From the TBR Pile: Blog Tour: The Almost Sisters by Joshilyn Jackson

Author: Joshilyn Jackson

Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks

Date of publication: Reissue May 2018

Superheroes have always been Leia Birch Briggs’ weakness. One tequila-soaked night at a comics convention, the usually level-headed graphic novelist is swept off her barstool by a handsome and anonymous Batman.

It turns out the caped crusader has left her with more than just a nice, fuzzy memory. She’s having a baby boy—an unexpected but not unhappy development in the thirty-eight year-old’s life. But before Leia can break the news of her impending single-motherhood (including the fact that her baby is biracial) to her conventional, Southern family, her step-sister Rachel’s marriage implodes. Worse, she learns her beloved ninety-year-old grandmother, Birchie, is losing her mind, and she’s been hiding her dementia with the help of Wattie, her best friend since girlhood.

Leia returns to Alabama to put her grandmother’s affairs in order, clean out the big Victorian that has been in the Birch family for generations, and tell her family that she’s pregnant. Yet just when Leia thinks she’s got it all under control, she learns that illness is not the only thing Birchie’s been hiding. Tucked in the attic is a dangerous secret with roots that reach all the way back to the Civil War. Its exposure threatens the family’s freedom and future, and it will change everything about how Leia sees herself and her sister, her son and his missing father, and the world she thinks she knows.

The Almost Sisters was recently reissued in paperback.. At its heart, it's a beautifully written story about family secrets and how they can bring families together and tear a community apart.. For the most part, I enjoyed the book. I will admit to almost DNFing it because I didn't care for Leia at first, but once Birchie and Wattie came into the story, I was hooked.

The mystery part was the best part of the book. I loved the relationship between Wattie and Birchie and how it related to the mystery. Leia had to grow on me. I thought she was a bit flighty in the beginning. I did like her loyalty to her family though and she eventually grew on me. There were two things I had the hardest time with regarding Leia. I couldn't get behind her not wanting to find the father of her child to let him she was pregnant. I also didn't understand how race relations in the town kept being a surprise to her. She spent most of her summers there, yet she kept being shocked. Despite those, This two things, this is a story you can get lost in and one I definitely recommend.

Purchase Links

HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

About Joshilyn Jackson

Joshilyn Jackson is the New York Times bestselling author of seven novels, including gods in Alabama and A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty. Her books have been translated into a dozen languages. A former actor, Jackson is also an award-winning audiobook narrator. She lives in Decatur, Georgia, with her husband and their two children.

Connect with her through her website, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.

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