Twin sisters Nin and Lemon Esmond are whisperlings and can communicate with ghosts (all the better from their special bond as twins).
Lemon, the more adventurous twin, doesn't do well with being cooped up at home while the country is at war. She wonders if their special gift could be use, somehow, to help with the war effort.
While Nin is quite content being at home, even she realises that she must follow in the steps of her daring sister when whisperlings start to disappear. After all, they could be next...
However, they find more than they had bargaines, exploring the dark streets of Gloucester - this isn't just an advneture but a battle of their very own, a battle for their life.

The fact that The Whisperling Twins was another book in Hayley Hoskins' Whisperling legacy was enough to attract me, so I had not even read the blurb and had no idea what to expect! But I was gripped from the start. I love that the story is set in a competely different time with a new generation of whisperlings. I also love that this story is an absolutely perfect stand-alone - none of the usual, sometimes clumsy, explanations of what happened in the first book; every single character and piece of the plot makes sense on its own. And yet, if you've read The Whisperling, you will get flashes of recognition that make you feel like you're in the company of old friends.
A special mention to Hayley's very original and heart-wrenching portraying of the Great War.
The Whisperling Twins is spooky, emotional, gripping, a must-read that anyone - familiar with the first book or not - will thoroughly enjoy.

A twisty, spooky adventure with added layers of history and heart, The Whisperling Twins is a fantastic read for confident 9-12 year olds. With a wonderfully evocative sense of time and place and heroines overflowing with spunk and loyalty and smarts, the author weaves historical magic to bring World War One alive for today's reader. Works as a standalone, but good enough to send you scrabbling for The Whisperling, if you haven't already read it.

Many thanks to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for an advance ecopy of this title.

A little under two years ago, I read The Whisperling on Net Galley, after it being recommended to me by a friend. Not so much a ghost story as a story with ghosts in it, I really enjoyed its exploration of friendship, trust and helping those less powerful than yourself, and I commented at the time that I would like to see more from its heroine, Peggy, the Whisperling of the title.

Although that original book was intended to be a standalone, most fortunately for me and everyone else who enjoyed it, here it is followed by a sequel – one not with Peggy but with new characters so that this again works perfectly well as a standalone with no knowledge of what happened in that first title necessary, and one that is again not what most people would call a ghost story but a story in which the dead have a role to play in the unfolding action as we jump forwards in time to 1918.

For Nin and her twin Lemon, being a whisperling brings with it the responsibility to both the living and the dead to pass messages on to those left behind – a gift that Nin is only too aware is mimicked by some in search of a quick buck. When a messaging is organised at the pub to allow the girls to deliver the words of those passing, Nin sees something amongst the ghosts that creeps her out and the following morning it is clear from their mother’s behaviour that something happened at the meeting that she and Lemon are unaware of.

When they are told that there are to be no more messagings in the foreseeable future and the sisters are not to go anywhere without one of their mothers, Nin and Lemon are both confused as to what is going on but do not pursue it. Talking together later, they reflect on the disappearance of several girls from their homes and what they might be able to do to help but end up fighting, with Nin spitefully telling her twin that of the two of them she is a better whisperling.

Not talking to one another when they go to bed, Nin wakes up to find Lemon’s bed is empty and very quickly discovers she has run away. With the police not interested in tracking her down, Nin decides to follow her sister to bring her back but when she reaches her destination finds herself caught up in a secret community of whisperlings terrified of being the next to vanish. With their help, can Nin find her twin and can the girls come together to uncover the sinister truth behind what has happened to those who are missing and avoid sharing their fate?

In common with the first book, this is a story filled with strong female characters set in a time before women had the vote and whose worth was often linked to their ability to marry well, bear children and keep house. With their mothers running their pub and not financially reliant on a man, both Nin and Lemon have had what would have been an unconventional upbringing at the time the book is set and as a result, they are far more independent than they might have been in a more traditional home.

Of the two, Lemon is bolder and – although she wouldn’t admit to it – is envious of Nin’s greater ability to see and communicate with the dead. When Nin reminds her of this in a really unpleasant way, she snaps and heads off by herself, leaving her sister bereft. For many of those reading this who have siblings of their own, this intense rivalry will be a familiar scenario and they will empathise enormously with both twins when they find themselves arguing so passionately with one another. For all readers, the subsequent split that the fight causes will be one that they want to see resolved, compelling them to read on.

Although, as I said earlier, this is a standalone story, there are references to the first title woven through the book, making this a great read for those who enjoyed The Whisperling as they clock them, but they are included so seamlessly that this can be enjoyed perfectly well without any knowledge of what happened previously. Perfect for confident readers in Year 4 upwards, this is a great adventure story filled with mystery and is not one that is particularly scary, giving it wide appeal to its target audience.

As always, my huge thanks go to publisher Penguin Random House UK and to Net Galley for my advance virtual read. The Whisperling Twins publishes July 4th.

I hopped into this one somewhat blind and without having read the first in the series, and it did not hamper my enjoyment at all! It could work as a standalone itself but I definitely want to go back and read the first after this.

I loved the concept of this plot and the writing was just great. I’d never read anything by this author but I’ll definitely keep an eye out from now on.

It was such a great story and I found myself invested pretty much straight away. Nin and Lemon were great characters to follow and so easy to fall in love with! The book had me happy, sorrowful, weepy and then happy again, going through the wringer of all emotions! I just loved the ending too and you’re left with a feeling of feel good happy and a sense of joy at having seen it all come full circle to a happy conclusion. Loved it!