Sally Hepworth

There's only been one time that Rose couldn't stop me from doing the wrong thing and that was a mistake that will haunt me for the rest of my life. Fern Castle works in her local library. She has dinner with her twin sister Rose three nights a week. And she avoids crowds, bright lights and loud noises as much as possible. Fern has a carefully structured life and disrupting her routine can be ... dangerous. When Rose discovers that she cannot get pregnant, Fern sees her chance to pay her sister back for everything Rose has done for her. Fern can have a baby for Rose. She just needs to find a father. Simple. Fern's mission will shake the foundations of the life she has carefully built for herself and stir up dark secrets from the past, in this quirky, rich and shocking story of unexpected love.

A Novel

The Good Sister

Ryan Mateyk

Big compulsive pageturner vibes, but ultimately this was predictable and a weird 300-page avoidance of the word autism!

Every single page grabbed my attention. I didn't expect to love this book as much as I did. I loved the way Sally told the story in a journal kind of way. I've never changed my mind about the characters like this before. It was really told, and the ending was such an interesting turn of events

Lacee Pogue

I couldn't put it down! Every new twist, I gasped and told my husband. He didn't care but I had to tell someone!!

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "A stunningly clever thriller made doubly suspenseful by not one, but two unreliable narrators." — People Sally Hepworth, the author of The Mother-In-Law delivers a knock-out of a novel about the lies that bind two sisters in The Good Sister. There's only been one time that Rose couldn't stop me from doing the wrong thing and that was a mistake that will haunt me for the rest of my life. Fern Castle works in her local library. She has dinner with her twin sister Rose three nights a week. And she avoids crowds, bright lights and loud noises as much as possible. Fern has a carefully structured life and disrupting her routine can be...dangerous. When Rose discovers that she cannot get pregnant, Fern sees her chance to pay her sister back for everything Rose has done for her. Fern can have a baby for Rose. She just needs to find a father. Simple. Fern's mission will shake the foundations of the life she has carefully built for herself and stir up dark secrets from the past, in this quirky, rich and shocking story of what families keep hidden.

Brittany McGougan

This was a great book. The twists weren’t expected at all. Very well written with the diary entries and Fern’s POV.

Tess Vale

Cheri McElroy

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Wow. Sally Hepworth can tell a story! This is family drama, mental health, and a thriller all rolled into one.

Rose and Fern are twins. Rose looks out for Fern. Then one day, Fern decides to help Rose.

This is a quiet, slow-burn story that keeps you guessing. I loved it.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the advanced reader copy.

I did are-read with a book club using Audible. It was just as good.

Kristina B

Well written, loved the audiobook reader, and Fern was such a lovely character! I want more and more and more of her. Great twist ending. 5 stars!

Catelyn Evans

I don't usually even write reviews but I enjoyed this book. So. Damn. Much. I laughed, I cried, my heart broke, my heart melted.... amazing.

Bambi Ard

I'll be honest, I didn't expect to care about this book at all. I figured it'd be yet another lukewarm domestic thriller with characters that frustrated me to no end. But here I am, having loved it entirely and now rated it five stars!! I loved this book. I loved Fern! I thought the author did an excellent job of establishing a false sense of security (for lack of a better term), and then slowly chipping away at that security, one ominous, distressing interaction between the sisters at a time. I felt a lot of dread reading this book, which is a great thing to feel when reading a thriller.

Big trigger warning for several forms of abuse in this book, namely child abuse, emotional abuse, gaslighting, and child sexual abuse. Tread carefully!

Madhuri Sridhara

One of the most gripping reads ever! 

Yes, I was looking forward to reading this but damn, that was something else! One of the best thrillers I've read and definitely a great pick for the Goodreads Mystery/Thriller of 2021. My fastest read yet!

A tale of two sisters told from both their POVs, this book makes you question who the real good one is. I loved the the characters and the way characters on the spectrum are portrayed. 

But my only problem and the reason for docking half a star is because the (mild spoiler) bad things the antagonist does being attributed to BPD. Please, please edit this as people with borderline personality disorder already face enough backlash from both the general public and the mental health community. BPD does not make you manipulative or a sociopath. 

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Hodder Books for an e-copy of this book. I cannot wait to read more of Sally Hepworth's books.

4.5/5

Cindy Lieberman

I always wanted a sister… but this book makes a strong case for being careful what you wish for. These twins, Rose and Fern, are everything to each other, keeping secrets and sharing in each other’s lives. Until someone starts to question what each gets from their relationship. A good psychological thriller with a somewhat predictable yet still satisfactory ending.

