I found this A Twist of Fate to be quite engaging. It managed to keep my interest throughout. The characters are well-developed, pacing is thorough and moves the plot forward. The world-building is impressive. The story presents an intriguing combination of psychological and gothic thriller elements along with a hint of K-drama appeal, you know I’m here for that!

If you enjoy intricately woven narratives filled with unexpected twists, I would recommend adding this one to your tbr.

Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

First half: five stars.
Second half: off the rails, not in a good way, 1.5 stars.

All in, this would have benefited from a different translator. I’m not sure how much of the story was lost in actual translation, because it started quite strongly and went downhill fast after the halfway mark.

I loved the premise of this book, and usually love translated fiction (especially from Asian writers). I would give this author’s work another chance.

absolutely gorgeously written thriller with great plotting, dynamic characters, and a twist that just keeps getting better. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.

Se-Ah Jang’s A Twist of Fate is a hauntingly atmospheric debut that blends gothic suspense with psychological intrigue, set in modern-day South Korea. The story follows Jae-Young, a woman fleeing the aftermath of killing her abusive boyfriend, who stumbles into a stranger’s abandoned baby on a train. Tasked with delivering the child to his wealthy grandparents, Jae-Young finds herself mistaken for the boy’s mother and welcomed into a lavish estate filled with secrets, silence, and a disturbing lack of curiosity. What begins as a desperate act of survival quickly morphs into a dangerous masquerade, as Jae-Young embraces her new identity and the privileges it affords. Jang’s narrative is steeped in eerie elegance, drawing clear inspiration from Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca, with its sinister mansion, enigmatic family members, and a protagonist caught in a web of deception. The novel’s strength lies in its slow-burning tension and morally complex heroine, who is both vulnerable and calculating. As Jae-Young becomes entangled with the family’s youngest son, Soohyun, and learns of the suspicious deaths that have plagued the household, the reader is pulled deeper into a world where appearances deceive and loyalty is a currency with shifting value. What makes A Twist of Fate especially compelling is its exploration of identity and reinvention. Jae-Young’s transformation from fugitive to faux daughter-in-law is both thrilling and unsettling, raising questions about how far one can go to escape the past. Jang’s prose, translated by S.L. Park, is crisp and evocative, capturing the claustrophobia of privilege and the quiet menace lurking beneath domestic tranquility. It’s a novel that lingers, not just for its plot twists, but for its psychological depth and the chilling realization that sometimes, survival demands surrendering to the very lies we fear.

⚠️Review⚠️
4🌟
📖Book: 55/78
📚 Title:
A Twist of Fate
✍️Author:
Se-ah Jang
📄Pages: 352
💫Genre:
Fiction•Psychological Thriller
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📝Synopsis 📝
Two women cross paths on a train headed for Seoul. Jae-Young is running away from an abusive boyfriend she may or may not have murdered in self defense. The other woman has a three month old infant she decides to abandon with Jae-Young with instructions to take the child to his rich family and pretend she is the mother. Only thing is the minute she walks into that house she realizes there are many eerie things going on.

💭My Thoughts 💭
This was predictable, but I still couldn’t stop reading it. The opportunity to pretend that you’re someone else and try to figure out what on earth is going on with this family had me invested. I admit I saw most of the twist coming, but I couldn’t put this book down and wanted to confirm my suspicions. I can honestly say this was such a good psychological thriller and there were more twists as the book was close to the ending.

⚠️Trigger Warnings⚠️
Cheating
Murder
Domestic violence
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Special thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for this eCopy of this arc Im exchange for an honest review.
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#netgalley #thriller #thrillerbooks #bookstacommunity
#bookreview #booksbookbooks #whodunnit #atwistoffate
#bookrecommendations #bookworms #bibliophile

A Twist of Fate by Se-Ah Jang

I enjoyed this book so much. 2 women meet on a train in which one mysteriously disappears leaving her newborn child in the hands of the other. I was not expecting the plot twist. A slow burn but worth the read ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I did about 20% of this one and was just bored. It started off interesting enough but I didn’t feel a sinister undertone or anything pushing the story forward, it didn’t feel like anything was happening.

I love the design of the cover!

Overall, this was an excellent book. As someone new to thrillers and psychological suspense, I found it enjoyable to read. The author does a great job of exploring the good and evil in each character, making their experiences feel realistic.

I enjoyed the ending, but I felt there were a few loose ends in the story that left me questioning some aspects.

Translated by SL Park –– South Korean author Se-Ah Jang’s crime debut, A Twist of Fate, draws inspiration from classic gothic fiction. While utilising many of the genre’s tropes – family secrets, unexplained deaths, and a sinister mansion – the novel also has some unique surprises in store for you.

