What My Sister Knew by Nina Laurin was a dark yet satisfying book that held my attention until I finished the last sentence. While I did figure out a few plot details and the ending, the characters were so vivid that reading their story kept my Kindle pages turning.
Late one night, Andrea’s car slides off the road and wraps around a tree. She later reveals she thought she saw a man in the road and swerved to avoid hitting him. Because the police are looking for Eli, they suspect it was him in the road. And then the story really takes off from here.
Andrea and Eli are twins, with Andrea being a few minutes older. However, she always felt inferior to Eli and honestly, he’s written as if he’s years older and not minutes younger than Andrea. Andrea always wanted to be like Eli and saw him as the shiny reflection to her dull mirror. Then we learn, Eli has secrets. He’s told lies. And he has been serving time for setting the house on fire and killing their parents when he was 12 years old. Andrea, he pulls from the fire and she survives with horrendous burns on her upper torso. Now, he’s out of prison and looking for Andrea.
Andrea has her own secrets and Eli knows them, too. She’s faced with wondering if her house of cards will come tumbling down and if Eli will protect that house or be the wind that destroys it. As we go back and forth between present and past, more lies are revealed and the more we find out about the bond between these twins.
I have always been intrigued by the connection that exists between twins and my preconceived ideas battled with this book. Not all twins have happy endings. My anxious moments during this book were due to the battle between how I think twins SHOULD do and be for each other and what Nina wanted for her twin characters.
While this book was more psychological fiction than a thriller, I did find myself hurrying to read how this one would end. I knew what I wanted and I wasn’t sure if I would get that satisfying ending. No matter what I wanted, Nina wrote a fantastic book that I’m glad I had the chance to read and review.
What My Sister Knew is available June 19.
Thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the copy for my honest opinion.