ARC Review: The Sullivan Sisters

Author: Kathryn Ormsbee

Genre: YA Mystery/Thriller

Release Date: 06.23.20

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Source: Publisher

My Rating: 2.5/5 stars

Synopsis: “Time changes things.

That painful fact of life couldn’t be truer for the Sullivan sisters. Once, they used to be close, sharing secrets inside homemade blanket castles. Now, life in the Sullivan house means closed doors and secrets left untold.

Fourteen-year-old Murphy, an aspiring magician, is shocked by the death of Siegfried, her pet turtle. Seventeen-year-old Claire is bound for better things than her Oregonian hometown—until she receives a crushing rejection from her dream college. And eighteen-year-old Eileen is nursing a growing addiction in the wake of life-altering news.

Then, days before Christmas, a letter arrives, informing the sisters of a dead uncle and an inheritance they knew nothing about. The news forces them to band together in the face of a sinister family mystery…and, possibly, murder. “

My feelings about this book are so impossibly mixed.

When it came to the majority of the book, I really enjoyed it. I loved the dynamics of the Sullivan sisters and how their relationships changed over the course of the book. I love how they were written.

I also loved the spooky vibes. Normally I don’t just reach for scary books, but I was addicted to the spooky vibes in this. It gave me goose bumps and kept me on the edge of my seat for the most part. The descriptions were written perfectly and made the entire story come to life.

However, the main reason that this book didn’t get a high rating from me is that I felt like the story built up to a lot of nothing. In the beginning it felt like it was going to grow into an amazing story (with lots of shocks and surprises) and yet I was rather let down by how it ended. It left a sour taste in my mouth that has left me bitter. It was very underwhelming in the end and missed so much of it’s potential to be great.

So, all in all, it isn’t a terrible story but I was kinda sad about how it ended. The ending was just unsatisfying to me and the entire story built up to a lot of nothing. I’m very disappointed to say the least.

Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with an E-Arc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions are all my own.