In it's own right, this was a very cognizant and perspective read. Unlike any other psychological thriller I've read, it had the cool social media aspect with a new twist.

Poppy returns to her hometown after her younger sister India is found to have committed suicide. But, Poppy can't believe that. She does her own digging and finds that maybe stones don't want to be unturned and there could be consequences. Poppy isn't well liked after leaving her then boyfriend, Matthew seemingly high and dry. Matthew's family isn't too fond of her now either, including his twin sister.

Poppy continues to search every avenue and any ties leading to India's death, including the mysterious and elusive Jenny. Jenny had commented on India's blog and India's last entry looks a bit like a suicide letter addressed to Jenny. So what answers does Jenny hold and what is she trying to cover up?

The Other Twin tackles some major issues- some I will lay out and some I will let you find out for yourselves but: mental illness, suicide and dysfunctional families are the non-spoiler issues. The last 50-100 pages were unputdownable. It was a well paced book but especially picked up toward the end. For fear of spoiling anything I'm going to leave this review at that...happy reading!

This is probably a rounded up 3.5 for me. The Other Twin is a quick, tight mystery. It's not a twist-a-minute suspense, which is fine- instead it reflects the disoriented, complicated feelings of Poppy as she wrestles with her belief that the death of her estranged younger sister, India, wasn't a suicide, and that somehow, someone close to India- or to Poppy herself- is involved. This story felt very plot driven to me- while the characters and their relationships were important to the story, I didn't feel like any of the characters were extraordinarily well defined or explored, and if connecting with characters is critical to your enjoyment of a story, this might not be the book for you. As reader who tends to prefer plot-driven stories, this worked well for me as my interest in the story kept me reading. The setting (both in time of year and place) were a perfect backdrop to the story and emotions. As a debut novel, this is fairly solid.

The Other Twin by Lucy V. Hay is a mystery novel that I would recommend to everyone who is looking for a page turner. Not only on the basis of loving a mystery but also for the supurb way that this is put together. I find it shocking that this is the debut novel because this manuscript not only keeps the reader engaged but is very relevant. It touches on topics of lose, it touches on LGBT topics and it brings the reader in wanting to see it through to the last page.

The plot surrounds sisters India and Poppy. Poppy returns home after almost 5 years of being away because of her sisters’ untimely death even though the two girls were not in the best of terms Poppy knows there is something wrong with the way that her sister died. As the story progresses she finds a blog that her sister has written that makes the story even more suspicious. I don’t want to give away too much of the story but I will say that this novel is very character driven which makes every character you come across and piece to the way that this plays out. The twists and turns that you experience while reading this will make this extremely satisfying once you get to the last page.
I have to say this is the first book this year that I can honestly say that every person regardless of gender and even age up to a point will get something out of it. 5 stars all the way\ I am grateful to Trafalgar Square Publishing Orenda Books the author and Netgalley for my copy of this book the author has definitely found a new fan with me.

Poppy hasn’t been home to Brighton in years but after awakening from yet another one night stand she just can’t quite remember she finds her mother has been frantically trying to call her. Fearing the worse Poppy is a bit afraid to actually pick up the phone and find out just what is going on and when she takes that step her worse fears are realized. Poppy’s sister India has fallen to her death from a bridge over a railway looking like a suicide but that just doesn’t sit well with Poppy and she’s determined to find out the truth.

Poppy finds herself returning to the life she had thought she’d left behind years before but determined to get to the truth of just what had happened to India. Digging into India’s life Poppy is led to a mysterious girl named Jenny after hacking into India’s laptop and finds herself caught up by Matthew Temple, the boyfriend she abandoned. So many secrets to be uncovered but the deeper she digs the more questions she’s left with and doesn’t know who to trust.

The Other Twin by L.V. Hay is one of those books that was possibly just not for me as others seem to really enjoy this one but it didn’t take me long to decide that I didn’t. I wanted it to pick up and drag me into the story but after a rough start to this one I never really found a rhythm and began to enjoy the characters or book at all.

Poppy was a character that starts off dragging herself out the funk of a night she can’t remember and immediately I hesitated on liking her but thought possibly she could be one of those characters that grows and learns and makes one come to love her, unfortunately that didn’t happen. There were actions later in the book that still had me disliking her and that brought down the whole book for me. I just found it a bit slow pace and tedious from the get go with never really getting too invested. This one just turned out to not be my cup of tea but plenty of other readers are enjoying it.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

I enjoyed this book immensely. It is well written. I loved the characters, true to life. The book is fiction, however, this is is a real life possible story.
People are so scared if what society may think of them that they will go to any length to cover up a teenage pregnancy, a child born a male, who wants to be female.
This happens everyday.
This can be a touchy subject. The author did an astounding job with the storyline. Definitely 5 Stars!

I really enjoyed this book. I thought it was well written. Would recommend to others who enjoy the genre

When Poppy's younger sister, India, is found dead from an apparent suicide, Poppy packs up her life and goes back home. She's convinced from the beginning that India wouldn't kill herself, that there was another reason for her death. No one seems to be happy to see Poppy, not her old boyfriend or best friend, but she's determined to keep searching for clues about what happened to India.