The story begins with Jae-Young, who is on the run after unintentionally killing her abusive boyfriend, Hyun-Wook. Yes, she hit him with a frying pan! With no money and nowhere to go, she jumps on a train. Her life takes an unexpected turn when a young woman in her late 20s, looking flustered, steps into the compartment with a three-month-old baby. The woman is on her way to meet her estranged husband’s well-off parents for the first time to beg for financial support.

Link to rest of the review: https://westwordsreviews.wordpress.com/2025/08/20/a-twist-of-fate-se-ah-jang/

A tad slow in the beginning but the writing is amazing. Pulls you into the story. Had my heartbeat racing. Please check this book out if you are a fan of thrillers!

A Twist of Fate
•Spoiler-free Review•
2.75 ⭐️

A Twist of Fate is an adult domestic thriller about two women who meet on a train, and one is forced to take over the other’s life. The other woman disappears. I found this premise so interesting, and I loved that it was translated from Korean.

While I found the initial chapters intriguing and fun, it quickly went downhill from there. While I didn’t mind the simple writing style at first, it became clunky. Since this is an ARC, there are expected to be some hiccups, but there were more than I expected. At times, the story is dialogue-heavy and does a lot of telling instead of showing. I found it predictable and unrealistic at times, considering how hard it would be to become a part of a stranger’s family as if she were always there. It was a bit too far-fetched.

I wished I enjoyed this book, but between my lack of interest in the characters, the writing style, and an unrealistic plot, I had to give this a 2.75. If this weren’t an ARC, I likely would have dropped it, but I do thank @netgalley for the opportunity to give this a try. Maybe domestic thrillers just aren’t for me, unfortunately.

#bookreview #netgalley #netgalleyreview #atwistoffate #translatednovels #adultthriller #domesticthriller #mysterythriller #arcreview #booksbooksbooks

Jae-Young is on the run and short on both cash and a plan. She meets a young mother with a baby on the train, one thing leads to another, and Jae=Young finds herself delivering the baby to his grandparents, She is hoping for some reward for her trouble, but the assumption that she is the baby's mother and her split second decision to go with it lands her in the middle of a wealthy and dysfunctional family. The story is tense as Jae-Young struggles to maintain her lies and the secret that put her on this path in the first place.

One thing I really enjoyed about this book was reading about the culture, the family lifestyle, and the expectations placed on Jae-Young. I also liked how this book made me reflect on the situation, wondering what I might do if I were in Jae-Young's shoes. However, I did think that Jae-Young made some very poor decisions in the story. I realize that is necessary to create tension and keep things moving, but there were moments when I wanted to reach into the pages and shake her.

Overall I rate this book 4 stars and will share my review on Goodreads and Storygraph.

Thanks to the author, Netgalley, and Random House Publishing Group for providing this book for my review.

I stayed up way too late into the night turning the pages of this book. I just needed to know how everything was going to resolve. This story was so twisty and compulsively readable. I'm also always a sucker for anything set in a secluded location--so this secluded mansion was absolutely perfect. This story is eerie and atmospheric, with palpable tension and a compulsively readable prose. Absolutely fantastic, and I cannot wait to get our physical copies in at the branch!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group/Ballantine/Bantam for providing me an eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

As someone who does not read thrillers very often, this proved to be the exact type of read I was looking for in terms of quick plot twists and scary scenes depicted well enough to make me glued to the screen. The only issue I had was with the pacing as it felt stilted in the middle.

The premise was incredible and reminded me a little bit of the underlying tension of books like YELLOWFACE, where you know someone's act is bound to blow up and you're just waiting in the sidelines waiting for all of it to unravel. As our main character decides to take up someone else's identity so she can escape into a life of luxury, she is then confronted with ghosts of her past that make her feel like she is losing her mind.

The first half of the book went by quickly, but it started becoming a little repetitive until it finally picked back up around the 80% mark, when characters start showing their true colors. The first half was also pretty solid, whereas the second half felt like the author was trying to destroy that very foundation that made me invested to begin with. Once I accepted the weird plotlines thrown at me, I started to appreciate it for what it is, but it certainly made this feel like a less well thought through book. The ending was filled with fast-pacing action scenes and plot twists that had me on my toes as to who would survive and what the truth really was--which ultimately is a good thing for a thriller and the saving grace for this one.

There were certain elements that definitely felt very plot convenient but these are to be expected with thrillers where you only figure things out by the end, and so many things you thought you knew were actually not true. But if you are fine with that (the telling instead of showing), then you would probably really enjoy this.

