Ava grew up in the haunted Blackworth Mansion. Her mother's mysterious death was ruled to be from natural causes, but Ava believes otherwise. Seventeen years later, Ava returns to Blackworth Mansion. She is still not over her mother's death. As Ava tries to figure out what happened in the past, more secrets are flushed out. To complicate things, her brother, Jamie, marries Sarah, who he barely knows. Along with some other characters from her past, Ava has to determine whether to team up with Sarah or to be suspicious of her motives. 

This book has it all - mystery, family secrets, revenge, and creepiness. It is told from multiple perspectives. I found these perspectives interesting and enough to keep me wanting more. I also really enjoyed the plot itself. The ending fit well, but was predictable. 

In terms of pitfalls, some things just didn't make sense. Some things are messy and are never fully explained. Nonetheless, it is still an intriguing read. 

Thank you Thomas & Mercer for the copy in exchange for an honest review.

I love love love finding books I would not have otherwise heard about had it not been for this book loving community . 

Big thank you to Thomas & Mercer, who shared this book with me . It was above and beyond what I could have ever expected . 

This is a slow burn murder mystery jam packed with details and an explosive narrative . I read The Shadow Sisters in one sitting and I was left with my jaw on the floor. Never, could I have anticipated all this book holds. 

Long buried secrets are soon exposed….

Teaser: 

Ava grew up in a haunted mansion, envied by all her friends. But when her mother died mysteriously there, the thrills of Blackworth Mansion became nightmares. Ava never accepted that her mother perished from natural causes, but no one would believe her.

Seventeen years later, Ava returns home to unravel the truth of her mother’s death—and her own demons quickly follow. Her estranged and vindictive father may be stalking her. Her secretive new sister-in-law lands on her doorstep with troubles of her own. And then there’s the strange girl who may or may not be haunting the grounds. Even Ava’s romance with her first crush is shadowed by her suspicions.

When Ava makes a terrifying discovery on the property, she must decide just how far into the past she’s willing to go. Some secrets can be deadly—especially the ones Ava’s kept hidden in the dark.

I really wanted to love this book, but it was so long and drawn out that I lost interest half the time. The creepy factor was just not there at all, I kept waiting for the ghost to show up, and for the father to truly be stalking the main character. Told in multiple POVs, all female, and even though they are labeled when they change, it was still hard to figure out who was who. None of them were reliable, or likable. Ava was oblivious to many things, and seemed that she did not know the truth of anything. Sarah was controlling and overstepped at every corner. Who plans renovations on a house that is not theirs, and does not tell the owner? Who thinks it is a good idea that taking your husband to his childhood home, that he does not want to return to, for recovery from a car accident? Didi was whiny and troubled teen who places her frustrations on others and steals to try to make things "even." This made it hard to connect to any of them and keep interest in the book. Is the mystery supposed to how the mother died? Even though this is a main fixture of the novel, it did not seem as though Ava was trying to figure out who killed her at all. The twist was predictable, and did not add any shock value to the novel.

I want to thank Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for an ARC of this book.

Full review to come on Goodreads and Amazon.  Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for a review copy.

Enjoyed the atmosphere of the manor and the "cinderella" ghost aspect - slow in the beginning - but got better. Then it was predictable at the end.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the ARC. I tried to get in the story but I couldn't so I end up dnfing it about 50% away. I may come back to it later.

this was definitely an improvement over Marcott’s previous book but i felt like i had similar issues - really interesting premise and concept but the story was a bit all over the place and this one felt unnecessarily long to the point it dragged

In Lindsay Marcott’s Shadow Sister, this psychological thriller is dark as noir and twisted as they come to give you the chills. At age 14, Ava Holland’s mother had strangely died to an unusual death. She always believed her father had killed her mother. During her youth, her mother Christina had told a ghost story about a murdered girl named CInderella haunted their historical family mansion. Now, 17 years later, Ava wishes to return home to San Francisco and be reunited with her brother Jamie. When he met Sarah Davis, a rich widow, and later married her, things aren’t what they seem, when she moved into her life. Ava’s also reunited with her high school crush, Thomas Rainier, who works in architecture and construction. For Sarah Davis, she had found the perfect way to become a Holland, and that’s to seduce the object of her obsession, Jamie. But to keep the truth distorted from the lies, we flash back to what happened in 2006 for Didi Morrison, a housekeeper’s heavyset daughter, who everyone had treated cruelly. When Jamie gets into a car accident and is badly hurt, Sarah swoops into the family mansion and shakes things up for Ava as her sister-in-law. The closer to the truth she becomes to discover who Sarah or Didi is, it’s a battle of life and death for her and her breath in the end. 

