I thought the first part of the book was a bit confusing with the different perspectives and characters but I stuck with it and it all became clearer a bit further into the book. I did enjoy the storyline and after the confusing start I was interested to find out what would happen. Plenty of twists and turns to keep me reading and I look forward to reading the next book by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this eARC. My review is of the ARC, so some issues may be resolved by the final copy.
I strongly considered DNF'ing this book at multiple points, but I decided to trudge through. My first issue was just the formatting. Its supposed to be split into 3 parts but theres a random "untitled" section in the middle. As it is, the timeline jumps around quite a bit, so the formatting issues really made it confusing.
This book is about Paula, Charlie and Marian (though Marian doesnt appear until part 2). Paula is looking for her sister, Lizzie's, baby. In present day, Lizzie's baby is taken and then days later Lizzie is found dead from consequences of being an alcoholic. However, Paula doesn't know if there was a baby or not-- her sister's life was all very sketchy. Paula teams up with her old friend Johnny and together they try to find out what happened to her baby, assuming there was one.
Charlie is a teenage girl who finds herself pregnant by a terrible boyfriend.
Marian is Lizzie's social worker.
As Jonny is introduced, we start to question his intentions. He spends a lot of time and money trying to help Paula but we don't know why and its kind of suspicious but it never goes anywhere. There were a lot of plot holes and things like that (including time jumps) that were unexplained and pulled me out of the story. The majority of this book was very predictable and it had 2 things I HATE seeing in books. Lizzie was demonized so much because she was an alcoholic. Her parents had disowned her and everyone wrote her off and made it seem like what a waste of a person. Nobody in her inner circle tried to help her but instead treated her like a terrible person. The other thing I HATE is the crazy infertile woman trope. Infertile women in kidnapping stories are always portrayed as these women who are criminally desperate for a child and I cannot stand that.
Overall, I hope this book gets a little bit more editing before publication, but there are still a few red flags that would be deal breakers for me.

SPOILERS AHEAD:
Lizzie had twins and they were taken by the social worker. However, the boy baby dies and then she breaks and ends up leaving the girl baby in a hospital when she won't sleep. The baby ends up getting adopted by her (Marian's) ex husband and shocker, that baby is now Charlie. Charlie has her baby (a girl) and Marian tries to kidnap it to make up for giving Charlie up but in the end she hands it back to Paula and kills herself.

Charlotte dates the bad boy of her high school- and ends up pregnant. At the clinic, Charlotte decides she is keeping her baby.
Paula has struggled for almost 20 years to move past her sister, Lizzie's death. Paula remembers Lizzie was pregnant- but no one foundna baby in her apartment.
Marian is Lizzie's social worker - she has dreamed of being a mother. Her husband, Tom, seems to be drifting away.
This story sucked me in. Was Lizzie pregnant? What happened to her baby?
Great character development, division of story into parts to allow for the Paula to recount her memories. The connections between characters were well developed and added great suspense.
Overall, a great read though I wouldn't call it a psychological thriller. There really wasn't any delving into the reason why.

#Net Galley #Her Sister's Child

Loved the Prologue! It caught your interest right away. Paula Donnelly's account of the years since her sister's death are intriguing. She knows her sister was pregnant the last time she saw her, but where is the baby. With the help of an old friend of her sister's (I hoped he was the baby's father!) the hunt for the baby is filled with twists and turns.

I enjoyed this book and will read anything else written by Alison James. Great mystery!

The different points of view and numerous characters had me very confused in the beginning 1/4 of the book, but I knew somehow at some point it all had to tie back together. There were many twists within the pages of this book, some I saw coming and others I did not. Overall it was an enjoyable quick read.

The writing was good and kept me interested throughout. I was engaged in trying to figure out what the heck was going on. The main character was very well built. it was an absolute page turner for me.

In Her Sister's Child, Lizzie Armitage is an addict who has a child. The trouble is, nobody was supposed to know she was even pregnant. Her sister, Paula, knew though. So when Lizzie is found dead with no sign of a baby, Paula is determined to find him/her. Unfortunately, Paula is only 17 and the police aren't terribly helpful. She eventually gives up. Years later, she runs into an old school friend and he tells her enough details about her sister's case to start searching again. Somebody knows something and Paula is determined to find out who.