Melissa Schwartz

This is my first Sally Hepworth book and I’m a big fan. She has a great writing style and I cannot wait to read more! All of the characters, especially Fern, are developed so well and thoughtfully. Also quite the page turner

Monae Reads

3.5/5
Goodreads should really add 1/2 stars

Lauren Attaway

Fern and Rose are the type of sisters who have spent their whole lives making sure the other is the primary person in their life, at least that is what they both say but their interactions lead the reader to think otherwise. When Rose wants to have a baby but can’t, Fern decides to help. This not-so-little choice unravels both of their lives. 
The Fern/Rose dynamic immediately pulled me in. In the same way as the previous book I read by Sally Hepworth, she does an excellent job of capturing families and their relationships in an authentic way, then throwing in the crazy thriller twists I adore. This book is a fun read, even when someone of the relationships made me stressed. I cannot wait to read more of Sally Hepworth’s books!
Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC!

Jessica Williamson

4.25

This was a dang good book y'all!

I did spend the majority of the beginning half of the book wondering where exactly the plot was going but didn't mind the journey. There could have been some plotting and pacing things done a little better at the first half in my opinion but still really solid!

The character work was fantastic. Our two sisters were some of the best character work I've ever seen. Especially in a contemporary. 

The last quarter of this book was a fucking ride y'all! The twists, the turns, the absolute brilliance of puzzle pieces landing exactly where they needed to. While I won't say where we ended up was a complete surprise to me, the HOW was so fantastically done. Shit just kept hitting the fan and I was just loving every minute of shoes dropping. Such a well-executed second half of the book! I will definitely be looking for more from this author!

cover 4; characters 5; plot 4; pace 4; writing 5; enjoyment 4.

Moon of Pages

Ruth Parker 

This is a tough one to write because while I did enjoy this reading experience, this story is not going to stick in my mind. I much prefer other books I have read by this author and can’t see myself remembering this in the future. 
The storyline was good, interesting and I found the dual narrative to be well done. The two characters were very distinctive and it was easy to tell who was writing what. But the twists were clear from the start and I wasn’t sure about the representations of certain characters and their problems/ attributes... 

It’s worth a read, it’s got some interesting moments and I would recommend it if you’ve enjoyed the author’s writing before. It just didn’t live up to the expectations I had for it.

Zoe Smolen

This was certainly a compelling thriller in that I wanted to know what happened, but wow did I hate all of the characters. It was so obvious what was happening and what was going to happen, and no one asked questions. I'm also curious to see what own voices readers thought about the portrayal of the neurodivergent community and needs in this book.

Thanks to the publisher for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Megan Leprich

*4.5 STARS*

Thanks so much to St. Martins Press and NetGalley for the complimentary copy for my honest review. 

I have massively enjoyed Sally Hepworth’s books in the past and this one was my favorite by far. She did an amazing job with the individual mental illnesses and portrayed them flawlessly and without them becoming problematic. I loved how both the twin sisters in the books were both suffering from different mental illnesses and how she went about both of them, you can tell she really did her research and took her time on them. 

The fact that she wrote both mental illnesses so well while incorporating them into a thriller made this book even better. It wasn’t a typical gasping thriller with a ton of plot twists but it built up the story perfectly and made you care deeply about both of the characters before throwing in small plot twists here and there that concluded into a big plot twist at the end that I didn’t see coming. 

Excellent writing, great character building, and great research on mental illnesses, I highly, highly recommend this book.

Lynn Braden

Fern Castle and her twin sister, Rose have been close all of their lives. Fern has sensory issues, so Rose believes that it is her job to care for her sister's well being, but when Rose goes to London to make a fresh start with her husband, Owen, Rose meets a homeless man named Wally who has been using the showers available in the back of the library where Rose works. Fern thinks Wally may provide the sperm that she needs to get pregnant so that she can give her baby to Rose, who has been unable to conceive. However, the more time Fern spends with Wally, the more she grows to like him and wonders if he might actually be her boyfriend.

The build up to the ending in The Good Sister, takes a long time to develop. The beginning actually feels more like a romance than a suspense story. For most of the book, we get Rose's perspective through journal entries that hints at a childhood of mental and sexual abuse. Fern's perspective is much more in-the-moment, and her straight forward, no nonsense attitude makes her easy to like. The twist near the end of the story is foreshadowed so much that it is not a surprise at all. Overall, The Good Sister is a decent suspense story that includes an effective representation of how those with autism can live productive, healthy lives, while those who suffer from mental illness can extract a toll on everyone. 3 1/2 stars

Danielle Ely

I enjoyed the surprises of this storyline. I was shocked up until the last page of the book.

The Good Sister A Novel

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