This bone-chilling psychological thriller will make you stay up all night with the light on. I cared for Jamie and Ava, who had been blindsided and swindled by an evil person. All they wanted was truth for the answers, when things went bad from worse. It had set me on edge. The location of San Francisco California had dreary and compelling scenic settings to paint the scene. The theme of the story is if you have nothing else to say, don’t say it at all, since revenge is best served cold. 

This twisted thriller will give you goosebumps and chills all over. I rated this book, four out of five stars for no reason. If you love twisted psychological thrillers with non-stop action, plenty of dramatic suspense, and sharp surprises to keep you guessing, pick up a copy of Shadow Sister today. This book is recommended for fans of thriller novels, TV shows, and movies like You, Lisa Gardner, Erica Spindler, and Lisa Jewell.

I was lucky to receive an advance copy of Shadow Sister by Lindsay Marcott from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review and opinions.  This was a great book to read that kept me guessing until the end and believe it or not but I actually figured it out.  That NEVER happens! :)  I really enjoyed the writing style by this author and I look forward to reading more by her in the near future.

This book was perfectly written! Going into it you’re just expecting a wicked family history with many many secrets ~ then it takes a twist, Ava has found out information that TRULY brings you in. I could not put this book down, finished it in less than two days!

Atmospheric creepy novels are a favorite. Ava returns to her childhood home, (a haunted mansion) hoping to unravel the mystery of her mother's death.  It was listed as natural causes, but Ava has never believed that.  As the book progresses, we aren't sure if it's the people around Ava, or is it Ava herself that is the danger?

Thank you Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for the ARC!

This was not for me. The writing just was ok. I couldn't connect to the story or the characters so I found this book very long for what it was.

I enjoyed this for the most part but found the reveal a bit too farfetched. The first and second paragraph lured me in and I was intrigued enough to read it until the end.

Goodness gracious, this book gave me the goosebumps I crave when I read a spookyliscious book. I adore when I have hints about the plot twist but as the story develops you keep doubting yourself and the author truly makes you think. This is exactly what happened in this story for me. 

I felt intrigued, then disgusted, then confused, then annoyed, then intrigued once more, then I also wanted revenge, then devastated... and it was like this the whole time I spent reading this book. A rollercoaster of emotions. I am most certainly looking forward to read the previous work from the author and her upcoming novels too. 


Thank you Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for the opportunity,

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
This book is written from the perspective of 3 characters, Ava, Sarah, and Didi. Ava returns to her childhood family mansion in the hopes of confronting her haunting past. This journey takes her on a strange and horrifying ride as she learns the truth of what happened to her family. 

I really wanted to like this book.. it had all the elements that would make an awesome book, an old gothic home filled with ghosts, a murder, a mystery. But it fell flat. It was a slow burn… very slow. It did pick up toward the end. However, the twist was easily guessed toward the beginning of the book.

I had mixed feelings about this book, it is told in multiple person timelines. There was talk about a ghost and I really thought the story would be around that.  However, it is more about Ava returning to her childhood home to figure out what happened to her mom.  Was she murdered or did she really just sick?  

Ava returns to her childhood home after a divorce to bring some closure to her childhood issues.  Once she returns home, all the weird things start to happen again.  With the help of her brother, she soon realizes there are things from the pas that don't add up.  Is she going crazy or is someone trying to kill her?

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for a copy this book for my honest review.

Shadow Sister tries being a psychological thriller,  horror story and a gothic thriller all at once but succeeds in none of these areas. The story begins with Sarah as she gets interested in  Jamie, her new professor at the college she had been attending for the past months. And then we cut to Ava, Jamie's sister, who is still struggling in coping with her mother's death when she was a child. For the past few years, she has become increasingly convinced that her mother hadn't died of natural causes as declared then by the doctors. 

