Sara’s Review: Sisterlings by Jamie Ott

Sisterlings 
written by Jamie Ott
published by Jamie Ott 2013

find it here: (affiliate links) Amazon, Smashwords, Goodreads

Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange  for an honest review.

Did I enjoy this book: Let’s start out by saying Sisterlings was NOT my favorite book. In fact, if I hadn’t been reviewing it for the blog, I most likely would not have finished it. It is not my cup of tea.

The first issue that caught my attention was the typographical and grammatical errors. I am by no means a writing expert (although I do a fair bit of reading), but let’s just say that if I’m noticing the mistakes, they must be pretty bad. At one point, a male pronoun was used in reference to a woman, and proper names were mixed up. That’s stuff that should really be caught in an edit prior to publishing.

The main character is an anti-heroine. Anna is an alcoholic, antisocial, depressed woman with violent tendencies. She would not be my pick of people to hang out with, and I had a difficult time caring enough about her to follow her in the story. Her inability to feel ANY emotion made every relationship in the story hard to believe and made it nearly impossible for me to feel anything for her. Having an anti-heroine is a great way to connect with readers by appealing to their imperfect side, but I’m not sure there are many people as messed up as Anna (or most of the characters in this book for that matter). The only growth that Anna showed from the beginning of the story to the end is that she discovers she has a passion for working in a library (and not talking to people), as opposed to working in an office (and not talking to people) . . .

The big mystery was a bit of a let down. From the title of the book and the timing of the murders, it didn’t take a scientist to figure out who was behind it. I was surprised by a couple of the character twists, but again, because I had very little emotional investment in any of the characters, none of the twists really did it for me. I also found it a little contrived that Anna was able to best trained assassins with seemingly no experience at all.

**** POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT ****

This brings me to the last quarter of the story. In the last fifty pages of the book, Anna and her “best” friend (whom she can’t stand being around and wants to beat to a pulp on a daily basis) flee to San Juan and live there for many weeks. The main plot has already concluded and nothing new happens to move the story or the characters along the entire time they are there. This whole section could be cut out of the book with no repercussions. I just don’t understand . . .

Finally, in the last three pages we are suddenly transported seven years to the future where we discover that Anna now has a husband and child (whom she doesn’t really love but admits to feeling obligation towards). WTF?! Where did this come from and how does it have ANYTHING to do with the story? AGH. The only thing I can come up with is that something is going to happen to her daughter in the next book and she will have to act on those feelings of obligation . . . not that I care, because I have NO feelings of obligation to read the sequel.

**** END SPOILER ****

Would I recommend it: Nope, not really.

About the book – from Goodreads: Anna is a recluse who is perceived as strange by those who know her. She wants to change and to be accepted, but her resentment for humanity keeps her grounded in a life of daily alcoholism and solitude. When she signs up to a site called Sisterlings, she finds herself surrounded by women who are even stranger.

Meanwhile, Anna’s job is on the line; the people at work don’t like her, and she’s been swept up into a world of lawlessness; where death blows are dealt as easy as playing a game of chess. There, only the richest survive, until Anna comes along and forges fateful friendships. Together, they defy the rules, by remaining loyal to one another, and becoming fugitives.