*I received a copy of this book in eBook format via NetGalley in return for this review. All reviews published on Yours, Chloe are completely honest and my own, and are in now way influenced by the gifting opportunity.
Title: Secret Sister
Author: Sophie McKenzie
Genre: YA Crime Thriller
Rating: ★★★★
Two sisters, two
very different lives: the next edge-of-your-seat thriller by Sophie
McKenzie, author of the bestselling, Girl Missing.
Asha has spent her life on an island community built on the
principle of truth. But she discovers she has been lied to about something huge
– a secret sister called Willow.
Willow has always believed her twin sister died years ago. So
when she receives a message in the middle of the night from a girl claiming to
be Asha, she doesn’t know what to think.
Can they piece together the truth about their pasts and find
their way back to each other?
Secret Sister is
the latest YA novel from the Queen of teen thrillers Sophie McKenzie. It’s told
through a dual-perspective narrative, sharing the perspectives of both Asha and
Willow, twins separated as toddlers.
The story had me
gripped from the very beginning, even as an adult reader. It is very well-paced
and packed full of tension and drama, making it a fantastic YA crime thriller
for teen and adult readers alike. Although Secret Sister exists in the same
universe as the Girl, Missing series, the links felt tenuous so the story felt
like more of a standalone book and could easily be read as one.
The cult-like
island community Asha lives on was very carefully crafted and had me hooked. With
a storyline involving this community and kidnapping, Sophie McKenzie has
definitely continued her record of not shying away from hard-hitting topics in
her YA fiction but, as always, she explores them in a way which feels
age-appropriate to the target audience. This makes her books the perfect introduction
to the world of crime thrillers for young readers.
One of my
favourite things about Sophie McKenzie’s books is that she writes authentic
teenage characters. This was particularly captured by her portrayal of the self-confidence
issues that are so common in teenagers, particularly surrounding their appearance.
Both Asha and Willow were very well written, strong, determined female
characters with strong voices who will be relatable to teenage readers. I also appreciated
the blended family representation as it’s so important that young people see
themselves and their family type represented in the fiction they are reading. I
would have liked a slightly more in-depth exploration of Asha and Willow’s
experiences getting to know the sister they didn’t know they had/thought they
had lost but do appreciate that this may not have fitted in with the tense,
high-action plotline very well.
I did find that
the resolution of the story felt rushed and anti-climatic as a result. It would
definitely have been more impactful to drag out the tension by a few more
chapters. I do also think it would have been nice to have a more depth exploration
of some of the other members of the island community. They were all ultimately
very complicit in the illegal actions of the main antagonists of the story but
this wasn’t explored in any major depth, which I thought was a shame as it
could have been a really interesting plot point.
Overall, Secret
Sister is a good YA crime thriller novel which will be enjoyed by teenage
readers. I’m excited at the prospect this has of introducing a whole new
generation to the world of Sophie McKenzie’s writing. I hope they enjoy it as
much as we did.
I wanted to end this review by saying that the opportunity to read and review a new Sophie McKenzie book made me quite emotional as her books are so nostalgic for me. Her ‘Girl, Missing’ series was a favourite of teenage Chloe and still holds a special place in my heart (and on my bookshelf). It was the first book series which really had me completely enthralled and the first novels that I read in single sittings. I remember taking the first book out of the school library one day, reading it in one sitting that evening and running back to the library at lunchtime the following day to take out the rest of the series. Sophie McKenzie’s writing is so special to me for this reason and I want to thank her and Simon & Schuster for this reviewing opportunity.
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