This book was the 2nd book by Alison James I read. I must say I was impressed. The plot was exciting and full of suspense. I found myself unable to put this book down until it was done.

Paula was such a good sister. Even when everyone else turned their backs on Lizzie, she continued checking in on her and making sure she was alive at least. She was so responsible when she found out Lizzie was pregnant. I was heartbroken on her behalf when she realized the baby was gone.

The book was written from Paula's perspective both in the past and present as well as a teenaged girl, Charlie, going through teenage pregnancy and its trials and lastly Marian Glynn, Lizzie's social worker. As much as I wanted to dislike Marian, honestly I felt more pity for her than anything else when reading her story.

This book should be read by older teens and adults due to some very adult themes within the book. There's some sexual content and some obscene language. There was no violence.

Her Sisters Child had me gripped from the start, stayed up into the night in order to finish it in one sitting. Plenty of twists, turns and surprises, definitely worth a read.

I enjoyed Her Sister's Child (Alison James) but didn't care for all the back and forth timelines and different characters. The story was good, with twists and some edge of your seat moments. I'm looking forward to reading the next book by Ms James. I want to thank NetGalley and Bookouture for an early copy to review.

what a great book. The characters are well developed and you really feel for them. I even found myself feeling for Marian. It's a sad story that at times has your heart in your throat, the plot is great, although I never did quite figure out why Johnny was quite so keen to help. I may have missed something though, I'm good at that. I mean I suppose it could just be his nature as he does pop up a lot in Paula's younger years to offer her assistance.
It's a clever plot though with some good twists and turns, and this is definitely an author that I'll be looking out for in the future.
Big thanks to NetGalley, Alison James and her publisher for allowing me to read and advanced copy in return for an honest review.

I loved this and read it pretty much in one sitting . . The story is told in two timelines that tie u neatly at the end with a really satisfying conclusion . We start with Paula , a divorced mum of two that can't stop thinking of her sister who died years before , Lizzie was an alcoholic and when Paula discovers she is pregnant she tries to help her as best she can . When Lizzie dies there is no sign of the baby and they tell Paula she was mistaken . Charlie a teenager finds out she is pregnant at only 17 and is determined to keep the baby and be a good Mum . Now that Paula is older and with the help of an old school friend she tries to find out what happened all those years ago
5 stars from me

If you are looking for an engrossing read with plenty of twists in the take then you have chosen the right book.

I haven’t previously read any of Alison’s books but I was gripped from the start. The story begins with Lizzie waking up and finding that her baby is missing. It quickly forwards to 16 years later when Lizzie’s sister Paula is still thinking about Lizzie and how she was heavily pregnant just days before her death, yet no trace of a baby was found in her flat. Even though Paula is now an adult with children of her own, she still thinks about the “missing” and how there is no way to track the baby down...or is there?

Would highly recommend.

Lizzie Armitage was estranged from her family who were fed up with her alcoholism and what she would do for money to spend. Her younger sister Paula, did however visit her in her squalid flat and one day noticed that Lizzie was pregnant. Lizzie begged her sister to keep her secret. Her dead beat of a boyfriend was also an addict and Paula despised him. Paula lovingly bought a layette for the baby and guarded her secret just as she had promised to. Lizzie gave birth not long after her visit and enlisted her social worker Marian to help her with her homebirth. She was drunk and incapable of looking after her baby but was adamant that she wanted to keep her child. Marian herself desperately wanted a family but she had left it too late and when she got her husband Tom on board they had a heart breaking setback. The time was not right and their only option was adoption.
For sixteen years Paula had tried to find out what had happened to Lizzie’s baby. Lizzie passed away soon after giving birth and the investigation soon floundered. Nobody took much notice of her very young sister Paula and dismissed what she insisted was true. There was no evidence of a baby left in Lizzies home and the investigation was called off. Coincidentally Paula met an old school friend from her past called Johnny. His interest was piqued. This is the story of Lizzie’s child, a thrilling mystery story waiting to be solved. But can Paula find out the truth before another family becomes the prey of a determined kidnapper?
With issues of infertility, teenage pregnancy, adultery, desperation and more, this novel was an emotional and scary read with multiple twists and turns and more than a few red herrings. The storyboard was complex and puzzling at times. The trio of narrators told their story chapter by chapter and throughout three different parts. As they told their historic story and current stories, so the anti was upped. I was kept in suspense throughout the story and all the horror of what had happened. The different threads were eventually successfully merged in a roller-coaster of activity. My favourite character was Paula who was driven and determined that justice would be achieved for her sister Lizzie. I liked Johnny as well. He was certainly invested in Lizzie’s story and his friendship and support of Paula was just what she needed. I didn’t like the other two narrators nearly as much as I liked Paula. An additional thread was very interesting and involved an unplanned pregnancy and even more suspense. The ending was like a blast of dynamite but it did bring resolution and was most enjoyable.
I received a complimentary copy of this new novel from publisher Bookouture through my membership of NetGalley. These are my own honest opinions without any outside influences. It was a good read and with tense and well manipulated storytelling.

