Beauty. Wealth. Success.She’s got it all.And it all should’ve been mine.When Eleanor Hardwicke’s beloved father dies, her world is further shattered by a gut-wrenching secret: the man she’s grieving isn’t really her dad. Eleanor was the product of an affair and her biological father is still out there, living blissfully with the family he chose. With her personal life spiraling, a desperate … chose. With her personal life spiraling, a desperate Eleanor seeks him out, leading her to uncover another branch on her family tree—an infuriatingly enviable half sister.
Perfectly perfect Victoria has everything Eleanor could ever dream of. Loving childhood, luxury home, devoted husband. All of it stolen from Eleanor, who plans to take it back. After all, good sisters are supposed to share. And quiet little Eleanor has been waiting far too long for her turn to play.
more
I was honored to have read the Advanced Readers Copy of Sister Dear by Hannah Mary McKinnon, as my Contributor role with BookTrib.com.
A Thriller Turned Upside Down
The sibling rivalry story in Sister Dear (Mira) by Hannah Mary McKinnon is as old as Cain and Abel. The difference is McKinnon throws a howitzer into the plot, turning this contemporary thriller unexpectedly inside out and upside down.
Its title and cover sub-text, “She’d kill to be her,” lure us into a mystery that we, as expertly trained readers, expect we’ll solve within the first fifty pages. Bring it on, McKinnon! We got this!
Eleanor Hardwicke, the protagonist, isn’t so hard to figure out. Except for the close relationship she’s had with her adoring father, Eleanor grew up in a dysfunctional family, with a deceitful, selfish mother and competitive, delusional sister. So, when her father lays dying and she discovers he wasn’t her real dad after all, it makes perfect sense she’d freak out.
Thrust into a sudden state of sheer disillusionment, Eleanor’s cravings go beyond food—she yearns for what she’s never had—a normal family and all related perks—and she’ll go to any and all inappropriate lengths to fulfill her dream.
Compulsive by nature, Eleanor first sets out on a mission to connect with her biological father, Stan Gallinger, who just happens to be a prominent business and dedicated family man in town. After she confronts him, he rejects her for the second time in her life. But, that’s okay, all’s not lost. He’s not Eleanor’s only newly-found relative.
There’s Victoria, her half-sister. Slender, wealthy, successful Victoria. A blood-relative who has everything Eleanor doesn’t, including a hunk of a husband. If only she could become chummy and close with Victoria. If only her half-sister would welcome her into the family and convince Stan to accept her as his daughter in front of God and everybody.
If only…
When Eleanor stalks Victoria, our Spidey sense leaps into over drive. When she ventures even further, embedding herself into Victoria’s social life, business enterprise, and marriage, we predict Eleanor’s scheme might not end well. After all, she and Victoria aren’t playing dolls, and McKinnon’s spewing enough breadcrumbs to make a meatloaf.
But before this story is fully baked, McKinnon’s master class in character development turns the theme of sibling revenge upside down. Not only do we not know who’s been killed, we don’t know whodunit, or why’d they do it…until the bitter end. Which, reader dear, is what makes Sister Dear an incredibly delicious thriller and mystery to sink into, especially now when dystopian novels or even some non-fiction reads may feel too close for comfort.
With its Single White Female vibes and a character who makes GONE GIRL’s Amy Dunne look like Snow White, this book was impossible to put down. There were countless moments when I thought I had it figured out, only to be proven wrong and surprised all over again. Kudos to Hannah Mary McKinnon for her masterful characterization. Readers will be shocked when they realize whom they’re actually rooting for.
My Review of
SISTER DEAR
By Hannah Mary McKinnon
Published by Mira Books
***********
I think I just got hit by Mack truck and I’m still somehow alive. What a brilliant mind does Mrs. McKinnon possess to write an enthralling story that one such as myself could not put down. Let me just say…. I DID NOT SEE THAT COMING!!! And I’m not mad at how it turned out since I thoroughly enjoyed the entirety of the story up until that twist in your gut with a knife like ending. How she can contrive such elaborate schemes is like poetry in motion to Mrs. McKinnon. This is a definite must read and don’t even read the blurb on the cover because what you are getting is something entirely different & even more original than that.
