The Good Sister

Twisty indeed is a good one-word descriptor for this psychological thriller designed for a maximum mind-bending ride. Sensible Josie loses her beloved father, only to accidentally gain a sister- a half-sister, that is, named Valentina, who it turns out is just as much in the dark as Josie. Valentina and Josie, it turns out, look strikingly similar and were born just days apart from each other in the same hospital! Their whole lives, Dad Jerry had been raising two families, unbeknownst to Josie and her mother; Valentina's mother is the 'other woman' so she was aware of her second class status, but had tried to protect Valentina from that. Unfortunately, Valentina's life has not gone smoothly, and she struggles with the after effects of childhood depression and anxiety and difficult experiences in therapy, and when we meet her in the present day, she is barely hanging on, depending on her now-dead father's financial support to keep her fed and with a working cell phone. Josie and Valentina soon realize that they are quite alone in a world where no one has ever been truthful with them, and they must cope with the fact that their father kept this huge secret- but what other secrets are hiding in the wings waiting to come out?
As the plot unfolds, we see how the sisters are drawn closer while they try to navigate how to handle the situation. However, we see that it's actually Josie who must cope- does she tell her fragile mother what was going on? How does she manage her boyfriend's and her uncle's insistence that she stay away from Valentina? And this Josie feels pulled in many different directions- loyalty to her sister who she sees as vulnerable, versus duty toward her family. Meanwhile, some serious negative energy is casting its line about, seeing how far it can pull Josie and Valentina under.
The first 3/4 of the book kept me reading, but I was waiting for something big to happen. I could feel the tension creeping in like tendrils of morning glory wanting to take over certain characters' lives, and the suspense was building- but then, I finally got what I really wanted in the last 1/4 of the book and that's when it became a knockout. I was hooked til the end. I only wish some of my lingering questions were answered. I feel like some of the questions and mysteries raised early on in the story were either never answered at all, or were only hinted at later in a vague way that left too little information for the reader to try and guess what actually happened in the character's past, especially Valentina, whose past should have been delved into much more deeply to shed light on what made her tick as an adult. Despite these gaps and a few threads left loose, this book still satisfies, and the overall listening experience- great narration!- warrants 4 stars and a recommendation that readers pick up "The Good Sister!"

I started this book and wasn't sure I would finish it because it did start slow. but I continued to read and was really happy thast I did the surprise ending was just that I didn't see it coming. I loved this book