There’s a one in 250 chance of twins in all pregnancies, but being a twin has been used as a plot device in innumerable movies, shows, and books. Specifically, some books have depicted a ‘good’ versus an ‘evil’ twin. The Twin, ominously named and written by Natasha Preston, falls into this category as well.
16-year-old Ivy has been living separated from her twin sister, Iris, for years following their parents divorce. She chose to live with her father while her sister chose to live with their mother, visiting the other every holiday. But when her mom dies, she not only has to learn to work through the guilt of not being closer to her and her grief, but the adjustment of having her sister with her. Iris has always been described as the more emotional twin, but her emotions seem to flip flop. One second she’s panicking, begging for her schedule to be the exact same as her sister; the next, she’s thriving, socializing with everyone at school and leaving Ivy.
Ivy is determined to quickly get through her grief, meeting with a therapist weekly and attempting to talk to Iris, to be there for her. She only begins to feel more isolated, however, as Iris refuses to talk about their mom and quickly attaches herself to all aspects of her twin’s life. Strange things start happening and her relationships begin to fracture, but nobody seems to believe Ivy: not her best friends, her boyfriend, her dad, and even she begins to doubt herself.
The novel is described to be a horror, a mystery thriller, but it isn’t too eerie until a certain sense of doom becomes prevalent at the very end of the book. The drama that it starts off as is almost trivial, but it builds up until Ivy is left in what seems to be an inescapable situation.
The writing wasn’t the most exciting and the majority of the plot was predictable, but the complexity of the characters—specifically Iris—and the necessity to know how it all ended was good motivation in completing the book. However, for readers purely sticking it out to see a miraculous, tidy solution, this book might not be the best fit. The ending was rather unsatisfying, leaving the reader on a cliffhanger that would never be answered.
The Twin was easily digestible in the way stories of trivial drama or intriguing plot twists are. In the case of this novel, it was both. A detailed, gradual breakdown of subtle manipulation and the ease with which even the strongest relationships can deteriorate, The Twin was psychologically captivating with its exploration of character and not completely unique but interesting plot.