And then we get to delve slowly into the mind of Didi, the girl who had an unhealthy obsession with Sarah in their high school and even tried to push her off a ledge to kill her. We are taken into  the minds and psyche of these people in the current time and about 13 year previously, when Didi used to work in Ava, Jamie's dilapidated mansion house. The author takes us through a twisted maze of paranoia, mind-games, manipulation set in a very atmospheric place that just gave me the chills while reading about it 

The book is a fairly entertaining read with a good narrative style and odd character sketches. The story is eerie and atmospheric enough to capture our attention; there are also some good scare moments. Almost all the characters in the story are emotionally damaged and twisted people and the author has given those people a solid background to explain the reason they are being the way they are. And their weirdness give a solid canvas to create the most twisted story a person can ever think of.  However, for the same reasons, these characters get quite difficult to connect with as they seem quite unreal at times. 

Despite the red-herrings and psychological elements of the story, I did see some of the twists coming. Still, I quite enjoyed the story and recommend this book for all those who like to read atmospheric thrillers containing chilling moments.

Ch 1-5

It's okay to not see Paris. I always dreamed it would be my favorite place in the world. See Paris syndrome.

I love that kittens heels are back in. Can't decide if they fit my style or not, but there's this pair by Inez I'm rather enamored of.

Not that they're in any way my style, but I'm always jealous of white people's family rings. I'd like a Victorian cluster. I'd never wear it, but you know.

I hate when people say adulting. Embarrassingly enough, it's generally millennials.

Mom died suspiciously. I'm quite curious about this thus far, which is good. I've had a slew of bad reads, as you well know.

CDs. Red Hot Chili Peppers. MySpace. The memories.

Mm. Sexy nerdy is exactly my type. Love me some horn-rimmed glasses. Help.

I would like to rent a bungalow in Santa Monica. How nice it is to be rich.

Ch 6-10

I don't know why the idea of a hand surgeon makes me laugh so much.

What is the name Darsh? Is this real life?

Coldplay at a beach party. How original.

Okay, Darsh's mom is Indian. I'm fine with his name if an Indian can confirm this is a name. But fairly certain his dad is white.

The old crush that's now an architect seems suspicious. Did I already say I find everyone suspicious?

Secret weddings are the best. Until they're not.

Ch 11-15

Is Didi really the villain? I don't trust Sarah. I don't trust anyone. Are the narrators reliable?

Well, well. Sarah is manipulative? Who knew? Oh, me.

Ava is dumb, but we've all been there.

People pretending to be other people. I wonder how much of that is going on.

Ch 16-20

I was promised a ghost. All I'm getting are creepy unsigned letters. Who is masquerading as mom?

I'm sure lots of people would like to live by the ocean, but they aren't rich. The things people say. Insane.

Ch 21-25

I'm sorry but in this day and age, you're telling me someone doesn't know who Frida Kahlo is? No way. Absolutely not.

Yes. Move your injured husband into the childhood home that he hates without asking him. He'll love that. It will go so well.

Everyone ironically calls Target Tarjhay. You're not special.

Did Didi kill mom or is that the red herring here? Or rather, a red herring.

Ch 26-30

Did Sarah purposefully donate to the school where James works? What does Thomas know about her?

I am trash for anything art deco. 

Sarah needs to but tf out. That is not your house. You cannot reno it. 

Damn. I’d marry an old man and put up with his stupid kids if he left me $45 million. Into that. 

Ch 31-35

A body! In the gravel! Oh no!

Ooh, special tea. 

What does Sarah have on Thomas? The plot thickens. 

Ch 36-40

Sea cucumber is a choice. 

Ava is on a slow descent into madness. Or is she being poisoned, too? What is happening?

If dad is dead, who has Ava been seeing?

CALLED IT

Ch 41-45

Maybe don’t fall for a man that literally buried someone you loved. 

This was wild. I loved every second.

Nice creepy little read. Would recommend. I really liked the storyline. My only complaint is why are creepy mysteries always in an inherited mansion? Gets rather boring.

Ava has always questioned her mother's death. The doctors attributed it to a rare disease, but she remains convinced that it was something else. Maybe someone poisoned her mother there in the halls of the family mansion. Seventeen years have passed and she'd ready to find some answers. There are a lot of different characters and a lot of different motives, both in the past and present. Towards the end, my concern for the characters was making me actually uncomfortable. It's creepy and atmospheric and part of the Kindle Unlimited program.