There is a lot at play in this novel of what makes a family. The main story concerns an 8-year-old girl in Singapore whose family feels an obligation to take in a 7-year-old girl. They fairly quickly form a bond of sisterhood until one becomes more successful in adulthood. The paternal grandmother lives with them as her husband was presumed dead years before. But a letter arrives; the grandfather is alive with another family and they have more kids than they can support. So the younger girl arrives and grandmother insists they take her in. There is also a struggle with a lack of education for the mother who wanted to teach and the expectation that both girls will always get perfect grades. Then there is the issue of lots of money amongst the girls’ friends.

The story is good but I couldn’t connect with either girl. Perhaps it is the culture but neither of them seemed to open up enough for me to understand their personalities. I actually could understand the mom the best. The men were a mystery to me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday for the ARC to read and review.

What a beautiful book. I want to go to Singapore so bad. I thought the character development was incredible, and I personally appreciated the depth of the relationship between sisters Genevieve and Arin.

Rife with sibling rivalry, envy, competition, and the desire for love....what could go wrong? Though I don't know much about the '90s Singaporean cultural context, this story transported me and lent new insights, while being uniquely its own. Must buy from a brilliant new writer!

The dangers of familial co-dependency is at the heart of "The Original Daughter," but this is far from your typical "women's fiction" read. For starters, the narrator veers from being sympathetic to villainous, from hyper self-aware to unreliable. In fact, pretty much all the primary characters are both sinned against and sinning. This along with the elegant prose—which I had to force myself to slow down and appreciate, as I was eager to see how things would resolve—makes the novel a thoughtful read. And the depictions of Singapore! I'm convinced if I were dropped into certain neighborhoods, I'd recognize them based on how well Jemimah Wei described them.

Some of the writing, particularly the interludes where narrator Gen mused about her motives and those of her sister and parents, felt self-indulgent, and the pace slackened periodically. But some scenes—Gen as a child with her mother in McDonald's in the wee hours, in Christchurch after a major earthquake, the final segment—have stayed with me.

Thank you, NetGalley and Doubleday Books, for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Genevieve and Arin are sisters of the heart, united by a common grandfather, who grow up together in Singapore. Theirs is a special bond, all through their childhoods. But when Arin betrays Genevieve, Gen cuts her off completely, only contacting her shortly before their mother dies.
It's a story of disappointment, failure, and refusing to forgive.

The story of Arin and Genevieve—two women united not by blood but by circumstance—unfolds against a backdrop rich with cultural nuance and familial complexities that feel both specific and universal.

What captivated me most was watching their relationship evolve across the narrative. There's something profoundly moving about witnessing their bond strengthen despite—or perhaps because of—their fundamental differences. Their shared moments warm the heart, yet their individual journeys pull them in opposite directions, creating a tension that resonates with anyone who has loved someone deeply while growing apart.

Wei explores how family shapes identity, crafting characters whose disappointments and triumphs feel hauntingly familiar. The narrative doesn't shy away from sadness—indeed, a melancholy undercurrent flows beneath even the brightest moments. At times, I had to set the book aside, overcome by the raw emotion of watching these sisters navigate resentment and abandonment.

The novel's exploration of healing isn't linear or neat, which makes it all the more authentic. As someone who's experienced complex family relationships, I recognized the messy, contradictory emotions that Wei portrays with such precision. This isn't a story that offers easy answers, but rather one that sits with difficult questions.

I found myself thinking about Arin and Genevieve long after finishing the final page, wondering about their futures and reflecting on how families—both those we're born into and those we create—shape us in ways both beautiful and painful.

Thank you, Doubleday and NetGalley, for my free E-book for review.

One of the best debuts I've read in a while! I love stories about siblings and families so this was right up my alley, with beautifully written, complex characters. It made me feel, think, and honestly a little depressed at the end. Still, the journey was worth it and I'd recommend it to anyone in an emotionally stable place who can deal with the emotions it stirs up.

5 stars

Few motifs get me more than sibling relationships, and this book brings that and so much more. It's a debut but does not come with some of the clear needs for polishing that a first novel often entails. This is simply a great study in character development.

Genevieve is an only child and enjoys living with her parents and grandmother, but at a young age, family secrets are revealed, and Arin appears as part of that. Arin is quickly embraced by the family, though each member reveals this in very different ways and without the warmth one might hope for, especially for such a young individual. Genevieve is no exception to this trend, and the two develop a relationship that is sisterly most obviously because it is so complicated and layered and has more to do with their individual proclivities and choices than anything one does or does not do to the other.

