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Sora cea rea
De peste un deceniu, Rachel Cunningham a ales să rămână închisă într-un
ospiciu, tulburată de golurile de memorie și de certitudinea că este
responsabilă de moartea părinților ei. Dar atunci când află noi detalii
despre moartea acestora din urmă, Rachel începe o călătorie în
încercarea de a afla răspunsuri. Ea se întoarce în locul unde în trecut
se simțise în siguranță, în cabana de lemn din nordul peninsulei
statului Michigan.
ospiciu, tulburată de golurile de memorie și de certitudinea că este
responsabilă de moartea părinților ei. Dar atunci când află noi detalii
despre moartea acestora din urmă, Rachel începe o călătorie în
încercarea de a afla răspunsuri. Ea se întoarce în locul unde în trecut
se simțise în siguranță, în cabana de lemn din nordul peninsulei
statului Michigan.
304 pages, Paperback
First published August 4, 2020
373 people are currently reading
12030 people want to read
About the author
Karen Dionne
16 books997 followersKaren Dionne is the USA Today and #1 internationally bestselling author of The Marsh King’s Daughter and The Wicked Sister, both published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons in the US and in dozens of other languages. Praised by The New York Times Book Review as “subtle, brilliant, and mature,” The Marsh King’s Daughter is soon to be a major motion picture starring Ben Mendelsohn and Daisy Ridley.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,209 reviews
April 4, 2021
The Wicked Sister, by Karen Dionne, had me captivated at first, but in the end, all the mutilation and death of animals and humans, young and old, was too much for me. I enjoy Dionne's way with words and her story but the details were too much, too vivid, too real. Having said that, this book has a fairy tale quality to it, not like the modern, sanitized fairy tales but the dark, brutal, gory versions of fairy tales. One character can even talk to animals and insects and they talk back to her.
The story begins with the murder/suicide of 11 year old Rachel's parents, or at least Rachel's faulty memory of the event. Rachel is now 26 and in a psychiatric facility, never wanting to leave because she thinks she is responsible for her parents death and being locked up is just punishment. But when she finds out that she could not have killed either of her parents, she has herself released from the facility, to confront her older sister and aunt, who allowed her to hold on to her guilt and stay locked up. Rachel goes to the family's remote 4000 acre estate, with it's huge log cabin, hoping that being in the place of her parent's death will allow her to regain her memories of what happened that day.
We also see the story from the eyes of Jenny, mother of Rachel and psychopathic Diane. From early in Diane's life, her parents knew that she was a danger to every living thing but they refused to act on that knowledge in a way that would save humans and animals. Instead they moved to the remote family property and eventually fostered an obsession of taxidermy, in an effort to channel Diane's killing ways into something that gave her actions a semblance of legitimacy. They gave Diane all the tools she needed to perfect her love of torture and killing. I won't say more...things get bloodier and deadlier as the story goes on and as much as I like Dionne's writing, I had a hard time reading the events in the book. Others enjoyed this book much more than I did, so be sure to read other reviews for a broader understanding of the story.
Publication: August 4th 2020
Thank you to G.P. Putnam's Sons/Penguin Publishing Group and Edelweiss for this ARC.
The story begins with the murder/suicide of 11 year old Rachel's parents, or at least Rachel's faulty memory of the event. Rachel is now 26 and in a psychiatric facility, never wanting to leave because she thinks she is responsible for her parents death and being locked up is just punishment. But when she finds out that she could not have killed either of her parents, she has herself released from the facility, to confront her older sister and aunt, who allowed her to hold on to her guilt and stay locked up. Rachel goes to the family's remote 4000 acre estate, with it's huge log cabin, hoping that being in the place of her parent's death will allow her to regain her memories of what happened that day.
We also see the story from the eyes of Jenny, mother of Rachel and psychopathic Diane. From early in Diane's life, her parents knew that she was a danger to every living thing but they refused to act on that knowledge in a way that would save humans and animals. Instead they moved to the remote family property and eventually fostered an obsession of taxidermy, in an effort to channel Diane's killing ways into something that gave her actions a semblance of legitimacy. They gave Diane all the tools she needed to perfect her love of torture and killing. I won't say more...things get bloodier and deadlier as the story goes on and as much as I like Dionne's writing, I had a hard time reading the events in the book. Others enjoyed this book much more than I did, so be sure to read other reviews for a broader understanding of the story.
Publication: August 4th 2020
Thank you to G.P. Putnam's Sons/Penguin Publishing Group and Edelweiss for this ARC.
September 1, 2020
***NOW AVAILABLE***
Trigger warning: I deducted 1* for what I felt was overly descriptive animal cruelty
I definitely enjoyed this ride of a book. At times I liked it, loved it, then didn’t like it, but in the end it was a very good story.
We have two POV’s, Jenny, from the past. She is the mother of Diana and Rachel, they live in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and I loved the descriptive writing of the background and atmosphere of the book. An immense lodge built by Jenny’s great-great grandfather becomes the family home. This sounds like a museum, again the descriptions were wonderful, I could actually picture this lodge and get a feel for it.
Jenny thought “a hunting lodge in the middle of four thousand wilderness acres sounds just about perfect to me” . . . “A wild child living in the woods. What could be more appropriate”.
So they think this is a great place to raise their two daughters, one of which they know has psychiatric problems. The parents are also hesitant to admit to themselves how sick Diana is. They make excuses and downplay or self deny that Diana has severe enough mental disease that she should be institutionalized,have constant psychiatric care, etc. This part of the descriptions of the parents was somewhat hard to believe since they are educated biologists and understand human nature, etc. But it’s fiction so I went with it.
We open in the Present with Rachel, a 26 woman, while she is talking to a spider in her room.She has had the ability to talk to all animals, insects etc since she was very young. She has been in a mental institution for 15 years. She’s there for several reasons, she either witnessed her parents getting killed and was traumatized or she committed the crime and can’t or won’t admit it. Further, most attempts at psychiatric therapy and medication failed to help Rachel. She’s convinced that she killed her parents -- until a young journalist arrives on the scene. He wants to tell Rachel’s story, Trevor’s the name and remember it as he will have an important part in the story later!! He starts digging into facts and some surprising and interesting facts are revealed, yes a very good part!!
The other point of view is that of Jenny, told as Past Time. Jenny is a hard woman to understand. On the one hand she is loving, caring, educated, intelligent and yet she and her husband make so many ridiculous mistakes, I just wanted to SHAKE THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!
The past starts with Jenny finding a toddler face down in their pool. Efforts at resuscitation failed. No one knew how the little boy had gotten through a locked gate and made it to the pool so quickly.
We learn about Diana and Rachel’s early years. Jenny’s sister, Charlotte, comes to help with the kids, cook, etc, but mainly to always keep an eye on Diana. Is she a help or is she too enchanted with Diana?
Well no more of the plot, you’ll just have to read it, and I hope that you will. If you liked The Marsh King’s daughter you will love this one. I think the former is still my favorite.
I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through Edelweiss.
This novel is set to publish on August 4, 2020
Trigger warning: I deducted 1* for what I felt was overly descriptive animal cruelty
I definitely enjoyed this ride of a book. At times I liked it, loved it, then didn’t like it, but in the end it was a very good story.
We have two POV’s, Jenny, from the past. She is the mother of Diana and Rachel, they live in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and I loved the descriptive writing of the background and atmosphere of the book. An immense lodge built by Jenny’s great-great grandfather becomes the family home. This sounds like a museum, again the descriptions were wonderful, I could actually picture this lodge and get a feel for it.
Jenny thought “a hunting lodge in the middle of four thousand wilderness acres sounds just about perfect to me” . . . “A wild child living in the woods. What could be more appropriate”.
So they think this is a great place to raise their two daughters, one of which they know has psychiatric problems. The parents are also hesitant to admit to themselves how sick Diana is. They make excuses and downplay or self deny that Diana has severe enough mental disease that she should be institutionalized,have constant psychiatric care, etc. This part of the descriptions of the parents was somewhat hard to believe since they are educated biologists and understand human nature, etc. But it’s fiction so I went with it.
We open in the Present with Rachel, a 26 woman, while she is talking to a spider in her room.She has had the ability to talk to all animals, insects etc since she was very young. She has been in a mental institution for 15 years. She’s there for several reasons, she either witnessed her parents getting killed and was traumatized or she committed the crime and can’t or won’t admit it. Further, most attempts at psychiatric therapy and medication failed to help Rachel. She’s convinced that she killed her parents -- until a young journalist arrives on the scene. He wants to tell Rachel’s story, Trevor’s the name and remember it as he will have an important part in the story later!! He starts digging into facts and some surprising and interesting facts are revealed, yes a very good part!!
The other point of view is that of Jenny, told as Past Time. Jenny is a hard woman to understand. On the one hand she is loving, caring, educated, intelligent and yet she and her husband make so many ridiculous mistakes, I just wanted to SHAKE THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!
The past starts with Jenny finding a toddler face down in their pool. Efforts at resuscitation failed. No one knew how the little boy had gotten through a locked gate and made it to the pool so quickly.
We learn about Diana and Rachel’s early years. Jenny’s sister, Charlotte, comes to help with the kids, cook, etc, but mainly to always keep an eye on Diana. Is she a help or is she too enchanted with Diana?
