When it came time to pick a book for my trip to Palm Springs, I struggled to decide what to pack. I wanted a book that would be interesting enough so that I wouldn’t get bored on the plane, but also something that wasn’t so interesting that I would rather read than hang out with my family. Maybe this isn’t a problem that most people have, but I have a bit of an obsessive personality, especially with books. I often will begin a book, fall in love with it, and not move for hours on end as I read 400 pages in one sitting. Yes, I’m completely aware that this makes me a little crazy in the eyes of some people.
I finally settled on taking The Silent Sister, which was another book club book. It’s a mystery about Riley, who has always thought that her older sister, Lisa, committed suicide as a teenager, but later finds out that Lisa is actually alive. It seemed like it would be a little dramatic and possibly sad based on the back cover, so I was a little hesitant to take it, as sometimes drama can bore me, but it turns out it was a great read.
I really enjoyed the style of the book. It has short chapters that go back and forth between Riley and Lisa narrating. The book also jumps around a bit in time, taking you back to when Lisa was a teenager. However, the way that the book is formatted and the chapters are labeled, you never get lost in who’s talking or when the story is taking place in that particular chapter.
I also thought that it was a great mystery. I found myself becoming (slightly) obsessed and had a hard time putting the book down. We had a short flight to Palm Springs from Boise, so I was happy whenever we had some down time over Christmas and I could go grab the book and starting reading again.
I will say that even though it was a good mystery, I figured out the end less than halfway through the book. I like mysteries and read them somewhat often, so this isn’t really new to me. I’m definitely one of those people that usually figures out the story before it’s actually revealed. Sometimes that ruins the book for me, but it didn’t with this one. There were plenty of tiny details that I didn’t know and that I really wanted to find out, so that kept me reading.
The only thing that might deter some people from enjoying this book is that it’s not a drama. There are a lot of angles that the author could have delved into more. If you’re looking for a deeper read you might walk away feeling like there were missed opportunities in this book.
Overall, I would say that this is a highly entertaining book and great for your next trip if you’re looking for an easy read. If you are scheduled for a long flight or car ride in the near future, take this with you and you’ll be turning pages so fast you won’t even notice the hours fly by.
Have you read The Silent Sister? If so, what were your thoughts?
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