Book Review: The Orphan Sister by Gwendolen Gross

The Orphan Sister By Gwendolen Gross
 Product Details: 

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Gallery; Original edition (July 5, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1451623682
• ISBN-13: 978-1451623680

Product Description: (from the publisher) 
Clementine Lord is not an orphan. She just feels like one sometimes. One of triplets, a quirk of nature left her the odd one out. Odette and Olivia are identical; Clementine is a singleton. Biologically speaking, she came from her own egg. Practically speaking, she never quite left it. Then Clementine’s father—a pediatric neurologist who is an expert on children’s brains, but clueless when it comes to his own daughters—disappears, and his choices, both past and present, force the family dynamics to change at last. As the three sisters struggle to make sense of it, their mother must emerge from the greenhouse and leave the flowers that have long been the focus of her warmth and nurturing.
For Clementine, the next step means retracing the winding route that led her to this very moment: to understand her father’s betrayal, the tragedy of her first lost love, her family’s divisions, and her best friend Eli’s sudden romantic interest. Most of all, she may finally have found the voice with which to share the inside story of being the odd sister out. . . .

My Thoughts:
Gwendolen Gross shows a great deal of potential as a new, emerging author.  The subject matter for The Orphan Sister was certainly original and refreshing, however, the overall narrative quickly became frustrating and a bit dull.  Told from the perspective of Clem, the odd sister in a set of triplets,  the narrative switched between the present and Clem's past.  The transition between were often choppy and abrupt.  I found myself no longer wanting to read about Clem's past just at the moment I was engulfed in the current storyline.  Clem's character quickly grew self-centered and overbearing as a narrator which I found to be most unpleasant.  The "mystery" of Clem's father's disappearance was too predictable and left little room for any amount of suspense, and was ultimately a bit too cliche for my liking.  Overall, this was a great concept but not well developed and for that I'd give this novel a three.