Wow! This book was fantastic. I am a huge fan of Natasha Preston and this book did not disappoint. This book was a little predictable but it had such a great storyline. I highly recommend this book!

The Twin is a psychological thriller where two twins are separated upon their parents divorce. When their mother dies, Iris comes to live with her twin sister Ivy and her dad. Iris and Ivy used to be close, but slowly drifted apart as they created their own lives in separate towns. Upon the untimely death of their mother, Iris and Ivy being living together for the first time in years and realize that they are not as alike as they once may have been, aside from being identical. This is a story of revenge, good versus evil, that ends with a psychological twist. While I did enjoy this book I felt as though the ending was rushed and I was left wanting more answers, and some sort of good news.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was just average. It reminded me of watching an after school special when I was in grade school. The most mundane issue takes two chapters to cover.

There really wasn’t a “big reveal” until the end and it wasn’t well supported.

I received this galley from NetGalley.

Considering all the hype this book was getting, it turned into such a disappointment. For starters none of the characters acted in any way that was believable at all. Dialogue was stilted, characters did weird things for no reason, and of COURSE only Ivy can see how crazy her sister is, while everyone else - who has known Ivy for a while and Iris not at all - is completely clueless and thinks Ivy is the crazy one.

Additionally, this does absolutely nothing special? It was so paint-by-numbers and predictable. One twin is super bad and the other is super good, no interesting dynamic or greyness between either of them. The ending is rushed and unsatisfying.

The Twin by Natasha Preston is a young adult thriller that reminded me a lot of the old movie Single White Female but with teen twins. Iris and Ivy are the twins in this story with Ivy being the protagonist of the book.

When Iris and Ivy were young their parents filed for divorce and at that time Ivy stayed with her father while Iris moved with her mother. Now though after an accident takes the girls mother’s life Ivy finds herself forced to make room for Iris back in her life. It doesn’t take long though for Ivy to see that Iris is pushing her way into all aspects of Ivy’s life as Ivy begins to question her sister’s motives.

Now, as I said this one reminded me strongly of a movie so I wouldn’t say the book is overly original as it stands however I still found the story entertaining to read. What we have is the age old battle of good vs evil with the girls with of course no one else seeing just what our “bad” twin is up to leaving the protagonist fighting the evil on her own. Definitely enjoyable enough to spend a few hours reading even if it didn’t really surprise me much.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

I'm just going to jump right in with this book. First of all notice that I didn't put a rating on it because I still don't know what to think. I legitimately JUST finished this book like ten minutes ago and I'm still processing what I just read.

This is the Goodreads description because I'm too upset to form my own:
Ivy and Iris haven;t lived together for years - when their mother and father divorced, each parent got custody of one twin. But after a tragic accident takes their mom's life, the devastated sisters are reunited, and Iris moves in with Ivy and their dad. Iris takes their mom's death especially hard. She barely talks, spending hours alone in her room. Ivy can't stand to see Iris so sad. She promised Iris that she can share her life now. After all, they're sisters. Twins.

It's a promise that Iris takes seriously. And before long, Ivy's friends, her teachers, and even her boyfriend fall under Iris's spell. Soon Ivy begins to think there's something wrong with her twin. It's almost like Iris is out to get her. Ivy tells herself she's being paranoid. It's not like she's in any danger from her twin...

I think that first off I'd like to say that this book was AMAZING and
despite what tear filled ramblings come out I would definitely recommend.

The first part of this is going to be spoiler free, but I will be sharing my opinion on the end of the book later and will give full warning when we get to that point.

The first thing I want to talk about is characters. I LOVED the characters in this book. Ivy is from the beginning set as a unique character and the fact that she seems to suffer from OCD and potentially some sort of anxiety (maybe?) disorder adds to the believability of the insanity that is her twin, Iris. From the description it shouldn't be surprising that Iris suffers some major form of mental issue. My best guess would be sociopathy though I'm not a psychologist so I couldn't say for certain. Maybe somewhere far up on the psychopathy scale but she doesn't show all twenty signs of being a psychopath. Some people are more susceptible to developing mental illness and having a close family member, not to mention a twin, that suffers from one increases the chance of having one as well even if it's a different mental health issue.

