Set in Singapore, this thought provoking story follows Genevieve as her life shifts from being an only child to sharing a bond with her younger sister, Arin—a product of her grandfather's secret family. Together they take on the heavy pressures of academic achievement but adulthood drives them apart, fracturing their relationship with jealousy and resentment as Genevieve's life takes unexpected turns. My heart went out to her and I also got frustrated with her life decisions.
The richly layered characters of both sisters and their mother made it emotional and impossible not to get caught up in the drama. A must-read that I’ll be recommending widely. 4.5

The Original Daughter is universal in scope as it delves into the darker corners of sibling rivalry and family dynamics. Genevieve was secure in her role as the high-achieving only child of her hard-working mother and father, until her unknown cousin Arin joins the family and is raised alongside herself. At the same time, the novel is highly specific in its setting, the culturally diverse but always enterprising nation of Singapore. I found Jemimah Wei's writing to be extremely artful and found myself highlighting many of her beautiful descriptions. There are humorous moments in the book especially around Gen and Arin's zesty mom; however, much of the book has a heavy mood as the reader sees life through Gen's resentful perspective. She presents legitimate grievances about her celebrity sibling which will readily lend themselves to book discussion groups. This is a thoughtful and well-written book and I am certain it will resonate with many readers.

Thank you Netgalley & Doubleday for this eARC.

Genevieve Yang was an only child. Living with her parents and grandmother in a single-room flat in a working class neighborhood in Singapore. Enter Arin, the shameful legacy of a grandfather long believed to be dead. As the two "sisters" grow closer, they must navigate the intensity of life in a place where the urgent insistence on achievement demands constant sacrifice.

There are quite a few themes that the novel explores: family bonds, parental estrangement, jealousy, manipulation, pride, cruelty, and sacrifice---with an undercurrent of love. I found the three main characters Genevieve, Arin, and Su Yang (mother) very believable in navagating their changing relationships through the years. There are a few sad parts, but what is love and life without them.

Singapore, 1996: Genevieve is 8 years old living with her parents and grandmother in her grandmothers small apartment. She had believed she was an only child when Arin, 6 years old, is dropped off to live with them and Genevieve is informed that this is her half-sister. Genevieve tries to connect with Arin but it’s a struggle. Eventually, their friendship becomes so strong that they make a blood bond of Till Death Us Do Part. They are inseparable until their late teens when a events occur that brings a new understanding of their relationship.

This novel involves a dysfunctional family, friendship, emotional abuse, betrayal and reconciliation.

Thank you NetGalley and Doubleday Books

This book made me feel a lot of things. I was almost ready to DNF at the start because it was so slow and felt mundane despite the very unconventional life the characters were living. I'm glad I stuck with it though because the writing is beautiful and I love a story that can make me feel such a wide range of emotions. I've never really known that much about Singapore, not even that their national language is English despite being in Asia. And just now I learned that the entire country is only the size of Atlanta which is hard to grasp in my little mind.

This story made me grateful that I don't have a painful relationship with my sister, even though I definitely wish we were closer than we are. I find that historical fiction books hit a lot harder for me these days than learning history in school ever did which is why I will always love reading them for the perspective they give me on the wider world while also helping me understand myself and the others around me.

It's even more enjoyable when the writer's words are beautiful and ethereal in a way that makes you want to go back to get more of it, but also to make sure you understand what she was actually saying. Though I was nervous at the start of this book that it would be a slog, I'm glad to say now that I'm happy to have read it and can't wait to read more from this author.

⭐️⭐️½

The Original Daughter begins with a slew of run-on sentences that made it hard to stay engaged. The writing feels clunky at first, and the pacing really drags through much of the book. While things do improve slightly as the story goes on, it still struggles to hold interest overall. Not the worst read, but far from a standout.

I found it overall depressing and sad.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I DNF at 70%. The main character was extremely unlikeable and growing more so. Maybe the sister did something terrible, but I never found out what it was.

This book was just okay. I feel bad for Genevieve and Arin. Arin is abandoned by her family and forced to move in with Genevieve and her family. Both girls then must navigate this new family dynamic along with just how messy families can get in general. Neither character really felt like they were written in a way that the reader truly got to know either of them. We spend way more time with Genevieve who for the most part runs away from all the family turmoil and ends up feeling so misplaced from her family that she runs away. I understand her feeling like she no longer is good enough and that this is a reality in many families, but it just made me feel bad.
Thank you to Doubleday Books and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this title.

This is a very complex story about sisters and family set against a backdrop of Singapore. While beautifully written, I just struggled to connect to the characters. I think that this may be a cultural thing. While I really enjoyed reading about these characters and how they interact, I could not relate nor find myself rooting for or angry with them, I just didn't connect.

This is book has an audience and I believe will do well, just wasn't my favorite.

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.