My Perfect Sister by Penny Batchelor is a most impressive debut, and this is certainly an author I intend to watch. I devoured this one in a single morning.

Annie has returned to her childhood home to nurse her estranged mother as she battles cancer. Almost immediately, Annie is transported emotionally back to 1989, the year that her sister Gemma went missing. Gemma's old room remains a shrine, and everywhere she looks, Annie is confronted by an unresolved mystery that continues to haunt. But upon finding a previously undiscovered photograph, Annie wonders if she has at last found a clue to a secret that has long been buried.

This is a compelling, well-paced read that will have you racing to uncover the truth behind an unsettling disappearance and a family's secrets. I look forward to reading more from this author.

Many thanks to NetGalley and RedDoor Press for this ARC.

Annie is only five when her "perfect" older sister fails to come home. An already weak family dynamic seems to shatter completely . Annie's youth is plagued by feelings of neglect and she lives in the shadow of her sisters ghost.

After many years she reluctantly returns home to care for her ailing mother. However her resentment towards her mother and sister still simmer just below the surface. Her old bedroom has been converted while her sisters remains untouched. The shrine of a bedroom does nothing to quell this hatred. If anything it ignites a yearning to divulge all her families darkest secrets.

Annie desperately tries to piece together what truly happened when her sister disappeared. But there is someone who would rather the secret stay buried. The closer Annie gets to the truth the more she finds herself in danger.

Everyone has secrets and everyone is lying. Maybe some questions are best left unanswered. This book had me questioning everyone. I honestly thought I had it all figured out and the ending left be shocked. A truly well written plot with perfect twists that lead you to the most unexpected of conclusions.

It is also worth noting that mental health is a underlying theme in this book which I absolutely loved. I felt like it added depth to one of the main characters. In fact character development in general was on point.


I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

This was an interesting story full of misconceptions and misunderstandings. A mother who suffered from post natal depression at time when it was not a recognised illness and hidden away and a daughter who disappears and another who suffered as a result.It is all resolved with an abrupt twist at the end which I didnt like..

Annie's sister disappeared years earlier, and Annie spent the rest of her childhood feeling neglected by her mother, compared to the missing sister. Now that Annie's mother has cancer, she has moved back home to help, while also trying to meet up with some of Gemma's old friends to try to get an idea of what happened to her. This wasn't really a straight up mystery, what happened to Gemma, but also the story of Annie finally getting to know her estranged mother. It was a good story, 4 stars.

this book is a must read keeps you gripped to the end . Anna s sister never came home . Anna was only a child . her mother was never a mother two her or her sister as soon as she was old enough she left home and never went back only for her fathers death . then years later her aunt asks her to come home to help her mum as she has cancer . she starts to wonder what did happen to Gemma and does her own digging is very sad i cried but so so twisty so recommend

Thanks to Netgalley for the preview of this book. It was a good book with a lot of potential but it failed to keep me 100% gripped and entertained. I really disliked the main character and found it hard to believe that she could be as selfish as she was to the way in which her mother honoured her sisters memory. I guessed the ending early on & there was a small bit of character redemption towards the end.

Thank You to NetGalley and RedDoor Press for this Ebook!!

Annie is only 5 years old when her elder sister, Gemma disappears. It changed her life forever., Annie always felt unloved and unwanted. When Annie returns to care for her estranged mother, she’s faced with the ghosts from her past.

In order to move on in life she needs to get over her past, which she can only do so if she finds out what actually happened to Gemma. Desperate for clues, she delves deeper in search of the truth.

It was a good story though I kind of expected the ending. I liked the way Annie developed her character and relationships through the course of the book. Overall it was an okay book, it didnt contain the extra wow factor which could have made this into an extraordinary book.

I enjoyed this book. Admittedly, it took me a while to get into it; it's written in a very chatty, informal style, and doesn't feel 'literary' in any way. To begin with I unfairly found it a bit amateur. But it grew on me. I suspect that the publishing industry churns out so many similar-sounding and -feeling books written by similar authors with similar life experiences that anything deviating from that norm can be a shock to the system.

