BOOK REVIEW - Caroline's Sister by Sheila O'Flanagan

Caroline's Sister by Sheila O'Flanagan (2002)

As a huge reader, I am constantly searching for an author whose books keep me glued to the pages and have me wanting to read more titles by them. Sheila O'Flanagan did just that. About two years ago a family friend gave me a book and recommended I read this book. It was Bad Behaviour by Sheila O'Flanagan. From about 20 pages in, I was addicted to it - literally! Since then I have read another eight books by Sheila and have enjoyed every single one of them. The main theme is Sheila's books is family feud which is what the majority of her plots evolve around.

The genre of this book is Chick Lit and is captured tremendously well in the excellent descriptions of relationships and family issues. Although I thoroughly found this book well written with an excellent plot, there was one con about it - The pace of the plot. I like the books I read to have an interesting plot where I am brought through every single step of all the characters. Unfortunately, this book did not do that. This book is one of Sheila's most lengthy (726 pages) but I found that because of this, there was huge jumps from one situation to the other. This is evident from the very beginning of the book when we are introduced to Caroline and her relationship with Damien. Caroline finds herself pregnant, which we are informed about, but very quickly she is no longer pregnant and is a mother to her daughter. In my opinion I found this fast movement of the plot as a way to jump straight to the centre of the plot which I did not feel was there. From reading this book I felt that there was no climax to the plot but that it was simply just a story and chain of events over a period of three or four years. Despite this, I truly did enjoy this book and did not feel it was a let down compared to Sheila's other novels.

If you enjoy sitting back and sticking your nose into a book which discusses relationships, sex, family and the issues which arise with these then this is the book for you! If you're a fan of authors such as Maeve Binchy, Marian Keyes and Sophie Kinsella then this is the book for you (or the author for you). But be warned - If you read one of Sheila O'Flanagan's books then you will want to read them all! 

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