creepy and heartbreaking at the same time. Kelly was raised in a family that took in many foster children over the years. Her cold indifferent father and mother who was determined to find the perfect child, showed her very little love over the years. Kelly finally finds the sister she always wanted when her family takes in Freya, who is harboring a huge secret. As the years pass Kelly has always been haunted by the way things ended with Freya and felt determined to take care of her children the way she never was. When suspicious events start happening Kelly is thrust back into her old life that she was determined to leave behind. Well written, impossible to put down.

Okay y’all, the book was CREEPY!!! We Were Sisters follows the story of Kelly before and Kelly now. Kelly now is married with three children, including a newborn baby, and is married to Mitch. Kelly is tired and sad about her twin girls starting school. When dropping her girls off, she’s sure that someone has moved her newborn’s stroller and panics. From there, Kelly starts noticing all kinds of creepy things happening. It seems like someone is after her....but who?

Kelly before is a young girl in an unloving home where her mother seems to care far more for the rotating foster children coming and going rather than her. One day a new girl joins her home and changes Kelly’s life forever.

This book had tons of suspense and twists and turns and I loved every minute of it! The ending was a shock to me and Kelly’s life as a tired mom of a newborn sure hit home for me. Such a good, quick read for anyone who loves a twisty, creepy thriller!

4 out of 5 stars for We Were Sisters by Wendy Clarke. Thank you to the publisher and the author, as well as Net-galley, for the opportunity to read and review this book.

We Were Sisters is a twisty psychological thriller that had me hooked from the first chapter.
Kelly is married to Mitch and have twin daughters and a son who is a couple of months old, it’s her daughters first day at school, Isabelle is outgoing and fearless but Sophie is quiet, worry some and not confident in the school environment at all. Kelly gets the twins into class but when she turns round her prom is gone, it is found at the next classroom alongside door so Kelly puts it down to being tired but when she returns home she finds a locket in the pram that belonged to her dead sister, Freya, who although was fostered was treated like a sister by Kelly until she hanged herself for reasons Kelly blames herself for.
This was a twisty turns thriller that I thought I’d sussed out but hadn’t, which was great. I’d got some parts but not others. This is the second book I’ve read by Wendy Clarke and enjoyed this one as much as the first.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Bookouture for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

Kelly is a mum stuggling with uncontrollable anxiety, her twin daughters starting school and the sleep deprivation caused by her 3 month old son. The only way she can reassure herself is through counting to 20: obsessive compulsive behabiour which is having a significant effect on her life.
Through flashback chapters we are shown her incredibly sad childhood. She was unloved by her parents who fostered other children to whom they displayed great affection. These chapters were heartbreaking to read as you feel young Kelly’s rejection.
One day, Freya is brought to be fostered and the parents are joyful. So is Kelly as she finally has a sister: someone to love and be loved by. There is a secret in Freya’s background and she reveals to Kelly that she killed her sister.
Freya comes across as very manipulative and selfish but it is important to remmber that she is just a child and has been seriously emotionally damaged by her past, whatever the truth of it may be.
Out of teenaged jealousy, Kelly lies about Freya, with devastating consequences. Now in the present day, Kelly struggles to cope with what she did. Then strange things start to happen: is it all in her mind or not…
We Were Sisters is quite an extraordinary book in that it manages to be an intense psychological thriller as well as a deeply emotional tale with desperate sadness at its heart. There are plenty of twists and unexpected turns: several times I made assumptions about what was coming up but I’d been cleverly misdirected!
Author Wendy Clarke has created flawed but likeable characters. Kelly’s past is skewing her behaviour and relationships in the present. Her need to give the children the childhood she never had is driving a wedge in her marriage to Mitch.
The overwhelming and relentless nature of motherhood is described well in this book. Maternal mental health is an important social barrier which is gaining attention in the media. Kelly’s experience, and that of her own mother, highlights how dangerous it can be to have a perfect ideal of parenthood.
On a personal note, I really related to the main character of Kelly. Before I had children I was almost crippled with anxiety and exhibited the same behaviour using numbers for security that Kelly experiences in this book.

Kelly Thirsk is pushing Noah in his pram as she takes her twin daughters, Sophie and Isabella to their first day at school.  Sophie is shy and does not want to go, but Isabella is excited about it.  While Kelly settles the girls in the classroom, she leaves Noah in his pram just outside the door.  When she leaves, there’s no Noah.  Panicking, she sees that someone has moved him in the pram further down the hall.  In his blankets, she finds a locket similar to the one she wears.  It has the word “sister” scratched it.  Her foster sister, Freya, was wearing it on the day she died.  Kelly has not seen the locket in 15 years.  Kelly is upset but cannot share this with her husband, Mitch, as he never knew about Freya.  Mitch has been concerned about Kelly because she is exhausted with caring for the children and nursing Noah.  In addition, Kelly nervous and has OCD which she tries to hide.

