This book started out pretty slowly, in fact I'll be honest, the first half of the book was pretty slow for me, I found myself growing pretty tired when reading It and I felt like certain parts were rather repetitive, I was just reading the same things but in multiple perspective, even when nothing significant was happening and I think that added to my issues of the book feeling dragged out. But once you get past that, and really think about what's going on, it's truly eye opening.
There are some sensitive topics in this book (please scroll to the end of this review for trigger warnings if you need them before reading the book) and I'll give credit where credit is due, Caroline wrote them well. My heart ached for Cassie and her longing to know about her birth mother and the life she had leading up to her being adopted. And if I'm completely honest, her parents frustrated me at how little they were willing to give her! In my opinion, at 16 any child should be able to know the truth about where they came from, they're old enough to realise they may be disappointed and that the truth may hurt, but that is their decision! I feel like Tom and Grace just went the complete wrong way about things and Tom's complete disregard for anything Grace said or wanted drove me insane!
Heartstrings were pulled whilst reading this book, just thinking about the neglect that children go through, the abuse and the effects it has on their mental health in the future..well it makes me ill. The lack of help towards those in the care system and resources available is shocking! And it really makes me question the world we live in, because unfortunately for some children, this is the harsh reality and there's nobody there speaking up for them.
So despite the fact that the first half of The forgotten sister was pretty slow, I did like the premise of this book and the last half of the book definitely brought my rating up. If you're looking for a slow, hard hitting contemporary that will be sure to have you sobbing, then this one's definitely for you!
There are some sensitive topics in this book (please scroll to the end of this review for trigger warnings if you need them before reading the book) and I'll give credit where credit is due, Caroline wrote them well. My heart ached for Cassie and her longing to know about her birth mother and the life she had leading up to her being adopted. And if I'm completely honest, her parents frustrated me at how little they were willing to give her! In my opinion, at 16 any child should be able to know the truth about where they came from, they're old enough to realise they may be disappointed and that the truth may hurt, but that is their decision! I feel like Tom and Grace just went the complete wrong way about things and Tom's complete disregard for anything Grace said or wanted drove me insane!
Heartstrings were pulled whilst reading this book, just thinking about the neglect that children go through, the abuse and the effects it has on their mental health in the future..well it makes me ill. The lack of help towards those in the care system and resources available is shocking! And it really makes me question the world we live in, because unfortunately for some children, this is the harsh reality and there's nobody there speaking up for them.
So despite the fact that the first half of The forgotten sister was pretty slow, I did like the premise of this book and the last half of the book definitely brought my rating up. If you're looking for a slow, hard hitting contemporary that will be sure to have you sobbing, then this one's definitely for you!