I first ready Sally Hepworth’s The Mother-in-Law after someone at beer book club recommended it and I absolutely loved it! When I had the opportunity to get an ARC of The Good Sister, I just knew it was going to be a knockout. Big thanks to Sally Hepworth, NetGalley, and St. Martin’s Press for my copy!

The Story

From the outside, everyone might think Fern and Rose are as close as twin sisters can be: Rose is the responsible one and Fern is the quirky one. But the sisters are devoted to one another and Rose has always been Fern’s protector from the time they were small.

Fern needed protecting because their mother was a true sociopath who hid her true nature from the world, and only Rose could see it. Fern always saw the good in everyone. Years ago, Fern did something very, very bad. And Rose has never told a soul. When Fern decides to help her sister achieve her heart’s desire of having a baby, Rose realizes with growing horror that Fern might make choices that can only have a terrible outcome. What Rose doesn’t realize is that Fern is growing more and more aware of the secrets Rose, herself, is keeping. And that their mother might have the last word after all.

My Thoughts

OH MY WORD. The Good Sister was so freaking good. It started just a little bit slow for me, but it picked up like crazy. I read half the book (literally half the book) in one night because I just couldn’t put it down. The twists made me audibly gasp and exclaim as I was reading.

The story is told in two parts: Fern’s active storyline, and Rose’s past and present journal. The novel has stories from their girls’ troubled childhood and into adulthood.

Fern is positioned as having some sensory disorder. It’s never said specifically what it is, but I would say (as a not trained psychologist in any way, shape, or form) that it sounded similar to somewhere on the Autism spectrum. Wearing swim goggles in brightly lit places, ear plugs in places with loud conversations…things like that. Rose has always been the one to take care of her.

I thought that the romance between Fern and Wally/Rocco was adorable! These two quirky individuals who just kind of “happen” together…it was nice to read. It was subtle and almost a byproduct of the novel.

Honestly, I want someone else to read The Good Sister so that I can talk to them about all of the twists. I was able to predict a couple, but a few just blew me away. I can’t give away too much, so someone read it and let’s have a drink and talk.

Also, Sally Hepworth is so darn adorable on Instagram! If you aren’t following her, you absolutely should be.

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