The Blessed and the Cursed

The Heiresses by Sara Shepard
Published: May 20, 2014 by Harper
I've never read a Sara Shepard book, nor seen an episode of the tv shows based on them. I've been told countless times I would love them, and while I'm sure that's true, I just haven't made the time for her. It doesn't help that's there's so many Pretty Little Liar books or so many seasons of the tv show. But sure, eventually I'd like to read her. Which is why I jumped at the chance to review her newest book. Especially knowing this is the first of the series, so I'd get in on the ground floor.

I went into this expecting a YA book. I know that Shepard has written adult books before, but that definitely isn't her norm. So imagine my surprise when I learned that all the characters were in their 20s. Definitely a pleasant one for me, since it made it more related as a person in their 20s, and I think likely more believable as well.

There are 5 Saybrook heiresses and while the story is only told from the point of view of 3 of them, it still started out a bit confusing. Thankfully there was a family tree to refer back to, but after each girl had a chapter or two I didn't even need to reference it. The girls had the range of socialite types filled out from the Paris Hilton partier to Dylan Lauren businesswoman. Although my favorite of them all had to be the tomboy-ish Rowan.

As I expected with a Sara Shepard book there's a big mystery in here with tons of twists and turns. It definitely had me captivated. It's actually been a long time since I wanted to sit down and read a book ignoring everything else as I did with this. And maybe somewhat surprisingly it doesn't end with a cliffhanger. Instead it ends with two different cliffhangers! I'm pretty sure that there's going to at least be a sequel, if not a whole series of these books, and I definitely plan on continuing through the ups and downs.

4.5/5

Disclosure: I was provided this book through TLC Book Tours. All opinions expressed are my own.