Eleanor Hardwicke hasn’t had the easiest of lives growing up. Being the un-favorite daughter of the two sisters, her mother always had mind to belittle her and put her sister on a pedestal. Being overweight, made fun of and a loser in love, things never seem to go her way. But she always could count on her beloved Dad, that is until his death where she finds out he wasn’t her real father.
With her mother & sister having no love for her or good intent, Eleanor decides to do a bit of sleuthing to see what she can uncover about her real father. She finds out that he is rich and she was the product of an affair. She also has a half sister that looks like she has been blessed and is living the dream. Why is it fair that she should have it all? She fosters a plan to make contact with her father and daydreams that there will be a fairytale ending because she has suffered and it’s due time for Eleanor to get what’s coming.
There’s so much more that I can’t tell you without spoiling it for you. Just know there is a lot more storylines added in and the list of characters grow. Right when you think you love certain characters; you find out what they are truly capable of.
Hannah Mary McKinnon has proved to be the master at building the tension in her last novel. This dark, twisted and brilliant story weaves the suspense into a web of perfect secrets, but it’s the ending that will leave you completely under McKinnon’s spell. I was hooked, gobsmacked and enthralled from start to finish. If you’re looking for that book hangover feel…this is not to be missed!
Looking for a fast paced thriller? Check out Hannah Mary McKinnon’s latest book. As Eleanor mourns the passing of her beloved father she discovers that he is actually not her biological father. She soon discovers who her biological father is and not only is he wealthy but she has a sister she never knew about. Desperate to connect, Eleanor looks to start a relationship with them and gets way more than she bargained for.
Let me start off by saying this is the first book that I have read that was written by this author but it will not be the last one me. From the first page I was hooked and I never lost interest in it it at all!! Thank you for writing such a great book!
Hannah writes a very well mind blowing psychological suspense novel. She kept it twisting and turning to keep you wondering what is happening next. The characters where great the way she worked them together. With suspense and the emotional parts weaved together very well. I thought that Eleanor being caring, supportive, loving person was being the main character was well written and she had the emotional part of the book. Victoria was explain as the spoiled child. Hugh was said as not knowing anything. Lewis was explain as the sexy handsome neighbor that lives up stairs. Eleanor comes from a very unhappy family and secrets come out and she is bound to find and solve all the secrets. She take off after finding out that the dad she was raised by isn’t her real dad. Then she get attach and Lewis stops the attack and takes her to the hospital to get check out .that is when. She goes home after being taken to the hospital by Lewis and she wants to go see her dad in hospice. Then she finds out more when they tell her he passed away in the middle of the night after her and her dad told the nurse some very interesting news that she need to know. Eleanor’s life changed after she found what she need to do and this when you can’t put the book down and you will hopefully be surprised by end that will be a WOW.
Hannah you wrote a Fantastic suspense thriller of a book and I can’t wait to get another one of your books.
SISTER DEAR is devious and delicious and was a treat to read. The ending was perfect! Loved it.
This is the second book I’ve read by Hannah Mary McKinnon and I am just blown away by her writing. I loved the last book I read by her, Her Secret Son, but this latest one is even better…she definitely stepped up her game with this one!
I love a good twisty thriller, and this one is just so well-crafted it completely sucks you in. It’s dark and wickedly entertaining, filled with obsession, manipulation and just the right amount of devious behavior from our flawed characters.
I loved the choice of narrators – having Eleanor be the sole narrator was perfect. She is complex, yet not the strongest character you will meet. She is reeling from the death of her father, who she has just found out is not her real dad. Not having a strong relationship with her mother, she is desperate to find a family that may welcome her with open arms. If only that were the case. What follows is a case of jealousy that turns dark and takes on a life of it’s own.
