My Rating: 3.5 stars
In her fourth novel, author Jessica Strawser takes on the recently trend of mail-in DNA tests, which, in this story, becomes the catalyst that brings together two half-sisters who previously didn't know each other existed. Caroline lives a happy but busy life with her husband and three kids as well as an extended family of parents and in-laws who dote on her. One year for Christmas, her husband Walt jokingly buys the entire family DNA test kits as gifts — not thinking anything of it, Caroline submits her test and is shocked to find out that she actually has a half-sister, born of the same father. Sela is an artist who lives a less-than-happy existence — in the face of a devastating health diagnosis a few years ago that caused her son to be born premature and her marriage to crumble under the constant stress of their situation, Sela also must grieve the death of her mother (who was also her best friend and fiercest supporter). In an act of desperation when her illness progresses to the point that it requires her to get a kidney transplant in order to live, Sela is driven to reach out to her long-lost half-sister Caroline for help. Suddenly, Caroline's perfect life is upended as one secret after another comes to light, leading her to question what she thought she knew about her family.
Having read Jessica Strawser's three previous works in addition to this one, I have to say that I still like her debut (Almost Missed You) the most. While all her novels so far have been enjoyable and engaging to the point that, at the moment I pick them up, they keep me wanting to continue reading — however, for some reason, her novels lack the memorability factor in that neither the stories nor the characters stay with me for long. With that said, I did end up liking this book — her fourth novel and newest release — more than her previous two, mostly because I felt there was a depth to her characters this time around that I didn't really see with her other works. I like the way Strawser presented the relationship between Caroline and Sela — half-sisters who can't help being drawn to each other, yet at the same time, understanding the precarious nature of what they have. I feel like the portrayal of their relationship — the various nuances that existed and the challenges that needed to be overcome — was the strongest aspect of the entire story. I mention this because the story overall was the "slow burn" type where I felt like some parts of the plot dragged a bit. Also, some sections of dialogue — specifically some of the scenes where the characters "reminisce" about the past — seemed unnecessary to me and bogged down the story rather than moved it along. In addition, I did feel that some parts of the plot were a bit melodramatic, especially as it pertained to Sela and her situation, but that might just be me.
I also continue to have the same issue with this book that I had with Strawser's previous two books — namely that they are being categorized as "suspense" or "thriller" when in reality, they should go more appropriately into the contemporary fiction category. The main reason is that I feel like the story as written lacks the suspenseful atmosphere that I expect from works in the genre. With this book in particular— while there were indeed a few "surprise" elements in the story, none of them were "jaw-dropping twists" that brought me to the edge of my seat or elicited a strong reaction from me in the vein of what I would feel reading an actual suspense / thriller novel.
A few issues notwithstanding, this was still a good story overall and I continue to look forward to Strawser's next novel.
Received ARC from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley.
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