Memorable characters and a highly creepy feel to this. Admittedly the resolution was no surprise but that did not detract from the fact that this is beautifully written, explores mostly the relationship between 2 sisters who are both, frankly, all the weird and whether you want to call it a psychological thriller or not it is, for sure, an incredibly riveting character study.

It is indeed deeply disturbing, the voice that Jane Robins gives to Callie is taut, mesmerising and clear, she is a strange one but it’s possible her sister Tilda, shown to us only through Callie’s eyes, may be even stranger. Both of them are entirely fascinating, you look on in not some little awe as Tilda seemingly falls into an abusive relationship and Callie becomes more and more obsessed with that fact. This is a twisted plot indeed and nothing is more twisted in it than these two sisters – which isn’t to say you won’t fall in love with Callie because you probably will. There is such a beautiful vulnerability about her, even when she is doing the most absurd things, when her obsessive quality spills over as she becomes entangled in a web of deceit that may unravel her.

It is very difficult to review this one in a way that gets across just how indomitably clever it is – I’ve seen it called Strangers on a Train for a new generation – I guess in some ways that would be a good description. However “White Bodies” is so much more than mystery, so much more than the characters, it has that underlying emotional buzz to it that only comes along once in a while, it will make you feel odd and uneasy, like those times you think you see something out of the corner of your eye but when you turn there is nothing there.

The quality of the writing is superb, the storytelling is excellent, White Bodies as a whole is an entirely satisfying if extremely disconcerting read – I felt vaguely off kilter for hours after finishing it. The ending, external to the mystery resolution, is absolutely brilliantly placed and completely true to the rest of the narrative, no gimmicks here just a genuinely perturbing finish.

I loved every last moment of it. Every word, every chapter, from the moment I started until the moment I finished.

Highly Recommended.

There have been so many greatly-hyped psychological thrillers lately, I'm wary as to just how good they are. White Bodies is definitely one of the better ones, with lots of twists throughout the book, meaning you are never sure who to trust.

Psychological thrillers often focus so much on the psychology of the characters they become predictable. This is not the case here as the shocks and thrills are just as important as the complex characters.

The characters are almost all unlikeable at some point, but this adds to the story. Twins Callie and Tilda are strange and have a weird twisted relationship with one another and other people around them.

I would highly recommend this book to everyone who loves thrillers.

Callie and Tilda are twins, though they couldn’t be more different. Tilda is beautiful, outgoing, and a successful actress. Callie is quiet and introverted, and worships the ground her sister walks on. When Tilda becomes involved with successful stockbroker Felix, Callie is at first happy that her sister has found someone so perfect. But after Tilda starts behaving oddly, and displaying mysterious bruises, Callie begins to worry that Felix is dangerous. Getting drawn into an internet site for abused women, Callie becomes more and more obsessed with revealing the truth about Felix. But as the foundations of Callie’s concern begin to shift and crumble, can her perceptions be trusted?

I am now in full-fledged psychological thriller burnout. I have to admit that I feel a bit more justified in my feelings on the subject after reading Emily Martin’s article on Bookriot entitled “Why We Should Stop Searching for the Next Gone Girl” (warning: spoilers for Gone Girls, The Couple Next Door, and The Girl on the Train). Martin makes the point that in the rush to achieve to runaway success Gillian Flynn did with Gone Girl, folks have been cranking out similar stories, each trying on their own brand of mental illness to up the suspense. However, as much as Amy Dunne was a psychopathic bitch, her flaws and intelligence made her a complex and compelling (if horrible) character. As Emily Martin points out in her article, Flynn was able to give us a leading female character who was pretty much unlikeable in every way.

The inevitable consequence of Flynn’s success, according to Martin

. . . is a new and equally problematic female character archetype – the unwieldy off-the-rails woman. This woman is not any more complicated than the “strong female character.” Her craziness is not a personality, and her bouts of insanity that not even she can control allow for absolutely any twist possible that the writer wants to imagine.

And with this, I can finally put my finger on what has been bugging me about this genre recently. None of the recent protagonists of these books have been more complex than their mental illness. And while our current protagonist, Callie, is probably the weirdest I’ve seen yet, simply being crazy does not a compelling character make.