I read some reviews of the book after finishing it because I wanted to know what other people thought of the ending. One review made me think a bit about the characters and if they were fully developed or not. And I have to say that some of the characters did fall a bit short. Ivy's friends Haley and Sophie did seem a little two dimensional. But reading it I could care less because the book was still enthralling. I was so wrapped up in Ivy's emotions that I didn't care whether a background character, who I don't even like to be completely honest, was a little flat. I think the time and energy went into making sure you felt just how frustrated and upset Ivy was and that you felt upset for her, and that was time well spent.

I think my favorite character would have to be Ty. I mean can I just say best boyfriend ever!?! He sticks by her and... I'll get back to him later. Don't want to spoil anything.


While the whole evil twin and good twin plot is kind of overdone I thought this was a fresh take on it. I figured the whole idea had been exhausted but this book shattered that crazy notion I had. The author totally takes a known plot line and twists it and makes it her own. I was captivated from the start to the very end.

Now we get to the fun part.
Spoilers!!!!

Okay that ending totally messed me up. For those of you reading who didn't read the book, shame on you (But not really because I would do the exact same thing) here is a brief overview. Ivy, the good one, finally gets Iris to confess to killing their mom and Iris's old best friend. Ivy then gets into a fight with her dad over something Iris again framed her for and ends up spilling everything. Her dad proceeds to believe her sister, which BY THE WAY he has only really known for two months over her and she gets locked up in a mental hospital. Iris goes and visits her and tells her that if she gets out and accuses Iris of muder Iris will pin all the blame on her. BAM, end of book.

I was legitimately crying at the end I was so mad. At first I hated the book for the ending so much but logically I have to admit that if the book wasn't good I wouldn't have been feeling that kind of emotion but AHHHHHHHH.

I want to go back to Ivy's boyfriend Ty because I kind of left that hanging. At the end of the book Iris tells Ivy thet Ty hates her now and blah blah blah. But I don't believe it. Maybe this is me trying to regain control but Ty was the ONLY person to stick by her side when everyone else turned against her. Ivy told Ty that Iris was the one who killed their mom and Kat, Iris's old friend, and he didn't think she was crazy. He forgave Ivy after a picture came out with her kissing his friend. He was super uncomfortable around Iris and wasn't taken in by her charm like everyone else. I think Iris was just being a witch, I want to use a stronger word but I will refrain, and lying.

There, boyfriend rant over.

I have to admit that I was left totally unsatisfied by this ending but I did LOVE it as well. I think it would be a great ending for a book with a sequel. Oh my gosh I want a sequel. Not just because I want a happy ending but I want closure. If Iris kills Ivy, fine! At least it's closure. I mean please no, but still this doesn't feel like an ending.

This only gets two stars because of the ending. The rest of the book is slow, over dramatic, and nothing spectacular happens until 90% of the book is over. Just gaslighting and the narrator asking herself 50 questions every two pages, your typical psychological thriller format. But I’d argue to say it was too typical. Gaslighting in books for a thriller is such a common theme that when you base a whole book around it, it’s just overused. I was so disappointed in this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for the ARC of Natasha Preston’s The Twin. I previously read The Cellar end really enjoyed it. I couldn’t pass up a book about twins, as I am always intrigued by them.

Iris and Ivy are twins, whose parents were divorced when they were ten years old. Each twin chose to live with a different parent and have been separated for years until their mom suddenly dies in a tragic accident. They must move back into the same house with their dad and try to resume their stilted relationship. However, this proves to be difficult, as Iris seems to be hiding something. What is her secret? Are they in danger?

