Thank you to the publisher for the copy - all opinions are my own,

I deeply enjoyed this one, dark and twisting and it truly did surprise me which is a hard feat considering how many thrillers I read. My only regret is that I waited as long as I did to finally dive into this book.

This was a really good quick read. More of a mystery than psychological thriller, but still good nonetheless. If your looking for something quick and light, but with more feeling and depth (at just the right amount), then this should definitely be picked up. I enjoyed the ride.

This book about two sisters at odds and then brought together by the disappearance of the eldest sister, is a light thriller. I didn't love either of the sister's voices and found the mystery of the disappearance to be room temperature. While this was a fine novel, it probably isn't one I would recommend to anyone.

Ava & Zoe are sisters who do not get along. They have emotionally unavailable parents, share a romantic history with Ava’s husband, & Ava (who is a bestselling author) uses Zoe as the inspiration for her novels, in the process exposing all her secrets and flaws. They haven’t spoken for years, and now Zoe lives under an assumed name to escape her famous sister.

When Ava disappears, Zoe isn’t worried. She thinks that it’s just another publicity stunt and Ava will be back soon. However the police have another theory- someone has been sending vile emails to Ava from Zoe’s account, could she have hurt her sister?


I really enjoyed #OnceTwoSisters & would recommend it. Thanks to #NetGalley and the publisher for my free advance copy in return for an unbiased review.

Quite a different read this was, more action than psychological where every page was a ride. Two estranged sisters where one went missing and the other was blamed based on some emails sent.

My first book by author Sarah Warburton, I liked the beginning where Ava was missing and Zoe was blamed. The story was fast-paced. The two sisters had not spoken to each other for 3years so that made me curious about their past. And of course, there was one common man who was one’s ex and the other’s present. Add to that other complicated issues of the past.

The parents were cold as a fish, not that I have touched any, but they added to the overall frustration in the ambiance of the book. The author sure made it tough for Zoe to find clues about her sister. The story gathered momentum more in the last 30% when Zoe took an active interest.

My curiosity ebbed and flowed as some parts were more interesting than the rest. But I did have to admit the plotline and the motive of the disappearance was quite a different one. Not read anything like that in a long time. I had the opportunity to listen to the audio version, and I found that the narrator made the story more entertaining with her nuances, and I could listen at a higher speed of 1.8

Overall, I would say an interesting read. Could be checked out if the book was out on a sale.

3.5 stars
I honestly don’t even know how to review this book without spoilers because there’s so much going on here that can’t be discussed with revealing details.
The story talks about Teo sister that don’t have a “good” relationship because one turns out to be the bad sister and one is the good sister that has to run away and change her life completely after so many years of suffering all the injustices from her sister.
The parents play a big part here as they aren’t the normal kind of couple due to their job and the sisters are left more or less to find their own way into this life.
Nothing to suspenseful or twisted, quite predictable in many moments but a good story overall.

Rating: 3.5⭐⭐⭐!!!!!!!!!

Once Two Sisters is full of family drama mixed in with a little mystery and thrills. What do you do when you have been raised by parents who show no emotion and then you feel betrayed by your sister?
Talk about a family dysfunction!! I felt bad for Ava and Zoe and their childhood. I enjoyed the weirdness and mystery behind the parents, especially the mother. This story is for those looking for a mystery with drama with a little bit of science added. Pick up this book for a quick read.

Book: Once Two Sisters (Release Date: September 8, 2020)
Author: Sarah Warburton
Genre: Suspense, Thriller, Mystery

Thank you to @NetGalley @CrookedLaneBooks and Sarah Warburton for an advanced copy of @OnceTwoSisters

#OnceTwoSisters #CrookedLaneBooks #NetGalley #advancedreadercopy #ARC #Kindle #AmazonReads #childrensfiction #Booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #bookstagram #nicoles_bookcellar #bookworm #bookdragon #booknerd #booklover #bookstagrammer #bookaholic

A good thriller, I enjoyed the characters interaction and the story. My first read by this author and I will more than likely look to read more.

