Sam and Elli had a charmed childhood from the outside looking in. They were child stars who were in the limelight too early and faded quickly. Sam led a life of addiction and rehab, where Elli went to college, got married, and opened her own business. But one fateful night drives them apart and when Elli goes “missing” a year later, Sam’s parents enlist her to help with her niece. But as Sam tries to find her sister, she also revisits what got them to this point. And it’s not pretty.

Sam and Elli are identical twins. But they are also very different. Sam loves theatre, Elli hates it but does it for Sam. As Sam takes over Ellis roll in movies they are doing she starts taking drugs and drinking. Elli always tries to help Sam recover, I too one fatal day. Sam and Elli haven't spoken in over a year when there mother asks Sam to come and help with Elli daught. What will Sam do to help save her sister in her time of need. Thanks netgalley

Thanks for the advance copy - I am a fan of this author. This started out a little slow but once it got going, I couldn't wait to see where it would head next. I didn't love the cult part as much as other reviewers but I really like the twin story and their separate thoughts.

This one was super underwhelming for me. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t love it either. I went into it expecting more suspense and twists and there was none of that. Sam and Elli are identical twins that were child actors. Sam loved the limelight, elli wanted to be normal. I didn’t realize that this story would take a turn and focus on a cult. Elli is sucked in hook line and sinker and Sam has to try to find a way to get her out. It just was kinda blah for me. The writing was great and I will definitely check out more from this author. But I don’t think I’ll remember this book a few months from now.

Janelle Brown never disappoints! I'll Be You is great from the first page until the last. This story is well written and the characters are so well developed, you will love the ones you don't want to love.

Thank you to net galley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! What a fantastic book. Five stars!

Sam and Elli are identical twins, thrust into stardom at a young age. For Sam, she this was nothing short of an answered prayer, but for Elli, she felt much more comfortable in the shadows. As they grow older, their differences become much more pronounced and they went their separate ways.

Elli had the type of life only one could dream of, beautiful house, her own business and a successful husband. Sam on the other hand left Hollywood with both a drug and alcohol addiction that has consumed the last 15 years of her life. Sam gets a text one day from her mother, asking her to come home and help her out. Once Sam arrives she realizes her sister Elli has disappeared and left behind a small child that Elli wasn't aware of.

As Elli helps her mother care for the child, she also starts to question just what kind of retreat Elli has enrolled into, and the more important question, when is she coming back? What she finds as she digs deeper will shock and change everyone.

What a great thriller! The storyline completely pulled you in and the character shift from Sam to Elli was a great twist towards the end of the book. The writing was fantastic.

Thank you NetGalley and Random Publishing Group for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review

This book was sort of a drag for me. I wanted so much more and it just felt so draggy - too slow.

The story was good, but it was so slow and I found myself constantly losing interest. I just never felt intrigued or invested.

Which is so unfortunate because I loved Pretty Little Things - but this one never got going, felt like it slogged along and I just can't say I loved it.

I was lucky to receive an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review and opinion. This was such a well-told story! I stayed up way to late to finish reading this book as I couldn’t put this down. Please add this ASAP to your to be read list immediately as you will be so happy you did.

I’d say this was a 3.5 for me— good, but not something that will stick with me. Author Janelle Brown does a great job differentiating the twins, developing them into fully-fledged individuals with complex belief systems and desires. Though they’re identical, with nearly identical histories and upbringings, they are entirely unique. I also think the cult story is deceptively hard to pull off in writing; they almost inevitably fall flat, as the strict, monastic lifestyle of the indoctrinated is often not nearly salacious or thrilling enough, in comparison to a cadre of thrillers filled with kidnapping, murder, and torture, where the stakes feel so much higher. Additionally, there are many more real life cults to which we’ve been exposed on TV, and there’s far less variation between them, so it feels done. If you’ve watched or read anything about the NXIVM cult, then nothing here will be particularly shocking. However, Brown does a good job here, keeping things from being boring, by making the cult itself secondary to the mystery of Elli’s disappearance and Charlotte’s story line.

I was given this book by NetGalley for an honest review - Sam & Elli - twins become hollywood stars. They were identical twins and discovered they could cover for each other and no one would know the difference.
But as adults their lives changed. Sam disappointed with her career ends up fall into drugs and booze.
Elli only wants a husband, home, and a baby - but struggles with fertility.
When Sam can't get ahold of Elli she starts to hunt for her and each thing she discovers makes her more worried. Can she find Elli? Can they repair their relationship?