Well no more of the plot, you’ll just have to read it, and I hope that you will. If you liked The Marsh King’s daughter you will love this one. I think the former is still my favorite.
I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through Edelweiss.
This novel is set to publish on August 4, 2020
July 13, 2020
After the brilliant The Marsh King's Daughter, Karen Dionne once again plunges the reader into another dysfunctional family drama, set in the remote and pristine woods of the Michigan Upper Peninsula wilderness, with its echoes of the darkest fairytales and the parallel echoes between two generations of sisters, Jenny and Charlotte, and Jenny's daughters, Diana and Rachel, and the emotionally fraught difficulties of being a parent. Since the age of 11, the 26 year old Rachel Cunningham has been a resident of the Newberry Regional Mental Health Centre, a psychiatric hospital, enduring unspeakable suffering and humiliation, a self imposed punishment for being responsible for the death of her parents, even though the spider does not agree with her judgement. Trevor, the brother of her only friend in the asylum, Scotty, shows her police evidence that proves that she is innocent, it appears her sacrifice was all for nothing, now she must have answers.
Rachel embarks on a search into the past, the woods where she was raised in almost complete isolation with only her sister for company, role playing characters from fairytales in their childhood, looking for who she is, what happened to her parents and those lost memories locked deep into her subconscious. The story is relayed from the perspective of Jenny and Rachel, a Jenny who becomes increasingly concerned about her young child, Diana, and the dangers she might pose to those around her. Instead of seeking professional help, Jenny instead removes her from society by organising their move to the isolated family lodge in the woods, feeling the emotional tug to do all that she can to protect her child, whilst carrying out field research on bears as a wildlife biologist. However, a trail of death, horror and destruction follows in the wake of the psychopathic Diana, threatening to destroy the family.
Jenny has seriously underestimated their ability to manage a callous, devious and manipulative Diana who feels no remorse, has no heart, and a dominant personality that rules the family. Jenny breathes a sigh of relief when her sister, Charlotte, comes to live with them, providing much needed support for Diana. After all, if you cannot rely on family who can you rely on? In a narrative that shifts from the past and the present, Rachel looks for answers, receiving nudges from the animal and bird kingdom, but will she survive the dangers of once again tangling with Diana, who had so easily dominated her as she was growing up? This is an uneasy and disturbing read, there is animal abuse, and a foray into the past that is so traumatic that Rachel has buried her memories deep within her psyche.
It would be all too easy as an outsider to wonder how Jenny and Peter made such catastrophic and poor decisions when it comes to Diana, but the emotional morass of being family, of being a parent, this can make you blind when it comes to your own child, just as it can when it comes to seeing your sister clearly, you may only see the dangers when it is all too late. An engaging and compulsive novel, although I much preferred The Marsh King's Daughter. Many thanks to Little, Brown for an ARC.
Rachel embarks on a search into the past, the woods where she was raised in almost complete isolation with only her sister for company, role playing characters from fairytales in their childhood, looking for who she is, what happened to her parents and those lost memories locked deep into her subconscious. The story is relayed from the perspective of Jenny and Rachel, a Jenny who becomes increasingly concerned about her young child, Diana, and the dangers she might pose to those around her. Instead of seeking professional help, Jenny instead removes her from society by organising their move to the isolated family lodge in the woods, feeling the emotional tug to do all that she can to protect her child, whilst carrying out field research on bears as a wildlife biologist. However, a trail of death, horror and destruction follows in the wake of the psychopathic Diana, threatening to destroy the family.
Jenny has seriously underestimated their ability to manage a callous, devious and manipulative Diana who feels no remorse, has no heart, and a dominant personality that rules the family. Jenny breathes a sigh of relief when her sister, Charlotte, comes to live with them, providing much needed support for Diana. After all, if you cannot rely on family who can you rely on? In a narrative that shifts from the past and the present, Rachel looks for answers, receiving nudges from the animal and bird kingdom, but will she survive the dangers of once again tangling with Diana, who had so easily dominated her as she was growing up? This is an uneasy and disturbing read, there is animal abuse, and a foray into the past that is so traumatic that Rachel has buried her memories deep within her psyche.
It would be all too easy as an outsider to wonder how Jenny and Peter made such catastrophic and poor decisions when it comes to Diana, but the emotional morass of being family, of being a parent, this can make you blind when it comes to your own child, just as it can when it comes to seeing your sister clearly, you may only see the dangers when it is all too late. An engaging and compulsive novel, although I much preferred The Marsh King's Daughter. Many thanks to Little, Brown for an ARC.
September 20, 2020
The Grimms' fairytale taken to another level.
2 parents dead. One daughter who has believed for 15 years of her life, she killed them. She self commits only years later finds she couldn’t have killed them. She returns home to find out the truth which has been lost in the recesses of her mind.
Twisty, curvy just how I like my thrillers.
Dionne, in both The Marsh King's Daughterand now The Wicked Sister takes the reader into a new fairytale realm. And while it was gripping, it was a little too neatly packaged at the end.
4⭐️ (less)
2 parents dead. One daughter who has believed for 15 years of her life, she killed them. She self commits only years later finds she couldn’t have killed them. She returns home to find out the truth which has been lost in the recesses of her mind.
Twisty, curvy just how I like my thrillers.
Dionne, in both The Marsh King's Daughterand now The Wicked Sister takes the reader into a new fairytale realm. And while it was gripping, it was a little too neatly packaged at the end.
4⭐️ (less)
June 5, 2021
A wickedly good read!
Rachel spent the last 15 years in a psychiatric hospital. Punishing herself for the death of both her parents.
But what if there is more to their deaths? What if someone can prove she wasn’t responsible?
Two sisters. Rachel and Diane. Two sisters who could not be more different.
Diane tall, blond with no conscience.
Rachel, short dark-haired ruled by her emotions.
This book had been sitting on my shelf for what seems like forever and though I absolutely loved this author’s previous release The Marsh King’s Daughter it just never felt like the right time to pick this book up. Until now…
When I found an audio version I knew it would be just what I needed to get me started. The narrators instantly captured my attention and I was all in! Both Kristen Sieh and Andi Arndt did an amazing job bringing the characters to life.
Karen Dionne once again writes a captivating and chilling read that I couldn’t put down. I cannot wait to see what Ms. Dionne has in store for us next! I’m ready! And I promise it won’t be sitting on my shelf for long!
A buddy read with Susanne that we both really enjoyed!
Posted to: https://books-are-a-girls-best-friend...
Thank you to Edelweiss and Penguin Publishing Group.
Rachel spent the last 15 years in a psychiatric hospital. Punishing herself for the death of both her parents.
But what if there is more to their deaths? What if someone can prove she wasn’t responsible?
Two sisters. Rachel and Diane. Two sisters who could not be more different.
Diane tall, blond with no conscience.
Rachel, short dark-haired ruled by her emotions.
This book had been sitting on my shelf for what seems like forever and though I absolutely loved this author’s previous release The Marsh King’s Daughter it just never felt like the right time to pick this book up. Until now…
When I found an audio version I knew it would be just what I needed to get me started. The narrators instantly captured my attention and I was all in! Both Kristen Sieh and Andi Arndt did an amazing job bringing the characters to life.
Karen Dionne once again writes a captivating and chilling read that I couldn’t put down. I cannot wait to see what Ms. Dionne has in store for us next! I’m ready! And I promise it won’t be sitting on my shelf for long!
A buddy read with Susanne that we both really enjoyed!
Posted to: https://books-are-a-girls-best-friend...
Thank you to Edelweiss and Penguin Publishing Group.
April 9, 2020
3.5 stars
"All will become known, the raven promised. Things are not as they seem, the spider warned. Remember, the Raven's mate urged."
She thought she buried her past....
Rachel locked herself away in a psychiatric facility as punishment for the crimes she believed she committed as a child. But what if she didn't commit them? What if she didn't accidentally shoot and kill her parents, then who did? She has gaps in her memory but when she is presented with evidence that she did not kill her parents, she wonders who did.
Will her memory ever come back? Plus, her older sister well... read to find out.
The book is told in alternating timelines. We are given her Mother, Jenny's account of what happened in the past and Rachels POV in the present. Through Jenny's POV, it is clear who committed the crimes, but will Rachel come to that conclusion as well?
This is a creepy uncomfortable book with some cringeworthy scenes that add to the story creating mounting dread. As I read, I just knew things were going to get worse, much, much worse. Plus, there were times that I wanted to yell at the parents in the book for the choices they made - or lack of choices they made. Seriously, wtf, people.
I'll admit, there were times I did not care for this book. Mainly because the book made me angry and uncomfortable. I imagine most will take issue with some of the decisions made in this book. And yet, this one grew on me, I enjoyed it and realize that the Author wants us to be uncomfortable, she wants readers to understand just how serious things are in this book.
Fans of her previous book The Marsh King's Daughter will enjoy this one, although I will admit to enjoying the Marsh King's Daughter more. Dionne loves to use nature in her books and nature plays a key part in this book as well. Dionne gives vivid descriptions and transports readers to the woods and into this family's home.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher and Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own
"All will become known, the raven promised. Things are not as they seem, the spider warned. Remember, the Raven's mate urged."
She thought she buried her past....
