Emily Beyda’s 'The Body Double' features a nameless protagonist, who finds her sense of self—and her sanity—slipping away, as she dives deeply into impersonating a famous Hollywood actress. Her only contact with the outside world is the mysterious Max, whom she both loves and fears. And there is also the specter of Rosanna, the diaphanous starlet whom the protagonist is trying to imitate. And as she delves further into Rosanna's world, and begins to impersonate her in public, many questions begin to arise.

This is a deftly written noir that constantly challenges the reader’s perceptions and understanding of the events being portrayed. It’s opaque, almost annoying so, but the opacity works for this particular narrative, because it hinges on a slow unraveling of facts. In some places, the novel is perhaps a little overambitious and convoluted, but there are also moments of suspenseful brilliance.

If you’re a fan of suspense and plot ambiguity and fluidity of interpretation, this is a great read. You have to work for it, but the payoff is worth it.

Very well written for a debut. The pace is more languid than I was expecting, but the author does a good job of creating an unsettling reading experience.

I need to apologize to everyone at my doctor's office today because I was so engrossed in this book I kept having a hard time coming back to reality!

I like the author's writing style--she has an eye for unusual details. Like a film noir mystery from the 40s, it takes a while to figure out the setting and plot. This was an engaging, fast read--just take it to the beach or the plane, not somewhere people want your attention! ;)

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for a digital ARC.

They say that everyone in the world has a doppelganger - someone else walking around with your face. Some people may view this premise as intriguing, others as chilling. Both sides of the coin are presented in The Body Double, a novel by debut author Emily Beyda, which brings this theory to life in a captivating, noir-esque sort of way.

Many people may be flattered to be told they have the face of a beautiful celebrity, but for the unnamed protagonist of The Body Double, this compliment goes so much further than skin deep. She is simply living her life, working a dead-end job at a seedy movie theater in a rundown part of town when her boss introduces her to a headhunter, Max. She is the girl he has been looking for - the girl with Rosanna's face, the face Rosanna needs.

Max offers this lookalike a proposition - to be Rosanna's body double. Rosanna, a reclusive celebrity who has been spending some time out of the spotlight due to personal struggles, would like to get back into the game, but feels unable to leave her home in the Hollywood hills. She needs a lookalike to pick up some of her engagements and spend some time in the limelight, letting the world know she is back.

This girl is the closest they have come to finding someone who could pass as Rosanna, but will she do it? She must give up her old life; never speak to anyone she knows again. Move to Los Angeles and train to become Rosanna. And of course, there is money involved - this position will be lucrative for her if she accepts. Which she does, although she may not fully be prepared for what her acceptance of this position involves.

The Body Double is a peculiar, atmospheric novel, which explores themes of identity, trust, and perception. The story has a murky, tense feel - all the while reading it, I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop because things were going just too well for our unnamed protagonist. I could anticipate something lurking in the shadows, ready to pull the rug out from underneath Rosanna's media-polished life. Fans of film noir will find much to like about The Body Double and the spine-tingling vibes it gives off.

Readers will find this debut story contemplative and introspective. How much would you trust a stranger with an odd proposition, and how far would you go to fulfill a task handed to you? Do you believe your own perceptions of the world and the people in it, and if you do, how do you know that your perception is not skewed by factors you have no knowledge of?

I anticipate some readers finding this book to be a little slow and light on the plot. Also, the twist ending, or at least some aspects of it, are fairly predictable. I found the ending to be my least favorite part of this suspense novel, as I could have imagined more shocking ways to end this book after so much build-up. However, these factors did not detract from my overall enjoyment of this novel. I enjoyed the languid pace, as it felt right in line with the noir genre, and while the ending was a bit muddled and disappointing, I still really liked this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I'm torn on this book-- the premise was KILLER... execution, however, lacked a little something for me. I liked it well enough, sure.... but something with the writing just didn't do it for me. That said, I think the author is extremely talented, and I'd look for her in the future. I just don't think this one was for me, unfortunately.

I am so appreciative to Netgalley for the free copy I received in exchange for an honest review!

I would like to preface by saying that I definitely misunderstood the premise of this book- I thought it was a typical NA contemporary story and I'm not sure if I didn't read the full synopsis when I requested it or what, but this type of story isn't really my choice of read.

