Pieces of My Sister's Life

by Elizabeth Joy Arnold

Two sisters who shared everything. One unforgivable moment.

And a second chance…There’s something to talk about in every chapter of Elizabeth Joy Arnold’s poignant, insightful debut novel—the perfect summer read for all those who loved Elisabeth Robinson’s The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters, Judy Blume’s Summer Sisters, and Jodi Picoult’s My Sister’s Keeper.

Once, Kerry and Eve Barnard did everything together: sailing the Block Island harbor with their father, listening to their neighbor Justin’s magical fairy tales, and all the while longing for their absent mother. They were twin girls arm in arm, secrets entwined between two hearts. Until the summer of their seventeenth birthday, when their extraordinary bond was shattered. And thirteen years later, it will take all the courage they can summon to put the pieces back together—at a time when it matters most.…


From the Paperback edition.

Genres: Fiction, Book Club, Chick Lit, Contemporary, Womens Fiction, Womens, Drama

320 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Brigitte · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was surprised by this story and not necessarily in a pleasant way. The front cover claimed it was ‘so beautiful and poignant it will take your breath away”. The scene on the front is of a beach chair with flip flops and books. I expected some disappointments since the back of the book said a bond was shattered between the twins, but I did not expect the book to be so gritty, and have such darkness to it. I might have enjoyed the book more if the description had better matched the story. I remember going to see Thelma and Louise thinking it was supposed to be a comedy, and it ended up more or a drama or black comedy. Even though the movie was a good one I did not enjoy it. That is how I feel about the book. The book had a dark side that I was not expecting, and did not enjoy.

[Kendall M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pieces of my sisters life was gut wretching, terrible, but yet truly genious. Arnolds story is captivating! From 1994 to 2007 my oh my how the world has changed for the twins. From playing in mud, falling in love, and death Kerry and Eve's worlds never seemed to be so far apart. This book made me want to scream the way Arnold tells every piece of the characters life seems unrealistic, but very true. Anyone who reads this will find their mind spinning and their hearts pounding. It's a great book.

[Amy · Rating 1 out of 5]

In the beginning I really liked this book and was intrigued as to what happened to these twins in their past. It was just way too melodramatic. By the end of the book, I did NOT like any of the characters. What really happened?? Who really loved who? Who was telling the truth? But I guess in the end...who really cares!!! Overwrought with lies, betrayals, selfishness and plain evil. Quite a depressing book. In my mind Eve didn't redeem herself one bit. And what type of mother would walk into her daughter's life for a few hours to say good-bye, admit she is a bad mother, and walk out again before the daughter dies!! That whole section was ridiculous.

[MARILYN · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can't believe that I actually finished this book. Unlikable characters, unbelievable plot and poor writing. The good news is the author improved as I really enjoyed The Book of Secrets: A Novel.

[eRin · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was okay. I read the whole thing, but questioned why almost the whole way through. I really just wanted to know what the hell happened that she refers to throughout the entire book. Of course it was a letdown. Not horrible, but not worth 450 pages of my time, either.

[ReBecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. Elizabeth Arnold did an amazing job, especially for her first book. Her writing skills were also amazing. A perfect day read, keeps you wanting to know more. I really enjoyed how Elizabeth kept going between the past and present; especially when you wanted to know why things were, in the present, when they were the same in the past. I also enjoyed the struggle between two sisters. Makes you realize that even through blood, you can be hurt emotionally from a family member. At times I felt that the two sisters, were more just friends then anything blood related, because I just could not imagine a family member doing something as cruel as Eve did. It's sad to read though, the struggles they went through as children, which I feel is what helped push for the betrayal at the older ages.... And Justin...words can not express the disappointment I had for him in the end! Though he is a typical male, I expected more from him.
Besides the drama that went between the sisters and their love for Justin, this book was amazing! I highly recommend it to everyone! Whether your looking for a beach read or just a luxury read, this is definitely a book for you!!

[Ginger · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've had this book on my Kindle for a few years, having decided last week to read it. I cannot believe I waited so long. This was so good! *Highly recommend. Grab the Kleenex!*

[Samantha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kerry and Eve are twins, and were nearly inseparable growing up, until their seventeenth summer. Something happened then, that changed their lives, and drove them apart. Thirteen years have passed, with neither of them speaking to the other. But something has gone horribly wrong, and they must face their past and face each other in order to get through it.


