Member Reviews
Wow! This was a great story - I am also an identical twin and the author got parts of this so right, it’s a relationship like no other and your twin was literally the other half of you so this story was weirdly fitting for me ( tho my life is not as not as extreme!)
I liked the way COVID was bought into this - the lockdown and how scary it all was at the beginning. Lots of twists and turns in the story and up to the last chapter I did not know who it was. I really enjoyed this and would recommend. Thanks to net galley too.
This is the first novel I’ve read with a COVID context, and it has an excellent premise. Contemporary wisdom is right: it was a terrible time to be living a double life, and yet for someone trying to get away with murder, perhaps it made the cover-up just a tiny bit easier? This debut is creepily believable and very timely. I can really imagine it hitting the screens. Its structure is perfect for adaptation.
Megan’s voice is deliciously sweary and strikes the right balance between jaded and judicious. She’s both a victim and a badass. I really enjoyed turning the pages of this cleverly-plotted thriller. It’s funny and insightful in places, harrowing in others. Sarah Bonner has clearly done her homework. Megan’s 'schoolmarm' inner voice would be impressed!
Her Perfect Twin by Sarah Bonner
The premise of this novel really appealed to me so thanks to Netgalley for my chance to read and review.
Megan finds out her twin Leah is sleeping with her husband Chris. She goes to confront Leah and ends up murdering her. Now she has to cover the murder up by living a double life as Leah and herself.
Despite dealing with muder and domestic violence this was a fun and quirky read.
Once I got past the initial chapter (which was a bit cliché) I was totally absorbed in this clever, gripping book.
I cheered on Megan as she tried to get away with murder. Thus was due to the fantastic writing of Sarah Bonner, full of realistic characters and dark humour.
Highly recommended!
What a wonderful, crazy ride! The first book I've read that covers lockdown - which was handled really well, background rather than central. But what a story! I gasped, I hid my eyes behind my hands, I bit my lip, I laughed out loud. I'm not sure a book that includes murder, torture, gaslighting, rough sex, and revenge should be quite this much fun - but Sarah Bonner has managed it. The perfect escapist holiday read - I gobbled it up in two sittings. I am really glad I don't have an identical twin!
What a ride!! I know there are books out there featuring the twin trope, but this is my first time reading one. Imagining finding out that your twin sister is sleeping with your husband....you murder her.....and then a Covid pandemic hits and you find yourself in lockdown, unable to dispose of the body??? Megan doesn't have to imagine, because this is her life....and Leah, her twin sister, is no more.
Off the bat, I LOVED Sarah's writing style! It was just so real...and I also enjoyed the narration style, where the narrator is seemingly speaking directly to us. It always just adds this additional level of immersion into the pages.
From the time Megan commits this awful crime, I am hoping that she will get away with it.... as she tries to play 2 people, juggling a cheating husband, Chris, as well as Leah's love interest, Tom.
Part 1 I'd say was my favourite in the book. I did find part 2 to drag just a teensy bit, and the narrator was such a menacing character, that I really just wanted to be done with their section, but that would be my only critique.
This was really a fun and gripping read! I did feel that because the book was broken up into parts, with different narrators.....and also one nugget of information dropped, told me where the story was going, so perhaps there was an element of predictability, but there were so many twists,...I honestly didn't care. I read this book in 2 sittings....and it would have been 1, had I not collapsed from exhaustion when I started it late one night. I
An outstanding debut from Sarah Bonner. I have never read anything quite like it. Its about the intriguing life of twin sisters Leah and Megan, whose father had another secret family.
I loved the style of writing, which drew me in straightaway and made me wonder what would happen next. Its full of suspense, drama and surprises and written in four significant, exciting parts for maximum impact.
Highly recommended.
If you murder your twin sister, can you steal her life and get away with it?
Megan and Leah are twins, they look exactly the same, yet they are not close. They possibly hate each other. Leah was always taking away from Megan, no matter if clothes, cosmetics or boyfriends. She even took their family story, writing a book and earning millions on it. Now it's time for Megan to take everything back.
When Megan discovers on her husband's phone a picture of her twin, she decides to confront her sister. A short conversation turns into an argument and that follows with a murder. We learn who's the killer from the very beginning and then we see how the story unravels...
This fantastic story is told from different point of views, it has many twists and dark secrets. It's cleverly plotted, with great characters and interestingly it fits perfectly to the lockdown theme. I didn't think I can enjoy any book placed during the pandemic, but this one was terrific!
A top notch thriller! I want to read more books from Sarah and I hope she has many ideas to put into pages!
Thank you NegGalley and Hodder and Stoughton for the opportunity to read this book prior to publication for an honest and unbiased review.
I read this book at the airport, thankful for my face mask which prevented easy conversation with my family, and I was able to hide my undiluted delight as my smug "I've worked this plot out already" inner dialogue was smashed as the story twisted and turned and was told from the main characters' perspective; a style that doesn't always work, but does in this book. Megan and Leah are identical twins with sibling rivalry, love, hatred and unsatisfied resolution to childhood nastiness. Added to the mix is the self idolising, controlling and manipulative husband and boyfriend, a love interest who hints at a different lifestyle and a self assured, extremely confident lawyer (who does not achieve the airtime that he deserves) all tied up with the extremely current lockdown. A clever plot, a story that did engage thoroughly, characters with interesting personalities and as a reader, I was trying to second guess every sentence...why not a 5? I feel as though the ending was slightly rushed...or perhaps this was down to my reading style... Regardless, I highly recommend this book and will be telling my friends to devour it too! Thanks again NetGalley, and Sarah Bonner - I'm thrilled that you pursued your dream and shared it with us all. x
During the first chapter we meet Megan,, who appears to have memory problems discovers a photograph of herself on her husband’s phone. .