While I would not label any of these characters likeable, I could not help but root for all of them, even when they were working against each other (and most often themselves). Do I want to know them? No. Do I want to read all about them? Absolutely.

I'm hopeful that this is just the first of many strong efforts from Wei, who also offers cultural backdrops with which I am less familiar. These are great characters, the pacing is spot on, and the serious themes and motifs come through in a way that is both realistic and not overly oppressive to read. I will unquestionably be back for more from Wei.

'The Original Daughter' is an impressive debut novel coming from Jemimah Wei who really does bring heart and flesh to paper. As in real life, her characters are in constant push and pull of each other, and, as a reader, I felt caught in their crossfires of resentment and compassion, wanting and rejecting. For the majority of the story Wei balanced each character's personal story, despite reading from Genevieve's perspective. It was only just a bit between 55-75% the story felt totally Genevieve, impervious to the surrounding characters and felt stagnating, but I see in hindsight it would eventually be balanced out by the final quarter of the novel.
That being said, there was nothing missing from this ARC. While certain bits could be edited down or out to Wei and her editor's discretion, all of the elements of a powerful story and effective novel were present.

i cant believe this is a debut, im in awe. i love reading stories about sisters. genevieve and arin's story is so heartbreaking and raw

An impressive debut, Jemimah Wei's THE ORIGINAL DAUGHTER is a sweeping book about ready-made families, dueling sisters, and growing up in Singapore in the 1990s.

I felt connected to the first part of the book, as someone who was also a kid in the 90s in Southeast Asia. Some of the references made me so nostalgic! The story focuses on Genevieve, who lives with her father, mother, and grandmother in a tiny apartment in a poor district of Singapore. One day, a girl only a year younger than Genevieve arrives on their doorstep - Arin is the granddaughter of her father, a man who everyone thought was dead (but who is now really dead). We get a preview of 2015, when the sisters are adults and Arin has become an extremely famous movie star. Knowing that that was going to happen eventually made the book a lot more fun - I couldn't wait to see how that was going to happen for her.

Unfortunately, I felt the book was a bit overwritten and felt sluggish at times. I wanted more about Arin and her meteoritic rise, and less about Genevieve who is kind of a sad sack and makes frustrating decisions left and right. I found their relationship fascinating though, and their relationship with their mother (my favorite character by far), even more so. A solid book with a often wavering story, but as I said, a very impressive debut.

The Original Daughter is not a book I would normally pick up to read.  But every once in awhile, I like to branch out and read something I normally wouldn't.  I'm so glad I did!  I could not put his book down.  From the first page I was hooked.  This is a story about family and all that it entails.  The Original Daughter is a wonderful read.  I highly recommend this book!

The Original Daughter is an epic tragedy about sisters brought together and torn asunder by bitter jealousies, rivalries, and cruel twists of fate.

Genevieve is an only child, living with her parents and her grandmother, in her grandmother's apartment. One day, Arin is unceremoniously deposited on their doorstep, by her father. They learn that Genevieve's grandfather presumed to be dead when he did not return from the war in Malaysia years ago. had survived and started a second family, leaving his first family to mourn him and languish in desperate financial traits. Now that the grandfather has truly died, his son claims he no longer has the means to raise Arin and brokers a deal with Genevieve's grandmother to keep her.

Only child Genevieve suddenly has a sister. At first, Genevieve is disheartened by Arin's rejection of her gestures of friendship. But slowly, Arin begins to open up and trust, ultimately becoming inseparable companions with Genevieve.

However, as Genevieve and Arin grow older and begin to battle for their mother's affection and compete for a place at school and in the wider world, tensions flare up and betrayals weaken their bond. Only a tragic event can bring them back together again and force them to face their shared demons and each other.

Wei understands the relationship of sisters and writes these characters so realistically and imbued with relatable emotions. Their jealousies and rivalries leap off the page and I swear I physically felt the sting of the betrayal that happens between the sisters. These are compelling characters and as a reader, I was deeply invested in the outcome. The prose is also almost poetic. Wei has a knack for capturing the essence of both a physical and emotional scene that creates a world within the story that we as readers can wholly disappear into and fully inhabit.

*There are some trigger warnings regrading sexual assault that should be noted.

The Original Daughter is a compelling drama and I definitely recommend this book.

The story, set in Singapore, we meet Genevieve Yang an only child, living with her parents and grandmother in a cramped single-room flat. One day Genevieve is presented with an unexpected sibling when Arin appears at the door. Genevieve tries hard to create a relation ship with thus very reluctant new sister. The two girls do form a relationship and grow close, while navigating the intensity of life in a place where the urgent insistence on achievement demands constant sacrifice. Here, failure is not an option. The sisters depend entirely on each other, resisting outside friendships, recreation,, and any kind of social life, in order to focus entirely on academic perfection, creating a path to a better future.