Rachel locked herself away in a psychiatric facility as punishment for the crimes she believed she committed as a child. But what if she didn't commit them? What if she didn't accidentally shoot and kill her parents, then who did? She has gaps in her memory but when she is presented with evidence that she did not kill her parents, she wonders who did.
Will her memory ever come back? Plus, her older sister well... read to find out.
The book is told in alternating timelines. We are given her Mother, Jenny's account of what happened in the past and Rachels POV in the present. Through Jenny's POV, it is clear who committed the crimes, but will Rachel come to that conclusion as well?
This is a creepy uncomfortable book with some cringeworthy scenes that add to the story creating mounting dread. As I read, I just knew things were going to get worse, much, much worse. Plus, there were times that I wanted to yell at the parents in the book for the choices they made - or lack of choices they made. Seriously, wtf, people.
I'll admit, there were times I did not care for this book. Mainly because the book made me angry and uncomfortable. I imagine most will take issue with some of the decisions made in this book. And yet, this one grew on me, I enjoyed it and realize that the Author wants us to be uncomfortable, she wants readers to understand just how serious things are in this book.
Fans of her previous book The Marsh King's Daughter will enjoy this one, although I will admit to enjoying the Marsh King's Daughter more. Dionne loves to use nature in her books and nature plays a key part in this book as well. Dionne gives vivid descriptions and transports readers to the woods and into this family's home.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher and Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own
January 27, 2021
3 stars.
Rachel has just signed herself out of the mental institution she willingly committed herself to for the last 15 years. She remembers holding the gun when her parents were shot and killed 15 years ago. A local reporter has opened her eyes to the possibility that she may not be guilty of their deaths. She has no memory of the details surrounding her parents murders and she longs for answers. She travels back to the secluded log cabin her family lived in where her estranged sister now lives. She hopes that being in the house where her parents were killed, will help bring back the details and lost memories.
I read and loved this authors previous book, The Marsh King’s Daughter. Similar to that book, this was a highly atmospheric novel that had me feeling the foreboding tension of the cat and mouse game in the vast and isolated forest. However, that is where the similarities end.
This book started off a lot stronger than it ended.
The mystery surrounding the murders was intriguing but the pace didn’t consistently keep me engrossed. The plot had potential but I felt the characters and storyline were underdeveloped. There were several decisions the characters made that didn’t add up and a few plot points were far too convenient. Many heavy themes were tackled within the book but some of them lacked the follow through required to feel impactful. The mother-daughter relationships explored within these pages failed to have the emotional pull I would expect from this type of storyline. I didn’t truly “feel” for the characters.
Overall, this was a quick, easy, atmospheric and entertaining read that kept me flipping the pages, but not one that lived up to this authors previous work.
Warning — this book is not for people who are sensitive to animal cruelty. I struggled through many scenes involving animals.
Thank you to Edelweiss for my review copy!
Rachel has just signed herself out of the mental institution she willingly committed herself to for the last 15 years. She remembers holding the gun when her parents were shot and killed 15 years ago. A local reporter has opened her eyes to the possibility that she may not be guilty of their deaths. She has no memory of the details surrounding her parents murders and she longs for answers. She travels back to the secluded log cabin her family lived in where her estranged sister now lives. She hopes that being in the house where her parents were killed, will help bring back the details and lost memories.
I read and loved this authors previous book, The Marsh King’s Daughter. Similar to that book, this was a highly atmospheric novel that had me feeling the foreboding tension of the cat and mouse game in the vast and isolated forest. However, that is where the similarities end.
This book started off a lot stronger than it ended.
The mystery surrounding the murders was intriguing but the pace didn’t consistently keep me engrossed. The plot had potential but I felt the characters and storyline were underdeveloped. There were several decisions the characters made that didn’t add up and a few plot points were far too convenient. Many heavy themes were tackled within the book but some of them lacked the follow through required to feel impactful. The mother-daughter relationships explored within these pages failed to have the emotional pull I would expect from this type of storyline. I didn’t truly “feel” for the characters.
Overall, this was a quick, easy, atmospheric and entertaining read that kept me flipping the pages, but not one that lived up to this authors previous work.
Warning — this book is not for people who are sensitive to animal cruelty. I struggled through many scenes involving animals.
Thank you to Edelweiss for my review copy!
January 29, 2021
No hot diggity dang for this one from me! Lindsay and I have been trying to knock off some of those titles we requested and download awhile ago, and we were excited to read this one finally. However, that excitement fizzled out as the story did for us. Since downloading this one, I have discovered more about what I like in a story and what I don't. I have come to expect more from stories than I did before, so I find myself a little harder on them now. I disliked more about this one than I did like.
I didn't like how mental health was represented in the story, and there were a few things that didn't work for me. Our main character Jenny gives us a lesson on psychopaths throughout the story that didn't feel all that convincing, more like she was convincing us that her thoughts make the story believable.
There is a heavy theme, mood, and tone to the story with animals, which weighed on me. A good part of the book is about the characters connecting to nature and their environment around them in different ways. There is harm to animals throughout the story. I don't like seeing harm to animals, I don't even eat them but I don't shy away from the dark realities that surround them, and really who does like seeing harm to animals. Oh, our psychopath, who connects to animals in a disturbing way here is this story who isn't a well-fleshed out one. My biggest issue is I didn't understand the author's motivation with the dynamics between the characters, their environment, and animals.
This story was just too much for me yet not enough!
I received a copy from the publisher on Edelweiss.
I didn't like how mental health was represented in the story, and there were a few things that didn't work for me. Our main character Jenny gives us a lesson on psychopaths throughout the story that didn't feel all that convincing, more like she was convincing us that her thoughts make the story believable.
There is a heavy theme, mood, and tone to the story with animals, which weighed on me. A good part of the book is about the characters connecting to nature and their environment around them in different ways. There is harm to animals throughout the story. I don't like seeing harm to animals, I don't even eat them but I don't shy away from the dark realities that surround them, and really who does like seeing harm to animals. Oh, our psychopath, who connects to animals in a disturbing way here is this story who isn't a well-fleshed out one. My biggest issue is I didn't understand the author's motivation with the dynamics between the characters, their environment, and animals.
This story was just too much for me yet not enough!
I received a copy from the publisher on Edelweiss.
August 4, 2020
4-5 stars.
October 8, 2020
Be sure to check for my review, first posted on Mystery and Suspense, as well as a number of other insightful comments by other reviewers.
https://www.mysteryandsuspense.com/re...
After thoroughly enjoying one of her previous novels, I was pleased to get my hands on the latest work by Karen Dionne, which proves to be just as eerie. Telling a family’s story in two time periods, Dionne keeps the reader enthralled as pieces of the larger narrative slowly fall into place. Those who have enjoyed Dionne’s past work will not want to miss this one!
Fifteen years ago, Rachel Cunningham was locked away in a psychiatric facility. She murdered her parents at the age of eleven and refuses to allow herself any reprieve. The flashbacks are as vivid as ever and she refuses to talk about them with anyone else. When a reporter arrives to chat with her about telling the story, he explains that the evidence shows Rachel could not have committed the murders and that her self-imposed isolation can end if she wishes to sign herself out.
In a second narrative, two decades earlier, Jenny and Peter struggle with the death of a neighbourhood child who drowned in their pool. While their daughter, Diana, denies having anything to do with it, the evidence Jenny discovers says otherwise. Worried about the ongoing shaming that might occur, they reluctantly pack everything up and move into Peter’s family cabin, deep in the woods. There, Diana can thrive on her own, or so her parents hope. When Jenny reveals that she’s pregnant, she can only hope this change in the family will be best for everyone.
The new baby proves to be the polar opposite of Diana, something Jenny and Peter secretly enjoy. As Rachel grows, her sister is constantly pushing the limits and trying to harm her. Diana’s diagnosis as psychopathic makes it impossible to leave the girls alone, even for the shortest time. When Diana acts out once again, it is Rachel who reveals the truth to her parents, causing them to have to make a significant decision that is sure to make ripples throughout the entire Cunningham family.
As present day Rachel comes to terms with some of these suppressed memories, she encounters her sister once again. Rachel reveals what she knows about the day their parents died, leaving Diana to act in the only way she knows how. As the truth comes to the surface, wickedness receives its true name and a family is torn apart anew.
The story reads like a well-crafted psychological thriller with hints of evil throughout, as the title suggests. Karen Dionne creates a wonderful tale that works along parallel timelines, revealing just enough to keep the reader guessing, though keeping the pieces from falling into place until all is said and done.
Rachel Cunningham proved to be a worthy protagonist. Having locked herself away at a young age, she has no one but herself and the animal kingdom to keep her company, part of her upbringing in the woods. She seems enveloped in a mental fog, something that slowly reveals itself, only to create new chaos for her. Rachel remembers scraps her her life with Diana, though it is only when they reconnect that the truth begins to flow freely, which may not be the best thing for her.
Dionne’s use of strong secondary characters keeps the story moving, particularly as the other Cunninghams fill many of those roles. The reader can learn a little more about the strains that occur within the family, as Jenny serves to recount the flashback narrative, though it is Diana and her actions as far back as being nine that almost steal the show. Completely devoid of emotion, this child is a parent’s worst nightmare, as can be seen throughout the book.