I really wanted to like this book. I kept thinking that it will get better so I must keep reading. Unfortunately, it did not. Here are the major issues I have with it. It is your basic Parent Trap scenario where characters make bad decisions repetitively. The dialogue is not natural and comes off very stilted. The implausible plot is predictable and lacks substance. Ivy comes off as way too mature for her age, volunteering on her own to go to therapy to try to deal with her mother’s death. It also took way too long for the action to happen. I don’t like to give harsh negative reviews, but this one just was not for me. I might recommend this book to young teens who enjoy Sara Shepard.
2/5 stars

It took me a day to decide whether or not I thought this book was good. In the end, I decided it was good, and rated it 4 stars.
Throughout the story, I didn't really feel invested. The writing was good, but nothing much exciting happened. Only when I got closer to the end, it became appealing, and I couldn't put it down anymore. The ending left me reeling, but I decided it was a good ending, rather than a stupid one.

I can definitely recommend this book.

Such a fun and thrilling ride! I’m all about the YA thrillers. After the divorce of Ivy and Iris’s parents, the twins are split between parents. Ivy stayed with her Dad, while Iris stayed with her Mom. After the sudden death of their mother, Iris moves back in with her Dad and twin sister. This twisty psychological thriller will have you questioning everything the whole ride. Is Iris hiding secrets and trying to steals Ivy’s life or is Ivy jealous and trying to sabotage her sister. This book would be absolutely perfect for a teen interested in mystery/thrillers. This was a run read, once I started I couldn’t stop reading.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children’s for providing me with a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I hadn’t read a Preston book since “The Cellar” but the description of this one seemed to catch my interest therefore I requested to read it. I can’t say it was the worst book I have ever read however I didn’t enjoy it as much as the former.

Obviously by the title the book is about a twin, or set of twins, Ivy and Iris. The twins were never close. When their parents divorced Ivy stayed with her father and Iris with their mother, who subsequently died in a tragic accident. Iris has no choice but to move in with her sister and father. Ivy begins to notice odd things about Iris although she shrugs them off as just odd quirks from a girl that she truly doesn’t know all that well.

I think that this story is meant to be suspenseful, a mystery and maybe for some this was exactly that. However, for me it was anything but. It took me longer than it should to read this book simply because it didn’t really draw me in like I had hoped. I wasn’t invested in either of the main characters and the plot was fairly predictable. It doesn’t haven’t the flow like many young adult mysteries I have read. I think it had the possibilities of being great but then the ending was tragic. I couldn’t have been more frustrated with it if I tried. If this turns out to be the beginning of a series (which I have seen no chatter of) then that could possibly change the way I saw the ending. Still I wouldn’t move forward with this storyline. Recommended for those who follow this author.

Two twins. Separated at age 10. One with the mom. One with the dad. Classic situation here, in these kinds of deals.
One is evil. One is good.
The good twin wants to be there for her sister as she suffered a loss of her mother who her twin was closer to, but at some point it gets kind of suffocating because her twin is trying to be her. To take over her life. Too bad she doesn't seem to see it.
Creepy in a teenage over the top way. YA and young teens would enjoy this. Adults, not so much. I'm a fan of YA so it was fun for me. Even if a bit predictable. Would like to see more from the author.

While this was not necessarily my favorite psychological thriller (which may be because I’m not YA, which is the intended audience), I enjoyed this book quite a bit, until I came to the ending. The story is called “The Twin,” so the villain in the story is pretty obvious, but I enjoyed the build up to the ending, and was curious as to why the villain was doing the things she was. The premise behind the story, where the twins know about each other but live with separate parents, and then has to move in with the dad and her twin because the mom dies was an interesting way to force the girls together. But again, the ending was kind of a letdown. I know that the good guy can’t always win, but the ending makes it feel to me as if it was left open for more to happen later. It seems a little strange to me that these people knew Ivy her whole life (especially her dad), or most of her life would believe her twin over her, who they’ve only known for a couple weeks. Overall, it was a good thriller, albeit a little flat on the ending. I would read more of Natasha Preston’s books in the future.