I love mysteries and I love stories about sisters, but this just didn't work for me. It really should have - there are twists and all kinds of family drama - but ultimately this mystery, at the tail-end of my year full of reading psychological thrillers and mysteries, didn't resonate for me. I couldn't relate to Poppy, who at times is decades more immature than a thirty year-old teacher should be. Most of the people from her past are nasty, and the men condescending and brute-like around women. I think I might have really liked India, but she was always fleeting from the page, so I knew facts about her, but never really who she was in the three-dimensional sense.

*Thanks to Orenda Books, Trafalgar Square Publishing, and Netgalley for an ARC*

Personally, I thought The Other Twin was a really refreshing debut novel by LV Hay.

So what’s it about? Poppy is called home because her sister, India, has committed suicide. Once close, the sisters have not seen each in four years.

While returning to home, Poppy just can’t wrap her head around the suicide. India was happy and full of life. Poppy then decides to pursue her own investigation by talking to old friends and snooping through India’s laptop.

During Poppy’s search, she is becoming more aware that things are not adding up. Not only that, the people she thought she knew aren’t as trustworthy as they once seemed. Poppy is determined to find out what happened with India, and why she would do such a thing. With many twists and turns, The Other Twin was a real page turner for me. It was told in Poppy’s POV and “his POV”. Like I said, I thought The Other Twin was really refreshing. 4.5 Stars.

Personally, I thought The Other Twin was a really refreshing debut novel by LV Hay.

So what’s it about? Poppy is called home because her sister, India, has committed suicide. Once close, the sisters have not seen each in four years.

While returning to home, Poppy just can’t wrap her head around the suicide. India was happy and full of life. Poppy then decides to pursue her own investigation by talking to old friends and snooping through India’s laptop.

During Poppy’s search, she is becoming more aware that things are not adding up. Not only that, the people she thought she knew aren’t as trustworthy as they once seemed. Poppy is determined to find out what happened with India, and why she would do such a thing. With many twists and turns, The Other Twin was a real page turner for me. It was told in Poppy’s POV and “his POV”. Like I said, I thought The Other Twin was really refreshing. 4.5 Stars.

I received an advanced copy from the publisher via Netgalley. Many thanks

From the very beginning I struggled to get into this book and find a purpose to the story, but even half way through, I was still struggling to keep my attention on the story. There were a lot of things happening in it, but nothing that was interesting enough to make me want to keep turning the pages.

After finishing this book, I thought perhaps it would have been better categorized for a younger audience, perhaps new adult or the older side of the YA group. For me, I thought the main character was too immature for me to like and care about what happened to her and the secrets were a bit predictable.

Overall it wasn't a terrible book, but not one that I particularly enjoyed.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher, provided through Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

This was not at all what I expected, but I loved it! Although it was very confusing at the beginning trying to determine whose "voice" was speaking, I knew all the pieces would come together at the end. Poppy returns home when her sister, India throws herself in front of a train. Was she depressed and suicidal or were there other factors at play? Poppy vows to solve the mystery, but there are demons in her past as well that she must confront before she can see the truth. Wealth, obligation, secrets, gender identity...all are issues addressed in this novel that also deals with the harmful effects of social media and how it can influence--or sometimes ruin--reputations. A solid read!

I received an ARC from NetGalley to read and review. The below is my honest, unbiased opinion. Thank you, L. V. Hay, the publisher, and NetGalley, for allowing me to review.

THE OTHER TWIN by L. V. Hay is a crime thriller with mystery elements. Poppy returns home to Brighton after her sister, India, has fallen to her death from a bridge. Unconvinced by official explanations, Poppy opens her own investigation, but the deeper she digs, the closer to comes to uncovering India's buried secrets.

This was a fantastic thriller, and since it focuses on the dangers of social media, as well as the struggles of the LGBT community, it was quite relevant to our current times. THE OTHER TWIN has everything a thriller reader wants: the plot is engrossing, the writing is captivating, and the twists and turns keep you guessing until the very end. This book was extremely fast-paced, and I read it in one sitting.

I have never written a book but I would imagine that an author does not aim to isolate their audience. I would further speculate, the author also wants to remain true to themselves and their beliefs. I am guessing balancing the two is very tricky indeed. If L V Hays’ intent when writing this book was in fact a combination of expressing her beliefs while writing about sensitive social issues, I say WELL DONE to L V Hays. The Other Twin is heartbreaking story of people dealing with rejection but in the end realizing the guilt and self hatred they felt was completely misplaced.

Full Review at murderandmoore.com

Poppy may not have been close to her sister in the last four (nearly five) years since she moved away for grad school. But even still, she KNOWS India wouldn't kill herself. So why did police find her body on the train tracks as if she jumped?

