This is the first fiction from Gregg Olsen I have read. I have been a long time of his true crime books so it was only natural to read this.
Olivia, a foreign exchange student, attends a Halloween party with local high school students and is later found dead. With a long list of suspects, the police are interviewing and investigating several kids at once, mainly Brianna, whose parents own the party house and her boyfriend Drew. Twin sisters Hayley and Taylor have been able to "see" events for a while and get glimpses of the suspects. This book has twists and turns and kept me up reading late into the night. The ending surprised me and that is unusual for me. I usually figure out who the killer is before the ending.
Dying To Be Her is a re-edit of Betrayal first released in 2012. Thanks to Bookoutre, NetGalley and the author for an advance copy in exchange for a fair review.

Gregg Olsen has become one of my must read authors!  Thrilling, gripping and unstoppable,  Do yourself a favor and pick up this book and lose your night reading!  Best missed sleep ever!

A fun high school Halloween party goes wrong when the body of foreign exchange student Olivia is found stabbed to death. The party hostess seems not to care about this tragedy, and continues her life as normal, leading to her and her boyfriend becoming the top suspects. Twins Haley and Taylor use their mysterious, unexplainable powers to help bring justice to Olivia.
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I didn't realize until after receiving the arc that this book was the second in a duology by Gregg Olson, and is being republished after being edited since it's original publication. I disagree with some reviews that say you can read this book without picking up it's predecessor. There were certain points of the characters that I knew I was missing out on because they had clearly grown from the first book.
With the teenage joke and immature choices of the main characters, this book read like a cozy mystery, and not a young adult thriller. Things just seemed to be in the right place at the right time. The plot felt pulled in too many directions. The bus accident and the twin's history, their mother's childhood trauma, the mystery behind the girls' powers and who knows about them, oh and then there is the main plot line. I think things could've been better if the author picked a lane. Enjoyable, but not the best.
3 out of 5 stars.

Thank you to @netgalley, Gregg Olson and Bookouture for an advanced copy of the book for review.

Dying To Be Her is the second book in this series and I actually prefer it to the first (although that was also very good). I enjoyed learning more about the twins and loved the twists and turns throughout the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for my ARC.

This book was just an ok read for me. It just didn't hold my attention.



Thank you to NetGalley for the arc in return of my honest review.

What a great read.
I loved the way Olsen has created some loathsome characters. 
The way he has used the modern "entitled brat" generation to create a world we are all aware of, and mostly don't like. A rich brat and her thick-as-a-brick boyfriend are central to the plot and I found them loathsome and compelling at the same time.
The inexperienced Police Chief is far removed from the usual fictional cop and is a breath of fresh air.
The story is brilliant
What else is there to say except, I loved it.

I couldn’t finish the first one. I’m so sorry!!! I won’t be reviewing it on any other platform. I really wanted to connect right away but I just couldn’t get into it.

I loved this book.  This is not my first book by this author but it ranks right towards the top.  This is a thriller that brings suspense to a new level.  This is a well developed story that kept me turning pages to the end.  I loved being pulled in right from the beginning.  The twists and turns had me sitting on the edge of my seat.  Just when I thought I knew who did it, another curve ball left me questioning.  The characters are connectable and made the story easy and entertaining to read.  The twins were my favorite.  I highly recommend this book and this author.

The "Hay-Tay" adventures continue, with a great mystery and fun characters.  Olsen does a great job capturing the angst of high school and the arrogance of the privileged kids.  I recognized a lot of the characters from my own high school days, which made the story highly relatable, and likely will be the same for many.  The mystery was good, plot solid, and the bit of "psychic twins" thrown in make it even better.  Would like to see another installment!

The second book in the series and I liked it better than the first. The story and the plot were good and the suspense was maintained tightly. There were less of the twin’s supernatural visions in this book which I appreciate.  A good mystery thriller.

Published: February 2, 2021
Bookouture
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 

Gregg Olsen is a Seattle native, lives in Olalla, Washington, with his wife, twin daughters, three chickens, Milo (an obedience school dropout cocker spaniel), and Suri (a mini dachshund so spoiled she wears a sweater).


“All it had taken was the sharp edge of a knife.”

Hayley and Taylor are front and center of another tragedy in their small town when a foreign exchange student is brutally murdered during a Halloween party. The sisters were at the party, with their best friend Beth, and they knew the girl who was killed. They also know there is more to the story and are determined to get to the bottom of it no matter what. Except for this time, they may be too close to the case, and this case may be their last.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The storyline was quick, fresh, and spooky. I love this little town and the residents we meet. I also really enjoy the Ryan twins are such dynamic and bold characters. 

I liked that this book tied into Beneath her Skin but was also completely independent as far as the plot went. I also enjoy that there are still plot points that haven’t been answered yet, hopefully, another book.