I nearly gave up with this book around 20% in as I didn’t warm to the characters and I found the time frames confusing. However, I’m so glad I didn’t! From that point onwards I couldn’t put this book down and finished it in one sitting!

Her Sister’s Child is a fast-paced thriller with a few clever twists that kept me guessing throughout.

The story is told in two different timelines and three POV which could get confusing as the events are also somewhat overlapping. The plot becomes predictable with too many coincidences after the second part and made me skip pages. I couldn't find it as a psychological thriller. I liked some of the previous books by this author, but this one missed the mark for me. Sorry.

Her Sister’s Child is an amazing family thriller! I loved the way the author writes, the well developed characters, & the shocking ending. It was easy to read and sucked me in page 1! I will be recommending this book to everyone and can’t wait to read other books by Alison James.

Utterly gripping! I was unable to put this down, found myself holding my breath in anticipation and was 100% hooked.
Incredible

Clever but complicated. The second conclusion - which happened because of the sheer number of characters, multiple identities and ever-changing time frames - almost caused me to pack it in. But the first one started to kick in somewhere around the halfway point - and from then on, I was glued to my Kindle till the very last page.

Paula Donnelly regularly visits the grave of her older sister, an alcoholic who died when she was 24 (at the time of Paula's current visit, Lizzie would have been 40). Their parents gave up on Lizzie many years ago, but Paula remains loyal. Besides that, she's convinced that Lizzie had been pregnant, and gave birth shortly before she died. Paula, now divorced with two children of her own, is intent on finding out what happened to that baby (if, in fact, there really was one).

Next up is Charlie, who is pregnant and not at all sure she really wants a baby. Still, she resists her parents' demand that she have an abortion and moves out to a flat she shares with the birth father, who's a real cad.

Then it's back to Paula, who meets a former schoolmate at a bar she happens to visit while trying to decide how to proceed with her baby search. As it turns out, he's very willing to help - although it's questionable whether it's altruistic, or wants to curry favor with Paula or something more sinister. The plot shifts perspective from these and other characters until it finally turns enlightening - and exciting. A good bit of the tale is predictable once things start coming together, although there's one big reveal that comes as a surprise (at least it did to me).

All in all, I really enjoyed the book, and I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to read and review a pre-release copy. I do advise other readers, though, to do what I always do (mostly as a memory aid when it comes to writing my reviews): Keep notes on names and relationships along the way. It's a lot easier to refer to notes, especially if you're reading on a Kindle as I do, than trying to locate the place in the book to find the character who appears several chapters later but you can't remember who he or she is.

This book really got its hooks into me from the start.. I loved that the chapters were written from different points of view and related to different times in the characters' lives. I thought a couple of things were a bit farfetched but it didn't spoil the story.for me.

I have previously read and enjoyed books by Alison James, particularly her Rachel Prince series so I was looking forward to reading this.

The story was well-paced and I liked the multiple points of view. All of the main characters were well developed and there was the right balance between back-story and current action.

My issues were that the plot relied on quite a few coincidences and although I enjoyed the story, I wasn't surprised by anything that happened. There were quite a few typos and character's names/ranks changing but I'll assume that was because this was an ARC and the issues will be ironed out before publication.

Overall I enjoyed this and would recommend it, but I don't feel like the promised 'big twist' was really delivered.