While it took me a while to connect the two narratives, the plot thickens from the outset and the reader can surely forecast what is to come. In a story told through the eyes of Rachel and Jenny, there are many ‘aha’ moments in both the modern plot and that from years ago, when the parental murders took place. Dionne uses alternating chapters to tell of both time periods, forcing the reader to split their attention, though as things gain momentum, everything makes sense in both timelines. Chilling reveals throughout and the final face-off between Rachel and Diana offers the best of all the plot lines, with a twist at the end to tie it all together!
Kudos, Madam Dionne, for another winner. I cannot wait to see what else you might have in store for your fans.
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
https://www.mysteryandsuspense.com/re...
After thoroughly enjoying one of her previous novels, I was pleased to get my hands on the latest work by Karen Dionne, which proves to be just as eerie. Telling a family’s story in two time periods, Dionne keeps the reader enthralled as pieces of the larger narrative slowly fall into place. Those who have enjoyed Dionne’s past work will not want to miss this one!
Fifteen years ago, Rachel Cunningham was locked away in a psychiatric facility. She murdered her parents at the age of eleven and refuses to allow herself any reprieve. The flashbacks are as vivid as ever and she refuses to talk about them with anyone else. When a reporter arrives to chat with her about telling the story, he explains that the evidence shows Rachel could not have committed the murders and that her self-imposed isolation can end if she wishes to sign herself out.
In a second narrative, two decades earlier, Jenny and Peter struggle with the death of a neighbourhood child who drowned in their pool. While their daughter, Diana, denies having anything to do with it, the evidence Jenny discovers says otherwise. Worried about the ongoing shaming that might occur, they reluctantly pack everything up and move into Peter’s family cabin, deep in the woods. There, Diana can thrive on her own, or so her parents hope. When Jenny reveals that she’s pregnant, she can only hope this change in the family will be best for everyone.
The new baby proves to be the polar opposite of Diana, something Jenny and Peter secretly enjoy. As Rachel grows, her sister is constantly pushing the limits and trying to harm her. Diana’s diagnosis as psychopathic makes it impossible to leave the girls alone, even for the shortest time. When Diana acts out once again, it is Rachel who reveals the truth to her parents, causing them to have to make a significant decision that is sure to make ripples throughout the entire Cunningham family.
As present day Rachel comes to terms with some of these suppressed memories, she encounters her sister once again. Rachel reveals what she knows about the day their parents died, leaving Diana to act in the only way she knows how. As the truth comes to the surface, wickedness receives its true name and a family is torn apart anew.
The story reads like a well-crafted psychological thriller with hints of evil throughout, as the title suggests. Karen Dionne creates a wonderful tale that works along parallel timelines, revealing just enough to keep the reader guessing, though keeping the pieces from falling into place until all is said and done.
Rachel Cunningham proved to be a worthy protagonist. Having locked herself away at a young age, she has no one but herself and the animal kingdom to keep her company, part of her upbringing in the woods. She seems enveloped in a mental fog, something that slowly reveals itself, only to create new chaos for her. Rachel remembers scraps her her life with Diana, though it is only when they reconnect that the truth begins to flow freely, which may not be the best thing for her.
Dionne’s use of strong secondary characters keeps the story moving, particularly as the other Cunninghams fill many of those roles. The reader can learn a little more about the strains that occur within the family, as Jenny serves to recount the flashback narrative, though it is Diana and her actions as far back as being nine that almost steal the show. Completely devoid of emotion, this child is a parent’s worst nightmare, as can be seen throughout the book.
While it took me a while to connect the two narratives, the plot thickens from the outset and the reader can surely forecast what is to come. In a story told through the eyes of Rachel and Jenny, there are many ‘aha’ moments in both the modern plot and that from years ago, when the parental murders took place. Dionne uses alternating chapters to tell of both time periods, forcing the reader to split their attention, though as things gain momentum, everything makes sense in both timelines. Chilling reveals throughout and the final face-off between Rachel and Diana offers the best of all the plot lines, with a twist at the end to tie it all together!
Kudos, Madam Dionne, for another winner. I cannot wait to see what else you might have in store for your fans.
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
September 10, 2020
"We stopped checking for monsters under our bed when we realized they were inside us." (The Joker)
Hunka Munka......They walk amongst us day in and day out......Smiling faces with sunshine obliterating their deeply darkened souls. And some are blood of our blood.
Karen Dionne takes a lefthand turn down to Crazy Town. The Wicked Sister is not even on the map anywhere near her last book, The Marsh King's Daughter. This one simmers with foreboding throughout, and we as readers, have strapped on concrete blocks of dread as the storyline sinks into waves of apprehension. We know that bad stuff has happened here. But, why oh why?
Rachel Cunningham committed herself years ago to a psychiatric facility. She was convinced that she was somehow responsible for the deaths of both her parents even when there was no definitive proof. In time, she leaves the facility and returns to the family log cabin compound in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Her parents were both biologists and researchers living in the wild. No phone service, a faulty generator, and not another living soul for miles and miles. You get the picture.
Not gonna lie. The Wicked Sister is filled with some truly gruesome situations. It's certainly not for everyone. The scenes are explicit and the walk around inside someone's unbalanced head can be frightful. No Zombies. No Frankenstein. Just PEOPLE, folks.
Dionne sets it up purposefully that the reader will feel uncomfortable. But we continue to turn pages to gather up clues as to "Why?". The Wicked Sister is well written. Karen Dionne can tell a good tale. Just know that this one is gonna sit with you long after the last page.
Hunka Munka......They walk amongst us day in and day out......Smiling faces with sunshine obliterating their deeply darkened souls. And some are blood of our blood.
Karen Dionne takes a lefthand turn down to Crazy Town. The Wicked Sister is not even on the map anywhere near her last book, The Marsh King's Daughter. This one simmers with foreboding throughout, and we as readers, have strapped on concrete blocks of dread as the storyline sinks into waves of apprehension. We know that bad stuff has happened here. But, why oh why?
Rachel Cunningham committed herself years ago to a psychiatric facility. She was convinced that she was somehow responsible for the deaths of both her parents even when there was no definitive proof. In time, she leaves the facility and returns to the family log cabin compound in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Her parents were both biologists and researchers living in the wild. No phone service, a faulty generator, and not another living soul for miles and miles. You get the picture.
Not gonna lie. The Wicked Sister is filled with some truly gruesome situations. It's certainly not for everyone. The scenes are explicit and the walk around inside someone's unbalanced head can be frightful. No Zombies. No Frankenstein. Just PEOPLE, folks.
Dionne sets it up purposefully that the reader will feel uncomfortable. But we continue to turn pages to gather up clues as to "Why?". The Wicked Sister is well written. Karen Dionne can tell a good tale. Just know that this one is gonna sit with you long after the last page.
August 4, 2020
3.5 stars
This is one of those reviews that is tough to write & I think I may be an outlier here for purely subjective reasons. I’m not going to get into the story too much, the blurb will give you the gist. Instead, I’ll try to explain why this was just a case of book-reader mismatch.
When I rate a book, it’s usually a combination of points for technical ability & how much I enjoyed the read. The first was never in doubt. The author’s previous book (The Marsh King’s Daughter) was on my Top 10 list for 2017 & went on to win the Barry Award. She excels at creating memorable characters & atmospheric settings that lend the story a distinct sense of place. Easy 4 stars here.
The problem for me was with the more subjective side of the reading experience & it comes down to what kind of sub-genres you enjoy. This falls firmly in the psychological thriller column. It’s a familial battle of good vs. evil with clearly defined characters. The end is never in doubt but it’s more about the journey…..a “why-dun-it”.
What I discovered is that I’m more of a “who-dun-it” girl. I want a big, tangled & knotted mystery to pick away at….something with plenty of red herrings & misdirection to keep me guessing til the end. Unfortunately, I could see exactly where this story was going early on. The only thing left in doubt was which of the peripheral characters would be left standing. For that reason, I had trouble staying absorbed in the story. Give it 3 stars for reading pleasure.
And so we get an overall rating of 3.5. I’d encourage readers to take a look at other reviews & if you’re a fan of psychological thrillers, grab this & hide somewhere you won’t be interrupted.
I’ll see myself out.
This is one of those reviews that is tough to write & I think I may be an outlier here for purely subjective reasons. I’m not going to get into the story too much, the blurb will give you the gist. Instead, I’ll try to explain why this was just a case of book-reader mismatch.
When I rate a book, it’s usually a combination of points for technical ability & how much I enjoyed the read. The first was never in doubt. The author’s previous book (The Marsh King’s Daughter) was on my Top 10 list for 2017 & went on to win the Barry Award. She excels at creating memorable characters & atmospheric settings that lend the story a distinct sense of place. Easy 4 stars here.
The problem for me was with the more subjective side of the reading experience & it comes down to what kind of sub-genres you enjoy. This falls firmly in the psychological thriller column. It’s a familial battle of good vs. evil with clearly defined characters. The end is never in doubt but it’s more about the journey…..a “why-dun-it”.
What I discovered is that I’m more of a “who-dun-it” girl. I want a big, tangled & knotted mystery to pick away at….something with plenty of red herrings & misdirection to keep me guessing til the end. Unfortunately, I could see exactly where this story was going early on. The only thing left in doubt was which of the peripheral characters would be left standing. For that reason, I had trouble staying absorbed in the story. Give it 3 stars for reading pleasure.
