An Amazon Charts, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestseller.
From the author of The Art of Inheriting Secrets comes an emotional new tale of two sisters, an ocean of lies, and a search for the truth.
Her sister has been dead for fifteen years when she sees her on the TV news… years ago on a train during a terrorist attack. Gone forever. It’s what her sister, Kit, an ER doctor in Santa Cruz, has always believed. Yet all it takes is a few heart-wrenching seconds to upend Kit’s world. Live coverage of a club fire in Auckland has captured the image of a woman stumbling through the smoke and debris. Her resemblance to Josie is unbelievable. And unmistakable. With it comes a flood of emotions—grief, loss, and anger—that Kit finally has a chance to put to rest: by finding the sister who’s been living a lie.
After arriving in New Zealand, Kit begins her journey with the memories of the past: of days spent on the beach with Josie. Of a lost teenage boy who’d become part of their family. And of a trauma that has haunted Kit and Josie their entire lives.
Now, if two sisters are to reunite, it can only be by unearthing long-buried secrets and facing a devastating truth that has kept them apart far too long. To regain their relationship, they may have to lose everything.
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I really enjoyed this book, especially how it alternated between the two sisters showing how events of their youth impacted each of them. Josie, as the older sister, did her best to shield younger sister, Kit, from some of the same horrors that befell her (of which Kit had no awareness of). I thought the author did a really nice job with the flashbacks into the past, slowly allowing the reader to piece together what happened when Kit and Josie were younger and giving a deeper understanding of why Josie chose to leave it all behind.
Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for providing a copy for review
When we believed in mermaids is a beautiful and also heartbreaking story about two sisters that went through a lot of difficult moments in their lives.
The story is very well written and will keep you engrossed in its pages without even realising where the time has gone when you finish reading it.
The story itself it’s sad and heartbreaking because it deals with so many triggers situations for many people but it could easily be a reality for any contemporary family as well, not only fiction. From the abuse of all kind to the heartbreaking story of thinking and living one’s life believing that your sister has died in a terrible attack.
There are so many well written descriptions of the surroundings that you really feel like being there in the book with the heroines and live their story in person.
I’ll definitely recommend this book to my book friends for a more than a summer read.
There is nothing like the connection of love between two sisters and the bonds they share throughout their lives. This book is the story of two sisters, Josie and Kit, who are so close to each other growing up that it seems nothing would ever separate them from each other. Their bond is unbreakable, or so it seems. Secrets, heartaches, doubts, suspicions, and broken trust….will they be able to overcome so many hurtful events and find their sisterness again?
This story is about what can happen in life. Josie and Kit have a very awful and painful childhood with parents who are on the edge of neglectful. Josie and Kit come to depend on each other to survive and grow up. There is a wonderful character named Dylan who enters their lives and becomes a “big brother” and looks out for them. He has come from a troubled past himself. But events happen and their lives are turned upside down.
I fell into the pages of this book. It took me into the lives of these characters and wouldn’t let me go. The narrative alternates between Kit’s and Josie’s points of view. As the story takes place in the current time, there are “flashbacks” to fill in the pieces of the broken lives they grew up with. Ms. O’Neal wove these pieces together like a masterpiece. My heart was broken for the heartaches and tragedies that Josie and Kit endured. It felt myself wanting to draw them in. To be there for them and heal their hurts. There was so much emotion in this book for me. I cried, I ached, I pulled for them to find their love for each other again. Would they be able to find it in their hearts to forgive and mend their relationship back to what it was?
I love the setting in this book. I felt like I have experienced Auckland and the beauty that it possesses. I was on the beaches with Kit and Josie. I was in the surf and feeling the solitude in the water surfboarding. I saw the landscapes and terrain. It was so descriptively written. A perfect setting for two girls who believed in mermaids growing up.
There was a bit of mystery written into the story, too. Sapphire House is intriguing. What happened to the famous actress, Veronica Parker, who was living in there? It was a thread throughout the book and a fascinating aspect to the story.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I loved being in the pages and connecting with the characters. I was yearning for them with all my heart. I went on a journey into the hearts and souls of these characters. It’s one I’ll remember for a long time.
I want to thank Lake Union, Netgalley, and Ms. O’Neal for the honor and opportunity to read this wonderful story. This is a five star read for me.
You’re Going To Want To Read This Somewhere Where You Can Cry. Wow. This is a tragic tale, all around. It is primarily about two sisters and the scars they share – and the lengths they will both go to try to overcome them. Amazing story, solid mystery (though some of it becomes obvious earlier than the actual reveal). This one will grabs you with the first line, has you tearing up a bit early on… and then can have full on water works through the last quarter to third or so of the tale. Light and airy, this aint – but it *is* one of the better, more intense dramas I’ve read this year. A remarkable contrast to O’Neal’s 2018 book The Art of Inheriting Secrets. Very much recommended.