Thanks to netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first Natasha Preston book after being recommend them so many times and I will definitely be reading her other novels after this.

A quick summary:

Ivy lives with her dad while her identical twin sister Iris lives with their mom in the city. Their mom falls while out for a run and dies which leaves Iris to move away from the city to go live with Ivy and their dad.

Almost right away we get an unsettling feeling that something is not quite right with Iris. As the story progresses we learn she is a master manipulator and liar who will go far beyond any limits to get what she wants. What does she want? Ivy’s life.

The story was a little slow the first half for me but the last half I could not put down. The book is basically a game of cat and mouse. Iris always seems to be one step ahead of Ivy.

I do not want to give away any spoilers but I will say this: Shit gets real people!!

If your looking for a thriller/mystery then I applaud this one and recommend it!

Honestly, I really disliked this one. I was frustrated the whole time. It was like it was trying to be a teenage detective novel but wasn't good at it. The evil twin trope has been so overdone and, if as a writer you decide to use it, then it has to be masterful and, to me, this was subpar. 2 stars is generous. I will say that I really did love the character of Ivey and maybe that it why I have such strong feelings about this book.

I really didn't enjoy this book. I've given it a two star rating purely because I finished it and that was only because it wasn’t a difficult read and I wanted to know how it all finished (and how it could be finished). I personally didn’t think the ending was worth it, i didn’t feel it resolved anything (was that the point? - i genuinely don’t know).


It is a shame because I usually lap up the good twin/ bad twin trope but alas, this just didn't work for me and I knew it from the first few chapters. The main character twin, Ivy (the one you are supposed to care about), is so self-centred and annoying, the narrative is from her point of view but she constantly jumps to weird accusations about her twin, Iris. Every chapter pretty much ends with her asking herself ‘why does my twin want my life?’ and half the time Iris hadn’t even done anything … the actions just didn't match the accusation a lot of the time causing me to find the narrative disjointed and unenjoyable.


I think if the story had been a little more imaginative and unique i would have felt differently, i was really excited to read this one but unfortunately i just dont think it worked!

All I can say is WOW!! That was some ending. I knew something was with Iris, but wow! Such an excellent book. Best one Natasha has written so far!

* 3.5 Stars *

The Twin was psychological thriller that revolved around twins- a good perfect one, really affected by mother’s death and other one who was twisted, evil, crazy, psycho, wasn’t affected by mother death but used it for her own gain! Basically an evil vs good twin novel. It was about unhealthy and toxic sister relationship, trust, betrayal and manipulations.

Now this book can be hit or miss. I’m somewhere in middle! In most of the book it was hit but the end changed it for me. Writing was amazing. Creepy, compelling, thrilling, and fast. Some may find it repetitive but that’s because main character has habit of overthinking and she kept asking herself same question. As per her nature it was perfectly written. Setting was atmospheric. The dread, fear and darkness never left till the end.

Now that synopsis says a lot. I was pretty sure- from synopsis and the way first few chapters were written– Iris killed her mother, she didn’t have feeling for her dead mother or grieved her death. She was only interested in getting to know Ivy’s friends and school. She was reserved at home, not speaking to anybody and staying in her room all the time but out of house with Ivy’s circle and friends in school, she was chirpy, happy, enjoying every moment and making it difficult for Ivy. It was obvious she wanted Ivy’s life, like everything her friends, dream, her place as daughter, student. The only big fat, million dollar question was why?

It made me curious to find out why she was doing these to her own sister who shared a womb with their own mother, who was only nice to her, understanding and ready to share her life with her. I was even more curious to see what Ivy was going to do about her sister and her crappy behavior, how she will save her loved ones or herself, how she was going to expose her.

I tell you answers weren’t pretty and so characters. Let’s make a good start, I hated them all at the end. I didn’t like her friends (I mean how can they say they were best friends), her dad (he should see through his daughters, parents are good at it, aren’t’ they? Or at least he should have known Ivy better), or any single character there was. They were big fat disappointment. Except Ivy but I wasn’t even happy with her as well. I will get there later.

