Picture of author.

Dianne Dixon

Autor(a) de The Language of Secrets

4 Works 363 Membros 52 Reviews 1 Favorited

About the Author

Image credit: Dianne Dixon [Credit: Bill Youngblood Photography}

Obras de Dianne Dixon

The Language of Secrets (2010) 177 cópias
The Book of Someday (2013) 148 cópias
The Other Sister (2015) 25 cópias

Etiquetado

Conhecimento Comum

Sexo
female

Membros

Resenhas

The cover of this book beckoned me. The old brown suitcase on the old chair is just too much to resist. When I was about 20 pages into Dianne Dixon’s new novel, The Other Sister, I wasn’t sure that I would finish it, much less like it. It’s the story of twins Morgan and Ali. Morgan comes off as whiny, lost in feeling sorry for herself. I’m glad I didn’t give up on this one; by page 50, I couldn’t put it down.
Morgan and Ali are fraternal twins, different as two people can be. Ali is drop-dead gorgeous, has a sexy figure and is intelligent. Morgan didn’t inherit those qualities from her parents. She’s rather homely, dumpy, and it too wrapped up in her pity-party. But there is another reason. She hates Ali. Her sister ended up marrying a guy she saw first, Matt, and thought she could snag. But he was never really interested in Morgan to begin.
After Matt loses his job, he teams up with a buddy in Hollywood as a writer/producer. The money pours in, irritating Morgan all the more. Then as Ali and Matt are preparing to move to a more palatial home, Ali is the victim of a violent crime. Even on this night, Morgan spews angry accusations at her sister, leaving Ali to feel completely vulnerable and alone.
The couple does a great job in keeping what happened to Ali a secret. Morgan feels that there is something wrong, but she ignores it.
I can’t give much more away, but Morgan’s character evens out to where I actually felt sorry for her. One of the things that drove me nuts in the early pages was the overuse of the term “the underside of love.” Readers don’t need to be told that, they need to be shown. And as the story picked up, so did the lack of giving away plot lines in the guise of foreshadowing. Dixon really needed a better editor for this one.
I give The Other Sister 3 out of 5 stars.
… (mais)
 
Marcado
juliecracchiolo | outras 3 resenhas | Mar 6, 2018 |
Morgan and Ali are fraternal twins. Morgan thinks her life would be better without Ali. Now Ali is moving across the country with her husband to open up her dream restaurant. Morgan's jealousy and resentment will inadvertently create a chain of events that will cause things to get a lot worse before they get better.

The blurb sounded good, but this book was not. The characters are beyond unlikable. Morgan is so childish and petty - throwing temper tantrums just to hurt someone then wonders why no one likes her. Both Morgan and Ali are always wondering what secrets the other is hiding and they KNOW they're hiding secrets because of the way they blinked their eyes or whatever. The writing itself was not that good - it seemed amateurish to me. The story had no real depth. I was tired of hearing the same old things over and over and over. The ending is what caused it to drop from a two star book to a one star book - just awful.… (mais)
 
Marcado
jenn88 | outras 3 resenhas | Jun 25, 2017 |
Life is the process of becoming. "It starts with your first breath and stays with you until your last. Just think of the power of it being able to continually reach toward the light. The possibilities are infinite.”

Talented storyteller, Dianne Dixon returns following (2013) The Book of Someday with her best yet, THE OTHER SISTER!. The puzzling; the beautiful concept of forgiveness.

Action-packed, beautifully written, compassionately told, and relentlessly suspenseful!

From saints to sinners, narcissists to decent and caring, love and hate—a wide range of emotions and contrasts; with one of the most profound and stunning journeys of two sisters and the people who come in and out of their lives. Evil versus good. Violence to peace.

A page-turner with all the ingredients to become a bestseller and a box office smash hit!. An emotional, thought-provoking, chilling psychological thriller.

Set in Providence, Rhode Island, a disturbing glimpse into the darkness that can cling to the underside of love. The opening, a mysterious Newport cliffside mansion. A wedding.

In years to come, seemingly random events taking place in the mansion that night would lead to brutal, unexpected violence—and to the discovery of something so bizarre it would be heart-stopping. No one could have known.

Someone would shatter Ali’s life. What would be less painful—to find out it was a stranger or someone close? Someone she loved. Ali was stuck with a lifelong guilt of her sister Morgan’s loneliness.

We hear from alternating POV: Morgan, Ali, Matt There is also another mysterious evil voice sprinkled throughout; however, the reader is kept in the dark until the identity is unveiled with the explosive conclusion (in a highly creative manner).

Ali, the pretty one- marries Matt. There were parts of him that he kept private. Hurts that she assumed were connected. Places no one would ever be allowed to go. Places that were closed and locked. She wanted to own a restaurant to carry out her grandmother's wishes. A husband, family, and a baby. Life gets complicated. An ex-boyfriend Levi. A tragedy. A professional hockey athlete. A dreadful past.

Morgan, an art curator at a museum. A devious selfish miserable witch, living in her sister's shadow. Full of insecurities, blame, spite, bitterness, and evil. She was ordinary. Ali and Morgan were not identical. Fraternal. Two people who shared a womb. Living in her sister's shadow. She seeks justice, revenge, and thinks this will bring balance.

