Dear Sister by Alison McGhee (with illustrations by Joe Bluhm) was a happy accident. It happened to be returned while I was working at circulation and when I flipped through it I was intrigued enough to check it out for myself. The book is written in a series of letters and drawings from a boy who has just been saddled  blessed with a baby sister. His parents want him to write to her so they can put it in her baby book but he has his own ideas of what to write. From the start, his letters and drawings are quite hostile and he makes a point of saying that the 'wardens' have forced him into contributing. Their relationship is typical of an older sibling who has no interest in catering to an annoying, screaming infant/toddler/preschooler. Their age difference is about 8 years which explains a lot of the animosity. He always refers to her as 'sister' because the name he had picked out for her (and which wasn't used) was so good that he'd hate to slip up and call her that because then she'd be sad that it wasn't her name. This is one of those perfect little books that shock you when you realize they're not more in demand. It felt totally authentic and the illustrations were absolutely fantastic. They were a mix of childlike drawings which aged up with the character and a few realistic looking pencil drawings from a third person standpoint. The whole story is heartwarming and the ending was so sweet that I actually cried. What a great little book! 10/10

 

A/N: I discovered that Joe Bluhm illustrated one of my favorite William Joyce books The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore and now I'm on a mission to find more of his work. No wonder I liked the drawings in this so much! XD

 

Source: Amazon.com

 

What I'm Currently Reading: The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (reread)

All Allie Marshall wants is a fresh start.  But when dark secrets refuse to stay buried, will her chance at a new life be shattered forever? Convicted of a crime she didn’t commit, Allie watched a decade of her life vanish – time that can never be recovered. Now, out on parole, Allie is determined to clear her name, rebuild her life, and reconnect with the daughter she barely knows. But Allie’s return home shatters the quaint, coastal community of Brunswick, Georgia. Even her own daughter Caroline, now a teenager, bristles at Allie’s claims of innocence. Refusing defeat, a stronger, smarter Allie launches a battle for the truth, digging deeply into the past even if it threatens her parole status, personal safety, and the already-fragile bond with family. As her commitment to finding the truth intensifies, what Allie ultimately uncovers is far worse than she imagined. Her own sister has been hiding a dark secret—one that holds the key to Allie’s freedom.

Amazon.com

 

 

 

 

Ten years ago, pre-med student Allie was set up to have one great life in front of her. About to embark on a medical career, she also had a beautiful little girl and a perfect loving and supportive boyfriend. Then one night's events had Allie suddenly facing down a murder charge. After sitting in prison for a decade, all the time proclaiming her innocence, Allie is now out on parole and determined to rebuild her life and clear her name of the wrongful accusations.

 

Easier said than done though, she quickly comes to find out. Everyone in town still questions Allie's innocence, making it near impossible for Allie to find a job. Little hard to turn around your life if you have no income to bankroll the changes! The struggle to start again only strengthens Allie's resolve to get to the bottom of the truth of that fateful night so that she can finally try to put this business behind her once and for all. The truth that starts to surface turns out to be stranger and more dangerous than she could've ever imagined. 

 

Caroline, that pretty little girl is now a hurt and confused teenager, raised by Allie's sister Emma. Caroline barely has any memory of her mother and it doesn't help that her opinions of Allie are influenced by the brainwashing of Emma, who has built up a lifetime of bitterness against her older sister. Allie was always the perfect one, the admirable school career, the kind, helpful, pretty one her parents doted on. Comparatively, second child Emma was treated like a bit of a stick in the mud. It seemed nothing she did was ever quite right, no matter how hard she tried... so she just stopped trying and embraced being the wild child. When Allie is sent to prison, it's a chance for Emma to step up and finally win her parents' approval as the responsible, mature child who wasn't sent to prison. Now that Allie is out, Emma isn't ready to give up the life she's built as Caroline's surrogate mother and the darling child of her parents and she's willing to go to nearly any lengths to hold onto the life she's come to love. 