And so we get an overall rating of 3.5. I’d encourage readers to take a look at other reviews & if you’re a fan of psychological thrillers, grab this & hide somewhere you won’t be interrupted.
I’ll see myself out.
June 5, 2021
Review posted on blog: https://books-are-a-girls-best-friend...
Family: So Evil, So Twisted, and well, So Darn Wicked.
“The Wicked Sister” has been on my Edelweiss back list for YEARS, unfortunately, you know how it goes - sometimes, books just fall to the wayside. Well, folks, I finally got to it (thanks to a little help from my local library and their audiobook selection.. lol) and I’m glad I did. I loved this author’s prior book “The Marsh King’s Daughter” and still remember the details and had a feeling I’d like this one as well, and I was right.
The Location: Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Present Day: Rachel was eleven years old when her parents died in a murder/suicide. Since that time Rachel has been living in a mental health facility voluntarily, believing that she murdered her parents. When she decides to check herself out, fifteen years later, she discovers that she was wrong.
The Past: Jenny escapes her hometown with her husband and their young daughter Diana after a tragic incident occurs leaving a toddler dead. Their destination is their family’s hunting cabin in the woods. Both Jenny and her husband are hoping for a simpler life, and looking for a way to make things better for Diana, who isn’t like other children. When Jenny gets pregnant with another child a few years later, complications ensue.
The day comes when Rachel, Diana’s sister, confronts her past, and let’s just say that it’s not pretty.
“All Will Become Known” warns the Raven…
Taut, suspenseful, harrowing, “The Wicked Sister” was a well-done mystery and a fabulous audiobook, with great narrators.
I will admit that there were certain parts of this novel that I felt were extremely far-fetched and had me rolling my eyes a tad. That said, for the most part, I enjoyed this suspenseful novel and would recommend it to fans of mystery/suspense.
This was a buddy listen with Kaceey that we both enjoyed.
Thank you to Edelweiss, GP. Putnam’s Sons, Penguin Publishing Group for the arc, and my local library for the audiobook.
Published on Goodreads and Twitter.
Family: So Evil, So Twisted, and well, So Darn Wicked.
“The Wicked Sister” has been on my Edelweiss back list for YEARS, unfortunately, you know how it goes - sometimes, books just fall to the wayside. Well, folks, I finally got to it (thanks to a little help from my local library and their audiobook selection.. lol) and I’m glad I did. I loved this author’s prior book “The Marsh King’s Daughter” and still remember the details and had a feeling I’d like this one as well, and I was right.
The Location: Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Present Day: Rachel was eleven years old when her parents died in a murder/suicide. Since that time Rachel has been living in a mental health facility voluntarily, believing that she murdered her parents. When she decides to check herself out, fifteen years later, she discovers that she was wrong.
The Past: Jenny escapes her hometown with her husband and their young daughter Diana after a tragic incident occurs leaving a toddler dead. Their destination is their family’s hunting cabin in the woods. Both Jenny and her husband are hoping for a simpler life, and looking for a way to make things better for Diana, who isn’t like other children. When Jenny gets pregnant with another child a few years later, complications ensue.
The day comes when Rachel, Diana’s sister, confronts her past, and let’s just say that it’s not pretty.
“All Will Become Known” warns the Raven…
Taut, suspenseful, harrowing, “The Wicked Sister” was a well-done mystery and a fabulous audiobook, with great narrators.
I will admit that there were certain parts of this novel that I felt were extremely far-fetched and had me rolling my eyes a tad. That said, for the most part, I enjoyed this suspenseful novel and would recommend it to fans of mystery/suspense.
This was a buddy listen with Kaceey that we both enjoyed.
Thank you to Edelweiss, GP. Putnam’s Sons, Penguin Publishing Group for the arc, and my local library for the audiobook.
Published on Goodreads and Twitter.
August 4, 2020
*you can now get your hands on a copy of this one!
4 Gruesome Fairy Tale Stars
After reading and really liking “The Marsh King’s Daughter” about three years ago, I knew this was an author to follow! One of my favorite things is how Karen Dionne writes about the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I was lucky enough to visit Mackinac Island a few years ago and I would go back in a heartbeat to explore more of this beautiful state. The setting is beautiful, but the characters are tortured in this one.
This psychological suspense tale alternates chapters of modern day with Rachel and then the past with Jenny, Rachel’s mother. When we start with Rachel, she has been in a mental hospital for 15 years because of some terrible things that happened when she was a child. Rachel decides it is finally time for the truth to come out though as she cannot really remember what happened. Maybe she wasn’t actually responsible . . .
Rachel checks herself out and heads back to her childhood home where her sister Diana still lives with their Aunt Charlotte. The home is a beautiful, but secluded log house. Growing up, Rachel’s parents were biologists researching right outside the house. They studied the bears and frogs in the area. Rachel loved studying bears with her mother, and she knew the woods very well. As Rachel starts to jog her memory, we learn more about how off-kilter Diana was and how she made her childhood miserable. With the isolation, the two sisters frequently acted out fairy tales.
In the Jenny and Peter chapters, we learn about the struggle to raise a child with mental illness. This book built in suspense and while I knew what was coming, it was still a surprise how it all played out. As a warning, there is some animal abuse and taxidermy. I know some fellow readers have been bothered by that piece.
Overall, I liked this one and loved the writing style.
Thank you to Edelweiss, Karen Dionne, and G.P. Putnam/Penguin for a complimentary copy to read in return for an honest review.
4 Gruesome Fairy Tale Stars
After reading and really liking “The Marsh King’s Daughter” about three years ago, I knew this was an author to follow! One of my favorite things is how Karen Dionne writes about the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I was lucky enough to visit Mackinac Island a few years ago and I would go back in a heartbeat to explore more of this beautiful state. The setting is beautiful, but the characters are tortured in this one.
This psychological suspense tale alternates chapters of modern day with Rachel and then the past with Jenny, Rachel’s mother. When we start with Rachel, she has been in a mental hospital for 15 years because of some terrible things that happened when she was a child. Rachel decides it is finally time for the truth to come out though as she cannot really remember what happened. Maybe she wasn’t actually responsible . . .
Rachel checks herself out and heads back to her childhood home where her sister Diana still lives with their Aunt Charlotte. The home is a beautiful, but secluded log house. Growing up, Rachel’s parents were biologists researching right outside the house. They studied the bears and frogs in the area. Rachel loved studying bears with her mother, and she knew the woods very well. As Rachel starts to jog her memory, we learn more about how off-kilter Diana was and how she made her childhood miserable. With the isolation, the two sisters frequently acted out fairy tales.
In the Jenny and Peter chapters, we learn about the struggle to raise a child with mental illness. This book built in suspense and while I knew what was coming, it was still a surprise how it all played out. As a warning, there is some animal abuse and taxidermy. I know some fellow readers have been bothered by that piece.
Overall, I liked this one and loved the writing style.
Thank you to Edelweiss, Karen Dionne, and G.P. Putnam/Penguin for a complimentary copy to read in return for an honest review.
September 24, 2020
Q:
Flies aren’t the best conversationalists. For that matter, neither am I. (c)
Q:
“Our little family cemetery is much more crowded than you know.” (c)
Q:
It’s a tough world when you’re a bear. (c)
Q:
I could have spent my teenage years at the lodge, gone to a university, gotten a degree, carried on my mother’s research, fallen in love, gotten married...
The answers I need don’t lie in my future; they’re buried in my past. (c)
Q:
...there are a lot of neuroses and psychoses I can fake. Mood disorders are the easiest, but I also do a mean schizophrenic. I used to pretend that I had a different disorder every time I got a new roommate, like trying on a new shirt or coat, which might seem manipulative or maybe even cruel, but was really just harmless fun. (c)
A story of mental breakdown… of a crime… of memories gone incomprehensible.
Rachel and Jenny. Diana the tiny monster. Scary kids and clueless parents, all in need of therapy and maybe just a tiny bit of exorcism. Rachel speaks to animals and, what's more important, they talk back:
Q: I hate when animals use enigmatic sayings to pretend to wisdom. That this raven spoke to me is not unusual... (c)
It's both exhilarating and chilling how the perspective of a mental patient actually being able to leave the institution is shown. Good that Jenny is true to herself.
Another great thing is all the outdoorsiness and all the woodsy romantics we get glimpses of:
Q:
the scenery is going to be spectacular. It’s hard to believe that tomorrow we could be tramping around in our very own woods, leaves crunching underfoot and squirrels gathering acorns while the chickadees chatter, maple and beech trees glowing red and gold against an azure sky. We can take out the canoe on our very own private lake whenever we like, catch perch and rock bass for our dinner, spend long winter evenings in front of a roaring fire, sipping drinks and reading Hemingway and Dostoyevsky while Diana sleeps on a bearskin rug at our feet, her cheeks flush with heat, while outside the wind rattles the windows and the snow blows.
Okay, so maybe I am a bit of a romantic… (c)
A 'tragedy of errors'. Why, of all people, it was a journalist who gave her the info she so badly needed?