This book is completely addicting. Once I started reading it, I had a hard time putting it down…I just had to see what was going to happen next and I could not bear to stop reading it. It’s one of those books where you think you know where things are headed but you could not be more wrong – and I love that. I love being proven wrong time and again. And that ending…OMG! That totally floored me, in the best way…and I would love nothing more than to see a sequel come from this book, but then again…maybe not. Maybe we just need to have the ending be that and let our imaginations wonder what happens next.
This is one book I know I won’t stop thinking about and will definitely be recommending to all my thriller-loving friends! Hannah Mary McKinnon is absolutely a must-read author for me and I cannot wait to see what comes next from her. Have you read her books yet? If not, what are you waiting for?
Never saw this ending coming. I could hardly breath as the truth unfolded. I’m going to need a few HEA’s to rinse the pure evil out of my mind after listening to Sister Dear. This is a masterful must read from Hannah Mary McKinnon.
Hannah Mary McKinnon’s unsettling latest novel, Sister Dear, crawls slowly up your spine as you realize nothing is as it should be.
This finely wrought story explores familiar bonds and how far they can be twisted until they snap. You won’t put this on down!
I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway during the coronavirus when the libraries are all but closed. It’s not what I thought it was going to be judging by the cover, which yes, I DO judge a book by its cover. The title is intriguing and had me interested and yet the other words on there didn’t match up with where I thought the story went. I did like the book, and looked forward to my next chance to get into the story and find out what happened. I was surprised several times in this story and loved that I was. There were a few different “monsters” in this book, so to speak, and I liked that there were. I thought it would make a good movie and I enjoyed how it just kept getting worse and worse and WORSE. I began saying aloud from time to time things like, “Crazy.” I am the perfect reader for this book because I just eat up whatever the book gives me and don’t try to figure it all out all the time. I will see if I can get my hands on any more of this author’s books, but of course my own small (struggling) public library doesn’t have ANY of them. But that makes me even more thankful for Goodreads Giveaways. Thanks for a chance. I love being a winner! I also really was pleased by the extra little Q and A in the back of my copy, getting to hear from the actual author. That’s always a treat! As an afterthought, like, I literally wrote this review and then thought of this and came back to add it, I actually did NOT like the sex parts. Too gross for me, just too much detail, et cetera, but also, I didn’t really think of that…not until just now, after, so it didn’t ruin it or anything, just would’ve preferred some less, ya know.
What a crazy read !! 4.5 for me !! Make that 5 !!!!!
Sister Dear has a lot of crazy and not so nice characters in the book.
I love to read CRAZY!!
My grandmother always said everyone is crazy but thee and me and even thee is a little bit off! How she would have loved this book.
The question is not who is crazy but who is crazier?
Twists and turns and only saw half the ending coming !!
Sister Dear is an entertaining read that will have you yelling at the book !! Victoria and Eleanor do not disappoint!
Thanks to NetGalley and Harelquin US and Canada , Mira books for a read that has me buying more of Hannah’s books.
Hannah Mary McKinnon was on my facebook live series – Day Drinking With Authors and we talked about her book Sister Dear which is a twisty drama that I had to remind myself most of the way through was not going to have a happy ending. And I thought I knew what the twist was going to be… I DID NOT. Totally recommend
Favorite Quotes:
Her glacial tone would freeze hell over when she left this world. No way would she go anywhere but south when she did.
Today, all of those choices seemed as appealing as a bowl of hair soup.
Penelope had unearthed my cheekbones with the skill of a veteran archeologist.
I wasn’t just up shit creek without a paddle, I’d fallen out of the boat.
Malcolm looked as if he’d time-traveled from Wall Street circa 1985. Pin-striped suit, slicked-back hair— revealing a widow’s peak Dracula would’ve run through sunlight for— and a chunky monogrammed ring.
…if still waters ran deep, he was the human equivalent of the Mariana Trench.
