Review Detail

THE SHADOW SISTER is a riveting mystery/suspense read about sisterhood and legacy. Casey and Sutton are both sisters and enemies, so when Sutton suddenly disappears, Casey has a lot of mixed feelings about it. As she performs for the press and helps to search for her sister, it begins to seem hopeless, especially when they find something unexpected in the woods. However, Sutton is found without her clothes in a remote location with no memory not only of what happened to her, but also no memories from her life before - except of Casey.

Casey does not trust what is happening and especially this new Sutton who actually cares about what she thinks and wants to spend time with her. She begins to look into Sutton's life before her disappearance in order to see if she can figure out what may have really happened to her - but the answers will be anything but simple about her sister and her life before.

What I loved: This was a really compelling and riveting read that kept me hooked with wondering what had really happened to Sutton during the time that she was gone. As Casey looks into her past, the reader is also given some tidbits through past perspective interludes from Sutton's point-of-view. While the elements of her disappearance were certainly there throughout, these also presented the story of two sisters facing a challenging relationship and all the places where they might have gone wrong.

What I found particularly interesting about this setup was how easy it was to see things from both of their point-of-views. When I read the chapters from Casey's perspective, it was easy to feel a certain way about Sutton - until you read the chapters from Sutton's past perspective, and it became so easy to feel a certain way about Casey too. I found this really unique, as it showed the role they each played in the deterioration of their relationship. They each felt so real, raw, and genuine, and their missteps felt equally true. Sisterhood is complicated, especially with family dynamics and their recent grief over their grandmother, and this theme around being sisters and the challenges that come with it was particularly powerful.

Other themes around race, generational trauma, prejudiced media/police efforts, family, friendship, abuse, and grief/loss were also really powerful and thought-provoking. Casey and Sutton are biracial, and the story shows the way that Black girls are treated by the media and police efforts when they go missing. Their parents are particularly aware of this and the way that they need to handle the story to keep a public eye on Sutton's case. When she is found, the way that she is treated is also full of prejudice, furthering this theme. Additionally, Casey spends time with her father on his project around their family history. He is a professor of history, and he has family documents and diaries that show the trauma that their family had through slavery. These stories are woven throughout as Casey learns about the women in their family, and they were quite powerful. These family connections and trauma are central to the story and quite potent to read about.

Casey and Sutton were both compelling characters with unique perspectives. It was easy to tell their sections apart as they had a unique voice. Throughout the story, Casey in particular is really growing and beginning to learn more about herself, her family, and the women from which she is descended that really impact her deeply. While the surface story is about Sutton, her disappearance, and what happened to her, much of the deeper levels are about Casey and her personal growth as well as her relationships.

What left me wanting more: While I appreciated the big twists at the end that I did not see coming, the person behind Sutton's disappearance did not have enough explanations to be fully understood. I am still not totally sure what all was going on and why (though I get the surface level reasons presented for why), and I would have liked to see the deeper reasons behind it all. That being said, the person behind it was less significant to the plot than the other things, so the impact was somewhat low - but it really could have blown the reader away to understand it more thoroughly and have learned more about them leading up to the end.

Final verdict: THE SHADOW SISTER is a compelling YA thriller/mystery about sisterhood and family. Recommend for fans of MIRROR GIRLS, DELICIOUS MONSTERS, and THE BLACK QUEEN.