by Susan Mallery
Publication Date May 25, 2021
Published by MIRA
Goodreads
Genres: Contemporary, Family Life, Fiction, General, Marriage & Divorce, Romance, Siblings
Pages: 400
#1 New York Times bestselling author Susan Mallery pens a love story of a different sort…a heartfelt tale of friendship between two women who used to be sisters.
Once upon a time, when her dad married Sage’s mom, Daisy was thrilled to get a bright and shiny new sister. But Sage was beautiful and popular, everything Daisy was not, and she made sure Daisy knew it.
Sage didn’t have Daisy’s smarts—she had to go back a grade to enroll in the fancy rich-kid school. So she used her popularity as a weapon, putting Daisy down to elevate herself. After the divorce, the stepsisters’ rivalry continued until the final, improbable straw: Daisy married Sage’s first love, and Sage fled California.
Eighteen years, two kids and one troubled marriage later, Daisy never expects—or wants—to see Sage again. But when the little sister they have in common needs them both, they put aside their differences to care for Cassidy. As long-buried truths are revealed, no one is more surprised than they when friendship blossoms.
Their fragile truce is threatened by one careless act that could have devastating consequences. They could turn their backs on each other again…or they could learn to forgive once and for all and finally become true sisters of the heart.
My Five Star Review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ :
Gorgeous Cover for a gorgeous book. As the title implies, this is a book about sisters, and family, and love, and I really enjoyed this one. It’s not a romance and the characters are not perfect, nor do they always do what is right, but this is what made this book real for me, it’s about family…. And family is never straightforward or easy.
I always enjoy a book that is not predictable, and the twists and turns of this book kept my interest throughout the entire novel. This book is about family, and more specifically about sisterly love, and the hurts and slights of childhood and how they grow and change into adulthood. It’s also about misconceptions of childhood and how these misconceptions are magnified and brought into adulthood.
I enjoyed these three sisters, they are far from perfect, and have not had a very good relationship in the past. They make mistakes, and some very big mistakes, and that is real life, but they learn and they grow from these mistakes and figure out how to carry on and grow their relationship with each other.
Their relationship is complex, in fact, I was confused just a few pages into the book, and a bit frustrated that Daisey’s two children figured out the relationship between the 3 sisters before I did! Two stepsisters, two half-sisters, two fathers, and two mothers, it’s all so complicated, but that’s life, especially modern life.
The writing is superb, the characters are complex and interesting, the pace of the book kept things moving so I never got bored. In fact, I almost read it all in one sitting, the book is extremely difficult to put down.
I highly recommend this book, especially to anyone who had grown up with sisters or who wishes they did.
This review is based on an Edelweiss Advance Review Copy provided in exchange for an honest, unbiased opinion.
[…] Book Review: The Stepsisters by Susan Mallery […]