The books also by necessity rely heavily on inevitable plot twist(s), and this one is no exception. The problem is, that while reading these books (much like watching an M. Night Shyamalan movie) we are looking into every crevice and casually uttered word for said twist. With that amount of scrutiny, any surprises the plot might hold are going to be guessed long before the climax; if not from the evidence at hand, then simply by trying to think of ways to make the ending more shocking.

I apologize that this review is less about White Bodies specifically and more about the genre as a whole, but the field is crowded at the moment, and it takes a truly remarkable talent to separate oneself from the pack. White Bodies, unfortunately, does not do this. Callie is simply one more protagonist who’s mental illness is used to facilitate contortions of the plot.

An advance copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Psychological thrillers at their best grab you and don't let go. I mean, I've had to put this book down due to regular life interruptions, but if I had it my way it would have been a one sitting affair. And with it's lean page count and lightning pacing it would have been an easy feat too. This book really grab your attention...maybe it's the first person present tense narration, maybe it's the general uncertainly of characters (including the main one's) intentions, maybe it's just the author's talent, but this was kinda awesome right until the near mandatory twist at the end. There's so much female authored female lead thrillers saturating the market right now, it takes something special to stand out and this one does. The disturbing intimacy of the relationship between the twin yet very different sisters, the hypnotic microanalysis of emotional and psychological motivations, the guessing game...oh so good. This isn't really a modern take on a classic formula, though it does utilize the premise...stranger danger acquires an entirely new meaning here, because the most frightening thing is finding out that the person you thought you knew so well might really be a stranger. All those murky secret ugly things. Fascinating. Awesome read, utterly engaging, compelling, tons of fun. Most enthusiastically recommended. Thanks Netgalley.

Blurb:

This chilling psychological suspense novel--think Strangers on a Train for the modern age--explores the dark side of love and the unbreakable ties that bind two sisters together.

Felix and Tilda seem like the perfect couple: young and in love, a financier and a beautiful up-and-coming starlet. But behind their flawless facade, not everything is as it seems.

Callie, Tilda's unassuming twin, has watched her sister visibly shrink under Felix's domineering love. She has looked on silently as Tilda stopped working, nearly stopped eating, and turned into a neat freak, with mugs wrapped in Saran Wrap and suspicious syringes hidden in the bathroom trash. She knows about Felix's uncontrollable rages, and has seen the bruises on the white skin of her sister's arms.

Worried about the psychological hold that Felix seems to have over Tilda, Callie joins an Internet support group for victims of abuse and their friends. However, things spiral out of control and she starts to doubt her own judgment when one of her new acquaintances is killed by an abusive man. And then suddenly Felix dies--or was he murdered?

A page-turning work of suspense that announces a stunning new voice in fiction, White Bodies will change the way you think about obsession, love, and the violence we inflict on one another--and ourselves.

Review:

Oh my God, White Bodies was one of the most thrilling and suspenseful books I've read in a while.

I found Callie to be interesting and caring, but more often than not she came off as a creepy stalker who's obsessed with her twin sister.

The plotline was absolutely amazing, and the author kept the suspense building till the end, and it was a goosebumps raising experience.

White Bodies was an unputdownable read and I finished it in approximately 5 hours, I just HAD to know what happens.

So yeah, all in all, White Bodies was a perfect novel that had me on the edge all through it. Till the end.

“I feel that I’ve been eliminated from her world and that makes me scared.”

This is a psychological game but just who are the players? Callie has always been in the shadow of her starlet sister Tilda’s brilliance and charm, but being the retreating type, she has accepted it as her fate. People have always been seduced by Tilda’s beauty, even Callie herself, feasting on pieces of her sister, wanting to consume her much in the same way the rest of the world does. That she does, but let’s not go into that here. It’d

Tilda has met a financier named Felix, and naturally together they are absolutely beautiful. But Callie sees cracks in the perfect relationship, as her sister begins to give up her acting jobs and retreat into herself Callie sees there are bruises on her body. Felix must be jealous of Tilda’s success! Trying to make sense of what is happening, finding ways to intervene Callie joins a website and support group, everything she reads seems spot on, all these things equate to abuse. If Felix isn’t an abusive man, why then is her sister changing before her eyes, reminding her of the time Tilda went over the edge over another guy? She must protect Tilda at all costs, she is vulnerable, has been wounded before, she must come to her rescue even if it means insinuating herself in their relationship, snooping through their perfect home. Felix’s OCD seems more than just that, Tilda is ripping at the seams and Callie refuses to watch the life fade from her sister’s eyes. What sort of happiness could Tilda feel being dominated by Felix, who is even taking over her home, no longer are her sister’s things scattered about. The home feels too sterile.

