Review: The Wrong Daughter

The Wrong Daughter by Dandy Smith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Some stories cling to us, and The Wrong Daughter by Dandy Smith might be one such tale. Set in a quiet town, where Caitlin Arden, overshadowed for eighteen years by her sister Olivia's kidnapping, this psychological thriller hurtles down the rabbit hole of buried secrets and guilt.

The book builds slowly into a shattering end that left my heart in my mouth. It is a book about sisters, about the love that clings even when that, in turn, is a burning hurt. Smith's writing has a quiet intensity, and the pacing is cautious, occasionally staying too long on Caitlin's inner difficulties. But it shows her grief so well that it didn't bother me. The mix of Caitlin's present with a darker history, create a sense of dread that builds slowly, like the tension in What Lies Between Us.

The core of the book is the beautiful and heartfelt examination of sisterhood. The relationship of Olivia and Caitlin, preserved in fine flashes of sunflower fields and shared laughter, hit me deeply, stirring memories of my own family moments. It’s raw, more gripping than the family ties in A Flicker in the Dark, which feel less central. Smith captures how sisters can reflect and contrast each other, their love a kind of magic that outlasts pain. That emotional pull carried me through, even when some twists, especially around Olivia, felt a bit too staged, almost too dramatic for the story’s truth.

Compared to None of This Is True, which keeps its surprises more grounded, this novel sometimes leans too far into theatrics. Not only that, but I wished the supporting characters, like Caitlin’s friend Florence, had some depth. They felt like sketches next to Caitlin’s vivid grief.

Not imperfect, but compelling and strong. If you love psychological thrillers with emotional weight, like All the Dangerous Things, but with a darker, more intimate edge, this will speak to you. This book is for those shaken to the core by the power of family, the sharp pang of loss, or the need to venture out into the darkness in the name of discovery.

I'd like to give a heartfelt thank you to Dandy Smith, Kensington Publishing and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

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