When Kelly was small, her mother would take in foster children who would stay for a certain period of time.  The day that Freya arrived, Kelly was happy that she was her own age and wanted them to be sisters.  But Freya was more “street smart” than Kelly.  In addition, Kelly’s mother tended to fawn over Freya and ignore Kelly which hurt her deeply.

As Kelly becomes more certain that Freya is after her, she becomes even more anxious and her OCD symptoms increase.  Her husband, Mitch, is trying hard to help and comfort her, but she finds fault with him.

I found Kelly difficult to understand.  One thing she said stands out for me and sums things up pretty well:  “I want to hold my anger to me.”

There appears to be a huge buildup to a huge let down in this story.  I’m sorry to say that I found this book to be dark and depressing.  

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

(Thank you to NetGalley for the free e-arc, all opinions are my own)

Like no story I've read before! Clarke creates a suspenseful and eerie atmosphere with her descriptive prose, and really connects the past to present events to highlight Kelly's trauma and relationship with her mother and foster sister. She also depicts OCD and anxiety disorders in a realistic way without sensationalizing it. Based in character development rather than a typical thriller, this is an underrated powerful novel. Some parts seemed to drag on a bit, but this story will stay with me for a long time.

This book started off really good. I was curious where it was going and what happened with Freya and Kelly. Once I got about half way I. It started to fall flat. The ending was just ok. I felt like it was a little rushed. I really wanted to love this one because it started off so good.

We Were Sisters follows a woman named Kelly who is dealing with her past. Secrets from her younger years have stayed with her into adulthood. She feels that her past coming back into her life. She starts to  panic and have anxiety that she never wanted to deal with again.

We get to see Kelly's perspective in the present and in the past. It added a great dynamic to the story that allows readers to get a sense of what she is feeling and the reasoning behind it. I loved this thriller because it kept me guessing and wondering what was going to happen next. I had the chills and goosebumps many times while reading. The ending was truly amazing and I never saw it coming . What a awesome read this was.

This was an OK book  but it didn't keep my gripped like I had hoped. Not one of the best books I have read recently but just an OK book

We Were Sisters was a Class A read for me, written by new-to-me author, Wendy Clarke. This book created a whirlwind of emotions as I  connected with many of the characters, experiencing all of their highs and lows. 

This book was about a sisters' bond that couldn’t be broken in spite all the lies and deception that had occurred  in the past. They were two souls who remained closely bonded through tragedy and heartache. Wendy Clarke's characterisation was perfect and there were people you wanted to hate but also felt empathy for in the end. I just never knew who could really be trusted or whose motives were pure. This book had so many twists that I never knew what was coming next and I couldn’t wait to get to the next chapter to find out. This book dealt with some difficult issues such as fostering, mental health and childhood trauma and it really highlighted the complexity of human relationships.

We Were Sisters was a jaw-dropping thriller that kept me on my toes, gave me chills and had a mind-blowing back-story, taking it to the next level. Well worth five stars.

I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel, at my own request, from Bookouture via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

3.5 stars

Despite not having read Wendy Clarke before, I was excited to bury myself into WE WERE SISTERS as it sounded positively enthralling! And it was...until the end. 

We begin with Kelly walking her twin daughters to school for their first day, an anxious time for every parent, but for Kelly it is even moreso. Suffering from severe OCD and anxiety, Kelly finds herself counting cars, steps and everything in between to ensure her girls have the perfect first day as they walk with baby Noah in his pram. Isabella, a gregarious and outgoing girl, is jumping with excitement and exuberance at the new adventure whereas twin Sophie, quiet and withdrawn, is hanging tightly onto her mum in tears and is terrified the prospect. 

Upon arriving at the school, there is the usual confusion and hubbub with finding the right class and introductions with the teacher and trying to prise Sophie from her, that when she walks back out of classroom Kelly finds that Noah's pram is not where she left it. Flying into sudden panic, Kelly searches frantically with teacher Mrs Allen's help, finding baby Noah happily gurgling in his pram at the door to the next classroom. Maybe Kelly went to the wrong classroom is the given explanation but Kelly is not so sure. Even more so when she reaches in to comfort her baby, she finds a locket beneath him. It's not her locket but an identical one...belonging to her sister Freya, who was wearing this very locket the day she died when she was a teenager.

Despite having a wonderful relationship with her husband Mitch, Kelly feels she cannot share her fears or concerns with him for fear that he may think she was delusional. Instead she tries to focus on Noah and enjoying time with him while helping the girls adjust to school. 

But then things start to become rather sinister. Noah's pram and the locket was only the beginning of more terrifying things to come for Kelly that she can't explain. Symbols drawn in the condensation on the window; waking to find the back door wide open; things being moved or appearing from nowhere; newspapers not ordered are delivered with her horoscope or Freya's circled. It all begins to get too much as she starts losing time whilst Noah lays screaming and she stares into nothingness. And then there are the nightmares. Of the Gemini tree in the woods near where Kelly grew up; of finding Freya hanging from that tree.

