Reviews - Sisters | The StoryGraph

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85 reviews for:

3.5, a beautifully written book, but maybe too brief to be memorable. I know it's a short book, but I wish there was just a little more punch to the plot, but writing wise this was incredible. The way this explored jealousy as both a passive and active emotion was just spot-on. I felt both emotionally criticized and validated while reading this. It was a unique experience, and I'll look to pick up more from Tuck in the future.

lostev23's review against another edition

4.0

Good quick little read to help push me towards my reading goal

caitlin418's review against another edition

3.25

reflective relaxing slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

mkstiff's review against another edition

4.0

So elegantly written; such a joy to read. This is a quick, satisfying novella, and very compelling -- I was drawn in by the first person narration, the strong emotions and sense of immediacy in the prose. This is the story of a marriage haunted by the husband's first wife; it doesn't really stand on its own two legs. The dialogue with the children from the first marriage reinforce this, and frequent snapshots nostalgically recollecting the narrator's pre-marriage life contribute to the sense of overwhelm by the past. The ending is quietly shocking and perfect.

I will recommend this title to fans of Joyce Carol Oates, short story lovers, and those who enjoy a sense of gothic in their fiction.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an advance copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

amysteele's review against another edition

4.0

In this well-crafted, potent novel, a woman shares her marital insecurities. The unnamed woman lives with her husband and his two children. Author Lily Tuck deftly brings us into this woman’s world and into her mind as she competes with her husband’s first wife. She questions everything about her relationship with her husband, from not having her own children [“The girl, slightly older, was hostile. Not having children of my own, I tried too hard to please them. I wanted them to like me-- to love me--and I allowed them liberties that, in retrospect, I should not have.”] to not having the right career [“I have a career, but I am not a pianist or an artist. My career gives me some financial freedom, it gets me out of the house, but it is not all consuming. If I had to give it up tomorrow, it would not matter much. I am not passionate about my work.”] She explains that not having children even affected her relationship with her sister--“Eloise is a few years younger than I am and we have never been close. Less so once she got married and she had kids, reasons I suppose for her to act superior to me. I’ve met her kids. Her kids are surly and overweight.” She’s so obsessed with her husband’s first wife that she’s perplexed that he doesn’t seem to care about her past romances--“And despite my own reservations about speaking of it, I have to admit that his lack of curiosity about my love life was not flattering.”

leasttorque's review against another edition

4.0

An amazing amount of discomfort achieved here in so few pages. The self-consciousness and insecurity and jealousy of the protagonist drip from each page. The italicized “she” gives the reader no peace.