The pacing is faster in this book than in the first book. But the story is equally fantastic, and the characters get even more in depth, and we discover more about what makes them tick. 

This book starts with a serious bang and doesn’t let up until the very end. The plot is so fast-paced and intense, and it is almost impossible to put down. I found myself reading at such a rapid pace because I had to find out the truth. 

There are some twists in this book that you will never see coming. The first big twist left me staring and the same sentence with my mouth agape. I am so happy I was approved for this book, and I think thriller readers will enjoy the dynamic world Gregg Olsen has brought to life.

I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it as it kept me guessing until the end, read it one sitting as couldn’t leave it down x

I read this book, which is book two of the series first, which made it a little confusing with some of the history of the characters.   While I like this author a lot, this was not one of my favorites of his.   Seemed almost like a young adult book, but without the punch that some of those mysteries have.   So while it was ok, interesting enough, it was also a bit disappointing

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.   This was a DNF for me.  I just could not get into it and the twins were getting on my nerves.

Gregg Olsen never disappoints and even though this is a YA book I really enjoyed it.
Thanks to NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to read this book.

There were some interesting elements to this book which make it different to other books, including Hayley and Taylor's "gift" which allows them to receive messages from beyond. However, I found some of the writing style simplistic and some reactions of the characters to a murder were completely unrealistic, making the story difficult to engage with and unbelievable. The suspense was kept throughout the book, making it drag a little, with everything being revealed right at the very end. I would have preferred to be given more clues throughout, making me want to read quicker, which didn't happen unfortunately.

Great book! I didn’t realize it was book 2 in a series, but it read well as a stand alone. Well developed , rich characters, a few quite unlikeable, drive a twisty plot.  This was my first book by This author, but it won’t be my last.

I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher of this book for allowing me an Advanced Readers Copy in exchange of my honest review.

I devoured this book in two days and loved every page of it. 
First i want to express how satisfied i am with the plot itself, it looked average and turned out to be exactly the opposite. Excellent turn of events and very well exejuted. Second, the way the author wrote the book, with the resources he used and all, gave me a very pleasent experience while reading. The fact that he did not provide all of the information about certain characters or their past gave the story another look which i found to be fascinating. Finally, the en got me walking through the walls, i could have never imagined that the book would end up like that!

About the characters, another card that turned out to be the exact opposite. I loved every personality that was presented in this piece. About Olivia, i never thought that she could be this two-faced girl, such as Brandy and Drew. My mind was blown away with this last couple, i cannot even describe how surprised i was with that turn of events. Hayley and Taylor were my favourite characters, besides the obvious reason, i found their personalities very similar to mine, as well as some aspects about Beth's.

I would like to congratulate the author for this amazing piece and i want to thank the publisher and netGalley again for allowing me to have read this book.

Dying to be Her by Gregg Olsen is compelling and keeps you hooked until the very end. It's definitely nice to see that Olivia's murder is explained and what really happened to Taylor and Halley.

Great job! Can't wait for the next book. I would however like to see the cover as that to me is just as important as the story-line.

I really enjoyed this YA mystery set in the sleepy town of Port Gamble (formerly known as Empty Coffin, hence the name of the series). The protagonists of the series, Hayley and Taylor Ryan, are 16-year-old twins. Not only do they share the mysterious ability to sense when one of them is in trouble, but they also get visions and jumbled letters that once unscrambled help them solve crimes.

This time Hay-Tay are dealing with a gruesome murder of a British exchange student Olivia Grant who was stabbed to death during a Halloween party. The host of the party Brianna Connors and her boyfriend Drew seem to act in a particularly uncallous way and this means that they are immediately accused, judged, and found guilty by the press and social media. Brianna gets the dubious honour of being labeled the Worst Best Friend Ever. Brianna may have the largest and most modern house in the town and two extremely uncaring parents, but can it justify the way she behaves?

There appears to be some evidence that points to Beth Lee, Hayley and Taylor's best friend. As they are trying to figure our what exactly happened to Olivia, the twins re-visit the horrific accident that killed four children landed the twins in a coma when they were just five. They also discover some secrets from their mother's past.
There are plenty of red herrings, twists and turns to keep you turning the pages. While some (most?)characters are totally exaggerated, I realy liked the way the author took pains to show how the sisters are both similar and very different in their character and disposition.

It is difficult not to notice that the book is partly inspired by a true crime story of Amanda Knox, an American exchange student accused of killing her British roommate.

Gregg Olsen's writing is as compelling as always and I am really looking forward to reading the third instalment. While Olivia's murder is solved in this one, there are still more questions than answers in Hayley and Taylor's story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC provided in exchange for an honest opinion.