Birthdays are for celebrating, and that’s what 25 year-old reality star Desiree Pierce does. Unfortunately, the night takes a deadly turn, so she will not be celebrating 26.

She is found sprawled in a park in The Bronx, dead. The word is that the Black woman with a history of addiction has simply overdosed.

Estranged from Desiree; the sister with a fast and famous lifestyle, and less enamoured by the spotlight and their wealthy hip hop mogul father, Lena Scott learns about Desiree’s tragic end on the news. She rushes to where the body was found.

Nothing makes complete sense. Somewhere Desiree wouldn’t likely go, The Bronx is unusual place to get a fix when Desiree could easily score in Manhattan. So why was she there? Some of the facts simply don’t fit.

Unwilling to accept the cause of death as easily as the media, the police and the masses, Lena is the only one who cares enough to abandon her life and take it upon herself to discover the truth.

Despite separation, family ties run deep. Within a theme of “trust no one”, what unfolds is a complex and dangerous roller coaster ride as Lena digs into Desiree’s recent life and their shared past, determined to discover whether her sister was everything that the media says she was, or if something more sinister has occurred.

Well-guarded secrets, complicated relationships and Interesting family dynamics aside, I have mixed feelings about the book.

It took a while for Like A Sister to keep my attention.

Just when you think a solution is near, the lead becomes a dead end. Characters weave in and out, and there are so many red herrings you could make a stew!

Still, Lena is tenacious and thorough. She is a strong and interesting player.

The last section of the book was exciting, with ramped up energy and a dramatic conclusion.

I’m not sure if Like A Sister was my thing, but with the many literary awards and accolades that Garrett has in her background, you may want to give it a read.

Like A Sister
Kellye Garrett
Mulholland Books 2023
320 pages

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