I loved this! Casey's sister, Sutton, goes missing, and everyone in town is on the search. However, Casey can not come to terms with the sweet and kind girl Sutton is being portrayed as. Casey is beyond angry that she is the only person who knows how vile her sister can be. When Sutton is found, she does not come back as herself. She has no memory of anyone but Casey, whom she seems to love right now.

I loved this messed up dynamic between the sisters and the way the truth was revealed. Sutton had some chapters showing her side of the story and even more drama later that.... let's just say this is a tangled web!

I had a lot of fun reading this, particularly the parts about their family history and ties to folklore. I think this story was really well-developed, and I can't wait to read more from this author!

Out June 27, 2023!

Thank you, Netgalley and Publisher, for this Arc!

This beautiful and tragic book looks at inter-generational and family drama in a biracial home.
Casey is having a hard time with the fact that her sister is missing. Everyone paints a picture of Sutton’s perfection: the popular cheerleader with an entourage of friends, a doting boyfriend, and a limitless future. But Casey knows what Sutton is really like and hates this fake adulation. The truth is people don’t look for missing Black girls-even biracial girls-without believing there is an angel to be saved.
Sutton suddenly repapers and a new host of issues arise. Sutton isn’t the same. She remembers nothing about while she was gone—or anything from her old life except for Casey. She depends on Casey and the new goldfish that she watches swim around in circles. Sutton’s strangeness drives her friends away, and Casey knows something deep and sinister happened to her.
At first, this seems like a missing girl book shining a light on the fact that girls of color disappear, and they aren’t looked for like their white counterparts. The end transforms this into something more transcendent which makes it unique from the many books I’ve read.
I loved that we get different perspectives between the two sisters. Sutton talks about how evil Sutton is and how she might be faking her abduction. Casey thinks Sutton is a spoiled brat who is messing up her relationship with her boyfriend. You get to see how both are right and wrong about the characters. I loved this dual reality.
There is an element I can’t touch on. I can go on and on about how powerful and beautiful this book is but because I am white, I don’t truly understand how important and meaningful this book is. Lily Mead explains in the Note from the Author that this book was like a therapy to her. To help her take power. Psychology I can see how beautiful this is, but I am unable to truly appreciate the trauma she has inherited and how hard writing as an author of color can be. For that aspect, please check out reviews written by other people of color.
The Hoodoo magic (including conjure and rootwork) and the ancestors' power give this book an edge over other books about missing girls. The Shadow Sister is powerful, moving, and thought-provoking. For a full picture, check out reviews by people of color.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

At first Casey and Sutton really annoyed me and drove me nuts with how childish and immature both of them are. I enjoyed the mystery of Sutton’s disappearance and return where she could not remember anything. I could not wait to find out how she returned and what happened to her when she disappeared and who done it. I just wish Casey and Sutton, in her flashback chapters, were not so annoying and whinny and immature as that made it difficult for me to get into the book at first. I just wanted to shake both of them.

I'm gonna start this off by saying I was pretty sure I hated both sisters for a good bit of the book, and I mean that as a compliment-- I really didn't like Sutton or Casey, but I desperately wanted to know what happened to Sutton and how every little problem played out. MCs I dislike are such a hard sell for me but Lily Meade freakin nailed it. I was hooked from the very first sentence (talk about a phenomenal opening line), and it just kept getting better from there.

Casey's sister Sutton has gone missing, and Casey is annoyed about it. Mostly because this is exactly the kind of thing Sutton would do--something dramatic that makes her the center of attention. Casey hates Sutton, and she knows the feeling is mutual. But when Sutton returns, she acts like she loves Casey, who's annoyed at her newfound caretaking role for her sister who supposedly remembers nothing about what happened to her--or about her life before the disappearance.

The Shadow sister is a really beautifully written story about the complexities of family--the people we're forced to be with, for better or for worse. It's also an examination of faith and spirituality, racism, and the love that binds people together. This was one of my favorite books I've read in a while, and I can't wait to read more from Lily Meade.