When she tries telling Mitch, as predicted, he thinks she is imagining things. She hasn't been herself lately and the pressure with three month old Noah is making her delusional. That's what he thinks anyway. But Kelly knows different. And no amount of counting is helping to ease her anxiety.

Parallel to the present day, we have Kelly's story from her childhood to unravel, which is not a happy tale at all. As an only child, her mother takes in foster children in an effort to find "the perfect child" that will make her husband happy. A dysfunctional concept, to say the least. 

On her 8th birthday, Kelly wishes for a sister which comes true just moments after blowing out her candles with the arrival of the strange and elusive Freya. Kelly's mother busily fusses over the new arrival whilst simultaneously dismissing her daughter and ordering her around. Her parents are fostering the 10 year old but Kelly still refers to Freya as her sister for which her mother continually admonishes her. But ever since her arrival, Freya has remained silent refusing to utter a word. But Kelly doesn't let that dissuade her. She is just happy to have a sister at last and hopes that this one stays. However, Kelly's childhood is not a happy one and is somewhat dysfunctional...so it was no surprise that things were inevitably going to go wrong. 

Then when tragedy strikes, Kelly's life falls apart. For her, it is so unspeakable that she moved away and now keeps that chapter of her life firmly closed. Not even Mitch knows the story...but we are privy to her memories as we watch both stories unfold.

Told in the past and present from Kelly's perspective, we discover that both Kelly and Freya hold a minefield of secrets between them. The mystery surrounding their past is intriguing and as the story unfolds their secrets gradually come to light, sending shockwaves throughout the tale.

I found myself becoming impatient with Kelly almost from the start. Actually, from the second page. Her constant counting drove me mad. I don't know how someone with OCD really copes with their condition as to an outsider it really is frustrating. And I guess I found Kelly frustrating throughout much of the story and yet I also empathised with her. She was an unreliable narrator which added to the mystery surrounding her and Freya, as well as her parents. It left you wondering what really happened and was Kelly really seeing it all for what it was? Or was she just imagining things? I switched between liking and disliking her throughout, she was that frustrating. But I can tell you, from the beginning, I did not like or trust Freya. AT ALL. Everyone else just sort of blended into the story, as well as being mostly unlikable. In fact, I'm not sure I like anyone particularly in this story.

A tense and complex plot that showed promise, WE WERE SISTERS is thoroughly engaging throughout but I was disappointed to find it fell a little flat by the end. I felt there had been so much tension, so much build-up, so many questions that by the time I reached the end it was all a little anti-climatic. I was like, really? That's it? The ending really didn't do the rest of the story justice, in my opinion, because the rest of it was so sinister and atmospheric it was really an enjoyable read. I guess I felt a tad cheated at the end. As someone else described it, the ending was kind of more "Oh" rather than "OHHHHHHHH!!!"

I did guess some of the reveals and with others I was way off but as always it never ruins the story for me. I just enjoy the ride. But in this case, as shocking or as heartbreaking as some of the reveals were, the end result - in my opinion - just didn't live up to the rest of the story. But don't let that deter you. WE WERE SISTERS is an intriguing and engaging story which I did enjoy for the most part.

I would like to thank #WendyClarke, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #WeWereSisters in exchange for an honest review.

I ALWAYS love a suspense-filled book! This one kept me guessing. It was a sad story, in part, because of the abuse and neglect that was involved in the characters’ past, but it definitely kept me guessing until the end!

Highly recommended if you like this genre!

Thank you for my review copy via Net Galley!

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.   Thank you NetGalley.


We Were Sisters was such.. an easy, quick, easy to follow book.   It was a page-turner.   It was unique and hard to put down.   the characters were well-developed.   the storyline was quckpaced.

I turn to where I left my baby in his pushchair and pull up short. With a racing heart, I look around wildly, fear gripping my stomach. I only looked away for a moment. The pushchair and my baby are gone.
Kelly is taking her twin daughters to their first day of school, ushering them into the classroom, her heart breaking to think they might not need her any more, when she turns around and sees that her newborn baby is gone.
As a desperate search ensues, baby Noah is quickly found – parked in front of a different classroom. But when Kelly reaches forward to comfort him, she finds something tucked beside his blanket. A locket that belonged to her sister Freya. A locket Kelly hasn’t seen since the day Freya died.
And then Kelly’s perfectly-ordered life begins to unravel…

This was a brilliant thriller.
Full of twists and turns that kept me glued from the very start til the end.
Told from the main characters point of view and talks from past and sometimes present in the chapters.
Plot and story line are written so very well.
Characters have been fleshed out nicely and believeable.
Recommend reading.

I voluntarily reviewed this complimentary digital book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my very own!