I didn’t finish this book, so that’s as good of a summary as you’re going to get from me. I was hesitant to read this, as I’m hesitant to read most adult books, and some of my fears were proved right. Content warning of swearing (including the F-word) and a lot of talk about sex—too much for me, but nothing explicit. Those two reasons are why I dropped this book, as well as me being worried how much farther the sexual content would go, as I wasn’t very far in.

The prologue was written extremely well, almost like poetry, and the rest of the book (that I read) wasn’t written too badly either. Not quite as good, but still done well. It was very easy to slip into the story, and to slip into Kerry’s head. I felt as if Kerry was a real person, especially with all of the insights of her older self slipped into the story of when she was younger.

However, I did have some issues with Kerry and Eve as teens. They felt… pretty adult to me. Not at all like teens. Maybe it’s just because I’m old-fashioned, but I didn’t like that they were pretty obsessed with having sex (at least, with their crush), and weren’t afraid to talk about things of that nature. Most books I read have teens as the main character, and this sort of stuff rarely comes up. I prefer it that way.

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished this book this past weekend. I have to say this was a splendid novel. There have been times when I just was so angry with my sister, I thought my head would pop off and I think the author does a wonderful job of detailing those things that just irritate us about our siblings, while also examining the strength of blood even after a betrayal.

That being said, here's a short summary: Eve and Kerry are twin sisters raised solely by their father since the age of 6. When tragedy strikes, the girls must face the responsibilities of the adult world while also trying to complete high school. They also have to deal with the ups and downs of love, sex, betrayal, and loss. The story occurs in the 1990s and in the year 2007, which I think works very well for helping move the story along and show how these two sisters are able to put their past behind them and forgive each other.

I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone. It was a well written story from a new author and I look forward to reading more by her in the future.

[Jodie · Rating 5 out of 5]

So far, so good. I keep getting these preminitions about Eve that aren't so good. I know she's going to end up breaking Kerry's heart.

Well, I was right...Eve did break Kerry's heart. But with the twist towards the end of the book...it wasn't as cut and dry as I thought it was going to be.

This is a great book about family. Twin sisters Eve & Kerry grew up without a mother and with hardly any help from their father. Lots of sibling jealousy but love is the underlying fact throughout the entire story.

This was an excellent story of love, love lost and love found again. A story of the bonds between twins and sisters, best friends, close-knit townsfolk and lives in a small town.

Very good Elizabeth Joy! I liked how you jumped back and forth between the past and current day without losing the reader. I can't wait to read your next book.

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Twin sisters share everything from the womb to their 17th birthday when a tragedy befalls them which has a greater effect on them than the fact that their mother walked out on them years ago. After being apart for 13 years they are once again together but you wonder whether they will be able to overcome the bitterness and hatred between them that has not abated or dimmed with the passage of time.

I liked the author's style of writing and it was such a wild idea for a plot that you certainly felt the need to keep turning the pages to learn what was going to happen. I also had to suspend my belief of reality because there were some major events that took place in the story that I don't believe the adults of the teens in the book would actually allow to transpire.

[Jenna Hartt · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 ⭐️

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great writing. I was really into the book,especially once past the first 100 pages. But in the end, when I expected the writer might take me(tried to take me?)to like and/or accept Eve, I despised her even more. I felt she was still self absorbed and manipulating (asking her sister to help her die)and I didn't find her to be all that great of a mother. I thought Justin would have been a stronger character throughout the book since Even remained the same. The "triangle" relationship confused me too, I was never really sure about Justin. I think the writing got a little confusing there ... How did Justin go from being what seemed like a great and loyal boyfriend/character, to such a spineless wimp in the end? With Eve being so weak and self absorbed throughout the book, I thought Justin would have been a stronger character throughout. If the reader was supposed to come away feeling that Eve wasn't all that bad in the end, I didn't get there.
Side note: When LoraLee (secretly?)took the photo of the girls ... that was somewhat slapstickish and awkward in the book.
Okay, I know I totally trashed lots about this book, but I really did like it. I like that I didn't necessarily like Eve in the end, the story leaves it up the reader, making it obvious that it's left up to the reader. Each reader will get something different, and that's what I liked, along with the great style in which the author writes.

[Kolleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pieces of My Sister's Life is a story about two sisters, twins, who grow up best of friends, but end up falling in love with the same man. After a series of unfortunate events, Mom runs away and Dad dies, the girls are left to grow up on their own, eventually searching for love and a new beginning in exactly the same place. As each sister goes through a series of ups and downs, the sisters end up hating each other over the shared adoration of Justin, and the betrayel that follows. Fast forward about 12 years and one of the sister's receives a call from the other sister that marries Justin (I'm keeping out the names here so I won't spoil anyone's read) with the news that she is dying of cancer. And so the story goes into reliving the past, writing the wrongs, and searching for a road to forgiveness.

The book was an overall good one, and I do love stories about sisterly love. I would have rated it at about 3 1/2 stars. Although I liked it, there is just something about this book that makes me feel uncertain about it (what a shitty sister Eve was, the douche bag that Justin turned out to be, and the death scene- was it the right decision?). I liked it, I really did... but I can't pinpoint the exact things that bothered me. A good book, quick and with alot of unexpected twists and turns, and also deals with some pretty deep issues. Definitely a recommended read.

[Melissa Dally · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmm, this book goes some dark dark places. I was drawn in and interested, but at the same time, several things struck me as particularly awful. It's about a set of identical twins and the losses this particular set suffers. To an extent tho, it's almost like they never have 2 lives, most of the time we feel like Eve and Kerry take turns living out a single life. Like the 12 or so years Kerry is gone, we don't hear anything about the sort of life she leads. I don't know if it was poor character development or if she just really spent all that time waiting for it to be time to return to where Eve and Justin (the creep that is the force that drives the twins apart) are and take up the life. Also there is the way a few people die in this book.

As a mother of a pair of identical twins, I always hope for more than that for my girls. I never want some jerk of a love interest to drive them apart. I hope they both find loves that respect their twinship and never try to drive a wedge between them. I don't want them to feel like they are each living out half of a single life, I want each to have her own hopes and dreams she pursues. I hope they are always as close and always love each other.

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book and what great writing from a first time author. I loved the storyline because the people in the book could be so real. And I cried at the end of the book.

The story is about twin sisters, Kerry and Eve. About their childhood without their mother and eventually without their father. Their strengths and weaknesses as sisters and as humans. And in the end, you put yourself in their shoes and ask yourself what would you do or say or think or feel if life presented it to you, the way that it did to them. You may not agree with everything but at the same time, can you fault them for doing what they did and how they did it.

I stuggle with the choices Eve made and do not agree with them but wonder if I would have responded any different then what Kerry did. I am not sure I would or could...who knows.

Anyways, I recommend this book to anyone that likes a good, easy read. It is a heartwarming story. And kudos to Mrs Elizabeth Joy Arnold in her successful first novel!

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay... so I know this book was heavy on the drama, but I really enjoyed it! I became emotionally entangled with the characters and was in tears at the end. Kerry Barnard was insecure, conflicted and angry, but I really connected with her. Eve Barnard, her twin sister, was horrible, so manipulative. Although I don't have a twin, I do have a younger sister, and so I understood Kerry's feelings completely. By the end of the book, my feelings toward Eve changed, as did Kerry's, and I found myself disgusted with Justin, the man who tore them apart. Justin Caine seems like a wonderful young man in the beginning, and I was rooting for him and Kerry, but in the end I too believed Eve's side of the story. Kerry's decision to leave was the right one, me thinks, as heartbreaking as it was for little Gillian Caine to have lost her mother. I won't soon forget this book and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good tear-jerker now and then, definitely chick lit.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This what not at all what I was expecting from this book. I thought it was going to be a feel good book where twin sisters get in a fight over a guy and one of them is dying, so they reconcile and everyone is happy. I did not expect a murder! I thought Eve was going to be the bad guy not Justin.
The only thing I really didn't like was that even after finding out that Justin had led Eve on and that Eve was really only trying to get her sister back, Kerry still slept with Justin. That really bothered me. After finding out everything that had happened I couldn't believe how nice Kerry was to Justin when she first came back. I know she didn't blame him for what happened, but she should have given him some of the blame - he did choose to go to Eve first over her and at that time she didn't know what was in Eve's letter. I have no complaints about the story or the writing, it just bothers me the way Kerry made it so easy for him to hurt her again.

[laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent. The characters were identical twins but as different as could be. The complexity of being identical twins is intertwined in this novel in a twisting, loving and yet complicated way. It is a great example of the thin line between love and hate; the competitiveness that exists between most siblings (let alone twins); the acts that one will resort to in order to find or keep the love of their life. I really liked the way that the story went back and forth between the past and present in telling of the story. Definitely a great book. I loved it so much that I downloaded Elizabeth Arnolds next book written after this to my nook as soon as I finished. An easy read but interesting and captivating story.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book really got in my heart. It's something that I'll think about a lot. I was rooting for the love story of Kerry and Justin. There is so much involved with these twins. They lead wild lives and I found myself wondering how they could do what they do. But I was so caught up in what was going on. Even though it went back and forth in time it flowed smoothly. I had a sick feeling in my stomach through some of it. I couldn't believe how mean people were to each other. I was hoping that all would work out in the end but I guess that was not meant to be. Justin's true colors were shown.

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed emotions about this book. I am a twin and even though when my sister and I were we were mean to each other never ever that mean. when we were teenagers if one of us liked a guy the other one would stay clear of him. So i have a hardtime thinking of a boyfriend getting in the way of a twin sister. Justin got on my nerves. It annoyed me that she slept with him at the end. The only way to redeem herself was to help off her sister just so he couldnt forgive her. This book had a lot of good quotes. I had a good cry at the end.

[Niki · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like this author. Her characters are deeply flawed human beings, but I can't help but become enmeshed in their lives. This is the story of twin sisters who have to live through terrible loss. It's how each deals with it, and the love, respect and trust that they show, or don't show, towards each other, that is played out in the book. My favorite quote, "...when you finds love you got to treasure it, reach for it with both your hand. Could be it make you lose your footin', but in the long run findin' your heart is more important than findin' your feet."

[Liane Manso · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book. Elizabeth Joy Arnold told a fantastic story and flipped back and forth between the past and the present without causing me any frustration. She showed the past perfectly through a teenager's eyes and the present with the better understanding we achieve as adults. The sisters really spoke to me. The only reason I didn't give this five stars is because of the boyfriend, Justin. I just never ended up liking him and felt that the two of them fighting over this pathetic man was hard to comprehend.

[Lizzie Lucier]

This book is so bad...but I cannot stop reading it, I just have to see how many overdramatic soap opera impossible scenarios can be played out in one book! So many improbably scenarios, so many stupid plot twists, gullible characters...even the naming of the sister is so heavy handed....duplicitous Eve. This book gives me great hope that one day my own novels will be published! This is the kind of thing I would have written back in 8th grade, when i was a huge Days of Our Lives fan...

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually thought this was a really good book. Even though I found it so difficult to read. Not difficult as in words etc. but mentally difficult. I just couldn't get my head around how horrible Eve was to her twin sister. I really despised her through most of the book. And still at the end did NOT get how Justin could fall for the Evil Twin.
It was definitely a good read, I've not read anything like it before and never anything that got to me so much. It just pulled me in.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting read, not at all what I expected! I think my biggest complaint is just over-all where the story went. Maybe that was intended, but I felt after the end, I didn't really like any of the characters! Maybe the author was going for shock value. I did find it hard to put down though, so I'm kind of mixed about it. I'd rate it between a 3 & 4, but don't think of it so much as a summer read, the cover is deceiving, it's kind of part mystery, part drama I guess.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautifully written book about the lives of twin sisters Eve and Kerry. The story is written in the present and flashes back to their lives as young children and growing up until a betrayal separates the two. A crisis brings them back together again and attempts to allow them to understand their feelings.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, it was like a train wreck that I couldn't stop reading. I'm still on the fence about how I feel about Eve, but I could relate to both Eve ad Kerry.

Things are't always as black and white as they may seem. Really great book.

I would have to say this was my favorite book that I have read from the book club to date.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up at a garage sale for $.50 :-)

It was actually pretty darn good. I'm going to loan it to my mother. My sis too, if she's interested.

The story was told primarily in two different times - 1993 and 2007. It also flashed back at times to when the main character was 6, probably early 80s.

Overall enjoyable :-)

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finished this book in about three days, which is a new college record for me because I never have time to read. I couldn't put this book down! It was very fast paced and I really liked it. There were also a lot of twists an turns...very unpredictable. I was also amazed that this was the author's first book. Definitely looking forward to reading more of her stuff!