Review: The Sister by Louise Jensen (audio)

Title:The Sister

Author:Louise Jensen

Narrator:Natalie Blass

Published:July 2016, Bookouture

Length:9 hours

Source:Publisher

Grace hasn’t been the
same since the death of her best friend Charlie. She is haunted by
Charlie’s words, the last time she saw her, and in a bid for answers,
opens an old memory box of Charlie’s. It soon becomes clear there was a
lot she didn’t know about her best friend.

When Grace starts a
campaign to find Charlie’s father, Anna, a girl claiming to be Charlie’s
sister steps forward. For Grace, finding Anna is like finding a new
family, and soon Anna has made herself very comfortable in Grace and
boyfriend Dan’s home.

But something isn’t right. Things
disappear, Dan’s acting strangely and Grace is sure that someone is
following her. Is it all in Grace’s mind? Or as she gets closer to
discovering the truth about both Charlie and Anna, is Grace in terrible
danger?

There was nothing she could have done to save Charlie …or was there?

My thoughts:This is Louise Jensen’s debut novel and I am absolutely gobsmacked – it was such a chilling and suspenseful psychological thriller! I was immediately drawn into this story and had a hard time putting it down until I figured out just what was going on and what had happened.

I loved the way this story is told, flipping back and forth from the present to the past. In the past, it shows us just how close a friendship Grace and Charlie had and how that friendship came to be. In the present we see how badly Grace is coping with the death of Charlie. It’s so easy to become invested with the characters, especially with Grace – whether you end up agreeing with all her actions – and believe me, she does some questionable things at times. But, the way the story is structured, you can’t help but feel as if you really know her and understand her. 

There are a lot of twists and turns in this book, but it’s not so much an action-packed story – this one is more of a slow-build. It wraps itself around you and subtly sucks you in – much like a spider web. The story weaves a web that you soon find yourself trapped within that you cannot get out of until the very end.  

I will definitely be seeking out more books by Louise Jensen – this book was so well-written that I have not stopped thinking about it and I can only imagine that that will be the case with the rest of her books! 


Audio thoughts:This is the first time I’ve listened to Natalie Blass narrate and I thought she did a great job with this book. She created unique voices for all the characters and effortlessly and seamlessly transitioned from one character to another as needed. She brought them all to life! Her pacing was just right slow and steady when called for and then it picked up as the story did so. She also added just the right amount of emotion into her voice as needed. I will definitely be checking out what else she has narrated.