 

Though the thriller aspect of the plot wasn't quite as strong as I had hoped, there were still enough question marks around the characters to keep me turning pages. I think my main disappointment with the thriller element was that the build up was good and showed potential but there was some dropping the ball when it came to the follow-through. I also felt that sometimes the flashback scenes, mainly the way the reader was only given small snippets at a time, were dragged out throughout the plot a little longer than necessary. It brought down the overall pace of the story a bit. I will say though, I found the ending to be a strong one with a satisfying epilogue. The one thing I would've liked a better conclusion to is what happened with the relationship between Caroline and Russell, since Russell was actually one of my favorite characters in the whole book.

 

Sister Dear is a strong candidate when choosing potential titles for your next book club round up. It offers topics for meaty discussions such as the treatment of convicted felons after their release, or the glorification of sports players or coaches, even to the point of being willing to overlook highly unethical, even illegal behavior in favor of maintaining fanhood. It also looks at sibling rivalries turned twisted, which is bound to get club members talking! 

 

 

FTC Disclaimer: In the case of this book, both TNZ Fiction Guild and BookLookBloggers.com kindly provided me with copies of this book in exchange for an honest review. The opinions above are entirely my own. 

 

#SISTERDEAR  AVAILABLE NOW!  UNPUTDOWNABLE  4 STARS!  @LauraMcNeillBks  @ThomasNelson  

 

Two Sisters, one jealous sister, and a trail of unbelievable acts.

Could you really be that jealous of someone and have such a desire for revenge t​hat you would go to any lengths ​t​o ruin that person's life?

​We meet Allie as she is released from prison after​ ​ten years for a crime she didn't commit, Emma, Allie's sister who raised Allie's daughter, and Caroline, Allie's 15-year-old daughter.

Allie was released from prison and returned to her home town in hopes of reconciling with her daughter, but all wasn't easy especially in the small town of Brunswick where the residents didn't forget what happened ten years ago and wouldn't change what they believed.

Allie knew she hadn't killed a man, but the jury and the town still accused her and shunned her.

Being a felon in her small, home town wasn't working out too well for Allie.  Emma subtly and cruelly made things difficult for her sister and niece and would stop at nothing to keep Caroline as her own.  Caroline was embarrassed to have anyone know her mother was out of prison and back in Brunswick.

All of the characters had a lot of baggage to deal with along with the jealousy factor that definitely did a lot of personal damage.

The characters in SISTER DEAR were for the most par​t ​not trustworthy.

Emma was a sister that I am glad was not mine.

The sheriff was not likable at all and definitely a ​sheriff who had some secrets.

I liked Allie and Caroline, though, because they seemed genuine.

SISTER DEAR is unmistakably a tension-building page turner that keeps your interest from the opening sentence.

Be sure you have a lot of time when you begin SISTER DEAR because you won’t be able to stop reading.  

The last 20 pages became even more suspenseful...I was nervous.  :)  5/5

This book was given to me free of charge and without compensation by the publisher and Litfuse Publicity in return for an honest review.

This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review. I finished it in one day. I completely felt for Allie from the start of the story. A woman who has spent a decade in prison for a crime she says she didn't commit. Who is released only to find that life on the outside is now extremely difficult, relationships are strained, and her daughter doesn't want to have anything to do with her. She is desperately trying to get her life back but also can't put the past behind her and is determined to clear her name. She is a strong woman in the story but also lonely and vulnerable at times. Once I finished, I felt like I had a little bit more of an understanding of what it must be like to try to get your life back after such a long time gone.

Certain characters are out to get Allie as soon as she returns home and it's easy to see who is trying to hide something right from the start. Not so easy however, to figure out what really happened until the solution is handed to you in the last few chapters of the book. Let's just say that the true nature of certain characters is slowly revealed as the suspense builds. I was on the edge of my seat for the entire last third of the book and found myself talking to the characters at pertinent moments until it ultimately came to a head. I was completely satisfied with the way the author decided to conclude the story and felt really good when I finally closed it at the end.

The book was well paced and hard to put down, even for a few minutes. A great mystery and I rooted for Allie throughout the entire story.