Overall, a good thriller for someone looking to expand beyond the typical Nordic, UK, US thriller destinations, since this is set in Korea in a house that is a little reminiscent of PARASITE.

𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰

𝐀 𝐓𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐞
𝐒𝐞-𝐀𝐡 𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐠
𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐦 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬
𝐀𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐰
𝟓⭐️

Oh my goodness I’ve found another amazing book that is definitely going to earn a place in my top FIVE of 2025! 𝐀 𝐓𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐞 by author @seahjang.writer was absolutely brilliant!

From the first chapter I was completely hooked, the story starts off fast and with a mind bending situation. I could not put this down and had to keep reading because I NEEDED to figure out the crazy plot. This is one of those stories filled with schemes you won’t be prepared for, unpredictable twists, and an ending that is done so perfectly. The tension throughout is HIGH, I felt like I was on pins and needles the whole time.

I also loved the setting of this Korean thriller, set in a secluded mansion, it was very atmospheric and it really added to the tension and eeriness. I finished this about a month ago and the story still lives rent free in my brain. 100% reccomend this, add this to your TBR and 𝐀 𝐓𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐞 is out ✨TODAY✨!

thank you @netgalley and @bantambooksuk for the early copy!

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#bookrecommendations
#5staread#netgalleyreads
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In a Nutshell: A Korean suspense thriller about two women whose lives change after one encounter. The first half is good enough, the final quarter goes bonkers. Morally ambiguous characters, regular twists, dysfunctional family, decent pacing, too much repetitive rambling, soap-opera feels. Reads a bit YA. Not sure if the negatives are because of the translation, but they certainly aren’t *only* because of the translation. Better to read after suspending disbelief.

Plot Preview:
Jae-young is on the run. Not just from her dead-end job and her cramped apartment, but also from a possible murder allegation. While on the train to Seoul trying to decide where to go, she meets a talkative young woman carrying her infant son. The mother seems to also be running from her past, as her husband left her for another woman. She is now on her way to the in-laws she has never met, hoping that her baby would clear the path for some kind of refuge. Jae-young, tired of the conversation, excuses herself and walks out of the compartment. When she returns, the mother is nowhere to be seen, but she has left her bags and her wailing baby behind with a note asking Jae-young to take him to his grandparents in Seoul. With no other choice, Jae-young decides to drop off the baby, hoping for a cash reward in return. But when she sees the opulent mansion, her intention changes, especially when the family, having never met their daughter-in-law, assume Jae-young to be her and welcome her. Can Jae-young become someone else and get a fresh start?
The story comes to us in the first-person perspectives of Jae-young and another key character.

Bookish Yays:
🤩 Great potential. I know many reviewers would be reminded of the novel ‘Strangers on a Train’ by Patricia Highsmith just because of the… well… strangers on the train bit, but a more accurate comparison in terms of tropes and genre would be with ‘I Married a Dead Man’ by Cornell Woolrich.
🤩 Despite the somewhat simplistic writing, the story kept me hooked. The initial quarter or so delivers especially well.
🤩 The portrayal on the realities of Korean society, such as class and gender differences and the contrast between the wastefulness of the wealthy and the frugality of the struggling.
🤩 The cover – absolutely stunning! I am not even a big fan of Korean works (whether books or TV shows or movies or music), but this cover made me get the book.

Bookish Mixed Bags:
🤔 The story is quite twisty, with regular surprises coming our way. Some are guessable. Some not. However, as the book progresses, the twists get wilder and wilder until they feel overly exaggerated.
🤔 The book starts off as a decent domestic drama, the middle is more like a psychological suspense, and the final quarter goes almost into Gothic thriller territory. Many scenes in each section are good but the transitions are jarring.

Bookish Nays: (Most of my Nays are writing-related issues, but I cannot say if the problem is in the original writing alone or in the translation as well. But I am pretty sure that it is not just a translation problem.)
🥴 There is no consistency to the character detailing, especially in case of Jae-young. It feels like the lead pair have abrupt manic mood swings. I like having complex grey characters, but they need to be convincing as well.
🥴 All the characters sound like young adults in tone. It is tough to believe that they are in their thirties.
🥴 The two first-person perspectives have no individuality to them. Both sound very similar.
🥴 There is way too much of rambling in Jae-young’s POV, and mostly focussed on the same 2-3 thoughts. After a point, the repetition gets annoying. There are also too many interrupted conversations and secrets.
🥴 The writing style is quite odd, making it tough at times to understand the exact speaker in scenes with conversations. There are frequent insertions of past memories in between present scenes to offer background information – this is somewhat clunky in execution.
🥴 The final quarter feels completely unhinged. The ending is unbelievably farfetched, and the epilogue contains an extended infodump full of explanation. The change in one character’s arc is almost like a deus ex machina twist – not convincing.
🥴 The translation is not smooth even beyond the basic writing issues. Like, the emergency number in Korea is not 911. When the setting is Seoul, why is the US emergency number used in the plot? In contrast, there are multiple references to the significance of 12th December in Korea, but are we ever told what happened on 12th December? Nope!

