4 stars #themissingsister #netgalley #ellemarr

Great debut novel- non stop action that will keep you engaged and guessing until the end. I loved that the main characters are bi-racial twins- the author herself mentioned in the acknowledgements the importance of inclusion, and I can't agree more.

A brief synopsis- read the description for more info :)

Shayna is notified that her twin sister, Angela was murdered and she must fly to Paris to identify the body. Shayna notices a secret message that tells her Angela is still alive. Shayna sets off to find her sister and can't trust anyone.

The book kept me engaged and guessing until the end. The ending wasn't fully fleshed out to me- it didn't make as much sense as I would have liked. That could be due to my own ignorance, but overall the book was wonderful. I will definitely order her next book.

I had a real hard time finishing this book. I just couldn't get into it. It is set in Paris France and some of the french phrases are not translated, so I had no idea what was happening. I couldn't connect to any of the people in the book.. Not my favorite

Unfortunately this book fell super short for me and I am pretty disappointed. It felt like it had so much potential but it ended up being kind of a bore. I had to end up skimming the end just to find out how it ends because I did want to at least know that much.

You have Angela and Shayna, identical twins who haven't been in much contact for the last three years. Angela lives in Paris and goes missing and Shayna comes from San Diego to come find out what happened. Shayna leaves a message for Angela in her apartment saying she is still alive and not to trust anyone.

Alot of the book feels like it describes Paris and where she is and I enjoy when authors provide a good scenery to give you that sense that you are there. This one was just a bit much. I didn't need to know what every building looked like, the type of floor she stood on, the color of the sky, the temperature and which direction the wind was blowing. It was just sooooo sloooooow for me.

The character development was hard for me to grasp. I couldn't connect with either twin. Angela seemed like one person on her emails and another the way Shayna described her. In the end I never felt like there was much development on her part. Shayna was hard to connect to because she just seemed to be all over the place with her thoughts and actions and it was just a bit underwhelming unfortunately . The author seemed to slightly touch on subjects on their relationship which was confusing because certain issues were mentioned but not really expanded on and it felt lacking.

The story line was good but I just felt it could have gone so much better and the end left me empty.

**Thank you to the publishers, author, and Netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion**

I had a hard time keeping myself focused on reading this book. The story is good, but there is way too much boring detail within. Eliminate some detail and focus on the main story to keep people on the edge more to continue reading.

Meh. Meh. Meh. Meh.

This could’ve been so good, but it was so cliché. Disappointingly mediocre.

I gave the book 2 stars because it must be difficult to write a book I know I'm not able to. Having said that this book for me is just 1 star. I just could not get into this book. Way too much unnecessary discription, too much going on that did not make alot of sense to me and I felt from the very beginning we knew who the bad person was. Plus I really did not care for the ending. I just did not enjoy reading this book.

There isn’t a bond that can surpass the bond of sisters. “The Missing Sister” tests the strength of this relationship when it has been stretched thin for years. While I struggled to get in to this book, a little over halfway through it I found I couldn’t put it down.

This was a twisty and fast read, and an overall good story. It starts out with Shayna heading to Paris because she gets notified that her estranged sister, Angela, has died. But is she really dead? Shayna doesn't know who to trust and follows a trail of breadcrumbs that she believes Angela left her to find out the truth.

I initially wasn't sure I would be interested in the story, with side plots around human trafficking and Parisian history, but I was fascinated by the storylines in those areas.

My primary issue with this book, which is why I am rating a strong 3 starts instead of 4, is that I was unable to truly understand Angela's character. You get to know her through Shayna's memories/thoughts as well as emails that she has sent throughout the years, and I felt like all of these things were in contrast with each other, and I just couldn't figure out what kind of person Angela was. Because of this, I also couldn't really understand their relationship and I felt like some of the issues they had were confusing, like I didn't have enough information to empathize with either one.

This is definitely a book worth reading, in my opinion, overall!

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

*** ARC received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review ***

3.5 stars.

The Missing Sister is a crime and suspense novel following Shayna, as she travels to Paris from the US following the alleged death of her estranged twin sister, Angela. Upon arrival, she uncovers a message from Angela written in the secret language that they devised during childhood, which leads her to the question: is Angela really dead? The note, reading “Trust no one” sets her on the trail to find out what really happened to her twin.

One thing I thought was masterfully done here was the atmospheric descriptions of Paris. I felt like I was there. There was no doubt where the novel was set, and the darker elements of France’s capital were painted beautifully. The exploration of “the other” and racism was thought provoking, and something that I would have liked to read more about, and maybe have tied into the mystery a bit more.

In terms of the characterisation, I enjoyed Shayna’s character, and the hidden depths that were discovered throughout the book. The only area where I felt the novel lacked was its plot - sometimes I felt that the over-description masked important details of the plot, and I found myself having to revisit chapters to understand where the story was going. The idea of a secret twin language and hidden messages was brilliant, and cleverly done, but the ending, I felt, without revealing spoilers, could have gone in varied other directions, a few of which might have been more shocking.

All in all, a really well situated novel, with interesting aspects but a little confusing at times.

Arrete
C’est ici l’empire de la mort
Stop
For here is the empire of death

Shayna Darby knows about loss.

She lost both of her parents when she was only 21 years old and now she has to fly to Paris to identify her estranged twin sister’s body in the morgue.

When she arrives in France and goes to her sister’s apartment she finds a message that only she can decipher:

Alive. Trust no one.

From then on it’s a race against time to find her twin and discover the truth beneath the layers of lies and the masses of people that her twin surrounded herself with.

There’s trips to the catacombs, expensive restaurants, and brothels.

