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writings_of_a_reader's review against another edition
1.0
Well this ended up being completely bonkers.
This book was a mess. There were so many things that didn't make sense. The protagonist, Shayna does things that are at turns silly, stupid, and dangerous. She was one of those too stupid to live characters. It was very obvious to me who she shouldn't trust. There were also dumb things like her being worried about someone thinking she was her sister and finishing the job, but then she wears her sister's clothes when all her laundry is dirty? Also, she goes to questionable places, putting herself in danger and won't tell the police what's going on.
I kept wondering why her sister couldn't have just told her what was going on in the coded message she left, or at least who she shouldn't trust, or where she was. Why leave a whole trail of them instead of just one with more details? And why didn't the police find this coded message and think it was worth looking into? It didn't make any sense.
The reason behind her sister's disappearance was crazy. I guess serial killers are either crazy or evil, but this was absolutely bonkers. In the end some things were left unexplained, like who tried to kidnap Shayna. I have to say that the most interesting character was Madam Chang, and boy was she full of surprises.
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This book was a mess. There were so many things that didn't make sense. The protagonist, Shayna does things that are at turns silly, stupid, and dangerous. She was one of those too stupid to live characters. It was very obvious to me who she shouldn't trust. There were also dumb things like her being worried about someone thinking she was her sister and finishing the job, but then she wears her sister's clothes when all her laundry is dirty? Also, she goes to questionable places, putting herself in danger and won't tell the police what's going on.
I kept wondering why her sister couldn't have just told her what was going on in the coded message she left, or at least who she shouldn't trust, or where she was. Why leave a whole trail of them instead of just one with more details? And why didn't the police find this coded message and think it was worth looking into? It didn't make any sense.
The reason behind her sister's disappearance was crazy. I guess serial killers are either crazy or evil, but this was absolutely bonkers. In the end some things were left unexplained, like who tried to kidnap Shayna. I have to say that the most interesting character was Madam Chang, and boy was she full of surprises.
Follow me at:
Recordings of a Reader on Youtube
Writings of a Reader at Blogspot
Writings of a Reader on Facebook
soupyreads's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
brkocian's review
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
fearthetoaster's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This is a hard 4 star read for me, and it's barely a 4 star at that.
This book had a good premise to it, but I feel like the execution was slightly off. There are so many small parts of the sister's life that kept getting mentioned throughout the book, that I felt like they were simply not needed for the story to progress, and more of a filler. If the author was using it to help show how the relationship between them progressed from childhood to adulthood, I feel they could have mentioned it in the beginning, and then closed out the problem at then end instead of bringing it up again and again through the book.
This book had a good premise to it, but I feel like the execution was slightly off. There are so many small parts of the sister's life that kept getting mentioned throughout the book, that I felt like they were simply not needed for the story to progress, and more of a filler. If the author was using it to help show how the relationship between them progressed from childhood to adulthood, I feel they could have mentioned it in the beginning, and then closed out the problem at then end instead of bringing it up again and again through the book.
bee__'s review
1.0
I did not enjoy reading this book. Most of the book was incredibly slow moving and boring and then the ending was pretty rushed. Angela seemed like a terrible sister the whole time. Just not well written at all
jimbowen0306's review
2.0
I got given this free through the Amazon "First Reads" programme, and it reinforces what they say about things being worth what you pay for in life.
This books watches what happens when one half of a set of biracial twins (they are a mix of Asian and Scottish, but born and brought up in American) goes missing in France. One of the twins is your stereotypical East-Asian uber over achiever (no stereotyping there), while the other is looked down one because she's only doing a PhD in French history (so definitely no stereotyping of Asians in this book).
Another thing that made me feel uncomfortable about stereotyping in the book, was the denouement. It relies on the sisters being indistinguishable, despite not having see each other for years, and presumably having different haircuts and taste in clothes (we are told that the missing is very much the hippy from the get go, so there's definitely some racial stereotyping of people (including police officers) being unable to tell Asians apart going on here).
The nerdy, medicinal twin then barrels round Paris, trying to find her sister, making a series of emotional, and ill-thought-through decisions (that'll makes you wonder about how clever she actually is) in the process. As an example, she is told pretty quickly "not to trust anyone", but promptly trusts everyone, at one stage of another, except the police, the medical examiner, or anyone in authority. The only reasons for this is to reinforce the damsel in distress narrative, and for the story to last more than 30 pages.
Another thing that irritated me was the fast that her sister had been missing for weeks, but she decided not to go to help a week before college started. I know they only found a body then, but what's the first thing you do when your sibling goes missing? You go to help right? Not if you're a nerdy wannabe American medic apparently.
While I'm compiling this litany of issues I have with this book, the ended of this book was just plain predictable. I'd have had some considerable more... menacing, involving a more confused attitude to the sibling's relationship. One of the siblings is such a horrendous witch, that anything could, and should, have been done by her.
So, all in all a daft book, that only works if you're going to swallow a whole bunch of racial stereotyping, and dumb decisions wholesale.
In many was this book is the last in a series of "First Read" books that have put me off the programme altogether.