All in all, this is a good enough option if you are ready to suspend all disbelief and go with the flow. The regular twists and the dark turns can be entertaining enough. The writing (either the original plotting or the translation or possibly, both) needed to be stronger and is the main reason this doesn’t deliver better. For a debut novel, it does get the ingredients of a psych-suspense right.

Recommended to psychological suspense fans who are more accustomed to suspending disbelief while reading this genre.

2.75 stars.

My thanks to Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine and Bantam for providing the DRC of “A Twist of Fate” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

This book was wild! There’s so much going on and really keeps you on your toes. I found the storyline to be very original, exciting and hard to put down. I liked learning things along with the main character and really enjoyed her. This book is packed with twists, surprises and suspense. Definitely a really good read!

Thank you to NetGalley, Se-Ah Jang, and Random House Publishing Group Ballantine for the eARC. I had no idea what to expect going in, but this story took sharp turns from start to finish! A twisty, mind-bending ride that kept me hooked—I loved every minute of it!

A Twist Of Fate by Sa-ah Jang, two women meet on the train Jay is fleeing an abusive boyfriend who may or may not still be alive. she meets single mother Soouhyn, with her three month old little boy. When Jay excuses herself to try and get away from the single mother she returns only for the train conductor to tell her she needs to take her baby. The baby is crying and she picks it up and finds a note that says please take him to soul to his dad‘s family and despite it being out of the way Jay decides to do it. Only she turns up and claims to be the baby‘s mother and she is shocked by the welcome she gets from the family she thought wanted nothing to do with the single mom and little boy. she is especially taken aback by how the babies uncle is. He is not only kind but attractive as well but the longer she is at the house the more she knows something is up. things get even more complicated when the grandfather‘s caretaker leaves and Soouhyn shows up as his new Tinder. what’s even weirder is that she pretends not to know Jay nor the baby and treat her as if she was just another member of the household and is very kind and accommodating. This is when I knew this was going to be a doozy of a read and that is definitely what it was. I was shocked to see other people say it was a bad translation that the pros were boring and one reviewer even said it should be more Americanized but I disagree. This book was translated from a Korean author and she is writing what she knows and I myself found this book absolutely exciting and really loved it. Although I was shocked when one character in the book is being hung by a rope and yet they have enough air to whisper someone’s name I found this quite dubious but still totally enjoyed the book. I thought the translation was awesome the book was exciting and an all around awesome read. #NetGalley,#RandomHouse, #TheBlindReviewer, #MyHonestReview, #Sa-ahZhang, #ATwistOfFate,

A Twist of Fate begins with two women meeting by chance on a train in Seoul. One of the women, Jae-young, is fleeing her entire life: a dead-end job, a rotting basement apartment, and an abusive boyfriend. The other woman is a chatty young mother travelling with her infant son, hoping to find sanctuary from an unfaithful husband with the wealthy in-laws she has never met. But in a shocking turn of events, Jae-young returns from the train’s bathroom to find the young mother gone and the child alone, along with a note imploring Jae-young to deliver him to his father’s family. From there, things unfold in surprising, twisty ways.

Despite its South Korean setting, there is a bit of the Southern Gothic about A Twist of Fate that I really enjoyed. From the grand yet desolate mansion setting, to the characters who behave just the slightest bit oddly, to the explosive generational secrets – it all serves to keep the reader off-balance. It was easy to get lost with Jae-young in a world of opulence and excess, while also questioning along with her if it was all too good to be true. The book is well-plotted, with reveals perfectly timed for maximum narrative impact.

A Twist of Fate is domestic suspense through and through, and as someone familiar with the genre, I was able to predict a few plot points. Some of the twists were executed with a lack of finesse and relied too much on convenience, without enough justification earlier in the book. There were some inconsistencies in Jae-young’s character that were a bit confusing, and the translation reads somewhat clunky in parts, as far as narrative flow and continuity. But I always enjoy a glimpse into another culture, particularly through the lens of a universally popular genre, and A Twist of Fate was still quite satisfying in that way. Thank you to Bantam for the complimentary reading opportunity.