The Cousins

Es gibt viele unvorhersehbare Wendepunkte, einige Oh-Momente, das Buch liest sich sehr flüssig und ist spannend aufgebaut. Klare Leseempfehlung.

Karen M. McManus‘ „The Cousins“ is a YA novel about family secrets and deception that will keep you guessing until the very end. Even though they are cousins, Milly, Aubrey and Jonah barely know each other. In fact, the whole Story family hasn’t spoken in years. When their grandmother, whom none of them have ever met, invites them to work at her estate during the summer, they are not only surprised, but also rather reluctant to go. But there’s no escaping it. At least they might finally get a chance to find out what drove their family apart… I’ve read and enjoyed every book by this author so far, so, naturally, I could not skip this one. „The Cousins“ is told from three differnt POVs and starts off rather innocently and slowly, which I somehow did not anticipate at all. This time around, the story focuses on family secrets and deception, which is very intriguing, indeed, but also makes it far less fast-paced than one would expect from a Karen M. McManus novel. I did like getting to know the three main characters a lot and loved seeing how their relationship progresses over the course of the book. Also, the big reveal at the end is, as always, just amazing. If there’s one thing McManus excels at, it’s killer endings…no pun intended. I think it is fair to say that „The Cousins“ is more of a slow-burn. So, if you are a fan of that and/or love family mysteries that need to be solved, you should definitely read this novel.

Twenty-five years ago, their parents were disowned by their grandmother Mildred. The four Story children Adam, Allison, Archer and Anders only got a letter saying that they knew what they had done. Unfortunately, they didn’t and haven’t been in contact with their mother who still lives on the family estate Catmint House on Gull Cove Island off the coast of Massachusetts which has been turned into a successful vacation destination for the rich. Unexpectedly, Milly, Aubrey and Jonah, Mildred’s grandchildren who have not seen each other for years, are invited to spend the summer there and to get to know their granny. Has the old lady finally changed her mind? Not really, but this is only one of the many, well buried family secrets of the Storys. I liked Karen McManus’ former young adult novels a lot since she knows how to create suspense without being actually violent and because her characters are often teenagers one can easily identify with since they show the same fears and insecurities every knows. “The Cousins” offers an interesting setting and much more twists and turns than expected and thus was an enjoyable read. The story is told alternatingly from the three teenagers’ point of view thus giving insight not only in their thoughts but also in the secrets they hide from each other. It also adds to the fast pace and at times gives you an advance since you already know what’s coming when the characters in the novel are still in the dark. There are also flashbacks in which we meet their parents when they were teenagers which is quite an interesting comparison and also provides the necessary background to understand the behaviour of the characters on the island. Overall, I totally enjoyed the novel which had an unforeseeable ending and some fascinating characters.

Von allen Büchern dieser Reihe(es sind (fast) alle Bücher unabhängig und können alleine gelesen werden), fand ich dieses Buch einfach am besten! Sehr spannend und tolle Charaktere. Klare Leseempfehlung:)

Sehr gutes Buch von Karen M. McManus!! Ich fand nur die Namen von den Eltern sehr verwirrend da sie alle den selben Anfangsbuchstaben haben. Ansonsten ein spannendes Buch!!