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A review by taylorhathcock
The Original Daughter by Jemimah Wei
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I was a bit conflicted about how this book made me feel. I think it had some really poignant moments and some times when it could have decimated the readers but it was always just shy of having that thing. The story follows the two sisters who bond and then become estranged when the older one feels betrayed. However, we don't get to that until closer to the end of the novel. Instead we follow Genevieve and Arin's story in all the moments that their sisterhood was tried but managed to suvive. Until we reach the one moment that things couldn't be recovered. It was at this point I wanted to feel so much more than I did. I don't know if it was the author's writing style or what but everything felt so detached. It was always just enough that you were interested in the story but not enough that you felt attached to the characters and the outcomes.
I found the way the author chose to tell the story to be really amazing because we start out with the present and the estranged sisters but we don't know what happened. We then get the major moments in their childhood's before facing the moment that everything changed. It was a good narrative choice I think it could have been enhanced by having both sister's perspectives. Genevieve is a character that is a bit difficult to like because she is very jealous of everything and everyone who has done better than her in some way. She just made it hard to like her. Overall, it's a very intense story of sisterhood and betrayal I just wish it had given me a little more.