To find answers to the mounting questions surrounding her sister's death, Poppy seeks out India's blog. Here she finds Jenny, India's elusive best friend. As she tracks down this mysterious internet friend in real life, her inquiries all seem to lead back to her old family friends: the Temples.

If she can dig deep enough to expose what lurks beneath the Temples' perfect veneer, maybe she can find justice for her sister. Or at least accomplish what India attempted when she launched her blog: freeing Jenny. From what or whom? You'll have to read to find out.

Narrated primarily by Poppy, answers are doled out in small rations to mounting questions. But the suspense isn't as heightened as it could be, as Poppy gets led down dead ends, and distracted by her own family drama and her rekindling romance with Matthew Temple.

Additionally, the third-person narrated chapters regarding She Who Must Be Obeyed were nearly unbearable. The plot and character development would not have suffered in the slightest had these chapters simply been left out. Written mostly in monotonous direct voice, they pulled me out of the story. Example from chapter 8: the sentence beginnings from just one paragraph: "He pulls; He tastes; He clicks; He breathes; His lungs flood; He can't; He's spent." The only times these chapters strayed in the slightest toward "purple prose" ended up sounding like some Victorian-era vampire novella. Example of this from chapter 2 - "Like a soap bubble, his defiance bursts, leaving nothing concrete between them. She knows how much he fears her wrath; how he will attempt to scrabble to safety. But his grip is always too weak: he will fall backwards, hopeless, into her suffocating embrace."

HOWEVER, the disjointed sentences from the 3rd person POV chapters are not present in Poppy's narration, which flows well and captures my interest. It's clearly an intentional stylistic choice. And the over-reaching storyline made me glad that I read to the end when I had considered abandoning the story a quarter into it. While I'm still not convinced this was the best way to tell this story, the author does manage to shine a light on a subject that many people fail to understand, bringing the issue to people who might not normally pick up a book on the matter. And she does so in a compelling and compassionate way, without resorting to cliches or stereotypes, and with a sincerity that brings the characters to life. I'm left only with the regret that the Big Baddie was such a monster, when it is the damage done by decent but ignorant people with misguided intentions that is the true tragedy for so many people.

Thank you to NetGalley, Trafalgar Square Publishing, and author L V Hay for an ARC of The Other Twin.

Read the full review on my blog: https://greykatreviews.wordpress.com/2017/09/14/review-the-other-twin-by-l-v-hay/

For an in-depth discussion, including spoilers, visit: https://greykatreviews.wordpress.com/2017/09/14/discussion-the-other-twin/

The Other Twin by L.V. Hay has certainly gotten some rave reviews, but I found it too unbelievable to take seriously. Three dysfunctional families and a side narrative that makes it impossible to identify the speaker sounds intriguing, but instead felt slick and disingenuous. In fact, the third family is included mainly to make it harder to identify the second voice.

All the victims collaborate with the controlling mastermind? Over and over again? Not a single one makes a realistic attempt to resolve this far-fetched situation? It wouldn't have been all that difficult. I couldn't find any believable elements to hang on to.

There is an intriguing aspect to the story concerning a topic that is current, but instead of being the focus of the plot, its only purpose to seems to be to keep the other twists in play.

If the novel wanted to examine the difficulties of a family unwilling to accept the choices of a child, it missed its mark. (It is challenging to be specific without spoilers.)

Poppy comes home to Brighton after she gets the news that her sister, India, is dead, supposedly from a fall. But Poppy finds the circumstances of India’s death highly suspicious and begins to dig into her sister’s life. Could India’s death have anything to do with her ex boyfriend, Matthew Temple or his twin sister, Ana? And what about Jenny, the girl Poppy only learns about after she hacks into her sister’s laptop? Red herrings and false starts lead Poppy (and the reader) down more than one wrong path is this exciting and unpredictable thriller

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

Poppy's sister India is killed in a fall from a railway bridge and Poppy returns home for the first time in four years. She has not seen her sister in that time, but is convinced that India would not have committed suicide. Looking to a blog India wrote for clues, she seeks to find out the truth of what went on.

Interspersed with the chapters from Poppy's perspective, there are chapters from a male perspective, which initially are completely incomprehensible; full of "she" and a different "her" and avoiding proper names in a confusing way. By the end, these made perfect sense, but I think you would have to go back and read them again to really appreciate them - for a long time I just found them bewildering.

I would say this novel was notable for not having a single likeable character, with the possible exception of Jenny. India never came together as a character for me and Poppy was plain odd.

SPOILERS

Her decision to abandon Matthew when he got cancer seemed cold and insufficiently explained and who abandons all their possessions because they can't be bothered to go and clear out their flat?

The ending was one which perfectly explained what had gone before, but was also extremely melodramatic. Maggie's unnerving power over her family members was almost supernatural. I don't understand why Ana was so powerless as an adult, and I was troubled that it seemed to Poppy a perfectly good plan of India's to try to wreck Ana's marriage (don't forget baby Ivy) simply to force Ana to go back home.

It left a bad taste in my mouth.