Once two sisters were born to a pair of clinical psychologists whose life’s work was figuring out how to help the US government most effectively extract information from prisoners. Torture, not to put too fine a point on it. The parents kept their work separate from their home lives, but it takes a certain kind of person to do this work… and it’s a not a person who makes a good parent. This is a story about the children who grew up with people who shouldn’t be parents, about Ava and Zoe who had to try to figure out on their own how to be decent human beings with a conscience.

We start the story in Zoe’s POV, where she is living with her husband and stepdaughter in Texas under a new name after having fled her old life… because Ava made it an absolute misery. I have to say Ava came off a terrible person as well - what kind of person writes her younger sister, still in school, into a novel as a villain, and barely disguises her identity? And then Ava compounded the offence by repeatedly using details of Zoe’s life in her novels, always as characteristics of antagonists. Frankly, it’s no wonder Zoe wanted to get back at Ava; having a relationship with a man Ava had dumped was perfectly understandable… and then Ava snatched him back, devastating Zoe yet again. Then Ava goes missing, and Zoe knows she’s going to be blamed even though she was in another state, because someone’s obviously trying to frame her.

The relationship between Zoe and Ava is so twisted; we got quite a few chapters in Ava’s POV too and while I felt sorry for her as she was kidnapped and taken into a terrible situation, I still never understood her; what drove her to write her sister into her books as an antagonist? To stalk Zoe’s life and fictionalize it for money? I’m not on good terms with my own sisters, but that’s just beyond the pale, and I was astounded when the resolution of the book saw the two coming to a tentative sort of truce.

There are some shocking reveals here, but not really any twists; everything is laid out and logical, a progression through the story, but something felt weirdly disconnected to me. I think it was because the villain actually had a problem with their parents and the sisters were really tangential to that story, just the victims of it. I enjoyed the story, but I’d have liked the two stories better integrated together, and I’d have really liked a better understanding of why Ava betrayed Zoe’s trust so completely and repeatedly. Four stars.

Thanks to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for the ARC of "Once Two Sisters" by Sarah Warburton in exchange for my honest review!

"Once Two Sisters" shows the story of Ava and Zoe, two sisters unable to understand each other due to their indifferent scientist parents. Ava becomes a famous writer as an adult and as Zoe sees herself reflected in the stories her anger towards her sister build, until she snaps. Zoe disappears and creates a new life with a new name. Years later, Ava is missing. Zoe returns home to prove her own innocence and ends up working to solve the case. The deeper she digs though, the more connections Zoe sees to her parent's canceled research project. Who really took Ava? And why?

I really enjoyed this thriller. Ava and Zoe are polar opposites, which makes the dynamic that much more interesting. Zoe, the younger sister, feels like a more accessible character, wearing her emotions on her sleeve, but there's more to Ava than meets the eye. Both sisters have great character development throughout the book which makes you want to keep reading.

The other interesting aspect is the research their parents were doing and how it changed their relationships with their children. They were focusing on the best way to force enemies to reveal information through torture or psychological torture. The experiments use a masked family member to simulate danger to someone close to the person being interrogated in order to gain information. The experiment argues that people give up more information when they "see" a family member being tortured. To see how this research changed Ava and Zoe's parents gives great introspect to the family dynamic.

Overall, I gave this book 4 stars. It had a quick pace with interesting characters and always had a reason for the reader to feel on edge. Definitely a thriller must-read.

Zoe and Ava are sisters ..... who haven't seen or talked to each other in several years. Zoe claims that Ava .. an author of some distinction... ruined her childhood. There was also the boyfriend that dated one, then dated the other, until the first one wanted him back.

While watching the news, Zoe (who changed her name to Lizzie) discovers that her sister Ava has gone missing. At first it's thought this to be a publicity stunt as she has a new book coming out. But then Zoe's email is hacked and severl vicious emails were sent to Ava.. threatening letters.

What's more troubling is that Zoe is now going to have to tell her husband and young step-daughter the truth about her life.... that she has a sister ... that her parents are not dead ... that her childhood was not the idyllic life she had portrayed.

