Secrets. Lies and inheritance. The Cousins by Karen McManus @WriterKmc @PenguinPlaform @TheWrite_Reads @WriteReadsTours #YAThriller

I’ve been so excited about sharing my review for The Cousins by Karen McManus, when Dave from The Write Reads invited me to be a part of this huge and extraordinary tour I HAD to say yes! So thanks Dave for the tour invite and to Penguin Platform for providing me with a stunning proof

copy to read prior to the tour.

The Cousins is available to purchase from the 3^rd of December in paperback and ebook, you can pre-order from Waterstones here.
If not for you, Christmas is quickly upon us, why not treat that special
bookworm in your life to a bit of mysterious escapism?! Just check out the blurb!

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.

Sometimes all you need is a locked – room feeling mystery that draws you out of your life (pandemic!) and helps you to escape into a world where you can feel like you’re solving a mystery. The Cousins is a claustrophobic tale, enriched with mystery, suspense and family drama that is also sprinkled with a bit of humour that balances all aspects out really well. An entertaining slice of escapism is exactly what The Cousins has provided.

I have read all of Karen’s other books, so I knew that The Cousins was going to be entertaining and it was going to take my imagination away without being overly complex or dark. I found this YA thriller to be easy to read, in the best way and also slightly coming-of-age. The three main characters Mildred, Jonah and Aubrey are cousins (obviously) who haven’t

been a part of each other’s lives for years due to their sibling parents estrangement. The developing connection of our protagonists also allows them to further develop their identities in a way. They all have these lives, expectations of parents, unique family drama, but each one begins to understand themselves as independent from that a little bit more. I do love the development of character depth as the story goes along and Karen has done it so well, with both likeable and not so likeable characters. Plus, you know that there are going to be peppered deep-seated secrets and revelations sprinkled throughout, the level of edge of seat suspense will keep you devouring well paced snappy chapter by well
paced snappy chapter.

When you think easy to fall into locked room-esque mysteries, do you automatically think Agatha Christie? I do! And Karen takes elements of classical mystery dynamics with contemporary teenage flair to the
perfect captivating level. With tension and a range of characters, a difficult
to escape location and a finish that is perfectly tied up, you’re going to LOVE The Cousins.

So, there’s my review! Thank you for popping along to check it out. Please make sure to check out the other brilliant bloggers posts coming

up and let’s celebrate a great book!

Until next time,

Happy reading!