Casey and her sister, Sutton, don't get along. I would even go so far as to say they hated each other. The latest conflict is a bracelet that belonged to their grandmother that both claimed Ma Remy wanted them to have. When Sutton goes missing Casey isn't sure if she wants her sister back or not but then a couple weeks later she is found wandering at night naked and the only person she connects to is Casey but she seems different. Even Sutton's dog won't go near her. Not having a sister I found the love/hate thing a bit hard to connect to. Their Dad is an historian and works from home and mom is maybe a TV reporter. As far as characters go the only ones really developed were Sutton and Casey. I found it to be a quick read that kept my interest but then the ending was so abrupt. I can't say that I saw that coming but the why of it eludes me.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for providing me with a digital copy.

Casey never wanted Sutton dead, not really. Not even the huge argument they had over their late grandmother’s bracelet. They’re sisters, after all, even if they hate each other half the time. But when Sutton goes missing, and Casey is forced to fit into a narrative that makes Sutton sound like a perfect angel, she can’t help but squirm inside. She feels even weirder when Sutton is found, having completely lost her memory except for a single thing: she remembers Casey, her sister. Convinced that Sutton is pretending for an ulterior motive, Casey struggles to live with her supposedly amnesiac sister, even as the world changes around them. Can Casey figure out exactly what happened the time that Sutton was gone? And can she put things to rights?

I received an advanced reading copy of The Shadow Sister in exchange for an honest review.

The Shadow Sister is a young adult novel by Lily Meade. It’s a novel I’m actually struggling to classify a little bit, because while it’s mostly a thriller-type book, there’s speculative elements in here, so that you could argue that it could be fantasy. They’re very minor, though, so I think you can consider it as either.

This book contains so much, and yet I read the whole thing in only two days. It’s not particularly long, but I’m mostly talking about the many themes in here, as well as the characters and how complex they all are.

Our main character is Casey, of course, but so much of her story also includes Sutton, her sister. Now, if you’ve been reading my blog for any amount of time, you would probably know that I’m a huge fan of stories about sisters. I love reading about this relationship, as I find it to be something I can easily connect with. Sisterhood is complicated, and it’s always interesting! Here, for example, we have two sisters who seem to absolutely hate each other. Their last words to each other before Sutton disappears is that one hopes the other was dead, and the other hopes the one had never been born. Harsh, right? But I loved how, instead of remaining on the surface, Meade goes into more of the complexities of their relationship, and how it eventually got to where it did. We get a lot about these two in these pages, and who they are, and how they connect to each other, and it was honestly my favorite part of this book.

But there’s more to them than the fact that they’re sisters. Casey and Sutton have one white and one Black parent, meaning that a lot of what they live through is straddling both worlds. Meade presents a painful critique of the current state of things in our world when the family is forced to present Sutton as an angel to the media, rather than as her true self. This family knows, as well as so many Black families in the United States, that it’s too easy to sweep a missing Black girl under the rug. That without the attention, without showing Sutton off as a true victim, people just wouldn’t care. Or would blame her disappearance on her being a runaway, rather than something else.

There’s also a deep connection to their family involved here, which is initially reflected in how much both girls love their grandmother. But there’s more to it than that. It’s so hard to explain, especially without spoiling the whole thing, but their family’s history also shines through the entire book.

I know I’ve been so focused on characters and relationships so far, but that was truly the best part of this book. That isn’t to say that there’s not a compelling plot in here, though. In fact, it was the plot that initially pulled me in, and the characters then quickly took over. But by the second half of the book, I was practically unable to stop reading. I wanted to find out more about what had happened to Sutton, and why she was acting so weird. I wanted to know if her disappearances were connected to other events going on in the book, and more than anything, I wanted to know if Sutton and Casey’s relationship would ever be repaired. Was it? Well, obviously I can’t tell you that, but you can find out if you read the book yourself!

The Shadow Sister was a surprising but engrossing read. I’d recommend it to fans of thrillers, mysteries, and maybe even a little bit of horror. Also, to fans of speculative elements in their books, and fans of stories about sisters!

The Shadow Sister will be released on June 27. You can pre-order your copy from Sourcebooks Fire here.

Sutton and Casey are as different as sisters can be and do not get along. When Sutton goes missing, deep down, Casey feels that Sutton is pulling something to manipulate everyone. Even when Sutton is found and is not acting like herself, Casey doesn't trust her. But with two other black girls missing that the authorities don't seem to care about, it might be up to Casey to find out what happened to her sister and the other girls.