Iris was gave bad vibes from the beginning. She was evil and manipulative in mind and nature, a psychopath who would stop at nothing to get what she wanted. She was definitely a pathological liar, damn smart, confident, and always four step ahead of her victim. She was nightmare throughout the book, literally. I just wanted to read this book as fast as I can to get away from this twisted character. Author did brilliant job with her. She was best psychopath I ever read.

Ivy was lovely girl. She was good to a fault. She worked hard for whatever she was and got in life. Best student, friend, swimmer and daughter and even tried to be, if not best, better sister. He weakness was overthinking, overworking her mind and body, and lack of patience. Not able to play the game right, Iris started. She was bit naïve. I get it was all new for her but she should have drew a boundary from the beginning, should have reminded people that she loved her space and swimming was only thing that could chase away her worry and grief but she didn’t.

She gave Iris benefit of doubt even though her instinct said otherwise, even though she saw she was up to no good, and gave bad feeling! Her biggest mistake! Still she held on pretty good. She was resilient, tried to ignore rumors, gossips, hostile gaze and crappy behavior. Her boyfriend was her sole support and I’m glad to see him staying with her most of the book. She tried to get to bottom of this, find something to make her life better and expose her sister and that was great but she didn’t time it right. Patience is virtue was lost to her.

What made me lose my mind about her was, her lack of brilliance! You know she could get the evidence but she didn’t think about it. I did feel for her, though. She was such nice person. She didn’t deserve this. My heart felt the ache of her crumbling life.

It fast paced that kept me hooked to book till the end. I did feel it was bit stretched in middle because well, readers can easily see what Iris was doing and how Ivy’s life was snatched from her, you keep expecting there might be some glitch in Iris’s plan and keep hoping Ivy might find a clue or way to expose her evil side but we don’t see it coming, not until the confrontation and that came at 95%! Till this I felt so much hope, even during and at the end of confrontation, I kept hoping the light will shine on Ivy and chase of that dark witch Iris. But it turned out so hopeless. End totally froze my mind. I couldn’t stop thinking all that happened in that last 5% of the book. I literally couldn’t sleep. Honestly I was disappointed with the end.

Why 3.5 stars-

Where exactly it totally blew my mind was, I could get why Iris did that to her mother. What I cannot get my head around was why she did all these to Ivy. You see, usually there can be reasonable explanation like, ‘parents favored other sibling or she was popular or your boyfriend preferred her over you…’ something you can a put a finger on. Here it wasn’t case, there was not a particular reason that can explain Iris’ behavior except she was not right in mind, got a kick out of doing all these.

As I said I didn’t like the end.

Another thing is it was so implausible. I mean how 16 years’ worth life can be snatched from a person in 6 weeks! Wouldn’t there be a single person who can help or see through this!

Overall, it was great, dark, twisted, psychological thriller with brilliant villain but heavy and tragic end. Those who doesn’t want or expect happy ending in thrillers, will love it.

Typical evil twin story, which I don't usually enjoy but I hate when the evil one wins.
Thank you Netgalley for a copy.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Random House Children’s/Delacorte Press, and author Natasha Preston for providing me an ARC of this novel.

This novel in a nutshell is set around a pair of twins who were raised separately, but brought back together due to the death of their mother. Iris and Ivy go their separate ways, and you end up with some Parent Trap vibes. Iris gives her sister Ivy some weird feelings when they start living together, but she attributes it to the fact that her main parent just died.

This story is thrilling, dark, and makes you think. It does start out a bit slow, but speeds up the more you read. Preston does an amazing job of giving both of the twins their own unique characteristics, while also making them a cohesive set of siblings.

Once you start to realize just what Iris is doing to Ivy, you’ll be flipping through the pages at 100 miles per hour. You’ll want to know how this book ends, which makes up for the slower start. You will be left wanting more when you finish this story.

Thank you again to those listed for the ARC of this book!