My Review:
I have been on a lucky streak lately and seem to be discovering a new favorite author every few days. I appear to be as fickle as an eighth-grade girl but it bares shouting that the clever Hannah Mary McKinnon is a wily minx. This twisty thriller kept me taut with tension, nibbling on my cuticles, and feeling on edge due to the mousy main protagonist’s out of character behaviors putting her at constant risk of discovery. Eleanor was a binge eater who ate her emotions, something I well understand, and given the treatment she had received from her horrid harridan of a mother, Eleanor had a lot of them to swallow. The storylines were oozing with apprehension, heartbreak, indecision, bad choices, inner conflicts, guilt, resentment, bitterness, indignation, triumphs, empowerment, duplicity, and an awe-inspiring and shocking conclusion that left me addled with the taste of ashes in my mouth while my gaping lips flapped like a goldfish who had jumped the tank– it was outstanding!
Hannah Mary McKinnon was inspired to pen Sister Dear when she heard a story about a woman finding a wedding ring at a playground who was trying to track down the owner via social media. She began pondering a story about a woman who “found out the ring’s owner had a dream life and felt jealous.” She “realized realized the individuals had to be related somehow, and if I made them half-sisters, it would add to the drama and intrigue.” Because, after all, “some of the most despicable acts are carried out within families.”
Eleanor has always had a toxic relationship with her mother and sister, Amy, who resides in Los Angeles and is trying to establish herself as an actress. Her mother has always compared her to Amy, and she has always come up short. Eleanor struggles with body dysmorphic disorder; she is an emotional eater who binges (and sometimes purges), especially when stressed, and loathes not just her body, but her overall appearance. She has established her own fledgling web design company, working out of her home, and it has been awhile since her last relationship ended.
Her father has always been her champion. He affectionately calls her “Freckles,” and they spend holidays and special occasions together. As the story opens, just eight weeks have passed since her father was diagnosed with inoperable, terminal pancreatic cancer with a life expectancy of four months. But he is already in hospice care and Eleanor is stricken by how quickly his health has deteriorated. When she arrives to visit him, she is shocked to find her mother there. After all, her mother visited him just a few days prior. And in the twenty years since their divorce, she has barely spoken to him. Eleanor has had no contact at all with her mother for six months — not long enough to “treat the festering wounds, or get rid of her voice, which constantly berated me in my head.” Eleanor has never understood why her mother despises her, and her father has never explained it either, dismissively describing her mother as “a complicated woman.”
Eleanor’s father has expressed his final wishes to her and planned his own memorial service. But as Eleanor approaches the door to his room, she hears her mother berating him. It soon becomes clear that her mother is attempting to convince him to leave all of his assets to Amy, but he insists that what little property he has left will be divided evenly between the two girls. And then, before her parents realize she is there, Eleanor hears her mother say the words that will change her life forever: “You’re forgetting one thing, Bruce. Eleanor isn’t your daughter.” She is devastated. Because Bruce dies before she has a chance to ask all the questions that endlessly swirl through her thoughts, she has to seek answers elsewhere. Not only is she left to mourn the loss of the man who raised her. She also mourns the loss of the only relationship that provided her stability and unconditional love.
McKinnon details how Eleanor learns her biological father’s identity, as well as the truth about the circumstances surrounding her birth. Eleanor is insecure and needy, frequently exasperatingly so, as McKinnon reveals her continuously self-deprecating inner dialogue. However, she is also empathetic because her anger is justified, especially when she learns that her father is a wealthy, successful businessperson who has been happily married for many years and, together with his lovely wife, raised the pampered, entitled Victoria. Eleanor concludes that all the criticisms her mother hurled at her were accurate. “I was nothing. Nobody. Pathetic. Useless. Fat. Ugly. Stupid.” Still, she is determined and, even though she knows she is about to engage in a dangerous game that can only end badly, unable to stop herself. She risks everything, including her budding relationship with Lewis, her handsome upstairs neighbor. Lewis genuinely cares for Eleanor, finding her clever, intelligent, attractive, and far more interesting that the other women he has dated. But Eleanor is laser-focused on infiltrating Victoria’s life in order to extract revenge.