Q:
After no one believed me when I came out of my catatonia and told them I killed my mother, I stopped talking about it. My aunt and sister never asked what was keeping me at the hospital because they thought my therapists were addressing my issues. My therapists didn’t know the reason for my lack of progress because I never told them I still believed I killed my mother. (c)
Q:
I didn’t so much fall through the cracks as willingly jump into them. (c)
Diana:
Q:
But her therapist doesn’t have to live with our sweet, charismatic, highly intelligent, super-creative, ultra-manipulative, love-you-one-second-and-bite-you-on-the-arm-the-next daughter. (c)
Q:
Once again, I am in awe of my daughter’s fearlessness. (c) That's not fearlessness. That's stupidity and unability to see the possible consequences, like 'I throw stones at the cub, the mom bear gets mad and eats my mom and me and even if I run away I am alone and hungry and have nowhere to live'…
Overall, a very decent read.
Other:
Q:
There aren’t many places willing to take a mentally challenged paranoid schizophrenic. (c)
Q:
I can’t explain why I’m able to understand his mouth-full-of-marbles speech any more than I can explain my ability to understand the spider. (c)
Q:
I’ve seen too many people spill their guts in group therapy believing that this will make them feel better, only to discover that revealing their deepest, darkest secrets invariably makes things a thousand times worse. (c)
Q:
—It’s my twelfth birthday. I’m sitting cross-legged on the floor of a padded cell strapped into a straitjacket. My arms ache and my nose itches and I have to pee. My voice is hoarse from yelling for help. …
—I’m fifteen. I’m lying on my back on a narrow gurney counting the fluorescent lights that pass overhead as I’m wheeled down a long hallway. My arms and legs are buckled into leather straps. My therapist has promised that this will be the last electroconvulsive therapy session I will need. I don’t believe her. (c)
Q:
Clearly, our daughter’s utter fearlessness and oversized sense of adventure are going to serve her well here. (c) Huh.
Q:
I’m his ticket to fame and fortune; he’s my passport to the outside world. I think it’s a fair trade. (c)
Q:
I do know that I discovered early on that choosing when to speak and what to say was one of the few aspects of my hospital experience that I could control. (c)
Q:
I wonder what it would be like to have both a future and someone to share it with. (c)
Flies aren’t the best conversationalists. For that matter, neither am I. (c)
Q:
“Our little family cemetery is much more crowded than you know.” (c)
Q:
It’s a tough world when you’re a bear. (c)
Q:
I could have spent my teenage years at the lodge, gone to a university, gotten a degree, carried on my mother’s research, fallen in love, gotten married...
The answers I need don’t lie in my future; they’re buried in my past. (c)
Q:
...there are a lot of neuroses and psychoses I can fake. Mood disorders are the easiest, but I also do a mean schizophrenic. I used to pretend that I had a different disorder every time I got a new roommate, like trying on a new shirt or coat, which might seem manipulative or maybe even cruel, but was really just harmless fun. (c)
A story of mental breakdown… of a crime… of memories gone incomprehensible.
Rachel and Jenny. Diana the tiny monster. Scary kids and clueless parents, all in need of therapy and maybe just a tiny bit of exorcism. Rachel speaks to animals and, what's more important, they talk back:
Q: I hate when animals use enigmatic sayings to pretend to wisdom. That this raven spoke to me is not unusual... (c)
It's both exhilarating and chilling how the perspective of a mental patient actually being able to leave the institution is shown. Good that Jenny is true to herself.
Another great thing is all the outdoorsiness and all the woodsy romantics we get glimpses of:
Q:
the scenery is going to be spectacular. It’s hard to believe that tomorrow we could be tramping around in our very own woods, leaves crunching underfoot and squirrels gathering acorns while the chickadees chatter, maple and beech trees glowing red and gold against an azure sky. We can take out the canoe on our very own private lake whenever we like, catch perch and rock bass for our dinner, spend long winter evenings in front of a roaring fire, sipping drinks and reading Hemingway and Dostoyevsky while Diana sleeps on a bearskin rug at our feet, her cheeks flush with heat, while outside the wind rattles the windows and the snow blows.
Okay, so maybe I am a bit of a romantic… (c)
A 'tragedy of errors'. Why, of all people, it was a journalist who gave her the info she so badly needed?
Q:
After no one believed me when I came out of my catatonia and told them I killed my mother, I stopped talking about it. My aunt and sister never asked what was keeping me at the hospital because they thought my therapists were addressing my issues. My therapists didn’t know the reason for my lack of progress because I never told them I still believed I killed my mother. (c)
Q:
I didn’t so much fall through the cracks as willingly jump into them. (c)
Diana:
Q:
But her therapist doesn’t have to live with our sweet, charismatic, highly intelligent, super-creative, ultra-manipulative, love-you-one-second-and-bite-you-on-the-arm-the-next daughter. (c)
Q:
Once again, I am in awe of my daughter’s fearlessness. (c) That's not fearlessness. That's stupidity and unability to see the possible consequences, like 'I throw stones at the cub, the mom bear gets mad and eats my mom and me and even if I run away I am alone and hungry and have nowhere to live'…
Overall, a very decent read.
Other:
Q:
There aren’t many places willing to take a mentally challenged paranoid schizophrenic. (c)
Q:
I can’t explain why I’m able to understand his mouth-full-of-marbles speech any more than I can explain my ability to understand the spider. (c)
Q:
I’ve seen too many people spill their guts in group therapy believing that this will make them feel better, only to discover that revealing their deepest, darkest secrets invariably makes things a thousand times worse. (c)
Q:
—It’s my twelfth birthday. I’m sitting cross-legged on the floor of a padded cell strapped into a straitjacket. My arms ache and my nose itches and I have to pee. My voice is hoarse from yelling for help. …
—I’m fifteen. I’m lying on my back on a narrow gurney counting the fluorescent lights that pass overhead as I’m wheeled down a long hallway. My arms and legs are buckled into leather straps. My therapist has promised that this will be the last electroconvulsive therapy session I will need. I don’t believe her. (c)
Q:
Clearly, our daughter’s utter fearlessness and oversized sense of adventure are going to serve her well here. (c) Huh.
Q:
I’m his ticket to fame and fortune; he’s my passport to the outside world. I think it’s a fair trade. (c)
Q:
I do know that I discovered early on that choosing when to speak and what to say was one of the few aspects of my hospital experience that I could control. (c)
Q:
I wonder what it would be like to have both a future and someone to share it with. (c)
September 13, 2020
Rachel has been living voluntarily in a psychiatric hospital for 15 years. When she was 11 her parents died, although the police ruled their deaths as murder/suicide, she remembers standing over their dead bodies holding a gun!!
When Rachel is shown police evidence that she could not have shot her parents, she is keen to leave the hospital and discover the truth about their deaths.
Rachel returns to the family’s remote log cabin to see her sister and aunt, hoping that being back home will bring back memories of the day her parents died.
This is my first book that I have read of Karen Dionne but after being gripped by this it will definitely not be my last.
Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a review.
When Rachel is shown police evidence that she could not have shot her parents, she is keen to leave the hospital and discover the truth about their deaths.
Rachel returns to the family’s remote log cabin to see her sister and aunt, hoping that being back home will bring back memories of the day her parents died.
This is my first book that I have read of Karen Dionne but after being gripped by this it will definitely not be my last.
Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a review.
September 12, 2019
I feel like I won the lottery by getting a very early sneak peak at Karen Dionne's HIGHLY anticipated new novel, The Wicked Sister. It is exceptional in so many ways - from the writing to the plotting to the divine atmospheric setting - this is a MUST read in 2020. Two sisters.
July 30, 2020
Set in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Two sisters have to confront their past when the youngest sister, Rachel's memories are not really as she remembers them. Rachel had locked herself away in a state facility as she believed that she had shot her parents. Now, an investigative journalist has reopened the case. When Rachel hears the evidence, she starts questioning everything that she believed to be true.
For fifteen years Rachel had chosen to stay in a psychiatric unit. She's just learned new details about the murders of her parents and checks herself out of the facility. She returns to the lodge where her sister, Diana and her aunt Charlotte still live, to try and get to the truth. Told from Rachel's perspective in the present day and from her mother, Jenny in the past. This story is about two sisters, one good the other evil. This is a well written fast paced read with believable characters that are well rounded. There is some animal abuse and taxidermy in the story that might upset some readers. I would like to thank NetGalley, Little, Brown Book Group UK and the author Karen Dionne for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.
For fifteen years Rachel had chosen to stay in a psychiatric unit. She's just learned new details about the murders of her parents and checks herself out of the facility. She returns to the lodge where her sister, Diana and her aunt Charlotte still live, to try and get to the truth. Told from Rachel's perspective in the present day and from her mother, Jenny in the past. This story is about two sisters, one good the other evil. This is a well written fast paced read with believable characters that are well rounded. There is some animal abuse and taxidermy in the story that might upset some readers. I would like to thank NetGalley, Little, Brown Book Group UK and the author Karen Dionne for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.
January 15, 2021
This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life in Books.
I loved this book! I really enjoyed the author's previous novel, The Marsh King's Daughter, so I was really excited to get the chance to read this book. Unfortunately, when this book was released, I was in the process of moving so I couldn't get to it right away but I never forgot about it and made sure to work it in just as soon as I could. I was hooked by this story right away and had a very hard time putting it down. This book was just as good as I had hoped it would be.
Rachel has spent the past fifteen years in a mental institution. Nobody believes her but she knows that she killed her mother and deserves to live this limited existence. Then she gets some new information that leaves her doubting everything she thought she knew. She decides to check herself out of the institution and go back to her family home to see what she can remember from all those years ago.