I wanted to like this book. I liked the dynamic between the sisters, although it got a bit too dramatic at times. I thought the ending wasn't earned enough. I wanted more about the voodoo/hoodoo that Casey's dad talking about with their family history.

Sisterly bonds, heritage, and healing describe The Shadow Sister. An amazing YA debut by Lily Meade portrays the relationships of two sisters struggling and competing with each other to fit into their community. But when one of them vanishes, the other sister must pick up the pieces as the family falls apart.

Sutton is the popular sister—cheerleader, surrounded by friends with an admiring boyfriend. Casey resents her sister’s status and always feels like she is in the shadows. Sutton disappears one night, disrupting her family, then reappears as a shell of herself. Casey becomes suspicious of her sister’s changed demeanor and works tirelessly to find answers, only to discover the truth is not what it seems.

Meade writes from the heart with inferences about her family background and heritage. I enjoyed the two distinct voices of the sisters and how their relationships develop throughout the book. I thank Net Galley for letting me read and review The Shadow Sister. #NetGalley, #The ShadowSister #YA

While we never find out why there hasn’t been much publicity about the missing girls, we do work through the discoveries along with Casey. The ending surprised me, and not just what happened, but how it was revealed. A clever finish to a captivating tale.

I received an advanced copy of this book from Sourcebooks Fire via NetGalley.

Casey's world is turned upside down when her sister Sutton goes missing. As she joins the search efforts, Casey grapples with her anger towards Sutton, unable to reveal their recent argument. Despite the perception of Sutton as a perfect and popular girl, Casey knows the truth about her sister's manipulative nature, even stealing from her. However, the disappearance of Black or mixed-race girls often goes unnoticed, and Casey is determined to find her sister, believing there is an angel in need of saving.

When Sutton mysteriously reappears, Casey's initial relief turns to unease. Sutton has no memory of her time away or her previous life, including the pain she caused Casey. Her behavior is unsettling, particularly her intense interest in spending time with Casey and observing her goldfish.

Driven by her growing suspicion, Casey embarks on a journey to uncover the secrets Sutton kept hidden. The more she delves into her sister's past, the more questions arise. Did Casey truly know Sutton at all? Why is there silence surrounding the other missing girls in their community? And what sacrifices will Casey have to make to uncover the truth behind it all?

This book had a plethora of well-crafted characters. Seriously, they were so on point, even the side characters stole the show. I loved how diverse and intriguing their backgrounds and motivations were. And let's talk about the main character's attitude towards her sister—hilariously relatable! It had just the right amount of teen angst to keep things interesting without going overboard. Kudos to the author for capturing that dynamic so well.

Now, let's talk about the resolution. I mean, come on! I needed more!

All in all, if you're a YA reader looking for a quick and easy read, this book will hit the spot. Just be prepared for some unresolved subplots and a villain that needs a serious upgrade. But hey, the characters and the magical elements will make it worth your while.

Rarely does a book get the complexities of sister relationships. This story accomplishes pivots that kept me on my toes and although a bit predictable, the story speaks to societal ills and judgments. I appreciate that the story speaks on missing Black girls and how Black girls must present in order to be deemed "worthy" of being searched for.

Andrew does not read as the typical boy from the "wrong side of the tracks." I would have liked more of his character. Otherwise, the book is an interesting social commentary that has something to say.

Things are not always as they seem, when Casey's sister Sutton goes missing Casey isn't sure if she is happy or sad. When she reappears, Casey knows that something isn't right with her sister. A captivating read that leaves you guessing, what has happened.

I was drawn to this book based on the description and the diversity in what I thought was going to be a mystery/thriller.

What I enjoyed: the main characters were well developed and the dynamic between the sisters and how they didn’t get along is relatable to anyone that has siblings. The mention of their ancestry added a deeper element to the story.

What I didn’t like: this story seemed really underdeveloped to me. I went in expecting a sort of thriller in a way - sister goes missing, sister comes back and acts strange, I’ve read books with similar plots where the remaining sister almost becomes an amateur sleuth trying to find out what happened but that wasn’t how this book went which was very disappointing for me. The villain was… pretty much a joke. The villain was so one-dimensional and the resolution of the book left me feeling meh.

