A similar beach read to Then She Was Gone. It was weird to read them back to back. I liked this one more, but probably only a half-star more. I rounded up because of the Chinese/Dutch cultural insights that I appreciated as an anthropologist. I liked the different chapters from different characters' perspectives and the emails/calls/newspaper articles as well--it built the suspense for me. This one also I did NOT figure out until much closer to the big reveal, and that added to my enjoyment.

Two sisters and their mother, in one Chinese immigrant family, explores what happens when the eldest daughter disappears. Each chapter explores one perspective, their place in the family and life, and the history they bring with them.
What I found most interesting was the setting: Netherlands, New York, and China. Each of these places was vividly drawn not only in environment but culturally and linguistically. I enjoyed the Chinese proverbs and the use of language, which portrayed a non-English speaker (others may find this clunky, but I was okay with it).
I didn't mind the alternating POV, as they all had their separate chapters, but the time differences were jarring to me as a reader. First, we are in one month, then we jump to the future, then past. Perhaps because this was a mystery, and I don't read them regularly. In any case, I believe this is a worthwhile and interesting read to explore familial relationships.

Not what I expected but I enjoyed it.

I could not put this book down. It was such an interesting story for most of the book and I found myself thinking about it during the day when I couldn't read it.

The alternating viewpoints gave the alternating plotlines - a woman searching for her lost sister and a woman searching for herself. The feelings that each woman has for the other showed the intricacies of sisterhood in a genuine way. They love each other, are jealous of each other and don't fully know the other as well as they thought. Kwok did well here.

The story had many loose and messy ends and I felt let down by some of them. Kwok gave us a suspenseful mystery, created plenty of potential suspects, but left too many threads untied. The end of the mystery felt rushed and out of sorts with the preceding 80% of the book.

I had a hard time believing Lukas never noticed Sylvie's birthmark before or that he was willing to continue their romantic path so soon after understanding the truth. I wanted to know more about why he immediately felt so strongly about her after not seeing her for 25 years and was seemingly OK with the revelation of who they are to each other.

Filip was an odd character to include against Lukas. Did Lukas forget what Filip revealed in high school? Was he embarrassed and that is why he became angry with Filip so often and quickly? This storyline could have been expanded in an intriguing way.

Ma's chapters didn't seem that relevant to me until the end. I felt blindsided by her truths at the end. I'm not sure if I missed some dropped clues in earlier chapters but I felt her secrets tumbled out as a way for Kwok to tie up open points in one swoop.

Interesting relationship between sisters. The mystery of Sylvie's disappearance had me intrigued until I figured out the family drama about halfway through and then thought it was just dragging on.

3.5 stars. I vacillated constantly between 3, 4 and 5 stars while reading this book and landed solidly on 3.5. The writing is wonderful for the most part but there were a few too many “Really???”’s that took away from it. Overall, I would recommend. Just know that it can be pretty heavy. Beautiful setting!

It’s a good slow burn of a story. I appreciated reading about characters of Chinese origin and the international storyline. May check out more from this author.