Then a bitter betrayal seriously estranges Genevieve and Arin. Now Genevieve must weigh the value of ambition versus sibling love, home versus the outside world, and commitment to herself versus commitment to the people who made her who she is.

The Original Daughteris a beautifully written book, with believable and intricate characters. .
Be aware that this is a rather slow moving story, but still a marvelously written debut novel by Jemimah Wei.

This is a beautiful and tragic story of two sisters. Genevieve is an only child growing up in Singapore in a small apartment with her parents and grandmother. Another child, Arin, unexpectedly joins the family and brings an entirely new dynamic to the family. This story follows the sisters as they grow up as fierce allies and then become estranged by a deep hurt as adults. The relationships between each of the family members is explored in complex, delightful, sad, and heartbreaking ways, Thank you to Doubleday Books and Netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Doubleday books and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review. It took some time for me to not only read this book, but fully get into reading it once I did. It did slowly pull me in and the novel stuck with me after finishing. The bonds between the girls as their relationship developed and ebbed, as well as the surrounding relationships were all so real and despite the bleakness surrounding much of this content, the novel itself and it's descriptions were beautifully written. The writing was able to encompass so many of the details, intimacies, and fleeting feelings that abound throughout the narrative. This book revolves around some intense and very serious subject matters, but it does so eloquently, while also sharing truths, that although often hard to read, tell a greater truth and story well-worth the read. Overall, happy to have finally finished this novel and pleasantly surprised by the writing of this debut author!

I cannot believe this book is a debut. I am legit blown away. The writing is ultimate perfection.

Young Genevieve lives in a single-room flat in Singapore with her parents and grandmother. Unexpectedly, a girl similar in age is abandoned, placed in the care of Genevive’s family, and told they are to now be sisters, nearly twins.

The orbit these two girls have on each other, the pull and push of love, comparison, and competition, makes it difficult to pick a favorite. The complex relationships that reach beyond the girls give us an intimate look inside a flawed family grasping to stay close. All it takes is one cataclysmic bump to send this family into a downward spiral of pain and incredible loss.

I wish I could read this book again for the first time.

I loved the premise of this one and initially was really into the book but for some reason I couldnt connect to the sisters and their relationship. I also couldn’t understand how their father could just leave and not have a relationship with them. I put the book down several times before ultimately skimming to finish. Genevieve was a cold character and made emotional decisions I just couldn’t understand. This book was fine but wasn’t for me.

I was pretty excited for this at the start---loved the setting, in 1990/early 2000s Singapore, and the entry of Arin into Genevieve's family is both heartbreaking and uplifting. The writing is beautiful, and the intergenerational relationships portrayed with grace and complexity.

Yet as the book progressed, I began to dislike pretty much every character, but especially Genevieve. She is petty, jealous, acts terribly, and receives no redemption from herself or others. Equally, Arin's entry into acting, prompted by Genevieve's abrupt audition for an emerging YouTube platform, is clumsy. Genevieve's father proves inept and spineless; her mother is painted as both flighty and suffocating, a depiction that felt unfair and colored by Genevieve's prickliness.

I give credit to the author for the inventive and shocking betrayal that leads to the sisters' estrangement. This act is amplified by Genevieve's lifelong resentment, though, which just made me sad, for her and for Arin.

I finished this book angry and sad.

This book is a literary fiction debut set in Singapore and looks at the bonds of family and specifically sisters over two decades. Genevieve Yang was an only child until circumstances occur that bring Arin to her family. Suddenly at eight years old, she’s an older sister.

I’ll be completely honest, I went into this book somewhat blind and thought it had more of a historical narrative, so I did have to reframe my expectations and thoughts a bit.

Overall, this book is a tricky one to talk about because I didn’t have any super strong positive or negative thoughts about it. I love a sibling story and it was interesting to read the different dynamics at play with these two sisters. I think what lost me a bit was that this book is 100% a character driven novel and I struggled with my feelings about the characters. I found them somewhat unlikable and specifically Genevieve so selfish and manipulative (well I guess Arin too for that matter.)

And I know the point of the story is not for you to fall in love with these characters, it’s to tell a story. But when I’m reading a character driven novel, personally, I want to like at least one of the characters. I absolutely didn’t hate it, it just wasn’t a favorite and I did have a few issues.

I love that this was set in Singapore (and a bit in New Zealand). It’s a country that I haven’t read a lot about and I appreciated that setting. I think this would be a really good book club pick as there is a lot to discuss.

3.5 stars.