Anyway, once I'd got over all that, I thought the book was very good. I liked Annie. I liked her friend Priti. I liked the way her resentful relationship with her mother gradually matured into understanding and the way she found her true calling in life. In a way, the murder mystery part of the plot comes second to those other aspects, yet it was still very well done. The final twist was perfect, one that I can't say I expected precisely but that fit with everything else that had happened.

A few typos, and a few places where I felt like the story could be tightened up or made more suspenseful, but overall a good read.

Annie moves back home to take car of her sick mother after staying away from home for years. The case of her missing sister when she was 5 years old changed the dynamics of her family forever. Her father was always busy working and her mother seemed to not care that she had a young daughter still after the older one disappeared.

While living with her mom she takes a job at the hospital and begins dating Gareth who knew her sister. Her mother still keeps a bedroom shrine to her older sister Gemma and Annie begins searching for clues in the room and by talking to Gemma's old friends. Why won't Mike one of her sister's old friends talk to her? What does Reg their older neighbor know about the day of Gemma's disappearance? Did Toby a past friend of her sister have anything to do with her disappearance since he is in jail for murdering his wife?

Things come to a head when Annie meets another friend of her sisters, Fiona and finds out new information that she then takes to the police.... While she is dealing with the stress of her new job and the unknown outcome of her mother's cancer she also has to deal with the threatening letters she has been receiving.

Good plot and interactions with the different characters and with a surprising twist at the very end this is a good example of contemporary suspense and drama.

Absolutely brilliant. A found it was a very easy read, and wasnt made too complicated to follow. I had many theories about how it would end. I 100% didnt see the final twist coming. A must read!!!

This novel started it slow but picked up quickly. Complex relationships were noted. Review posted on Goodreads also.

This book was very engaging and the characters well drawn out and felt real to life. I really wished Annie the best and hoped she would find peace after the awful years of growing up without her sister Gemma and living a half life as a result. The book has some good twists and turns, some I guessed and others a surprise and the pace kept me really engaged in the story. Finished it in a couple of days which for me is quick so it was a page turner! I felt a few parts were slightly rushed and did feel it was a first novel but it's a great first novel and I hope to read more from this author. Great work, interesting and a bit different to a lot of stories in this genre. Congratulations!

I received an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book is perfectly good. It didn’t really draw me in but I definitely killed a few hours. Worth a read.

Wow what a book
Fantastic from the start to finish
Loves all the twists and turns an


And the ending left me speechless and in shock what a book deffo one of my favourites this year

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Unfortunately this book just didn't do it for me and I was unable to finish this book.

A good mystery thriller that kept me hooked the whole way through. I would never have guessed the end either. Great x

This was a well-written mystery and while I "kind of" figured out who was responsible for Gemma's disappearance, it turned out I only had it half-right. I am always happy when at the end there's still a twist I didn't anticipate and this book did not let me down.

I liked that they kept developing Annie as a person, with her working towards a career and having goals. Her friendship with Priti added to the story as well.

Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Annie is only 5 years old when her sister disappears. The years following find Annie feeling unloved and unwanted. She felt she could never compete with her missing presumed dead sister, Gemma.

It's been many years since the time that changed her forever, and now she has returned to her family home. Annie has been kicked out by her boyfriend, lost her job, and has no money. The only option is staying with her mother, who is terminally ill with cancer.

Much to Annie's angst, Gemma's room has been turned into a shrine. Annie's old room is now her mother's sewing room. Annie's feelings of resentment and anger rise to the forefront as she begins to care for her mother.

She and her friend, Priti, decide that the mystery of Gemma's disappearance needs to be investigated. The police won't re-open the case as their is no new clues. It's up to the two women to search.

There is someone who doesn't want the truth unveiled and will do just about anything to keep their dark secret. As Annie gets closer to the truth, the more danger surrounds her.

Skillfully drawn characters and a tightly woven plot lead to surprising twists and turns that lead to an unexpected, stunning conclusion.

Many thanks to the author / RedDoor Press / Netgalley for the digital copy of this suspenseful thriller. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

Thank you for this advanced copy. The description sounded good, however I got about 15% and nothing in this book held my attention. I wasn’t interested enough to see what happened to the sister. Very slow going. Not for me