What Happened to My Sister: A Novel

This is a sequel the book Me and Emma so if you don't want to know how that book ends stop reading now.

What Happened to My Sister picks up soon after Carrie has shot and killed her step-father and found out that her sister Emma isn't real. She and her very bad mother move to a new town where Carrie meets the Chaplin family. The Chaplins have a family saying that Chaplins always take the high road, although Charlie Chaplin who they're all so proud of got a fourteen year-old pregnant so clearly Chaplins don't always take the high road.
I was so-so on this book, parts of it are really heartbreaking, but a lot of it is rather unbelievable. I have a very hard time buying the idea that a child could be taking things from a salad bar day after day without anyone doing anything about it, or eating magazine photos without getting sick, and the things Carrie knows about vs. the things she doesn't don't seem to have much rhyme or reason.
I figured out the ending twist ahead of time without having to try and the end is clearly set up to write a third book. ( )

I was surprised to find this sequel to Me & Emma. Although it had been a while since I had read Me & Emma, it was one of those books that stayed with me. I couldn't wait to read this one, and it did not disappoint! I was taken in from the first page and could NOT put it down! I will try not to include spoilers.
Carrie is the victim of terrible abuse but, sadly, doesn't know it. It is all she has ever known. When she and her mother flee Hendersonville, NC in an old beat up car they are hoping for a new start. Sadly, bad luck seems to follow them wherever they go. When car trouble strands them in a flea bag hotel, nine-year-old Carrie has to fend for herself for food while her alcoholic mother is out "working". She is haunted by the memory of her baby sister, Emma, whom her mom swears never really existed. However, Carrie is certain that she did once have a baby sister. What happened to Emma? Why won't her mother, who used to talk about her also, admit that she once existed?
Honor Chaplin is trying to start a new life with her young daughter. Having just lost a daughter to cancer, and having recently separated from her husband, she moves back in with her mother and struggles to begin again. When Honor and her daughter, Cricket, run into Carrie at the local Wendy's they are struck by her resemblance to Caroline, Honor's recently deceased daughter. They are drawn to the pitiful Carrie and an odd friendship begins.
Will the Chaplin's find out the secrets Carrie is hiding? Will they find out the real reason she and her mother are fleeing Hendersonville? And will they finally unravel the truth about Emma?
this one will keep you on the edge of your set. You won't be able to put it down!

Read this one if you...
*read Me &; Emma and want to know the rest of the story
*love southern fiction
*love a good mystery

from my blog ( )

This book is the story of Carrie Parker, her mother, and Carrie's imaginary friend, Emma. Carrie's mother is abusive and negligent, and she is vehemently opposed to Carrie's companionship with Emma. Over the course of the novel we eventually find out why. Carrie desperately longs for her mother's attention and affection, and walks on eggshells to avoid raising her mother's ire. The slightest thing sends Libby Parker into a rage. When Carrie meets Cricket she makes the first real friend of her life, and attention from Cricket's family gives Carrie some much needed stability.

This is a book about a child's will to survive in the face of horrible abuse. Throughout the book I kept hoping that Libby would be caught and taken away- her treatment of Carrie is criminal. The book is billed as a possible stand-alone read. Certainly it's possible to dive in and understand what is necessary to appreciate this book. Still, this is a follow-up to Flock's Me and Emma, and the premise of the entire plot gives away what I suspect is the crux of the first book. I haven't read Me and Emma, but I suspect the plot of What Happened to My Sister relies on some major spoilers. ( )

Great read! I love the characters-they come alive and make you want to "talk" to them to see what happens next. The way Flock changes point of view between characters makes the story flow. The ending is simply satisfying! ( )

I tend to hate sequels. I tend to hate them a lot. At times, though, a book does not do justice to its character and a sequel is a must. This is the case with What Happened to My Sister by Elizabeth Flock, which is the sequel to Me and Emma. I really enjoyed Me and Emma and found the ending both shocking and wonderful. It was definitely a book where I never saw it coming and I longed for more.

Thankfully, more was coming. What Happened to My Sister picks up immediately where Me and Emma left off. I struggle to write this without giving away any of the plot details, but this book focuses on a little girl named Carrie who picks up after life has dealt her a heavy hand of cards. She soon meets another little girl who has what seems to her a fairytale life that she desperately wants. During this time she questions everything she knows about reality, family and life. Flock doesn’t disappoint in that twists and turns are everywhere in this novel and I couldn’t put it down. If you don’t own either book, I highly recommend picking up them both and reading Me and Emma first. Beautiful novels that will stay with you and make you wonder what is happening next!

Edit: I received this book for free in exchange for my honest and fair review. ( )