If You Knew My Sister
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3.7 • 12 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
From debut author Michelle Adams comes a novel of psychological suspense, where a woman returns to her family's home to learn the truth and escape her sister's influence.
If you knew my sister, you’d run too…
First there was the Robert Kneel incident.
Then what happened to Margot Wolfe.
And now she’s found me again.
Dr. Irini Harringford was given away by her parents just before her fourth birthday. Although she has spent her whole life trying to convince herself she doesn't need them, deep down Irini longs to understand why she was abandoned, while her parents kept her older sister, Elle.
So when Elle gets in touch with news that their mother has died, Irini reluctantly agrees to return to the family home. But she is ill at ease. She and Elle are not close. Irini knows only too well what Elle is capable of. Inexplicably drawn to her enigmatic sister, yet terrified of the sway she holds, Irini tries to protect herself even as she is sucked back into her family's toxic web of secrets...and soon realizes that the past is more complicated than she imagined, and that her very future rests upon discovering the truth about why she was really given away.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Irini Harringford, the socially awkward narrator of British author Adams's uneven psychological thriller, lives a life scarred by abandonment. Her parents sent her away at the age of three to live with an aunt who resented her while her seven-year-old sister, Elle, remained at home in Scotland. Defying her parents, Elle seeks out Irini. At their first reunion, Elle rescues Irini, then 13, from a schoolyard bully and viciously attacks him. As the years pass, Elle's visits result in ever more frightening episodes. Irini tries to hide from Elle, until Elle calls to summon her home for their mother's funeral. Fearful of what will happen, Irini reluctantly returns to Scotland. Shortly after her arrival, their father dies and Elle disappears. Irini is the primary suspect in a frame-up that Irini recognizes as her sister's handiwork. Irini must unravel her past if she's to escape Elle's trap. Adams fills her dark story with plenty of twists, but the plot falls apart with tacked-on events as it nears its conclusion.
Customer Reviews
Could have been better
A lot of missed opportunities to make this book more interesting. So many plot holes could have been explained but the author decides instead to drag things out into less believable conclusions.
Frustrating, but had to keep reading
There were times I wanted to give up on the book since the characters were so frustrating and their motivations difficult to believe. First, everyone in Irini’s life is so cagey and mysterious with any details for her. At the end you find out why, but it’s ridiculous that the other characters in the book wouldn’t realize she needs some answers and just fill in some blanks.
Also, Elle is so dangerous and mentally ill that despite being sisters, it’s not believable that Irini would protect her. Especially after events at the end are unveiled. And Antonio too. He and Elle are horrible, horrible people and one of them probably a murderer, yet Irini still goes out of her way to protect them both. Elle is extremely cruel to Irini in every way possible, and I mean EXTREME. There is almost no saving grace with Elle. Yet Irini still lets her in.
Lastly, as a parent, I kind of hated Irini’s parents because they drop her with an Aunt who is pretty horrible to her. Yet Irini’s parents are completely blind to this—even though they visit when bringing Elle and Irini together. They never make sure she had decent clothes or is taken good care of or given a decent life. And knowing what you find out about Elle at the end, how in the world could the parents have allowed Elle and Irini to see each other?!
I fully understand this is fiction, but the events and motivations in this book are so far fetched that it distracts from the believability at all and makes it difficult to enjoy and read. If the characters could have been written just a little more realistically, it would have been much easier to suspend disbelief and the story make more sense resulting in a more enjoyable read without sacrificing suspense.
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