Two identical twins. Sam and Elli, so alike that most people could not tell them apart. Both became child stars which Sam loved and Elli hated, so much so that Sam often played both parts, just to keep Elli happy. When reaching adulthood, they drifted further apart as Elli settled in a nice house with her husband while Sam took to drugs and alcohol and Elli often had to come to her rescue.
They did not keep in touch and Sam was surprised to hear from her parents, that Elli had separated from her husband and had also adopted a baby. Sam's mother was looking after the baby while Elli was at a retreat, but she was concerned as Elli had not returned to get her baby, as expected. Sam arrived at her parent's house to help with the baby, but hearing the way Elli had left and not been heard from for some time, Sam became suspicious and eventually found out that she needed to rescue Elli this time.
This book held my interest to the end, well written and flowed well.
Thanks to Netgalley for my ARC.

I mostly listen to audiobooks lately but there are a few authors I’ll request actual books of because I enjoyed one or more of their books so much. I was blown away by Pretty Little Things so knew I HAD to read this.

I’ll be honest, I was expecting some mind blowing twist but it never really happens in this book. It’s more a slow and steady burn throughout which normally might be disappointing to me but this book hooked me right from the first few chapters and never let up even when I sort of knew where it was going, the ride to get there was enjoyable and worth the trip.

I cannot wait for Janelle Brown’s next book. Her writing is intriguing and her character development is flawless. Definitely 5 stars.

3.75
*netgalley copy*
Another compulsive read from this author!! Such an intense and interesting story, it kept me turning pages long after I should have gone back to responsible tasks!!

This book was a good one to get me out of an
I-don’t-know-how-many-days slump. Excuse me if my review skills are a bit rusty. Ha!
This book had all of my attention as soon as I saw the word “cult”. And the cult in this book is interesting for sure. The relationship between the twin sisters is complicated and I like that this story was built up enough to give a full picture as to why their relationship is the way it is. The cult element of the story is also well developed and it’s maddening to see the character fall for their scheme. The story is a great balance of suspense and meaningfulness with a great twist thrown in. Seriously didn’t see it coming. If you like suspense novels and are looking for one that also has a lot of heart, this is it.

Enjoyed this novel. Especially loved Sam more than Elli but I think that may be expected as I prefer women with grit though at the end Elli found hers. Interesting look at identical twins. Are they identical in looks or personalities?

Thanks so much for an advance copy of this book! I have loved this author before (Pretty Things was one of my favorite books), so I was excited to tackle this one. Overall, I liked it - although it certainly had some points of dragging for me. I'd love to hear what you all think about this one!

This book was just okay for me. I feel bad saying that but I found it a bit slow. The story is about twins who haven’t spoken in a year. Sam has addiction issues and Elli has her own set of problems. When Elli disappears leaving her adopted daughter with the grandparents who call Sam to come help. Sam starts looking into the “spa” that Elli went to and figures out she is actually in a cult. So she proceeds to save her. The story goes back and forth from when they were kids to present day. All in all the book was okay just a little more drawn out than I think it needed to be. Decent story though so I definitely would recommend!

I had a little trouble falling into the story in the beginning. I wasn't sure I wanted to read pages and pages about an addict who used to be a famous actress. I did like the premise of two identical twins, Sam and Elli, who were famous actresses as kids, and now are estranged adults with one being a washed up addict and one being little miss perfect with a husband and now a toddler she adopted.

What finally hooked me was that Sam's mom and dad ask her to come help watch Elli's toddler because Elli has gone on some spa retreat to find herself. Sam and Elli have been estranged, which you don't find out why until near the end, and it's shocking! So, Sam has no idea that Elli even has a child and that she's divorced her husband as well. But, what Sam discovers is even worse! Her sister appears to be trapped in a cult and has just abandoned the child she desperately wanted. What's more, as days to turn into weeks, Sam can't find any evidence of an adoption for this little girl at Elli's house!

I enjoyed this thriller. It's told in both the perspective of the Sam and Elli, and it's a good old fashioned twins switching places storyline, but with a crazy cult added to it!

I plan to definitely check out more books by Janelle Brown.

I’ll Be You by Janelle Brown is a thriller surrounding identical twin sisters. Sam and Elli are beautiful identical twin sisters who were Hollywood stars when they were younger. Now that they are older they aren’t close anymore until Elli doesn’t come home from a recent trip. Sam vows to find out where she is.

I’ve always wondered what being a twin would be like. Growing up I had a few friends that were twins & I used to envy them so much. That unspoken language or just being able to switch places whenever we wanted. Like in I’ll Be You.

I’m just going to come right out and say it: this one wasn’t really for me. At times I thought it was ok, enjoying the bits about Sam and how she overcame her struggles and her relationship with Elli’s daughter, but that’s pretty much it. I found myself skimming a lot of the book, especially the parts about their childhood. The middle of the book, especially Elli’s parts, seemed to drag on forever & got a little weird and the ending seemed rushed to me. I wasn’t a fan of this one, but maybe someone else will be. 2.5 ⭐️ (Rounded to 3)

Thank you to Netgalley, Janelle Brown, and Random House for this e-arc. Check out I’ll Be You on its pub date 4/26/22!