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.
Karen McManus, author of One Of Us Is Lying and One Of Us Is Next, is back with another YA thriller packed full of twists and turns throughout. When the opportunity to be part of this Write Reads tour came into my inbox I knew I couldn’t pass it up: YA thriller is one of my favourite genres because it’s the perfect mix of gritty suspense and light-hearted humour – often more relatable than adult thrillers which have a tendency to be too far-fetched. Karen McManus does not disappoint with her latest offering which is publishing in December.
The Cousins revolves around three cousins, Aubrey, Milly and Jonah who each receive a mysterious invitation from their grandmother requesting they spend their summer at her holiday resort. Ah a lovely summer with a grandparent, where’s the mystery you might be thinking? But these cousins have never met and their parents were disinherited by their rich, aloof grandmother many years ago, making her out-of-the-blue contact even more astonishing. Determined to find out the truth about just why their parents were so swiftly cut loose, the cousins soon set about making themselves at home on the island, uncovering many home truths and long lost secrets as they settle in.
Aubrey, Milly and Jonah are all believable teenagers-turned-sleuths, taking their family mysteries and feuds into their own hands. Each chapter is written from a different cousin’s perspective which helps to build their character and I enjoyed seeing their relationships develop throughout the story. Interspersed between the cousins’ narrative are small hints to the mysteries of the past in the narration of Allison, Milly’s mother, and I liked the way that as the cousins unravelled more of the mystery holding their family together, Allison’s narratives become more frequent and easily relatable to the events uncovered in the present day.
Nothing is predictable about The Cousins at all. Every time I thought I’d solved one subplot, another arrived to trick me. Every time I found someone guilty, another character popped up to make me doubt my accusation. Karen McManus is queen of the subplot and as she unravels various plot threads she simultaneously knots others tighter, creating a story that becomes hard to break from.
The
Cousins is a brilliant read for anyone who is after a mystery YA
thriller. It’s a perfect hybrid of believable characters and teenage drama with
the constant twists and turns of family life and the constant looming of a
bigger mystery throughout. If you’re already a McManus fan then this doesn’t disappoint,
and if you’ve never read any of her previous work then this is a great book to
start your acquaintance.
A family-centric plot filled with mystery, secrets and stories.
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