The Cousins

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A ver, empezando por lo que comento de los personajes... De verdad, sin duda lo mejor de la novela. Me han encantado los tres, cada uno a su manera. Milly, Aubrey y Jonah son un trío impecable para resolver un crimen, con personalidades muy diferentes pero que cuadran perfectamente para un libro que se desarrolla en un entorno paradisíaco y misterioso a partes iguales. ¿Qué puede salir mal cuando juntas a tres primos que no se conocen y todos tienen secretos que no pueden confesar? Pero, pero... ¿entonces por qué cuatro estrellas? Pues mira, porque creo que la autora sabe manejar perfectamente los tiempos, las escenas, los diálogos y la narración, las participaciones de los personajes de manera dinámica, el misterio... Es muy buena, de estas que te cuentan un acto simple como comer con un arte que te mantiene en vilo. No sé, especialmente respecto a los personajes, cuya profundidad está trabajada desde el principio y vamos descubriendo poco a poco más y más sobre ellos.

Haha, I have many feelings about her. I hated her SO much in the beginning of the book. She was rude for no reason, really bratty, and annoyed me so much with how she interacted with the other characters. I’m going to start this review off by saying that I had some high hopes for this book and they were not met. The main issue I had was with the characters. I was not as invested in their story as I should have been.I liked this book, but it felt a good deal slower than McManus’s previous works, especially in the beginning. I’m used to her books hitting the ground running and with The Cousins you have to wait for the story to come to a boil. The ending also felt a little rushed, probably because of the slower pacing in the first part. That said, I’m glad that the author is trying out something different from her last three books, and I hope she feels like she can branch out even more in the future. All three teens think that this sounds like a terrible way to spend the summer, but they aren't really given an option. And Jonah: good looking, a little douche, mysterious, smart, perfect pool player: Anders’ son who truly hates his father and we don’t know the reason why!! Personality-wise I think Milly was my favourite, and this book might have been better off with only her POV. Atmosphere – 6/10 This was enjoyable, though the plot was a little crazy, and again, as I said in my You'll Be the Death of Me review, I do not like mysteries with romance (A Good Girl's Guide to Murder is an exception- I actually liked those characters.) and the one in this book just felt off and not needed.

I think secrets are so interesting because everybody keeps them. But I feel like it's a very human thing to look at your own secrets very differently from someone else's, and to be able to justify and explain why you're keeping yours and, at the same time, desperately wanting to know somebody else's. So that's kind of the balance that I try to strike with my characters. They always have reasons for not being forthcoming with whatever it is they're trying to hide. And it might be that they just plain don't want other people to see them differently. They don't want to see themselves differently or they're trying to gain something. And so I try to tie that to whatever their character arc and their own personal growth arc is. And, oftentimes, getting that secret out there and accepting the truth is a crucial step to them becoming the person that they are supposed to be. In this book, Aubrey, Milly and Jonah Story are from the same family, but they don’t interact with one another much because of family drama and their parents estrangement from their elusive grandmother Mildred. But when the trio is invited to stay with Mildred at her island resort for the summer, their parents are all able to agree that not going is not an option. The entire Story family has secrets. Whatever pulled them apart years ago isn’t over — and this summer, the cousins will learn everything. Mildred invites the teenagers into her home for brunch and to attend the Summer Gala. Things do not go well at either event. Mildred focuses her attention on Aubrey and Jonah. She ignores Milly. This upsets Milly and creates friction between her and Aubrey. Mildred and Donald catch Milly and Jonah kissing at the Summer Gala. At this point, they believe that Jonah is Milly’s cousin. Jonah tells Mildred that his father, Anders, hates her. Then Anders arrives with the real Jonah Story and tells everyone that Jonah North is an imposter. It turns out that Jonah North wanted revenge because Anders lost his family’s money through bad investments. Donald has everyone escorted away. Jonah is better looking than the girls expected. They express their surprise, but accept that he is their cousin. However, they were right to be suspicious because the Jonah on the ferry is an imposter. His name is Jonah North. Their cousin Jonah bribed him to take his place so that he could attend the science camp.I love the author’s work and when my arc request has been rooted at the pending purgatory of NG , I’m so happy to buy my own copy! It’s worth every penny you spend!

Respecto al misterio, como comento, y aunque está bien llevado en cuanto a dosificar la información, la autora construye algo que parece que va hacia un lado y termina yendo a otro, y eso a veces es buena señal, aunque para mí en esta ocasión no me ha terminado de convencer al cien por cien. Me ha sorprendido (no tanto como esperaba) y lo he disfrutado bastante. Además, ese momento final con la nota me ha gustado mucho. No sé, creo que era un final que encajaba en las características de la trama, así que tampoco puedo decir que sea vago, porque no lo es para nada. Está bien construido. I loved the intriguing pace, riveting story telling and well developed characterization: I loved all of the cousins: Both of them are flawed, lost, dealing more burdens they can handle but they didn’t irritate me much like their parents! The mystery element is great and since I said that I’d read “The Cousins” when I did My January TBR video I decided I’d go for it now. I mean it’s already the middle of January again. So what am I waiting for? *lol*Everybody has secrets,” she says, taking a sip of her drink. “That's nondebatable. The only question is whether you're keeping your own, or someone else's.”The Goodreads plot summary of the The Cousins tells you everything you need to know going into this novel. Milly, Aubrey, and Jonah Story, the titular cousins, are each keeping secrets. Their parents have been keeping secrets for decades. And their grandmother Mildred—who disinherited her own children with a simple letter cryptically stating “you know what you did”—may have the most secrets of all. Jonah is the son of Anders, the charismatic and cold-hearted second son--his most recent newsmaking turn is running a financial scheme that bankrupted people. Jonah's a bit much, really, but even though he has a major chip on his shoulder, that doesn't stop him from liking his cousins rather a lot, really... but will those warm, fuzzy feelings stop him from doing what he came to the island to do? The Cousins” comes as a standalone in McManus’ plethora of published mystery works, including the popular book “One of Us is Lying” and its sequel “One of Us is Next." But, "The Cousins" is definitely on a completely different plane in terms of its darkness in comparison to the aforementioned pair of Breakfast Club-esque stories. Despite the trio's synonymous themes of lies and betrayal, "The Cousins" takes the cake.

I think aside from the McManus book that just came out last November (“You’ll Be the Death of Me”) this is the only McManus book I haven’t read yet. XD I really love her books because they are always something nice to read in between. Karen McManus’s books are on my automatic buy list and I don’t see myself taking her books off there anytime soon. 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: Content Warnings:Alcohol abuse/addiction, Alcohol use (including underage drinking), Arson, Cheating/adultery, Child abuse (emotional/psychological), Death of a loved one, Drugging, Emesis, Gambling addiction (mentioned), Incest (inferred), Miscarriage, Murder, Parental neglect, PregnancyDid it ever occur to you to get in touch with your grandmother yourself, or speak with her assistant?” I don’t reply, and his voice turns even more condescending. “I didn’t think so. Because you don’t act, you react. That’s what I mean by proactive.” I was so close to give five stars but the final revelation made me question the entire premise because there are still plot holes and the big twist at the end was too hard to be kept hidden for nearly 3 decades ( as you consider the characters live in a small island with noisy, gossiping inhabitants so this kind of mystery cannot be kept too long! )