McKinnon propels the action forward at a quick, unrelenting pace. It not at all clear how Eleanor’s tale will ultimately resolve. Indeed, at the midpoint, the story threatens to meander in a fairly unfocused fashion. But McKinnon remains in control of her narrative, rewarding tenacious readers as the tale again gains traction and McKinnon injects numerous plot twists and revelations. As Eleanor’s self-confidence grows, so does her consternation and guilt about having taken Victoria’s engagement ring from the counter in the ladies restroom of the restaurant where she initially followed Victoria, her mother, and cousin so that she could observe them. As she reconsiders her initial motives — because she sees Victoria differently as they get acquainted and Eleanor learns about Victoria’s relationship with her her husband — she allows herself to consider the possibility that she and Victoria might actually enjoy a loving, sisterly relationship after all.
Sister Dear is an absorbing, cleverly plotted thriller replete with diabolical surprises that elevate the story and ultimately reveal the breathtakingly sinister darkness that lurks just beneath the surface of her realistically developed and believable characters. McKinnon credibly illustrates how Eleanor’s greed, envy, self-pity, desire for revenge, and, ultimately, vulnerability determine her fate. It’s a stylish, sly commentary on the importance of familial relationships and how the absence of meaningful connections with those we expect to love us beyond measure and in spite of our shortcomings can lead to longing, compulsion, and reckless behavior. And it’s all capped off with a bombshell conclusion that leaves readers wondering why they never saw it coming.
Sister Dear is one of 2020’s best domestic thrillers.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader’s Copy of the book.
What a twisted story of love, loss, secrets, greed and revenge! At the beginning of the story, the main character, Eleanor, is in jail. The rest of the story is a look at how and why she got there. Nothing is as it seems in this novel! Each time I thought that I had figured out a plot twist, it jack-knifed and went the opposite direction. Fascinating plot! This book was edgy, dark suspense and an intense psychological thriller. I was taken inside the mind of poor Eleanor, an overweight, shy young woman who has been ridiculed her entire life by her mother and her Hollywood-bound sister Amy. Eleanor’s only advocate is her father who is dying of cancer. In the hospice, Eleanor discovers that he is not her real biological father, so becomes determined to find her family. Stan Gallinger, her biological father, is not in the running for father of the year since he flatly tells Eleanor to get lost! So Eleanor decides that she wants a relationship with her sister Victoria Gallinger. What a turn in the plot that was! The twists and turns continue all the way to the shocking ending! I enjoyed the plot twists and the characters, but sometimes I felt like I was getting whiplash from the quick turn-arounds from the deceit that is a part of the plot. A really enjoyable read for fans of suspense and thrillers!
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”
Stunningly layered and brilliantly written… Sister Dear captures the essence of twisted sisters. A slow-burn domestic suspense, with complex, remarkable characters, that hurtles to a shocking, fiery climax you won’t see coming.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Sister Dear, by Hanna Mary McKinnon, is available at booksellers on May 26, 2020. It’s my first taste of Ms McKinnon’s work and wow! A psychological thriller that kept me on my toes. I never saw the ending coming. All the Machiavellian plotting and twisted feelings were terrific. There’s not much I can say, beyond the descriptive blurb, without giving away any of the plot or wicked twists. I rarely give a 5 star review, not everything is worthy…but I’m giving it now. Do yourself a favor and read this book! It’s worth it.
#HannaMaryMcKinnon #SisterDear #Netgalley #MIRA #Harlequin #psychologicalthriller #twistedsiblingrelationship
This book had me all over the place in a good way. My sympathy for the main character ebbed and flowed, and I wasn’t quite sure whose story to believe at any given point. The action moved along at a good pace for most of the book. I thought the end felt rushed, as some of the plot points were explained away quickly and others seemed to not matter anymore. From the ending, I can’t tell if a sequel is coming, or if the author chose to just end on the note that she did. Either way, it was still entertaining. For a full review, please visit Fireflies and Free Kicks. Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin for a digital ARC of the book.