All in all, I ended up skimming through a good bit of the book as I am not into thrillers, or mystery books, or those with dark undertones. If you are, I think you could truly enjoy this psychological story! But, unfortunately, as a lover of rom-com, NA/YA fiction & fantasy, I couldn't.

I don't think I'll be writing a full review of this book on my blog as I don't believe I could give it a fair examination!

I greatly appreciate the chance to review this book. I really wanted to like it because I thought the premise was super interesting. However, I figured out very quickly that Rosanna was dead and Max was covering it up. I also thought the book dragged in the middle. It could have benefited from being about 50 pages shorter. There are only so many times you can hear about the Rosanna double eating a Caesar salad and spending her days waiting for Max to show up. With that being said, I do think the author had good ideas and a solid voice. I would give a second book a chance.

Yep yep yep. Here for this, all of it. Oh man, this was good. I devoured this from the very first. Frankenstein meets Brat Farrar... meets Rebecca... meets Psycho? Basically, a beautiful concoction of creep mixed with suspense (and throw in a little old Hollywood glam!) that seemed to have been tailor made for me.

The story sounded intriguing. A young girl with a real likeness to a celebrity is hired to become her body double. Rosanna Feld has disappeared from society and is rumored to have had a breakdown. She is hired by Max who keeps her hidden in an apartment to learn everything about Rosanna.
I found the story a bit slow paced. It was hard to like any of the characters or feel real sympathy for them. The body double is in a very strange situation with no one from her past life to rely on and no one in Rosanna's life that seemed to really know her either. It was an ok read, just a bit too depressing. I received an ebook from the publisher in exchange for a review.

This book had a very unique premise. A young woman is hired to stand in for a celebrity who has had a nervous breakdown. It was a bit slow paced for my liking but I knew I had to find out how it ended!

Our unnamed narrator is the spitting image of Hollywood starlet Rosanna and for a 100,000 dollars, she is to assume Rosanna’s identity. This premise was very interesting however that’s all that this book had going for it. From the beginning, there was something not quite right about the Max situation and I knew that from the first chapter, but the overall flowery language and sad manipulation made me feel like I was being taken for a ride.

The interactions that Fake Rosanna has with her Hollywood friends are so sad because it proves that Rosanna was never really their friend. They readily accept this fraud as their friend after not hearing from their friend for over a year. The plot really just plodded along and there was not shock value because it is pretty obvious that there is something seriously wrong with arrangement.

I don’t think that overall the book was very good. I think it was interesting for what it was but that’s about it.

This was very slow paced but worth the wait. Readers will be locked in a guessing game throughout until the ending. Very Hitchcockish.
Many thanks to Doubleday Books and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you Netgalley for sending me this arc. I will be reviewing this book in the near future with an honest rating and review.

I’m not sure what I just read. The synopsis sounded promising and I knew it was going to be twisted, but it was just a bit too bizarre for my liking.

I kept reading just to find out what happens, but I was confused by the ending.

A young woman is approached and offered to become a body double for a Hollywood starlet, Rosanna Feld who is suffering from anxiety/depression. Her assistant Max finds her a body double, but being Rosanna’s body double will require her to go through great lengths. Is the price of fame worth it?

I won’t say much more because I don’t want to spoil it for other readers. I had a difficult time connecting to this one and found it a tad disturbing.

Thank you Netgalley and DoubleDay Books for this advance reading copy.

I received an advanced copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

So, I don't know what I just read. It was twisted enough to keep reading because I wanted to know what happened. But I'm not sure what happened or how it got to the point which it did.

A young woman is selected as a body double for a celebrity, Rosanna Feld, (think a Kardashian of sorts) to make appearances since Rosanna is suffering from crippling depression/anxiety/addiction. But the assistant, Max, who has selected the new Rosanna has some intense work for her to take on before she can make her public debut.

Saying any more would give spoilers. I'm unsure if I liked this. It felt extremely repetitive. I'm not sure if that was a choice to make me feel anxious while reading, or if the author was trying to flesh out a short story to novel length.

If you like a twisted commentary on celebrity and body image and obsession, give it a whirl.

