Helpful Score: 1
This is a sequel to Me and Emma, and I highly suggest reading that book before starting this one. Without reading it first, this novel won't make a lot of sense.
I really enjoy Elizabeth Flock's writing style and the gritty characters she creates. I was excited to visit with Carrie again in this novel, and we meet some new characters who aren't quite as interesting but give Carrie a new perspective on the world.
Carrie did not have an easy life when we first met her in Me and Emma, and things have not improved for her in this novel. At times I became quite heartsick, thinking about all of the real Carries, out there living this way. While I gave Me and Emma 5 stars (and stand by that rating), What Happened to my Sister paled in comparison. It didn't have the shock factor that made Me and Emma so powerful, and the ending of Sister is a little too fairy-tale for me to consider it realistic. It was still a great book that I could not put down, and for that reason alone I would recommend giving it a read.
I really enjoy Elizabeth Flock's writing style and the gritty characters she creates. I was excited to visit with Carrie again in this novel, and we meet some new characters who aren't quite as interesting but give Carrie a new perspective on the world.
Carrie did not have an easy life when we first met her in Me and Emma, and things have not improved for her in this novel. At times I became quite heartsick, thinking about all of the real Carries, out there living this way. While I gave Me and Emma 5 stars (and stand by that rating), What Happened to my Sister paled in comparison. It didn't have the shock factor that made Me and Emma so powerful, and the ending of Sister is a little too fairy-tale for me to consider it realistic. It was still a great book that I could not put down, and for that reason alone I would recommend giving it a read.
Helpful Score: 1
3.0 out of 5 stars - Secrets and lies
In this follow up to Me and Emma, Carrie (Caroline) Parker and her mother are finally leaving Hendersonville in the wake of her stepfather's murder. The plan is for the impoverished pair to make a new start in North Carolina, putting the sensational events of their past behind them. The caveat: Carrie is not allowed to mention the name of her sister, Emma. The sister that her mother says existed only in Carrie's imagination. Otherwise, her Momma says, Carrie will be sent off to the looney bin. Carrie revises her memories of Emma and tries to please her mother. The pair takes up residence in a run down motor lodge, The Loveless, and while Libby searches for a job, Carrie is left to scrounge for food. While loading up on croutons and ketchup at a local Wendy's restaurant, Carrie meets Honor and Cricket Ford. Apparently Carrie reminds them of a family member who died of cancer and the two little girls become instant friends. The Fords (who think they are related to Charlie Chaplin in a go-nowhere aside in the book) basically take care of Carrie and draw her into their grieving family group. What will happen when Libby finds out that Carrie is telling secrets to her new friend, Cricket? Secrets that can tear apart mother and daughter and bring to examination the details of their former life?
At this point, the book crosses into implausibility. The coincidences and the rest of the story were both predictable and unrealistic. The girls are supposed to be around 9 years old, but Cricket uses phrases and expressions (such as saying she made a "mental note" - supposedly she has a photographic memory and ADHD). The dialect as written for the character of Carrie was also annoying and inconsistently applied to speaking voice and internal dialog, but that is a personal opinion and perhaps others won't find it so. Carrie is supposed to be quite ignorant of the material world of the day and age (Ipods, computers, etc.) and also uneducated. The voices did not ring true to me as being that age.
Most of the book was a Hallmark movie cliche and I was quite disappointed in the direction it went and the ending.
In this follow up to Me and Emma, Carrie (Caroline) Parker and her mother are finally leaving Hendersonville in the wake of her stepfather's murder. The plan is for the impoverished pair to make a new start in North Carolina, putting the sensational events of their past behind them. The caveat: Carrie is not allowed to mention the name of her sister, Emma. The sister that her mother says existed only in Carrie's imagination. Otherwise, her Momma says, Carrie will be sent off to the looney bin. Carrie revises her memories of Emma and tries to please her mother. The pair takes up residence in a run down motor lodge, The Loveless, and while Libby searches for a job, Carrie is left to scrounge for food. While loading up on croutons and ketchup at a local Wendy's restaurant, Carrie meets Honor and Cricket Ford. Apparently Carrie reminds them of a family member who died of cancer and the two little girls become instant friends. The Fords (who think they are related to Charlie Chaplin in a go-nowhere aside in the book) basically take care of Carrie and draw her into their grieving family group. What will happen when Libby finds out that Carrie is telling secrets to her new friend, Cricket? Secrets that can tear apart mother and daughter and bring to examination the details of their former life?
At this point, the book crosses into implausibility. The coincidences and the rest of the story were both predictable and unrealistic. The girls are supposed to be around 9 years old, but Cricket uses phrases and expressions (such as saying she made a "mental note" - supposedly she has a photographic memory and ADHD). The dialect as written for the character of Carrie was also annoying and inconsistently applied to speaking voice and internal dialog, but that is a personal opinion and perhaps others won't find it so. Carrie is supposed to be quite ignorant of the material world of the day and age (Ipods, computers, etc.) and also uneducated. The voices did not ring true to me as being that age.
Most of the book was a Hallmark movie cliche and I was quite disappointed in the direction it went and the ending.
