Title: The Twin
Author: Natasha Preston
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Release Date: March 3, 2020
Pages: 384
Book Source: NetGalley
“After their parents divorced, 10-year-old twins Ivy and Iris were split up–Ivy lived with Dad, Iris with Mom. Now, after a tragic accident takes their mom’s life, the twins are reunited and Iris moves in with Ivy and their dad. Devastated over Mom’s death, Iris spends the first few weeks in almost total silence–the only person she will speak to is Ivy. Iris feels her life is over and she doesn’t know what to do. Emmy promises her twin that she can share her life now. After all, they’re sisters. Twins.
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It’s a promise that Iris takes seriously. And before long, Ivy’s friends, her life at school, and her boyfriend, Tyler, fall under Iris’s spell. Slowly, Ivy realizes she’s being pushed out of her own life. But she’s just being paranoid, right? And Mom’s accident was … just an accident. Right? It’s not like she–or Dad–or Tyler–are in any danger… .” – Amazon
Kim’s Review
The suggested reading level for The Twin is grades 7–9, and I can definitely see kids that age enjoying this book. That’s why I gave it four stars. As for how I enjoyed this book, reading it as an adult, I would be giving it two stars.
Natasha Preston did a wonderful job keeping the twists coming and the gas lighting to a maximum. I can see middle schoolers really being creeped out by Iris’s actions and enjoying the relationship between Ivy and her boyfriend, Ty.
The Twin reminded me of all the Fear Street books I read by R.L. Stine when I was in middle school, it’s predictable, but at that age, kids love reading the same type of stories over and over… and even as adults, there are some people who will only read the same genre.
I can see both young adults and adults not enjoying the ending. I know I didn’t. It made me angry. But after I let my anger steep a bit, I came to like the ending. Life is rarely fair, so why should I expect a book to be the same? And if I want a happy ending I can always read a cozy mystery or a romance novel.
Now to review this book as an adult…. The first 20% of the book is Ivy going on about her mother’s death and wanting to give Iris space. If Preston would have toned that down to 5% of the book and took the extra 15% and added it to the ending to flesh it out more and to not have it be over so quick, I think that would have really improved the book.
And I just couldn’t get over how mature Ivy and Ty’s relationship was. Their communication is better than a lot of adults I know! It just didn’t feel real to me at all. I did like that this could show middle schoolers what goals to set for your relationships though. Then there’s the point that even with how solid their relationship is, Ty who seems to be on Ivy’s side, just suddenly isn’t. This really ticked me off, and I think could have added another layer to the store if he would have continued to believe in Ivy.
Since Ivy is a straight A student, and seems to be street smart as well as book smart, I just could reconcile the fact that it took her so long to see how devious her twin was. I would think since they hadn’t lived together for over six years it would be even easier to see through Iris’s lies and schemes.
If you know middle schoolers who love to read suspense, they will probably really enjoy The Twin. But if you’re an adult and read a lot of suspense and thrillers, you may want to try You are Not Alone by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen instead!
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