The Forgotten Sister
Caroline Bond
Cassie hasn’t thought about the fact that she was adopted. She’s been happy with her adoptive family up until this point. But are they hiding something from her? And if they are hiding something, is it for her own good?
You know, you’d think that fiction characters, particularly those that have adopted children, would learn to be more open about things. Every time I get a side conversation being held between parents I automatically think that something is going to go wrong – and unfortunately that’s normally the main plot point of the novel, just as it is here.
I found the inserts from Cassie’s dad quite distracting, and I didn’t feel like they added anything to the story. It could have equally been told from Grace’s (the mother) perspective and not lost anything in my opinion. I did like Ryan’s perspective, and Erin’s though. Overall, I could have just had the novel told to me from Cassie, Grace and Leah’s perspectives if that meant that their characters and motivations were a little more fleshed out.
I found Leah a bit… intense? And thus I found the ending quite unbelievable. I could have done without it, actually. What is with novels wanting to add a little post-script to a perfectly good novel? I didn’t find it heartbreaking or tear jerking, perhaps because I could never think of Leah anything other than a bit crazy. Going through the Foster Care system is enough to drive anyone mad! In fact, another novel I read recently was about that – Stone Girl.
This novel left me feeling a bit ambivalent, which I guess means it’s a 3 star. Not terrible, but not remarkable either.
Allen & Unwin | 3rd June 2019 | AU$29.99 | paperback
