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Maddy and Emily are half sisters, though they spent just a short time living in the same house. During those months, however, crucial events changed both their lives.
Maddy grew up in a nice home in a small town north of Los Angeles with her father and mother. Her best friend was Bee. Then Emily came to live with them when she was a tween; Emily’s mother had died and she was troubled. Emily didn’t feel comfortable in her new home and town, but she did feel accepted by Joseph, Bee’s older brother. The teens began a relationship, having sex in whatever places they could find to be alone.
Then Emily went away, and 20 years later, Maddy is married to Joseph. Maddy’s parents have both recently died, her mother after a long time of experiencing dementia. Their old home needs work, but they need to find out where Emily is so they can know how to progress with dealing with it. Then Joseph finds Emily in New York, and the long-lost sister returns.
Emily seems to be doing very well; she’s come a long way since her youth. But she’s still not interested in building a relationship with her half sister. Then Maddy finds photos of her on Joseph’s phone; it’s hard not to worry that Joseph is falling for his first love again. Amidst the stress of it all, Maddy is losing items and misremembering facts. Joseph and even Bee are telling her she needs medical help: after all, she could be on the same path her mother went down.
As Maddy insists she is perfectly fine mentally, she is uncertain about her relationship with Joseph and even her best friend. Emily’s return is turning everything upside down. And it’s making it more impossible to hide the terrible secret from her past.
Half Sisters is a heck of a ride. It goes among the stories and perspectives of the various main characters, from the past and in the present. At various points, the reader feels sure some are “the bad guys” and others “the victims,” but then those conclusions get switched and confused. What exactly happened in the past? What is actually occurring now? What’s real? Is Maddy being gaslighted? Who are really the villains; who are the heroes? The truth only is clear at the conclusion. I was left reeling, and didn’t expect quite how it all came together. It’s fascinating but devastating.
Rated: High. There are almost 30 instances of strong profanity, about 25 uses of moderate language, a few instances of mild profanity, and almost 30 uses of the name of Deity in vain. There are a number of references to sex scenes but generally they are fairly brief and moderately detailed. Violence includes some fairly oblique references to horrible circumstances that Emily experienced in a juvenile detention facility and the implication that her stepfather abused her. A fire destroyed part of a building and left one person dead and another injured.
*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