The outcome could cost Shayna’s freedom and also her life.

Everything about this book, the format, the characters, the sporadic emails sent from her twin, Angela, are great. No relationship, no family is perfect and this highlights it. I especially love reading about twins and that bond they have because it’s creepy but also touching at the same time.

Shayna is a complex character and she knows it. She never had time to be the fun twin. She had to take things more seriously while Angela took hold of living life loosely. There’s turbulence on both sides and even when we get to the climax we feel the tension but we never lose sight of their love for one another.

Elle Marr is a great writer. She nails these emotions and slips in details that you overlook at first but you make sure to notice because it all comes into play later. I look forward to reading more from her. This was a quick read but mostly because I didn’t want to put it down for one second.
Thank you very much to Netgalley and the publisher for my copy of this ARC. All opinions are my own.

Ready for your burial, Moon?

The Missing Sister is the story of a woman who is thrust into a search for her missing twin sister when she gets a call from a French police inspector. When Shayna finds out that her sister Angela has been killed she drops everything to go to France to identify the body. However, when she arrives at her sister's apartment she finds a message from her sister indicating that Angela is in fact in hiding. Shayna decides to play along, and begins a quest to find her sister and figure out why she faked her death in the first place. A solid book from Elle Marr.

Shayna Darby is convinced her life couldn’t get any worse, the loss of her parents has hot her heard and she’s barely been able to accept that they’re gone when her twin sister is found murdered. Angela is presumed to be yet another victim of the serial killer terrorizing Paris. Shayna heads to Paris to make arrangements after her sister’s death and the minutiae that needs to dealt with in the aftermath. But while clearing out Angela’s apartment she finds a coded note clearly meant for her, telling Shayna that she is really still alive and that no one is to be trusted. Shayna embarks on an odyssey into some of the darkest alleys and the underground of Paris to uncover the truth about her sister. This is a fast paced ride through one the most most romantic, and deadly cities in the world

I loved this book so much.
I couldn't stop reading after the first chapter. It's engaging and the mystery is so well done.
I liked the idea of mixed race twins , the description of Paris , all the small details from the taxi drive to the hotel, cafeteria and every shop or surrounding. The underworld as well because we often don't get to much insight about one of the most visited city in the world.
As for the story itself, it's full of mystery and will keep you on the edge until you finished the last page.
I'm recommending this great book to all mystery/thrillers lovers.

With all the French words in the book this was quite hard to read. It was also almost too transparent though as well. Angela and Shayna are twins. Shayna receives a message from Paris stating her sister's body was found dead in the Seine. Shayna travels to Paris to clean her sister's apartment and claim her belongings. As children, the sisters had created their own special "twin speak' language, so when Shayna sees a note on Angela's whiteboard saying "Alive. Trust. No One." she is stunned. She meets Seb, who claims to be Angela's boyfriend but something is off. The story she receives is that Angela went missing during a shooting and then her body was later recovered in the river. However, the only identifying feature of the deceased is a tattoo, and Shayna knows nothing of one on her sister. Still, she identifies the victim as Angela in hopes of protecting her should she indeed still be alive. As the story progresses, we are thrown deep into the underworlds of Paris society, from brothels to sketchy citizens. It is a whirlwind as Shayna desperately searches for her sister given the clues Angela seemingly is leaving for her along the way. We also come to learn people aren't always who they claim to be! Will Angela be found before it is too late? No spoilers here!

I received a free copy of The Missing Sister from Net Gallery in exchange for an honest review.
Shaynas twin sister has vanished in Paris.
She leaves the words Trust No One.
She then hears that her twin sister is found in the Seine River, the possible vi Tim of a serial killer.
She makes a phony I’d on her supposedly dead sister, and then starts searching for her.
While trying to find her sister, she goes into the dark parts in Paris.
A very exciting thriller.

Elle Marr is obviously a talented writer but this is not the kind of book where you just glide through the words and turn pages compulsively. I kept setting this down and picking it up again, struggling to find a rhythm with it.

She wrote good characters and the premise was fantastic but I never felt quite as connected to this book as I hoped. I absolutely recommend however, as I feel my experience may be unique to me this time.

Thank you to Elle Marr, Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for giving me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Missing Sister is a thriller that will have you hooked! If I didn’t have to go to work, I literally would not have put this book down. I love Elle Marr’s writing style; the perfect amount of details, and the way it was told from Shayna’s perspective. I highly recommend this book!

The breadth of knowledge of the daily life as a Parisian student as told by Shayna was vaunting in this tale. Cultural and socioeconomic topics were also touched upon in one woman's attempt at finding her twin sister, Angela. It was a very intriguing plot but I was never drawn into the Darby sisters' world. In this story, the narrator is a young woman who seemed wise far beyond her years. The core issue for me was the manner of Shayna's tone.

I did not conjure up a scared, young medical student that flew around the globe to discover the mystery surrounding her sister's disappearance. In my mind, I visualized Shayna as a fifty-plus year old guest lecturer on sabbatical at the Sorbonne. Her impressively mature inner monologue was both unequivocally perceptive and philosophical about... well, everything. As the story progressed, the mystery appeared to have slipped into a secondary role as clues were sparsely distributed throughout the narrative.

**spoiler**
The defining moment for me was when Angela's boyfriend, Seb, called Shayna by her sister's name and kissed her. It was at this cringe-worthy passage that I elected to abandon the tale. My apologies, this story simply wasn't for me.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and Elle Marr for an ARC of 'The Missing Sister' in exchange for an honest and voluntary review.

An excellent book! Had fun reading it, and kept me on my toes the whole time. Great character development and fascinating storyline.