Book four of the Seven Sisters series, Pearl Sister, is the next book for me to review. Similar to the third book, Shadow Sister, this is the second of two books that I feel neutral about. However, I think I enjoyed this one a smidge more.

This is also the first book that explores a main character who falls into the LGBTQ+ community. In this book, it starts off as CeCe questioning her sexuality and is later confirmed that she and a secondary character are romantically involved.

Disclaimer

As per usual, I enter this disclaimer in the event you may not have read my previous reviews for the series.

While this series does involve each character finding their birth family, I do not believe that it was the author’s intent to diminish adopted families. Having read the series, I interpreted it as each daughter being given the choice to find their birth families if they so choose. With each daughter choosing to investigate their history

Update from Original Review and Secondary Disclaimer

When I posted my original review for this book, I did not realize that a term to describe the native groups in Australia was considered a bit problematic. I will apologize for not knowing at the time and have fixed the mistake here. This is the same review as it was written, but with proper changes when referring to Australia’s native individuals.

I apologize for the error I made and will be more mindful in the future.

Synopsis

Pearl Sister focuses on the fourth daughter of the D’Aplièse family, Celaeno, or CeCe as she goes by in the book. Starting off during Shadow Sisters to explain why she left Star in England, CeCe decides to look into her family. While she has felt like she doesn’t quite fit in in the family, with Star being the sister she was closest to, readers get to see her come out of her shell. As she travels to Sydney, Australia to follow the clues Pa Salt left her, she finds herself in Thailand where see meets some backpackers, including a young man named Ace, and with some help from him and others along the way, she is able to find out more about her family and herself.

A hundred years earlier, we get to see the story of Kitty McBride, the woman that CeCe is given the task of looking into. Kitty is the daughter of a clergyman, who finds her fate intertwined with the twin sons of a wealthy family that works with pearls. While there, she also finds herself intertwined with some of the Australian native individuals.

As CeCe discovers more about her family history, she rediscovers her creative passions and begins to discover more about herself and who she loves.

Positives

What I really enjoyed about this book was the setting and CeCe’s journey. Because I didn’t particularly like where her story ended in Shadow Sister, it was nice to see some of what was going on with CeCe during that time at the beginning of this story. And seeing her come into her own person, it was nice to see how that unfolded.

It was also nice to see how this book broke the formula a little bit. Star did a little bit too with how it approached Mouse and Orlando and who Star ended up getting with, but I liked what they did with CeCe’s a bit more. Since CeCe’s story is one of self-discovery, seeing her questioning her sexuality and her feelings for Chrissie come to light. The two get along really well, both as friends and as partners, and it was nice how Chrissie to help explain the native culture and history to CeCe.

I also enjoyed the parts in Australia alongside some of it’s history. Elements of Kitty’s story was interesting too. How her story intertwines with CeCe is different, but in a good way.

CeCe is also one of two or three sisters I kind of relate to. Tiggy being another, which I’ll get into in my review for Moon Sister, and Star possibly being the third (the only reason I’m hesitant to say I relate to Star is because I more so enjoyed the book/writing aesthetic of Shadow Sister’s setting and side characters as someone who is an avid book lover and writer). I relate to CeCe’s desire for self-discovery and creativity as a writer and occasional artist myself.

Critiques

I suppose my biggest critique with Pearl Sister is Kitty’s story. While the formula for the historical parts isn’t bad, I just didn’t find Kitty’s part as interesting. While I did enjoy aspects of it, like the mother that Kitty ends up helping and the approach to conflicts at the time, the romance subplot in it, wasn’t that compelling. I do think the use of the twins was a neat touch, I just didn’t like the execution.

The part in Thailand, though having a point, wasn’t all that memorable after reading. While certain details there were necessary, some readers do feel like it stayed around a bit too long. I can kind of agree, as I would have liked to get to Australia. However, I can see what areas of it were necessary. Mainly some character developing and investigating for CeCe’s journey.

I will also include the term used to describe Australia’s native individuals. I cannot confirm or deny any malice on Lucinda Riley’s part (much like with terms used in the next book), so I will not pass judgement until I know for sure. I won’t condone it either. I merely cannot speak for Lucinda Riley with her passing last year and the fact I found out out how problematic it was until recently.

Conclusion

I enjoyed how this story broke the mold in some areas and enjoyed CeCe’s growth. However, some duller elements and terminology did effect my enjoyment of the book. I would give this book a six and a half out of ten depending on the day since despite my neutral feelings towards it, I do enjoy it more than Shadow Sister.