The Cousins by Karen M. McManus | Blog Tour Review

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The Storys are the envy of their neighbours: owners of the largest property on their East Coast island, they are rich, beautiful, and close. Until it all falls apart. The four children are suddenly dropped by their mother with a single sentence:

You know what you did.

They never hear from her again.

Years later, when 18-year-old cousins Aubrey, Milly and Jonah Story receive a mysterious invitation to spend the summer at their grandmother's resort, they have no choice but to follow their curiosity and meet the woman who's been such an enigma their entire lives.

This entire family is built on secrets, right? It's the Story legacy.

This summer, the teenagers are determined to discover the truth at the heart of their family. But some secrets are better left alone.

THE BRILLIANT NEW THRILLER FROM INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF ONE OF US IS LYING KAREN M MCMANUS

Today I’m happy to be a part of The Write Reads Ultimate blog tour for the highly anticipated, The Cousins by Karen M. McManus.  Now, for a reader to be sucked into an author’s writing style, their narrative, they need the X-factor.  Something that allows them to keep coming back…book after book.  Karen M. McManus is no exception.  There are so many reasons why I keep coming back for more with her stories.  The air of mystery, the journey and most of all the care that is given to keep loyal readers. 

The Cousins is a story that is reminiscent of the I know what you did last summer trope. 

Get ready for a sizzling summer story.  An easy, laid back read.  A mystery that delivers carefully by hand.  Adrenaline and betrayal.

If you haven’t heard of Karen McManus, then where have you been?  She is a dominant voice in the Young Adult genre, and I’ve been hard pushed to find someone that delivers on the genre quite like her.  Be prepared to follow on the clues to the catastrophic point where everything makes sense but blows up in your face…acme cartoon style! 

As I’ve said before The Cousins is a nice laid-back summer read.  It’s a story that will have you hooked from page one so make sure you have a comfy blanket, copious amounts of tea and biscuits…because you won’t be moving for a while. 

A past and present storyline…which is my favourite way to have a story told to me.  We are introduced to a family that live on a remote island off Massachusetts.  They are old time money that has jealousy and adoration shrouding them wherever they may go.  The things that the other half dream of having, they literally have…Hotels, Restaurants…everything.  Members of the family are ostracised, and they are never heard from again.  Until of course they are…

The Cousins has everything that I need to keep me engaged.  Mystery, past grievances with family members in a type of sins of the father kind of scenario.  Families that have more issues than Vogue and a dollop of romance, although it’s a supporting plotline rather than the main one. 

The Cousins hit the ground running.  My kindle was held so hard, I feared it might break.  This kind of storyline takes us into the eye of the storm without a way out and I absolutely love it.  Don’t expect to process all the information at once, the payback is explosive and worth the investment.  Be prepared to fit the puzzle together but realise that one part has gone missing from a house move….

ABOUT KAREN M. MCMANUS

Karen M. McManus is the #1 New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling author of One of Us Is Lying, Two Can Keep a Secret, and One of Us Is Next. Her fourth novel, The Cousins, will publish in December 2020. Her work has been translated into more than 40 languages worldwide. Karen lives in Massachusetts and holds a master’s degree in Journalism from Northeastern University, which she mostly uses to draft fake news stories for her novels.

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You can find Karen at @writerkmc on Twitter and Instagram.

Karen M. McManus