An unnamed women has been hired to be a celebrities body double. She has to act the part and pretend to be this famous women who has supposedly had a mental breakdown. Max is her only contact with the outside world while she studies her role. This was a novel of obsession but not the type I was expecting. Turns out the unnamed women is the one who becomes crazy and obsessed. Lots of long, rambling inner dialogue.

It wasn't my favorite; the pacing was odd and while the premise was fantastic, I found most of the characters, particularly our unnamed protagonist difficult to invest in in any meaningful way.

Shades of Hitchcock but not quite enough and I predicted the "surprise" which is always a let-down.

Thank you very much to Emily Beyda, Doubleday Books and NetGalley for giving me the chance to read and review this ARC.

For anyone who finds Hitchcockian plotting irresistible, this is the novel for you! Raising tantalizing issues about identity even as it whiplashes the reader with surprise after surprise, THE BODY DOUBLE delivers an irresistibly enthralling read. Emily Beyda is a new young writer to put on your must-read list.

I was excited to get this book and had high hopes for it, but the reading of it was not what I had hoped. I found the premise intriguing: the thought of escaping one's one humdrum life to live as someone completely different. But the book itself plodded along like so much navel gazing. Nothing really much happened. There were no real surprises, so no thriller aspect for me. I didn't know enough about the main character to give a rap about her. Maybe that was the intent? And I didn't really know enough about the person the main character was replacing to truly care what happened to her, although I guessed it pretty much from the time the main character arrived at the apartment. Again, perhaps this was the intent: to illustrate the shallowness of Hollywood (as the scapegoat for greater American society?), how ridiculous the "famous person as health expert good-life guru" trend is, etc. And if that was the only point, then it was made ad nauseam. I was so glad to finish the book and move on to something else.

All that said, I very much appreciate the opportunity given to me by NetGalley and the publisher to read the galley of this novel. And perhaps there will be a readership for it, just as there is evidently quite a viewership for reality television. Those folks will be the ones to whom I recommend this title .

I definitely enjoyed the complexity of this story line. It had me going and I was thinking that at some point all the stuff was going to hit the fan. Everything came to a boiling point. The characters were a tad bit creepy. Our narrator has no name and it makes sense since she is taking on the identity of someone else.  Not only that, she tells us a few details about the life she left behind like her foster mom and her biological father and in all honesty, no one will miss her.   She has to give up her past life in order to carry out this elaborate plan of pretending to be a Hollywood actress, Rosanna Feld. She has to learn her mannerisms, dress like her, and even live like her to an extent.  The amount of work that has to be done is ridiculous. She has to get plastic surgery and eat like her. Not only that, she is trapped in this apartment for months learning to be like Rosanna by watching these videos that Max shows her. This book is definitely not like anything that I've read before in the sense that it is difficult to tell whether or not the narrator is really Rosanna or really pretending to be her.

Max, the man who is helping our narrator, does not come off as trustworthy to me.  He is weird and creepy. Our narrator has never really been loved and somehow he knows that. How long has he been watching our narrator and what is his relationship with Rosanna?  Whatever their relationship may be, it’s weird. I know he is supposed to guide our narrator, but he seems too close to the situation. Also, how is he seeing everything that they do?  There was a large amount of videos that our narrator watched in order to copy Rosanna’s voice and know what she wanted to order or what she would buy. Where does Max go when he leaves our narrator? There are so many questions that I had while reading and everything just made him seem more creepy. You have to wait until the end to figure out why our narrator must pretend to be Rosanna. All I’m saying is that I knew Max was weird and that nothing in this story seemed quite right when it came to him.

I’m not sure I would be able to give up my life and become someone else even if money was involved.  I would not want to lose my family or friends. Even though my life may not be as fabulous, I definitely appreciate everything that I have been given.  This book will make you question what would you do and have you looking at everyone around you more closely. I don’t think I would enjoy being told what I can and cannot do or being told when I can and cannot leave.  The only way I would be able to do this is if I really had no one in my life that cared for me or would miss me if I disappeared. I am most uncomfortable with the idea of someone watching me at all times and me having to change everything about myself to fit into this lifestyle.  I enjoyed this story and the creepiness that I felt while reading it. At every turn there was a new discovery or a new question that I needed answered.

This book will be available on March 3, 2020.