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labunnywtf's review against another edition
4.0
You're a preteen, with an older, prettier sister who is unpleasant at best, cruel at worst. She makes your life miserable day in, day out. And then one day she goes missing. Police, media, everyone gets involved. Your parents are panicked and heart broken, people at school treat you differently ("The girl with the missing sister"). But four years down the line, it's almost normal.
And then she comes back. Is she changed? Have you changed? What is life going to be like, re-adjusting to being a family of four again?
Where has she been? What happened to her? She seems...different.
Is she really your sister?
It's been a really long time since I liked a book so much I continued listening to the audiobook while at work. This is an incredibly easy read, but it's not fluff. You may be expecting a story where, at the end, the two sisters have reconciled and realized what really matters in life, and we all have our Full House ending.
Or maybe you expect the opposite. That by the end, we learn that Sarah was an imposter all along, and she gets led out of the house in handcuffs, while the real Sarah is still out there somewhere, lost. And the family is destroyed anew.
It's not the finding out that makes this book so delectable. It's the getting there. This is so well written. You get incredibly invested in these two sisters, in their life, in Sarah regaining her life and Nico learning who she is with her sister back. In finding out What Is Going On With Sarah.
Such a good read. So, so good.
And then she comes back. Is she changed? Have you changed? What is life going to be like, re-adjusting to being a family of four again?
Where has she been? What happened to her? She seems...different.
Is she really your sister?
It's been a really long time since I liked a book so much I continued listening to the audiobook while at work. This is an incredibly easy read, but it's not fluff. You may be expecting a story where, at the end, the two sisters have reconciled and realized what really matters in life, and we all have our Full House ending.
Or maybe you expect the opposite. That by the end, we learn that Sarah was an imposter all along, and she gets led out of the house in handcuffs, while the real Sarah is still out there somewhere, lost. And the family is destroyed anew.
It's not the finding out that makes this book so delectable. It's the getting there. This is so well written. You get incredibly invested in these two sisters, in their life, in Sarah regaining her life and Nico learning who she is with her sister back. In finding out What Is Going On With Sarah.
Such a good read. So, so good.
shirleytupperfreeman's review against another edition
Young adults who love psychological suspense (think We Were Liars) will love this one. The story is told from the perspective of two sisters - Nico is high achieving and living with her family at age 15. Sarah, four years older and a rebel, has been missing for 4 years and suddenly reappears. I read the ARC of this suspenseful, clever read.
sandeeisreading's review against another edition
4.0
THIS BOOK, CAUGHT ME OFF GUARD!
If you read this book, make sure you don't read the author's note in the back of the book because it will contain a massive spoiler for this book. And if you spoil yourself by reading it, then you would not enjoy this book.
I feel the biggest strength of this book was how it maintained it's mysterious atmosphere throughout the entire book. I was also second guessing the how and the why's of everything that has been happening. And I liked that.
A more coherent review to follow.
If you read this book, make sure you don't read the author's note in the back of the book because it will contain a massive spoiler for this book. And if you spoil yourself by reading it, then you would not enjoy this book.
I feel the biggest strength of this book was how it maintained it's mysterious atmosphere throughout the entire book. I was also second guessing the how and the why's of everything that has been happening. And I liked that.
A more coherent review to follow.
nicolemhewitt's review against another edition
5.0
This review and many more can be found on my blog: Feed Your Fiction Addiction
This is one of those twisty books that keeps you up all night reading it (I did, in fact, stay up way too late to finish it because once I got three quarters of the way through I had to know the details of what happened). The first half of the book was a bit slower—it’s obvious that something is up with Sarah, but the question is, what? Has Sarah’s experiences with her captors changed her in some fundamental way? Is she somehow working with them? Trying to forget what happened? Is this not Sarah at all? There are lots of clues, but they don’t all seem to add up until the very end of the book.
The book is told mostly from Nico’s POV, interspersed with short flashbacks from Sarah’s time in captivity. Sarah’s scenes are heartbreaking (but not terribly graphic, so this book is still fine for younger YA readers who can handle the concept). By the time I got to the end of the book, I was furiously turning the pages, desperate to know how it would all play out. I didn’t guess at what was coming—at all—until close to when everything was revealed, and by then I was hooked into the story, eager to know the details. This book gets 4/5 Stars.
***Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***
This is one of those twisty books that keeps you up all night reading it (I did, in fact, stay up way too late to finish it because once I got three quarters of the way through I had to know the details of what happened). The first half of the book was a bit slower—it’s obvious that something is up with Sarah, but the question is, what? Has Sarah’s experiences with her captors changed her in some fundamental way? Is she somehow working with them? Trying to forget what happened? Is this not Sarah at all? There are lots of clues, but they don’t all seem to add up until the very end of the book.
The book is told mostly from Nico’s POV, interspersed with short flashbacks from Sarah’s time in captivity. Sarah’s scenes are heartbreaking (but not terribly graphic, so this book is still fine for younger YA readers who can handle the concept). By the time I got to the end of the book, I was furiously turning the pages, desperate to know how it would all play out. I didn’t guess at what was coming—at all—until close to when everything was revealed, and by then I was hooked into the story, eager to know the details. This book gets 4/5 Stars.
***Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***
estef200003's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
lyndsmarie321's review against another edition
3.0
2.5 stars*
Superrrrr quick read but not really satisfied with the ending. Reviews depict this book as suspenseful but the plot isn't developed strongly enough for me and the ending is just "eh".
Superrrrr quick read but not really satisfied with the ending. Reviews depict this book as suspenseful but the plot isn't developed strongly enough for me and the ending is just "eh".
meaganmart's review against another edition
3.0
When Sarah Walker disappears her parents and friends are devastated. They spend countless hours, offer exorbitant rewards, and visit morgue after morgue trying to find any information related to Sarah's disappearance or whereabouts. As the years pass Sarah's sister, Nico, is able to quietly admit to herself that she's glad to be free from the daily abuse rained down on her by a cruel and vindictive big sister. Just as she's grown into the role of the "only child" and found her stride in her high school her family gets a call that Sarah has been found.
Nico can't help but compare the Sarah that comes home after four years away with the Sarah of before. She's shy and withdrawn whereas the old Sarah was loud and brash. Her feet are bigger, she seems to excel at advanced math and science that the old Sarah never mastered, and perhaps, most damaging of all, she claims to be unable to remember a single detail of her life before or during her captivity.
Nico can't help but wonder if the "new Sarah" is really Sarah at all, and it becomes increasingly clear that she's not the only one with doubts or the only one who really knows what happened the day that Sarah disappeared.
I thought the dual narration provided by Nico and Sarah was very interesting and helped add tension to the plot. I was particularly interested in Sarah's chapters and was very interested to piece together the backstory provided by her POV.
Nico can't help but compare the Sarah that comes home after four years away with the Sarah of before. She's shy and withdrawn whereas the old Sarah was loud and brash. Her feet are bigger, she seems to excel at advanced math and science that the old Sarah never mastered, and perhaps, most damaging of all, she claims to be unable to remember a single detail of her life before or during her captivity.
Nico can't help but wonder if the "new Sarah" is really Sarah at all, and it becomes increasingly clear that she's not the only one with doubts or the only one who really knows what happened the day that Sarah disappeared.
I thought the dual narration provided by Nico and Sarah was very interesting and helped add tension to the plot. I was particularly interested in Sarah's chapters and was very interested to piece together the backstory provided by her POV.
laughlinesandliterature's review against another edition
4.0
*I received this book from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review*
Well this book was just an odd one. Its really more of a psychological thriller, I did predict what most readers will probably consider the “big reveal” but I really enjoyed the execution and the ending isn’t typical given the type of book it is. The writing style was really sparse, and let me kind of fill in the blanks which really works with this type of novel. It made the book feel tense and dark even though really most of the book isn’t.
The characters were deep thinkers, and I liked the interaction between Sarah and Nico in this book. Nico had this whole damaged vibe that really pulled me in. She wasn’t the daughter that went missing, but she was the forgotten unimportant one. It is totally mind boggling to me how prevalent this parent/child relationship in fiction is, and I always feel for the “lesser” sibling.
The fact that the Sarah that came back was such a different person was actually really nice because I already kind of hated her just from being in Nico’s head. I spent most of the book really trying to see how she could become completely different. In the end of course it is explained, and I really think that in this case the winners were the entire family. The entire family gained so much from having Sarah come back, and it actually made for a very family oriented book. I would give it 4 out of 5 stars and it would be perfect for people who love mysteries and thrillers.
*This review was first posted to Moonlight Gleam Reviews http://moonlightgleam.com/2016/12/the-stranger-game-by-cylin-busby.html*
Well this book was just an odd one. Its really more of a psychological thriller, I did predict what most readers will probably consider the “big reveal” but I really enjoyed the execution and the ending isn’t typical given the type of book it is. The writing style was really sparse, and let me kind of fill in the blanks which really works with this type of novel. It made the book feel tense and dark even though really most of the book isn’t.
The characters were deep thinkers, and I liked the interaction between Sarah and Nico in this book. Nico had this whole damaged vibe that really pulled me in. She wasn’t the daughter that went missing, but she was the forgotten unimportant one. It is totally mind boggling to me how prevalent this parent/child relationship in fiction is, and I always feel for the “lesser” sibling.
The fact that the Sarah that came back was such a different person was actually really nice because I already kind of hated her just from being in Nico’s head. I spent most of the book really trying to see how she could become completely different. In the end of course it is explained, and I really think that in this case the winners were the entire family. The entire family gained so much from having Sarah come back, and it actually made for a very family oriented book. I would give it 4 out of 5 stars and it would be perfect for people who love mysteries and thrillers.
*This review was first posted to Moonlight Gleam Reviews http://moonlightgleam.com/2016/12/the-stranger-game-by-cylin-busby.html*
hitbooksnotgirlz's review against another edition
5.0
It was pretty riveting! I liked how fast paced the book was, there weren’t really any dull moments and the story came together quite nicely.
zu_reviews's review against another edition
5.0
This Thriller was a breath of fresh air that I fell in love with! It was so compelling, drew me in and accomplished what a great thriller does: kept me guessing and gave me a satisfying ending.
Even if I was able to guess what was going on, it was still a satisfying read because I was so invested in the characters.
Even if I was able to guess what was going on, it was still a satisfying read because I was so invested in the characters.