Zoe has no choice other than to return to her hometown .... she must prove her innocence in having any part of her sister's disappearance.

So begins an odyssey that tackles the menacing bond between sisters. The love/hate relationship is characterized by ambivalent feelings of love and hate felt by each of the sisters. As Zoe investigates and looks for her sister, she finds another bizarre link within the family.

But if this isn't a publicity stunt ... where is Ava?

This is a well written debut novel that, full of twists and turns guaranteed to keep the reader riveted to the pages. Told mostly by Zoe, it's like looking through a window and being unable or unwilling to close your eyes, as she remembers what it was like as a child.

Many thanks to the author / Crooked Lane Books / Netgalley for the digital copy of this psychological thriller. Read and review voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

A really good twisty read where nothing is what you expect. Starts out strong and gets even better as you are drawn into the story. Well paced and developed. Happy reading!

What a twisty tale! Ava and Zoe were close as children and until Ava effectively stole Zoe's life. Ava is a novelist who has made a bundle writing novels thinly based on Zoe- anyone who knows them would know. Zoe has moved away, changed her name, married, and settled into a life without her sister and her parents (no great loss of them). Now, though, Ava has gone missing and Glenn, her husband, wants Zoe's help, especially since Zoe''s email has been sending nasty emails. Except here's the thing- Zoe and Glenn had a thing at one point. No spoilers from me but this is a twisty thriller with a plot that's fresh. All I'll say is watch out for mom. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read!

Thank you to the author, Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is an intriguing premise, and includes the requisite twists and turns - but its weaknesses made me lose interest. I got the feeling the plot development is about half a page ahead of what you're reading - not enough to really get the reader invested in the characters (who are all flat and one-dimensional), and not enough to build up anticipation for the twists and turns. I would have been more interested in a stronger focus on the sisterly relationship and the identity issues. As is, it didn't really work for me.

Full of twists and turns, you will not want to put this one down! Zoe and Ava are sisters from a very disfunctional family whom are psychiatrists and have no time for their children. Once old enough Zoe runs away, changing her name to Elizabeth. She then gets married and has a step daughter who is four years old. Lizzie aka Zoe needed to have a more normal life. Then one day Lizzie's sister Ava disappears and she starts to realize everyone knows her past.
Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for the advance ecopy.

I liked this thriller. It held my interest and I really enjoyed the story and the character development. The twists and turns that happened were pretty surprising and I didn't see a lot of them coming. I would recommend this book if you like a good solid thriller.

This book left me feeling a bit underwhelmed. The idea of the story is interesting as are the family dynamics, but everything just fell a little flat.

This is my first book by Sara Warburton and would definitely read another. This is a story of two sisters that are very different and are estranged. Having moved away and changed her name. When she sees a news story that says her sister has been kidnapped she assumes it a stunt by her sister until her email gets hacked and threatening notes are posted to her sister from her that she never sent. She returns home to try to prove her innocence to her parents, brother in law and the police. She starts searching for clues and discovers things that make her believe Ava is in alot of danger. A great psychological thriller, you will not suspect or figure it out ...When push comes to shove Zoe and Ava realize the sister bond is stronger than the problems they thought they had with each other. .

A tale of two sisters estranged until something sinister occurs with one. This book is a spell bounding psychological thriller that will literally leave your heart pounding until the last page.

Wow, wow, wow, another Gripping thriller I found to be completely unputdownable! It wad absolutely well written, especially for a DEBUT (which I wouldn’t have known just by reading). Very fast paced, thrilling, chilling, tons of twists and turns; and of course shocks! I think that the writer did an amazing job with the entire story, characters, and really did keep me in suspense for most of the book, or until she wanted me to be in the know! I highly, highly recommend ti my fellow thrill seekers, as I promise what you crave is sure to be found within these pages! Don’t delay, preorder today, but clear the schedule!

Will make sure to buzz up on platforms and use low Amazon reviewer number on release date!