This story is told from two different points of view. Rachel's point of view is set in the present day with some flashbacks to her memories from when she was growing up. We also get to see things from Jenny's point of view which is set in the past starting with Diana is very young. Jenny is the mother of both Rachel and Diana. We see how much of a challenge Diana is and how hard her parents work to keep her calm and under control. I really felt for Jenny and wasn't sure what decisions I would make if I were put in her situation. Eventually, these two timelines come together and things get really intense.
I was completely taken with this story. I wanted to see what Diana would do and how her parents would handle the situation. I couldn't imagine living with someone so unpredictable and dangerous at times. I was equally invested in Rachel's story. I felt just how desperate she was to figure out what really happened to her parents. This story was violent at times, including injuries to animals and children, so it may not be for everyone but I thought it was an excellent read.
I thought that the two narrators, Kristen Sieh and Andy Arndt, did a phenomenal job with this audiobook. I thought that the two voices worked very well together in this book and that each narrator did a great job in bringing the characters to life. I thought that they added a lot of excitement and emotion to the story and that their narration added to my overall enjoyment of the book.
I would recommend this book to others. I thought that this was a fantastic book that kept me guessing throughout the story and worrying about what would happen to the characters next. I kept my headphones glued to my ears with this book and look forward to reading more of Karen Dionne's work soon.
I received a digital review copy of this book from G.P. Putnam's Sons via Edelweiss and borrowed a copy of the audiobook from my local library.
I loved this book! I really enjoyed the author's previous novel, The Marsh King's Daughter, so I was really excited to get the chance to read this book. Unfortunately, when this book was released, I was in the process of moving so I couldn't get to it right away but I never forgot about it and made sure to work it in just as soon as I could. I was hooked by this story right away and had a very hard time putting it down. This book was just as good as I had hoped it would be.
Rachel has spent the past fifteen years in a mental institution. Nobody believes her but she knows that she killed her mother and deserves to live this limited existence. Then she gets some new information that leaves her doubting everything she thought she knew. She decides to check herself out of the institution and go back to her family home to see what she can remember from all those years ago.
This story is told from two different points of view. Rachel's point of view is set in the present day with some flashbacks to her memories from when she was growing up. We also get to see things from Jenny's point of view which is set in the past starting with Diana is very young. Jenny is the mother of both Rachel and Diana. We see how much of a challenge Diana is and how hard her parents work to keep her calm and under control. I really felt for Jenny and wasn't sure what decisions I would make if I were put in her situation. Eventually, these two timelines come together and things get really intense.
I was completely taken with this story. I wanted to see what Diana would do and how her parents would handle the situation. I couldn't imagine living with someone so unpredictable and dangerous at times. I was equally invested in Rachel's story. I felt just how desperate she was to figure out what really happened to her parents. This story was violent at times, including injuries to animals and children, so it may not be for everyone but I thought it was an excellent read.
I thought that the two narrators, Kristen Sieh and Andy Arndt, did a phenomenal job with this audiobook. I thought that the two voices worked very well together in this book and that each narrator did a great job in bringing the characters to life. I thought that they added a lot of excitement and emotion to the story and that their narration added to my overall enjoyment of the book.
I would recommend this book to others. I thought that this was a fantastic book that kept me guessing throughout the story and worrying about what would happen to the characters next. I kept my headphones glued to my ears with this book and look forward to reading more of Karen Dionne's work soon.
I received a digital review copy of this book from G.P. Putnam's Sons via Edelweiss and borrowed a copy of the audiobook from my local library.
August 4, 2020
The Wicked Sister is Karen Dionne’s latest psychological thriller after she rocketed to international success with The Marsh King’s Daughter back in 2017, and whilst not quite as gripping as that was, this is still a thoroughly enjoyable thriller. It's not immediately clear at the start of the story the depth and insight the fictional narrative is about to provide as it delves into some very dark and disturbing topics.
It follows 26-year-old Rachel Cunningham who since the age of 11 has been a voluntary resident and firm fixture of the psychiatric hospital known as Newberry Regional Mental Health Centre. She believes that she was responsible for the death of her parents, Jenny and Peter, by gunshot and this is what precipitated her descent into chaos, however, when her closest friend at the asylum, Scotty, receives a visit from his brother and trainee journalist, Trevor, he draws her attention to a discrepancy in the Medical Examiner’s report which shatters her the world and reality as she knows it. Armed with this earth-shattering information she makes contact with two remaining family members: her sister and her aunt, Diana and Charlotte respectively, and travels to the family’s secluded cabin in the stunning wilderness of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in order to seek clarification on why they would abandon her to a fate of abuse at the facility. Have her repressed memories of the incident and her fractured psyche led to her living a lie for over a decade?
This is a gripping, moving and hard-hitting look behind the closed doors of a dysfunctional family unit and most importantly the devastating and far-reaching impact it can have on those involved often fostering a deep-seated hatred which continues exists between family members. I didn't realise quite how profound this was to become as it offers startling and authentic depictions of psychopathy, mental health, domestic abuse and the trouble of knowing just how to deal with close relatives who have major psychiatric issues. Couple a few creepy moments with an equally creepy setting, in a sparsely populated area surrounded by dense woodland and the type of location in which the likelihood of seeing another human is improbable, and it has you hooked; the descriptions create a tense and incredibly claustrophobic atmosphere, which serves to keep you eating into the page count. It's a powerful gut-punch of a thriller with a plethora of twists and a complex yet wholly engaging cast of characters. Manipulation, narcissism, deception and secrets and lies abound in this unique read. Many thanks to Sphere for an ARC.
It follows 26-year-old Rachel Cunningham who since the age of 11 has been a voluntary resident and firm fixture of the psychiatric hospital known as Newberry Regional Mental Health Centre. She believes that she was responsible for the death of her parents, Jenny and Peter, by gunshot and this is what precipitated her descent into chaos, however, when her closest friend at the asylum, Scotty, receives a visit from his brother and trainee journalist, Trevor, he draws her attention to a discrepancy in the Medical Examiner’s report which shatters her the world and reality as she knows it. Armed with this earth-shattering information she makes contact with two remaining family members: her sister and her aunt, Diana and Charlotte respectively, and travels to the family’s secluded cabin in the stunning wilderness of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in order to seek clarification on why they would abandon her to a fate of abuse at the facility. Have her repressed memories of the incident and her fractured psyche led to her living a lie for over a decade?
This is a gripping, moving and hard-hitting look behind the closed doors of a dysfunctional family unit and most importantly the devastating and far-reaching impact it can have on those involved often fostering a deep-seated hatred which continues exists between family members. I didn't realise quite how profound this was to become as it offers startling and authentic depictions of psychopathy, mental health, domestic abuse and the trouble of knowing just how to deal with close relatives who have major psychiatric issues. Couple a few creepy moments with an equally creepy setting, in a sparsely populated area surrounded by dense woodland and the type of location in which the likelihood of seeing another human is improbable, and it has you hooked; the descriptions create a tense and incredibly claustrophobic atmosphere, which serves to keep you eating into the page count. It's a powerful gut-punch of a thriller with a plethora of twists and a complex yet wholly engaging cast of characters. Manipulation, narcissism, deception and secrets and lies abound in this unique read. Many thanks to Sphere for an ARC.
September 2, 2020
Wow! What a captivating read!
Unique, informative and thrilling with never a dull moment.
After reading and loving Karen Dionne's "The Marsh King's Daughter" I could hardly wait to get my hands on "The Wicked Sister". It did not disappoint.
A family moves to Michigan's Upper Peninsula to remove their young psychopath daughter from other people. As the story progresses we read about murder, mental hospitals and unspeakable evil.
A gripping suspense-filled psychological thriller that is unputdownable!
Unique, informative and thrilling with never a dull moment.
After reading and loving Karen Dionne's "The Marsh King's Daughter" I could hardly wait to get my hands on "The Wicked Sister". It did not disappoint.
A family moves to Michigan's Upper Peninsula to remove their young psychopath daughter from other people. As the story progresses we read about murder, mental hospitals and unspeakable evil.
A gripping suspense-filled psychological thriller that is unputdownable!
September 8, 2020
The Wicked Sister by Karen Dionne is a dark and distressing thriller which is going to have you feeling agitated whilst reading it and wanting to get to the conclusion fast and punching the air with a big THANK GOD FOR THAT!!!!
I never thought I'd want to kill a child as much as I did when reading this ( please forgive me but read it and you'd understand 🙏) but Diana is a psychopath (no really she is)
The twist and turns, up and downs in this book are just going to send you on an unbelievable ride and no nails.
I definitely recommend this 📖
I never thought I'd want to kill a child as much as I did when reading this ( please forgive me but read it and you'd understand 🙏) but Diana is a psychopath (no really she is)
The twist and turns, up and downs in this book are just going to send you on an unbelievable ride and no nails.
I definitely recommend this 📖
April 22, 2020
After falling in love with Karen Dionne's writing style in The Marsh King's Daughter, I couldn't wait to get my hands on her newest release. Unfortunately, despite the beautiful writing style and breathtaking descriptions of the wild, this book fell flat for me. It was rather like Dr. Doolittle meets the Joker. Meh.
