Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I have never read anything by this author before but I was really intrigued by the premise of this book. I found this to be a really engaging read from the jump. I was pulled in by the storyline and how very opposite the twins were. I cringed so hard at Sams brain wave idea of trying to help Elli and her husband have a baby. I did however want a bit more from the cult situation though. I felt like there could have been a bit more concentration on that area.

Overall a really gripping story that kept me on my toes.

I unfortunately did not connect with this story so after about 25% i decided to put it down. There was a slight disconnect between the writing, the characters and the plot and for that it just did not work for me.

The premise was interesting—twin sisters, Hollywood past, a mysterious disappearance—but the execution felt a bit slow at times. There were some good twists, but nothing that completely blew me away. The family dynamics were compelling, though, and the cult angle kept things intriguing. If you like slow-burn thrillers with a focus on relationships, you might enjoy it, but it wasn’t as gripping as I hoped.

An intriguing thriller with family drama, with nods to a certain style of cult (looking at you, Scientology), manipulative women, and the search for clarity. This book is filled with intrigue, and I was invested from the get-go. I liked the style of writing and how it eventually led to hearing the story from both of the twins' perspectives.
It did feel a bit long and drawn out at the end there, so that's what contributes to it being a 3⭐️ for me. Overall, it's a fun read, and I will definitely look to read Janelle Brown in the future!

Elli and Sam are identical twins who were famous child actors on Nickelodean. As they grow up, they begin pulling apart and forming their own identities - Sam is the wild one, drinking/drugs, etc. and Elli is the "good" one, getting married and settling down. One tragic event leads to them not speaking for over a year, until their mom calls Sam and asks her to help her babysit Elli's daughter. Sam had no idea that Elli had a daughter, so when she comes home to help out, she realizes that Elli might be keeping secrets from their family.

I'll Be You is a fast-paced, suspenseful read that kept me hooked from start to finish. The story centers around two identical twin sisters, one a successful actress, the other a woman who has been living in her shadow. When the actress disappears under mysterious circumstances, the plot takes a dark turn as the other sister steps into her life, uncovering secrets along the way.

Janelle Brown does a great job building tension, and the alternating points of view between the sisters add depth to the story. The book explores themes of identity, obsession, and the pressure to live up to someone else's expectations, which made the characters feel real and relatable. The pacing was spot on, and I appreciated the twists and turns, even if some were a bit predictable.

Marketed as a thriller, this was absolutely more of a family drama. The premise seemed promising, but was definitely a little lacking on the ending. Not a bad read, just definitely not the thriller I was expecting.

🌟🌟🌟🌟/5

I received an advanced copy for free and am leaving this review voluntarily. Thank you to NetGalley, Random House, and Janelle Brown.

Intriguing read!

Two identical twin sisters and former child actors have grown apar. Then one disappears and her sister has to try and save her sister

This was an addictive thriller that kept me guessing until the end.

Identical twins. They both see the same face in the mirror, but fate and their life choices show just how much they differ. There are a couple of twists as the story builds that keep it interesting but it takes awhile to get there. In the end, it's hard to tell who is the "good" sister and who is the "bad".

I really enjoyed this book about two identical twin sisters who grow apart as they get older and each have to deal with their own unique set of troubles.

Although not something I would classify as a thriller, the further I got into the book the more I struggled to put it down.

Can’t wait to read more from this author!

I'll Be You follows Sam and Elli - estranged twins, former child stars now adults. Elli has always had her life together, while Sam has been on the hot mess express for years. But suddenly, Elli has disappeared, leaving her adopted child with her parents, who reach out to Sam for help. Only Sam realizes that there's more going on than just a single mom needing a break, and embarks on a crazy messed up adventure to try to find her sister and bring her home.

I really enjoyed the portrayal of Sam and Elli - especially as I listened to this as an audiobook. The narration between the two of them was fantastic, and really highlighted the differences in their personalities and experiences. Their mom sucks, I couldn't stand her! But all in all, this is a wild ride that's very well done and enjoyable.

I’ve read all of Janelle Brown’s books. Brown’s books feature unreliable narrators (such as Gillian Flynn’s books) who are struggling with what it means to be mothers, daughters, and just plain human beings in a misogynistic world. They have aspirations beyond domesticity, and these desires often come in conflict with what the world and their families want them to become. I rated I’ll Be You 5/5 stars.

It's marketed as a thriller, and reads a bit like one, but the plot itself feels more like a family story than anything else. Sure, I was desperate to find out what happened at every turn, but more than that, I was interested in the relationship of these two twin sisters that the story revolves around.

I do wish the switching between perspectives had happened earlier or throughout the book, rather than a significant part of the book being from one twin's perspective before switching to the other, though I understand why that choice was made to build tension and slowly unravel the reveal.

The ending left me wanting more. This story about complex relationships and the extreme bond between these twin sisters was really intriguing but I wasn’t a huge fan of the ending.

This book started off with a great mystery. It grips you through out most of the story as these twin sisters share their points of view in the two parts of the book. I loved the slow unraveling of the whole disappearance. The ending did not do this story any justice. It was extremely anticlimactic. I feel the bold twin would have brought the meek twin justice in a more epic way. The ending is disappointing to me. I thought to myself “that’s it?” All that for that ending?

I wish the book would have gone back and forth more into the twins adolescence. It was a bit of a surface scratch to really explain their downfall and how they wound up where they did. Appreciated the ending.

Very very slow burn. I liked it, didn’t love it. Again, slow burn which I typically
DNF but I stuck with it and it was solid 3.5 stars.

While this isn’t a straight up thriller-(it’s more suspenseful than anything) I still found it to be really fast paced and tense anyway especially as there are a lot of unanswered questions about where Elli is, but really that’s just the beginning here. All of that to say, the story itself was intriguing enough but where this really stood out for me was in the characterization. Elli and Sam narrate in alternate chapters so you get to know both of them and the author does such an in depth character study you really feel like you know them very well by the time you finish.

Thanks for the review copy. I thought it was a good book overall. I I just didn’t like the cult parts.

Identical twins Sam and Elli were child actors and very close. As adults, they've grown so far apart Sam, still an aspiring actress, has no idea Elli's supposedly perfect marriage has blown up and Elli is the mother of a two-year old adopted daughter. When their father calls Sam for help, she pulls herself together to care for her niece and try to discover what happened to her sister.

Elli claimed she was going to a spa in the area but Sam is unable to contact her. Or even to speak with anyone at the spa. Sam needs to figure out if Elli is recovering from her husband's desertion, if she really wants to be at the spa, or if something more sinister is going on.

Jannelle Brown does an good job weaving in family relationships and narrator Julia Whelan aptly voices the characters.

Recommended for fans of contemporary women's fiction.