One day Zahara’s twin sister Annica walked out the front door and vanished. Not in the “was kidnapped and never seen again” way but in the “walked right out of existence” way. After Annica left the house on April 16th, 1994, the only person in the world who remembers her is Zahara. Even her mother thinks she’s crazy when Zahara keeps trying to find Annica. But Zahara knows she isn’t crazy; she knows she has a sister, and now, five years later, she’s ready to find her. Get ready to question everything you know about reality when you read Leslye Penelope’s novel The Inevitable Undoing of Zahara Douglass this August.
[Note: While I am reviewing this novel independently and honestly, it should be noted that it has been provided to me by Redhook for the purpose of this review. Warning: My review of The Inevitable Undoing of Zahara Douglass contains some spoilers!]
A missing twin is a hole that can never be filled
Zahara Douglass has never been without Annica. They shared a womb, grew up together, and got in trouble together. But then one day Annica was gone and the only one who could remember her was Zahara. Her mother thinks she’s losing her mind and has her committed, but Zahara knows that Annica is real. The Annica-shaped hole in her soul isn’t something that can be faked. But why doesn’t anyone else remember her? Zahara wants answers, but as a 15-year-old girl, there’s not much she can do. Eventually she stops talking about Annica to make her life easier, but she never forgets her.
Then, just before New Year’s Eve 1999, Zahara returns home. She’s not a kid anymore. Now she’s an adult with a successful career. But she still misses her sister every day. She hasn’t returned home in years because of the strained relationship with her mother, but she decides to stay for Christmas to make her mom happy. Plus, she’s in town for work, so it’s hard to make an excuse. While she’s going through picture albums in her room (pictures without the sister she knows she had), she comes across a flyer from the day Annica went missing. A flyer the neighbor gave her after writing down the license plate of the car that Annica was taken in. Zahara marvels at it, proof that she isn’t crazy! Then she decides to do something with it.
Truth is stranger than fiction for Zahara
Zahara decides to hire a private detective to help her search for her sister. At first she isn’t sure about Theo Morgan; he seems much too young to be a P.I., but he assures her he can handle it, and it doesn’t hurt that he’s cute! So together the two start to search for her sister. Along the way, Zahara will uncover a conspiracy connected to her father’s unbelievable past and learn that reality isn’t as clear-cut as she was always told it was. She’s more powerful than she ever knew, more powerful than anyone ever thought she could be. Zahara may even be powerful enough to save her sister. But with that power comes danger. Zahara may have to choose between saving Annica or saving the world. What is she willing to lose to gain her sister? What price is she willing to pay?
The Inevitable Undoing of Zahara Douglass is a story of strength and believing in yourself
As women, we’re so often made to doubt ourselves. Even if we know we’re right, we give in to people all the time to “keep the peace”. It’s socialized into us from the day we’re born so that by the time we’re adults we often aren’t even aware we’re doing it. One of the hardest things we can do as women is to assert our truth when others say we’re wrong. And that is exactly what Zahara does in The Inevitable Undoing of Zahara Douglass. She knows she has a sister, and it doesn’t matter what anyone says; she won’t believe otherwise. Now, at the beginning of the book, she’s a minor and has no real power yet, so she learns to be quiet and go along with the status quo. But when she is able to finally stand up for herself, she does. It’s hard. One of the hardest struggles to read about wasn’t when she was saving the world; it was when she stood up to her mother and went looking for Annica, even though her mother thought she was crazy. That took more strength than anything else that Zahara did. To tell both her mother and her mentor that they were wrong and that she was right was huge! Sure, sure, she finds all kinds of supernatural strength later on and saves the world from complete meltdown. But insisting she was right even though it caused problems was the most inspiring thing that Zahara did; thank you, Leslye Penelope, for that wonderful scene!
Lots of mystery, adventure, and action too!
Okay, so don’t let that last section fool you. There are a lot of emotions going on in The Inevitable Undoing of Zahara Douglass, but it’s about a sister finding her lost twin; of course there are. But there’s also a pretty compelling mystery that Zahara has to unravel in the process of finding Annica. Her sleuthing takes her all over the place. She learns things about her deceased father that she’s never heard before; she meets lots of new people; she has adventures of all kinds. There’s trouble, there’s fighting, there’s betrayal and forgiveness. This book is the whole package. I really enjoyed the story from start to finish. And it was fun revisiting the Y2K panic that gripped the world. I actually lived through that (spoiler alert: everything was fine), and Penelope’s supernatural take on it was way more exciting than anything in real life was! So if you’re looking to add a little adventure to your summer, pick up The Inevitable Undoing of Zahara Douglass on August 11th; you’ll love it!
Rating: 9/10
The Inevitable Undoing of Zahara Douglass by Leslye Penelope is available August 11th!
Learn more about the book at the official website for the title.
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