Book Review: The Sister | Louise Jensen

A dark and twisted tale of the damages in our past coming back to haunt us! I finished this yesterday, and I’m so glad to have found this author. I found The Sister by Louise Jensen on a recommended staff read at Powell’s books, which is where I find a lot of new-to-me authors. The cover drew me right in! How gorgeous is it? Its even prettier in person. I will definitely look for what is next from this author, because I enjoyed this book–particularly the last half!

About the Book

The book is about Grace and her best friend Charlie. Several months before the book begins, Charlie died. Though we don’t learn the circumstances of this death for quite some time, it is clear that Grace feels somehow responsible. Grace herself lives with and is dating another childhood friend of theirs named Dan. However, Grace and Dan in present-day are not doing so well. Grace is clearly suffering from depression since Charlie’s death, and through the flashbacks we also know that Grace has suffered from anxiety for quite some time. Dan obviously loves Grace, but he also seems distant and uncommunicative at times.

Grace opens an old letter from Charlie and decides to help look into Charlie’s father (whom Charlie never knew) as a sort of way to stay connected with Charlie. Through this, Charlie’s long lost half-sister shows up and ends up moving in with Grace and Dan. Here is where the trouble REALLY begins, because things start to unravel in Grace’s life with Anna living there.

Reflection

The whole book is from Grace’s perspective, and she is quite a deep character to carry a story! Grace is an individual whose anxiety and depression are almost overwhelming to her ability to function and think through scenarios rationally. At the same time, Grace is someone you want things to get better for! I cheered her on. I wanted to shake her until she focused and stopped self-destructing. I wanted her to find her way! Jensen certainly writes a character that is compelling and complex. This book is really more of a character study. It isn’t driven by the mystery, since it is pretty clear to everyone except Grace what is going on. There are a few fantastic twists towards the end that I would never have guessed! I certainly didn’t guess the story about Charlie’s death that finally comes out. The ending has that “unputdownable” quality thriller-lovers seek out in a book!

I’d place this book more in the women’s suspense category than psychological thriller. There are some crazy things that happen in the book that make you want to call it a psychological thriller, but at the end of the day, its a book about friendship and guilt and the female struggle between strength and weakness. I thought Jensen explored the notion that females sometimes don’t give themselves enough credit for how strong they really are. Grace is certainly that way! The book is sort of about our insecurities being what holds us captive, not our circumstances.

Onto the characters–Grace is tough to handle! She is so anxious and hyper-aware in some ways, and in others she is oblivious to such obvious things. Dan is infuriating but sweet. He loves Grace so much, but he is also sort of the typical male with poor communication and a lack of awareness of her most obvious hints. (I think many of us can relate to that, amirite??) Charlie is mostly present in flashbacks, and she is a compelling figure. You can tell how much her friendship meant to Grace, and Jensen does a great job showing why Grace wants to be friends with Charlie. Lexie (Charlie’s mom) is a train wreck! Anna is almost not like a real person. Honestly by the end I couldn’t really figure out what I was supposed to conclude about Anna, and I was left pondering her as a character for some time!

Though the first 1/3 was a slow-build, it picked up as it went. By the last third, you will be speeding towards the conclusion! I do wish we’d found out the details of Charlie’s death sooner, because it helped me understand a lot of things. A solid first novel–I will definitely be looking for Jensen’s next book!