She doesn’t remember the photo being taken or indeed own the electric blue underwear she is wearing!
Could her husband be having an affair with her estranged identical twin !?
This is a thriller which twists and turns
The book is split into 4/5 parts and each section is written first person from a different characters perspective..
The tale unfolds during 2020’s corona virus , news of which acts as a backdrop to the plot.
This was jarring to me .
Maybe it’s too raw to read a book with minor references to the development of the pandemic woven into the the story when it’s still part of our life?
Nevertheless it is a easy read which has all the good elements needed to excite and surprise .
I couldn’t put Her Perfect Twin down until I’d finished it. A devious, twisty story laced with dark humour, with characters you’ll love and love to hate. I think this novel would appeal to any fan of raw psychological suspense. Echoes of Hitchcock and du Maurier, but also more contemporary thrillers like Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train. Brilliant.
Honestly such a good read with such a great story and I loved how current it was with it incorporating lockdown etc. The characters and writing were good and the story flowed so well.
Absolutely amazing book with so many twists, I loved the way the story changed viewpoints at times. It made it so much more then it was already.
EPIC!
"Her Perfect Twin" hooked me in right away with its intriguing premise, but I would be the first to admit that I went in with more than a little trepidation - I have read SO many novels that utilise the identical twin / mistaken identity trope, and very few of them have actually done anything original with it. Thank god then for authors like Sarah Bonner, who take what could be a tired cliche and use it absolutely brilliantly, subverting everything you think you know and manipulating your preconceptions to her own ends.
Not only is the book beautifully written with engaging and realistic characters, it's genuinely surprising, with twists that come out of left field (and then keep on coming!). I don't want to say too much for fear of giving anything away, but I was absolutely glued to this novel - it's crafty, dark, and genuinely thrilling. I'll be thinknig about this one for a long time.
I cannot wait to read whatever this author writes next, and in the meantime, I'm going to be recommending "Her Perfect Twin" to every reader I know.
Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher, who granted me a free ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I've been looking forward to this book since I first heard about it several months ago, and was delighted to be granted an early read on NetGalley. I wasn't disappointed. I'm a sucker for anything tackling sibling rivalry and this took that theme to a new level, against a backdrop of the Covid lockdown, betrayal, domestic abuse and gaslighting, and the long-term impact of not knowing exactly who you are. There were so many different threads to this book, not least the encapsulation of the terror of being locked down with the wrong person, the ultimate tests of 'twin bonds', and the mental torture of being betrayed by those you are closest to. I read it quickly - in about two days, which is always a sure sign I'm enjoying something.
Not for me, two stars for a book I did not enjoy reading because of all that manipulation, gaslighting and torture.
I love the fact that this new to me author was able to encapsulate the COVID days so perfectly in this frighteningly devious thriller! The best possible use of the “evil twin” trope is how I would categorize this crazy story.
You find photos of another woman on your husband’s phone. What could be worse? The woman is your identical twin. Leah already has everything, fame, money, and now she wants Megan’s husband too? The confrontation between the sisters ends with murder. Megan doesn’t intend to go down for her sister’s murder, so she becomes her. It’s crazy, she’s living two lives, one as Megan and one as Leah. Any chance she has of making this crazy idea work hits the skids when Covid 19 lockdown hits. Now Megan is really desperate and there’s no telling what she, or the person who knows her secret will do
Her Perfect Twin hinges on a brilliant premise - to get away with murder, you must live a double life, but then March 2020 happens and you're in lockdown, what then? This is the perfect page turner thriller, and centre stage is the fantastic anti-hero Megan who kills her twin Leah and then must pretend to be her, navigating life as a famous writer and influencer and juggling her affairs. To be in Megan's head is great fun and there's just something about her that makes you want to get away with it all! Sarah Bonner has a great skill in characterisation and the character voices are sharp and distinct. I won't spoil any of the twists but needless to say you'll be absorbed by all the book's revelations. The lockdown and COVID mentions are subtle and the plot doesn't become a pandemic novel but knowing that lockdown awaits there is a sense of foreboding about Megan's fate which adds to the delicious tension. If you're after a fun, gripping thriller you'll romp through Her Perfect Twin and maybe wish you were half as cunning as these characters.
Thanks to Netgalley and Hodder Studio for this ARC in exchange for a fair review.
I received in advance readers copy in exchange for a honest review
Really fun, few good twists, great summer reading
Wow oh wow!! Where do I start with this absolute gem?
This is a book that has completely blown me away and been a rollercoaster read. This is absolute genius, I have found myself pulled in and unwilling to put this down.
We meet Megan and Leah in this one. Identical twins who really don’t have a close bond. I have been on the edge of my seat.
I have devoured this book in one sitting and it is definitely one that has converted me as a HUGE fan of this author. This is a book that hasn’t even been published yet and I can’t wait to find out what is coming next.
Unpredictable ✅
Unique ✅
Well-written ✅
Tense ✅
This is a book that literally has it all. A definite five star read and one that definitely should be on the TBR.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️