The book begins with Rachel Cunningham, who has voluntarily locked herself away in a psychiatric facility for the last fifteen years following her parents' death, as she is tortured by gaps in her memory and believes that she is responsible for their deaths. When she agrees to speak to a reporter and sees the police report for the first time, she begins to wonder if she was really responsible after all and decides the only way to find out is to return to her childhood home in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, where her older sister and aunt still live. As Rachel begins to uncover what really happened on the day her parents were murdered, she learns that home can be a place of unspeakable evil.
The first issue I had with the book is that the title gives it all away - there is no real element of suspense here. There were a couple of minor twists but nothing that really mattered either way. Second issue - there is great detail about taxidermy. I've said it before, I thoroughly dislike reading about taxidermy, and it is discussed ad nauseum in this book. Third issue - the conversations with animals! Talking ravens (and they do not say nevermore), spiders (ala Charlotte's Web), and bears (and dead bears at that) - it was all a big eye roll for me. Fourth issue - the ending. I get that fairy tales play a big role in this book, and the super happy ever after ending leaves you with a nice feeling, but for a thriller, it just didn't work for me.
I did love the brilliant atmospheric setting of the Upper Peninsula, which was very reminiscent of TMKD, and that is where Dionne shines. You can vividly picture every breath of cold air, and the wind from every rocky trail. I also liked Rachel's character but that was about it - her parents' actions drove me crazy, and the minor characters were just okay. I did appreciate Dionne's foray into psychopathy, and while I found it informative and intriguing, I just felt that there was so much more that could have been done with it in regard to the plot.
Overall, not an awful book, but it just didn't blow me away. I still love Karen Dionne's writing style though and am already looking forward to what she will come out with next. 3 taking-a-hard-pass-on-the-talking-animals stars.
The book begins with Rachel Cunningham, who has voluntarily locked herself away in a psychiatric facility for the last fifteen years following her parents' death, as she is tortured by gaps in her memory and believes that she is responsible for their deaths. When she agrees to speak to a reporter and sees the police report for the first time, she begins to wonder if she was really responsible after all and decides the only way to find out is to return to her childhood home in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, where her older sister and aunt still live. As Rachel begins to uncover what really happened on the day her parents were murdered, she learns that home can be a place of unspeakable evil.
The first issue I had with the book is that the title gives it all away - there is no real element of suspense here. There were a couple of minor twists but nothing that really mattered either way. Second issue - there is great detail about taxidermy. I've said it before, I thoroughly dislike reading about taxidermy, and it is discussed ad nauseum in this book. Third issue - the conversations with animals! Talking ravens (and they do not say nevermore), spiders (ala Charlotte's Web), and bears (and dead bears at that) - it was all a big eye roll for me. Fourth issue - the ending. I get that fairy tales play a big role in this book, and the super happy ever after ending leaves you with a nice feeling, but for a thriller, it just didn't work for me.
I did love the brilliant atmospheric setting of the Upper Peninsula, which was very reminiscent of TMKD, and that is where Dionne shines. You can vividly picture every breath of cold air, and the wind from every rocky trail. I also liked Rachel's character but that was about it - her parents' actions drove me crazy, and the minor characters were just okay. I did appreciate Dionne's foray into psychopathy, and while I found it informative and intriguing, I just felt that there was so much more that could have been done with it in regard to the plot.
Overall, not an awful book, but it just didn't blow me away. I still love Karen Dionne's writing style though and am already looking forward to what she will come out with next. 3 taking-a-hard-pass-on-the-talking-animals stars.
July 30, 2020
Set in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Two sisters have to confront their past when the youngest sister, Rachel's memories are not really as she remembers them. Rachel had locked herself away in a state facility as she believed that she had shot her parents. Now, an investigative journalist has reopened the case. When Rachel hears the evidence, she starts questioning everything that she believed to be true.
For fifteen years Rachel had chosen to stay in a psychiatric unit. She's just learned new details about the murders of her parents and checks herself out of the facility. She returns home to the lodge where she was raised and her older sister, Diana and her aunt Charlotte still live, to try and get to the truth. Told from Rachel's perspective in the present day and from her mother, Jenny in the past. This story is about two sisters, one good the other evil. This is a well written fast paced read with believable characters that are well rounded. There is some animal abuse and taxidermy in the story that might upset some readers.
I would like to thank NetGalley, Little, Brown Book Group UK and the author Karen Dionne for my ARC in exchange for an honest review .
For fifteen years Rachel had chosen to stay in a psychiatric unit. She's just learned new details about the murders of her parents and checks herself out of the facility. She returns home to the lodge where she was raised and her older sister, Diana and her aunt Charlotte still live, to try and get to the truth. Told from Rachel's perspective in the present day and from her mother, Jenny in the past. This story is about two sisters, one good the other evil. This is a well written fast paced read with believable characters that are well rounded. There is some animal abuse and taxidermy in the story that might upset some readers.
I would like to thank NetGalley, Little, Brown Book Group UK and the author Karen Dionne for my ARC in exchange for an honest review .
October 30, 2020
I loved “the marsh king’s daughter”. However, when I read the blurb for this book I thought “no, too predictable, skip it”. Did I listen to my gut? NO! I came back to it.
It’s a fairly short book, but on audio this felt interminable. It was exactly as horrid and predictable as feared. I fail to see any point of this book at all. You know the gist of how it will end after you’ve read the blurb. All you get in addition is a mixture of naive and hateful characters, mingled with animal cruelty and a dose of crazy.
Conclusion: awful! But not badly enough written for a one-star rating.
It’s a fairly short book, but on audio this felt interminable. It was exactly as horrid and predictable as feared. I fail to see any point of this book at all. You know the gist of how it will end after you’ve read the blurb. All you get in addition is a mixture of naive and hateful characters, mingled with animal cruelty and a dose of crazy.
Conclusion: awful! But not badly enough written for a one-star rating.
January 22, 2022
4.5 A first-rate psychological suspence. One key character is a psychopath. Dionne superbly highlights the traits of her psychopathy to build a memorable thriller. Our heroine, by contrast, is a people pleaser with an ultra-heavy conscience. Superbly plotted.
Unputdownable
Unputdownable
December 29, 2023
This book turned out to be better than i thought it would be. I didn't enjoy it at first. So many books about missing sisters and so many books with back and forth time periods. By the end of the book I ended up really liking it. The sister was not actually missing. She was diagnosed as a psychopath and her younger sister had seen her kill many people who resulted in the younger sister being commited to a mental hospital. When she decides to get out and go home, that's when things really start happening between her and her crazy sister. She does get redemption. The back and forth time line was between the young sister in the mental hospital telling about what's going on with her in the present and ther other time period is the mother telling what happened in the past to lead to her older daughter being diagnosed as a psychopath. There is a crazy aunt in her also. All in all by the end I really like this story and will definitely read more by this author.
June 29, 2021
Nothing about this book made sense to me. The parents didn’t think the aunt should know that she was being asked to look after a literal psychopath? What was the motivation for the aunt doing literally anything that she did? Why did it take 20 YEARS for the parents to decide to do literally anything about their murderous insane daughter (especially after watching her try to kill her sister and succeeded in killing her unborn brother)? Not one person in 15 years thought to share the one sentence that apparently proved Rachel didn’t kill her parents with her? This book was not my favorite.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 1, 2020
I really don’t have words to describe how stupid every aspect of this book is
August 21, 2020
This is one of those books where I get what the author, the simply sublime Karen Dionne (who blew my damn mind with the gorgeous The Marsh King's Daughter) was going for. What would you do if you knew that the little girl you loved with your heart was a monster? How would you raise that child? How would you keep her safe? How would you keep other people safe from her?
Maybe part of my issue here is that while those questions are super interesting and I'd love to learn the answers in this case I never get to because I'm told what they are on page one.
The story flips between two main characters. Rachel in the present is a young woman who's spent most of her life in an asylum convinced that she's responsible for the death's of her parents years before. In the past is Rachel's mother Jenny who harbors a dark and dangerous secret that she has escaped to the Michigan wilderness to protect. There's reasonable tension as the stories move back and forth in time between Rachel trying to remember what really happened when her parents died and Jenny getting closer and closer to the tragedy.
Again though the problem is that we already know the ending. I'm gonna tag the rest of this under a spoiler tag so proceed at your own risk.
So while the writing is evocative and beautiful just as in her earlier book I was super disappointed in the story. I admire the attempt and again, totally get the idea, alas the end result just didn't do it for me.
Maybe part of my issue here is that while those questions are super interesting and I'd love to learn the answers in this case I never get to because I'm told what they are on page one.
The story flips between two main characters. Rachel in the present is a young woman who's spent most of her life in an asylum convinced that she's responsible for the death's of her parents years before. In the past is Rachel's mother Jenny who harbors a dark and dangerous secret that she has escaped to the Michigan wilderness to protect. There's reasonable tension as the stories move back and forth in time between Rachel trying to remember what really happened when her parents died and Jenny getting closer and closer to the tragedy.
Again though the problem is that we already know the ending. I'm gonna tag the rest of this under a spoiler tag so proceed at your own risk.
So while the writing is evocative and beautiful just as in her earlier book I was super disappointed in the story. I admire the attempt and again, totally get the idea, alas the end result just didn't do it for me.
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