What an amazing book. It is the story of not only sisters but a family. It’s about the secrets and the effect they have on a person. The mistakes made and picking up the pieces of your life. To me, that is the heart of the story because each one faced the moment of decision, and put the pieces of their lives back together, the best they knew how.
We will travel their journey, and learn of the things that happened that made them make the decisions they did. As the book unfolds and we learn that through all the destruction, they basically saved themselves, created a productive life for themselves and then found each other again. I think the book will also give the readers hope if they are going through something. No matter what, don’t let life destroy you, keep carrying on and picking up the pieces because, in time, they can come together once again and you will have that better life.
This was a 5 star read all the way for me! Ms. O’Neal’s writing is superb! The book is about family dynamics, addiction, lies and deception and false perceptions. It is a dual point of view–the view of two sisters who have been separated by oceans and lies for ten years. Kit didn’t know Josie was alive…and that’s how Josie wanted it. If Kit finds her, it may mean the end of the life Josie has built for herself in New Zealand. The life she has now is the life she’s always wanted and she won’t give it up–no matter what.
When We Believed in Mermaids was striking in that the description of New Zealand by Ms. O’Neal was done in some miraculous manor that also revealed the souls of the two sisters. She somehow made you FEEL the place through each of the sisters. Every tree, every flower, every ocean breeze and every wave was vitally important to the women in this book and how they responded to life. Every bite of food and every sip of wine became an integral part of them and Ms. O’Neal made me feel as if I was experiencing all the joy and all the pain right along with them.
The men in the book (alive and dead) demand their own importance. They play a vital part in the lives of the sisters. I didn’t like them all, but they were the emotional outlets for the women; a necessary slice of their lives and they helped make them who they became.
These were two of my favorite lines in the book: “She was the worst mother of all time. She was the best mother of all time.” Aren’t they all?
I was given a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts are my own.
A really good story about two sisters and family. I’ve read several books by this author and each keeps getting better. Love this author! Thanks to Netgalley for the early copy
3.5 Stars for this ARC. Thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing!
When you read this book, you will feel like you are on vacation! Ms. O’Neal has a way of immersing you in her settings whether it’s in California or New Zealand, not just in her characters lives. Her writing is subtlety descriptive! A lot of issues are being dealt with …death, grief, abuse, lies, addiction, and always love and forgiveness. I recommend sitting by the beach with your toes in the sand will bring this book to life.
Kit and Josie are not just sisters, they are best friends too. They depend on each other. After a tumultuous childhood dealing with their parents issues and dark secrets, they grow distant. Then Josie is killed. Grief has changed Kit and her Mom. Until the day both swear they see Josie on TV and Kit knows she needs to find out the truth.
When We Believed in Mermaids was a powerful story of two sisters and the love and closeness brought about by having rather indifferent, busy parents that essentially left them to raise each other. The inclusion of the solid, wonderful character of Dylan was genius. I would read another whole book just about Dylan if there were such a thing.
The bigger than life characters, the beautiful setting of New Zealand and the near-zero chances of finding one person among the entire population of that country are what pulled me in. What kept me reading was the beauty and powerfulness of Barbara O’Neal’s writing.
I so wanted Kit’s quest to succeed, but on the other hand I didn’t want this book to end so I almost didn’t want Kit to succeed. The back story of the girls’ upbringing, the things they lived through and experienced really sets the characters up for what awaits them in the future.
If you appreciate family dramas/sagas, a true needle in a haystack quest and a little romance thrown in for good measure, this beautiful story by Barbara O’Neal is for you. I recently read this author’s book The Art of Inheriting Secrets and it is just as lovely. I was so moved by this book that I actually emailed the author, fangirling about how much I loved it. She was gracious enough to respond, which made my day.
Do yourself a favor and pick this book up ~ today, if not sooner!
Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for approving my request for an ARC. All thoughts in this review are my own and willingly provided.
Do yourself a favor and enter in on this amazing journey with twin souls, Kit and Josie.
Two sisters that loved each other and took care of each other until life changed and Josie is killed in a terrorist attack while in New Zealand.
Kit, now a physician in the Emergency room, sees a video on the television in the waiting room one evening, and swears that she sees her sister. Can this be? Could it be?
Secrets will begin to unfold as Kit goes in search of this woman who has a strong resemblance to her deceased twin soul.
This is an intriguing novel and I really loved it! There is amazing details and you can actually feel the love, hurt, sadness, and anger that come forth from these girls as their lives unfold.