The Good Sister by Jamie Kain

The Good Sister was one of those young adult impulse purchases from Barnes and Noble that I'm so fond of making. I saw it, thought it sounded interesting, bought it, stuck it on my bookshelf, and forgot about it for years. When I was looking for some quick reads to finish off my TBR challenge, this one seemed to fit the bill. It also had the bonus of including a family member term in the title, so I could use it to finish off my Popsugar challenge bonus categories as well.

Much like one of the last young adult books I read, To All the Boys I've Loved Before, this one ended up surprising me. From the description on the inside flap, I was expecting a standard teen drama. What I got was surprisingly emotional and authentic.

The plot is told from the viewpoints of three teenage sisters growing up in a dysfunctional family. Their parents, Lena and Ravi, lived on a hippie commune when they were babies. Eventually, the commune fell apart and the family was forced to move to a normal house in Northern California. Both Lena and Ravi are unsuited to be parents, and when their oldest daughter Sarah is diagnosed with leukemia, the stress of going through her treatment and her subsequent relapse break them up. The girls live with their mother for the most part, but she often is out with her various boyfriends, so they are on their own a lot.

Sarah, who defied the odds and survived two bouts of leukemia, is the glue of the family. She is kind, responsible, and looks out for her sisters. Rachel, the middle daughter, is wild. She doesn't get along with anyone in her family and engages in very risky behaviors. She's always felt left out, because she was both the typical middle child, and wasn't a genetic donor match for her sister. She fell into the background of the family a lot growing up, and doesn't feel particularly connected to anyone now. Asha, the youngest sister, is a bit of a lost soul. She is extremely close with Sarah due to her being a genetic donor match. She donated bone marrow to her growing up and feels a deeper connection to her than most sisters have. She also has her best friend Sinclair to keep her grounded, but she still doesn't have a lot of self confidence or plans for what she wants to do with her future yet. The girls are essentially on their own, drifting around without the normal authority and structure most families have.

At the beginning of the story, tragedy strikes when Sarah is killed in a mysterious and seemingly random accident. Without their "good" sister to hold everything together, Rachel and Asha spiral deep into their grief. It turns out that there's more to Sarah's death than meets the eye, and each sister holds a key to explaining what really happened. As the narration skips around from girl to girl, including Sarah, who speaks from the afterlife, the sisters must deal with the secrets, guilt, and fear they are carrying inside of themselves and try to come to some kind of peace.

This book had me hooked from page one. The pace of the story was excellent, with Kain dropping just the right pieces of the puzzle at just the right times for the reader to put the complete story together. Her writing felt very genuine too, with each sister having a unique voice and motivations. None of the characters were all that likable, but they were undeniably human. As I found out more and more about them, I became invested in their stories and wished for them to pull themselves together and find some happiness. When I found out the truth of what happened with Sarah, it was a punch to the gut, and complicated enough to make me really think about how blame, guilt, fear, and secrets can all combine in terrible ways.

The idea to have Sarah help narrate from the afterlife was also well done. Her sections have a different gravity to them than the others, and aren't cheesy or overly sentimental. I liked being able to see her perspective even though she was no longer with her sisters. It fit perfectly within the story. Like all people who are considered to be "good," she has her own set of flaws, and being able to see her thoughts added a lot to the development of her character.

I enjoyed the vast majority of the book, with the only one notable exception - the treatment of Asha's friend Sinclair. He is initially described as having a very fluid sexuality. He switches between wearing traditionally male and female clothes, and feels attracted to both men and women at different points in the story. I like to see diverse characters included in young adult fiction, so I thought that he was great. He was an amazing friend to Asha throughout the story, and was there for her in a way her family members were not able to be. My issue came in at the end of the novel, when it becomes clear that he has some romantic feelings for Asha. Before he makes his feelings known, Kain has him stop wearing female clothing and switch to "normal" boy clothes and hairstyles. At one point, Asha comments that "all he wears these days are normal guy clothes." He also professes to being "confused" before about liking boys or girls before settling on Asha. I felt like this was a bit of a cop out on an interesting character. He should be able to love Asha when he is wearing a dress just as well as when he is wearing jeans. If he's bisexual, he shouldn't have to say he was just "confused" to date a girl. He should still be bisexual. These changes just hit me wrong. I didn't like that he morphed into a straight male at the last minute.

Nevertheless, The Good Sister ended up being a complex and emotional story that I enjoyed a lot. The intricate plot, unique narration style, and beautiful writing combined to create something quite special. This isn't a happy book. Rather, it is a book that looks very honestly at the imperfections in people and the messiness of human relationships. It examines how hurt, jealously, revenge, guilt, and pain can come into our lives and drive our actions in ways we don't expect. It is raw, gritty, and wonderful, often at the same time. This was a very moving read that I'm glad I happened to pick up.



Challenge Tally
Popsugar Bonus Challenge (a book with a family member term in the title) 12/12 - Complete!
TBR Challenge (previously owned): 56/60

Total Books Read in 2017: 71