This books watches what happens when one half of a set of biracial twins (they are a mix of Asian and Scottish, but born and brought up in American) goes missing in France. One of the twins is your stereotypical East-Asian uber over achiever (no stereotyping there), while the other is looked down one because she's only doing a PhD in French history (so definitely no stereotyping of Asians in this book).
Another thing that made me feel uncomfortable about stereotyping in the book, was the denouement. It relies on the sisters being indistinguishable, despite not having see each other for years, and presumably having different haircuts and taste in clothes (we are told that the missing is very much the hippy from the get go, so there's definitely some racial stereotyping of people (including police officers) being unable to tell Asians apart going on here).
The nerdy, medicinal twin then barrels round Paris, trying to find her sister, making a series of emotional, and ill-thought-through decisions (that'll makes you wonder about how clever she actually is) in the process. As an example, she is told pretty quickly "not to trust anyone", but promptly trusts everyone, at one stage of another, except the police, the medical examiner, or anyone in authority. The only reasons for this is to reinforce the damsel in distress narrative, and for the story to last more than 30 pages.
Another thing that irritated me was the fast that her sister had been missing for weeks, but she decided not to go to help a week before college started. I know they only found a body then, but what's the first thing you do when your sibling goes missing? You go to help right? Not if you're a nerdy wannabe American medic apparently.
While I'm compiling this litany of issues I have with this book, the ended of this book was just plain predictable. I'd have had some considerable more... menacing, involving a more confused attitude to the sibling's relationship. One of the siblings is such a horrendous witch, that anything could, and should, have been done by her.
So, all in all a daft book, that only works if you're going to swallow a whole bunch of racial stereotyping, and dumb decisions wholesale.
In many was this book is the last in a series of "First Read" books that have put me off the programme altogether.
elocoel's review against another edition
1.0
This is a hard review to write. I do not enjoy being negative or telling people why and how much I did not like something, but honestly, was The Missing Sister even harder to read.
"Hello, I am Shayna, a very smart and rational soon-to-be med student. But oh no, I received an e-mail, saying my beloved sister, who I haven't talked to since my parents died, and will constantly tell you stories about how she was a horrible person while repeating how much I love her and she is my other half, has died. I am sad now. :( But still very rational. Except I will make absolutely the worst decisions. But it is fine because honestly, my sister is making even worse ones. And that is because I am very smart and rational. Did I mention I was a med student? Oh right, I have to find my sister, I guess. Maybe if I wander around aimlessly, I will figure it out. Also, there may be someone who may want to hurt me, like what happened with my sister, but I will walk around wearing clothes from her wardrobe, making us look even more similar. I will also do the absolute minimum, but in the end, it will work out for me because I am the main character."
That is it. That is the book. I just did you a favor there, don't bother reading however many pages your copy is.
In case you couldn't tell, I am very angry with this book. The premise was interesting enough, yet from the beginning, the pacing was off. It took me a month to finally finish it because I was dreading every sentence I read. Nothing about the book makes sense, not the characters, not the plot, the mystery, the villain, god, especially the villain. The ending bit about the passport is just the cherry on top about how out-of-touch and ridiculous The Missing Sister is. The writing is slow and very much tell-not-show, which is even worse considering this is supposed to be a mystery.
Overall, the biggest waste of time, definitely my worst read of 2021 yet, if not longer. I apologize for being very harsh, but I just could not keep my frustration about this book in.
"Hello, I am Shayna, a very smart and rational soon-to-be med student. But oh no, I received an e-mail, saying my beloved sister, who I haven't talked to since my parents died, and will constantly tell you stories about how she was a horrible person while repeating how much I love her and she is my other half, has died. I am sad now. :( But still very rational. Except I will make absolutely the worst decisions. But it is fine because honestly, my sister is making even worse ones. And that is because I am very smart and rational. Did I mention I was a med student? Oh right, I have to find my sister, I guess. Maybe if I wander around aimlessly, I will figure it out. Also, there may be someone who may want to hurt me, like what happened with my sister, but I will walk around wearing clothes from her wardrobe, making us look even more similar. I will also do the absolute minimum, but in the end, it will work out for me because I am the main character."
That is it. That is the book. I just did you a favor there, don't bother reading however many pages your copy is.
In case you couldn't tell, I am very angry with this book. The premise was interesting enough, yet from the beginning, the pacing was off. It took me a month to finally finish it because I was dreading every sentence I read. Nothing about the book makes sense, not the characters, not the plot, the mystery, the villain, god, especially the villain. The ending bit about the passport is just the cherry on top about how out-of-touch and ridiculous The Missing Sister is. The writing is slow and very much tell-not-show, which is even worse considering this is supposed to be a mystery.
Overall, the biggest waste of time, definitely my worst read of 2021 yet, if not longer. I apologize for being very harsh, but I just could not keep my frustration about this book in.
sandysmith's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I'm gradually adding books I've read in 2021 to give a true reflection of the books I've read since keeping records. This was the first book I read in 2021, and is what kick-started my reading journey having put reading on the back burner whilst bringing up the children, previously being an avid reader. The story is thriller based concerning twin sisters Shayna and Angela Darby. One of the sisters vanishes the other looking for her knowing there is a serial killer. It's set in Paris and you can picture it based on trips there. The main character is unlikeable and the other characters in the book are not really developed. It was muddled but an extra point for the plot twist end.