The Half Sister

By: Sandie Jones

Narrated by: Kristin Atherton

Length: 10 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

The Half Sister is the compelling, twisty novel from Sandie Jones, the author of The Other Woman, perfect for fans of Sally Hepworth’s The Mother-in-Law and Michelle Frances’ The Daughter.

Her arrival will ruin everything.

Kate and Lauren. Sisters who are always there for each other. But as they gather for their weekly Sunday lunch, a knock on the door changes everything.

The new arrival, Jess, claims to be their half-sister, but that would mean the unthinkable. That she’s the secret daughter of their beloved, recently deceased father, Harry. Their mother, Rose, is devastated, and Kate and Lauren refuse to believe Jess’ lies. 

But as the fall-out starts, it’s clear that each is hiding secrets and that perhaps this family isn’t as perfect as they appear.

Where there was truth, now there are lies, and only one thing is certain, their half-sister’s arrival has ruined everything.

©2020 Sandie Jones (P)2020 Macmillan Publishers International Ltd 2020

Not just about 'Half Sister' ...multiple layers

Two sisters, Kate (34) and Lauren (38) are having Sunday lunch with their mother when Jess (22) turns up unexpectedly claiming to be an illegitimate daughter of their now deceased Father. The family is divided on whether to believe her. Much digging follows, causing other long-hidden family secrets to be exposed.

Both the author and the narrator do a great job of generating reader excitement out of what seems a fairly ordinary premise. This could have been 5 stars, but for me, a few discrepancies in the writing of the story-line rather broke the spell.

This isn't simply about the stranger claiming to be a half-sister, there turn out to be 2-3 layers to the plot. Mainly this story (as you might expect) is about relationships, who has been faithful and who hasn't. A crime is involved, but we don't hear about it until nearly the end of the book. Throughout, the author gives generous clues about what is coming next - even I could see them, and I'm pretty slow normally

Mostly the book held my interest all the way through. There was perhaps a slightly slow bit 2-3 hours in. I confess I dozed off, but I don't think I missed much. Good ending.

Disappointing!

I enjoyed the early chapters, but gradually lost interest. I could not give it a two star review as it’s not a bad story. I just found Lauren rather wet, Kate, not interesting and Rose rather one dimensional. The narrator has a good voice, but delivered this story in an unnecessary ‘shouty’ way. Some shouting was appropriate, but sometimes a gruff tone could have replaced that.

Overly complicated plot

It was pretty obvious who dun it so why the author had to make it quite as complicated I don't know.

So much more than the summary!

Ignore the summary, this is a 5***** mystery that just keeps unraveling all the way to the end. Just when you think you know 'whodunnit'... something else comes up. Cant believe the rights have not been sold for a film production!

Confusing & shallow!

Started off quite promising by giving you an insight to the sisters' relationship with each other & to their parents. Unfortunately, there was no real story & then it was as though the author had had enough too & had to wrap it up, leaving some very important questions unanswered!

Another gripping twisty tale from SJ.

Another gripping story from the master of the twisty tale, Sandie Jones. I loved it.

twisty turny

the story was narrated well. Good plot and sub plots. a compelling read. Good twists.

Fantastic

Loved this book. Good plot with plenty of twists and turns. Relatable characters. Much better than I expected. Highly recommend.

Great listen!

I really enjoyed this book. The ending was left a bit up in the air about what really happened but apart from that, fab story which had me gripped right from the beginning. Highly recommended.

a bit drawn out and boring

but well read! seemed like this was making an attempt at a mountain out of a molehill but ended up kind of dull and predicted the "twist"