Sisters have such a complicated relationship and Lily Meade uses this effectively in The Shadow Sister.

I guessed the killer right away. I don’t know why. I don’t think Meade gave anything away, I just read a particular sentence and said they are the killer. I didn’t really guess the biggest mystery of the book. I think this is because I didn’t look at it as a mystery, but the reality is…it was (chuckle). The forest for the trees…sometimes I even surprise myself.

I like the different viewpoints of the sisters. It is so interesting to see how each person can look at a relationship and see a completely different view and both be right.

Meade interweaves sad realities of non-white crimes and how they are investigated, pursued, and resolved. This is a necessary plot inclusion as Sutton’s mother is white and this has an impact on how Sutton’s case is handled.

I enjoyed this mystery. I love the relationship between Sutton and Casey. I like Meade’s thoughts on intergenerational trauma and its impact on today’s generation. I haven’t studied enough of this subject within intersectionality. It’s discussed within ghosting intersectionality, but not enough in my opinion.

The Shadow Sister has several mysteries all tied within the larger mystery of Sutton’s disappearance and Meade keeps readers hooked from page one to the very last word. I was enthralled. I can’t wait to read more from Meade.

I absolutely loved reading this book and especially appreciated the ancestral generation layers. My only critique is that I didn’t understand why the pastor targeted and killed the previous girls? Was he using their searches to collect for the church camp? I think that section was a bit rushed and not as clear as the rest of the book but in all, the story/plot was phenomenal and I loved that Sutton truly did come back home.

Ultimately, this is a book that just left me wanting more. I was intrigued by the mystery and premise around Casey's sister Sutton's disappearance. The initial story of Sutton missing drew me in. However, as the story went, I wanted more mystery and intrigue, and I especially felt that way with the ending. There could have been so much more to the story (because it was an important story to be told!) around identity and why and just all the things. Thanks to NetGalley for the early look at this June 2023 release.

The Shadow Sister, on the surface, is a novel about girls of color who go missing in a community. Below the surface, however, it is about much more: intergenerational trauma, family trauma, personal trauma, religious justification, and hoodoo, conjure and rootwork.

Casey is 15, with an older sister, Sutton, whom she competes with; each thinks the other is their parents' favorite, and each wants a bracelet their grandmother promised them. After their grandmother's recent death, each girl tries to get the other to let her have the bracelet, and the resulting argument drives them apart. But then Sutton goes missing - the third girl in as many weeks to disappear in their community. Against the odds, Sutton is found - but she's changed; she has traumatic amnesia, and her attitudes towards everyone she knows have changed. Something truly unusual is going on - and Casey is determined to get to the bottom of it. The answer is something truly unexpected. Recommended for middle school and older.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thanks so much to NetGalley for the ARC!

3.75/5 stars

Ya know, I enjoyed this more than I thought I would! I grabbed it because of the gorgeous color and the desire to read something outside my normal, and I wasn’t disappointed. While it wasn’t my favorite read of the year, I did enjoy it significantly more than most thrillers.

The core of this book is healing from generation and familial trauma, with a healthy dose of thriller and even some awesome plot about black history, including root magic. The heavy topics are handled well and the main characters, teenagers Casey and Sutton, are depicted perfectly - it’s up to the reader to decide if either sister is right or wrong, but their relationship and characters feel real from beginning to end.

Honestly the history and characters are the highlight of this book - otherwise the plot wasn’t what really kept my attention or felt unique. But the realistic characters and clever weaving of black/slave history makes it worth the read.

arc for my seattle times piece on lily meade (stay tuned!). good, propulsive YA novel with lots of big ideas and moving pieces, that generally worked together but didn’t quite cohere in the climax. that is ok; happens to the best of us

3.5 stars
A decent mystery, but I wish the supernatural aspect was hinted throughout the story- the ending almost seemed to come out of nowhere. Casey was very relatable in the way the she truly disliked her sister and the author wasn't afraid to show that. Some of Sutton and Casey's fights were a little dramatic, but realistic for teens. The climax was thrilling, but seemed a little too short and I wish more time was spent on it.