Two sisters. Now age twenty-seven. A complex relationship. Morgan loves her sister. She would kill and die for her, and at the same time furious she even exists because she makes her invisible. Soulmates; thorns and comfort.

Ali has always carried Morgan. However, by Ali turning her back on Morgan, could Morgan possibly see her mistakes and view their relationship from a different perspective? When there is more to show the world than the injuries.

Morgan receives a mistaken text from a mysterious sender. She now calls Sam. He is like a therapist on call. She has never met him; however, his words will change her life. Sometimes the wrong person can turn out to be the right person. Sam was unlike anyone she had ever talked to. Never judgment or criticism.

From Maine, a place called BerryBlue Farm, where two young girls had spent the best time of their lives when they were kids. Not far from the quaint town of Kennebunkport, a loved grandmother’s death.

Memories. Love of cooking. Passions. Family. A sister’s relationship of love and hate. Secrets. Grudges. Guilt. Always a dance between exasperation and delight. From Rhode Island to California—an unleashing; a chain of events spiral out of control. Readers meet a variety of characters, connecting the twin sisters. The mysterious brown suitcase.

There is SO much here beyond the surface. Not only is this a mysterious, domestic suspense, and delicious crime thriller; it is deeply psychological, thought-provoking, and soul-searching. There is tremendous growth from the characters from the beginning of the book to the ending. Wisdom. Faith. Forgiveness. Atonement.

“The place where you don’t forget the hurts, but you let go of them and hold on to the love.”

What sets THE OTHER SISTER apart, is the HOOK! It is bold, engrossing, spellbinding. Character and plot-driven! Dixon never strays with needless side stories. The entire book is heart pounding, not knowing what is coming next. You are glued from page one to the final ending.

Engrossing! An emotional roller coaster of suspense that will keep you guessing until the final page is turned. Even at 94% to the Epilogue, Dixon continues to add compelling twists and turns and many surprises. There is nothing ordinary here, and cannot adequately describe the uniqueness of her writing.

I loved the texting, which again continues the theme of contrasts: revenge texts which destroyed. Mistaken texts, which come to heal.

"Life is a test and we are not here primarily to be happy. Maybe happiness isn't about never having problems. Maybe it's about learning from them."


I would encourage readers to review Dianne Dixon’s blog post-"the inspiration" behind THE OTHER SISTER. My New Book Solved an Old Mystery. (thanks for sharing). It is powerful and a takeaway message for all. An ideal choice for book clubs!

There are many red herrings; however, each and every one was worth the ride. Matt and Sam were the most mysterious of all with the unknowns. (I could almost see another novel featuring Sam's life; intriguing). You root for Ali, and despise Morgan; however, Dixon allows readers to view these characters from the "inside out," and below the surface. The heart of the matter.

Unforgettable characters captivate as they confront their hidden pasts and build upon their futures with faith, love, and grace. People can grow and change. They can keep on giving to each other, no matter what life throws at them. Every moment is a new opportunity to grow and change—the possibilities infinite.

If you appreciated this story of forgiveness, recommend reading Charles Martin’s (2016) Long Way Gone. “The Prodigal Son” retelling with a modern-day twist and Water From My Heart (2015).

THE OTHER SISTER is absolutely amazing! Brilliantly crafted, crossing many genres, making "My Top Books of 2016." Move this one to the "Top" of your list! Trust me, when I say, "it is like no other book I have ever read." Blown Away and stays with you, long after the ending.

Fans of Heather Gudenkauf, Diane Chamberlain, Jodi Picoult, Lisa Scottoline, and Mary Kubica will appreciate the writer's ability to cross several genres, with highly charged emotional topics.

A suspenseful, yet moving tale of lost dreams, unending love, truth seeking and in the end, inspiring redemption and discovery. This one is not to be missed!

A special (big) "thank you" to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. 5 Stars +++ Sooooo Good!

JDCMustReadBooks
… (mais)
 
Marcado
JudithDCollins | outras 3 resenhas | Nov 2, 2016 |
Is this truly written about adults? Is it really written BY an adult???

I am really not enjoying the way this was written what with choppy chapters, a lack of character development, moving to something new with no explanations or closure, the immaturity of the character's - there is a distinct lack of vital information in the beginning -although I'm hoping that some of this is explained later in the book. (one moment dressed the next moment with no description -naked -then running naked to scream and hurt sister? Ugh.)

I think the idea of twin sisters who really aren't twins, with one being the beautiful popular one and one being the plain boring one that becomes psychotic, has been done to death. Then again they both feel psychotic to me. Add in a boyfriend who seems to be less/more than what he appears to be and you have trite and cliched storytelling.

Frankly, I have given it more than 100 pages and I am tempted to give up. There is just so much time and too many books.

*ARC supplied by publisher
… (mais)
 
Marcado
Cats57 | outras 3 resenhas | Nov 2, 2016 |

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Estatísticas

Obras
4
Membros
363
Popularidade
#66,173
Avaliação
½ 3.6
Resenhas
52
ISBNs
25
Idiomas
1
Favorito
1

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