Thursday, December 3, 2020

The Cousins - Karen M. McManus

Teen fiction makes for great escapist reading. My latest escape is New York Times bestselling author Karen M. McManus' new book, The Cousins.

The Cousins has all the right elements - three teens who are related, but haven't seen each other since they were young. Their parents don't speak to each other either and everyone has been estranged from the family matriarch for twenty five years. Her choice. She made it clear with a "You know what you did' letter to her four children. So, Milly, Aubrey, and Jonah Story are quite surprised to be invited to Gull Cove Island to work for their grandmother's resort. The three are excited and hope to meet her. But things don't go quite as imagined...

The three leads are great - all with different personalities, strengths and weaknesses. Their interactions ring true with believable dialogue. I think Aubrey was my favorite character - she grows as the book progresses. They are each given a voice with their own chapters. Also given a historical voice are the parents - from when they were teens on the island. This gives the reader a chance to have a different perspective, knowing more about the why and the what of that ' You know what you did' letter. 

The setting is well imagined and easy to picture. (I want to be on the beach!) But it is the mystery of what happened all those years ago that drives the book forward. The three are slowly putting things together....and then BAM....McManus throws in a twist, a revelation and promptly turns things in a different direction. I love being caught off guard and kept on my toes. And the last page provides one last gotcha.

The book moves along at a good clip with those twists. There's a romantic subplot that is well done and doesn't overshadow the mystery. There are some truths woven into the book as well - family relationships are complicated and messy sometimes.....

The Cousins was a fun, lazy Sunday read for me. See for yourself - here's an excerpt of The Cousins.

2 comments:

Mystica said...

Family dynamics always full of surprises. Thanks for the post.

Luanne said...

They are indeed!