Tilda swears she doesn’t want nor need her sister’s help yet there is a push and pull, slips of confidences that assures Callie deep down Tilda is crying out for help. Though to the reader’s eyes, Tilda just wants Callie to stay out of her life and Callie seems crazy. Felix won’t win her over with his good looks and perfection! He may be able to seduce the world, but not her. The support group becomes too real when Callie meets with one of the members, when something horrific happens she decides, with another online friend that they will be victims no more. It’s time to concoct a plan, similar to a Hitchcock film.

Through the novel we’re on unsteady ground, is Callie just damaged, deranged, creating drama that isn’t there? Is she simply addicted to her twin? Tilda has a cruel edge too, playing with her sister’s fierce loyalty and love for her. Is Callie just the fledgling that fell from the nest and never quite took off? Tilda, the exasperated sister, feeling the dead weight of her twin that just can’t get herself together, who clings to her, hoping some of her beauty and success will rub off on her? Is Callie just an oddball with the bad luck of being twinned to someone she will forever pale in comparison too?

What a strange story. If only swallowing someone’s teeth and hair could turn you special too, but it can’t. This is a story of manipulation, who is the sociopath? Is this really a case of one sister letting her imagination run wild, because she has no life of her own? Will Callie even throw away her chance at love, to save her sister who may or may not be in danger? Will the story end with blood on her hands? Is Callie spiraling into madness or is the abuse real? This is a strange mix of unhealthy sisterly love, loneliness, stunted lives, and strange obsession. The twin sisters experience vastly different childhoods, it’s heartbreaking peering into the past and present through Callie. She has no shine of her own, and often is made to feel like a dead horse her sister Tilda is stuck dragging around. But is Tilda as flawless as she seems and just why does she have trouble with men?

The ending though, I just thought- really? That’s what happens? That is where we are left! But.. but… what? Curses! It’s a strange thriller, and I had to finish it. I could already see it as a film… I’m casting roles in my head. I have to mention the cover, because I love it, something about black and white always draws my eyes. I have to admit, Callie did things that made my skin crawl, I went from feeling really sorry for her to being appalled by her odd actions. Oh which twin to trust?

Publication Date: September 19, 2017

Touchstone

Callie believes her twin sister Tilda is in an abusive controlling relationship. Callie herself is a really strange, obsessive person who catalogues her sister's life and eats her things (pieces of paper, hair, etc.) in order to absorb some of what makes Tilda a star while Callie is always in the background. When Tilda and Felix start a relationship, Callie becomes obsessed with the idea that Tilda is being abused and starts visiting an online support group for victims/friends of victims of controlling men. When Felix dies, Callie suspects that he was murdered. This got off to a slow start and Callie was so strange that I found it annoying at first, but I did eventually get more into it and wanted to find out what exactly was happening with Tilda. In the end, the real story was a surprise, but I felt like the book ended rather abruptly. I am rating it 3 stars, rounded down from 3.5.

Genre: Mystery & Thrillers
Setting: London, England
Triggers: Nah

This book--in a nutshell--is about the awkward, introverted twin sister versus the beloved, outgoing twin sister. There's more inner monologue than actual dialogue and plenty of flashback scenes generously mixed into the text.

The narrator in this story was obsessed with her twin. How so? Callie drank Tilda's diluted urine, ate pieces of her hair, ate pieces of paper from her diary, etc. Callie was an odd duckling, but she was surprisingly the better half of this twin duo.

I liked this story but didn't love it and started getting bored around the 48% mark. I also liked the conclusion, but overall, this was, an okay read.

Most remarkable lines spoken by Tilda?

“I suppose it’s true,” says Tilda. “The internet is where psychos find each other.”

For a new author's first attempt into the realm of psychological thrillers, this was a solid attempt.

The storyline of twin sisters who couldn't be more different and whose relationship couldn't be more toxic begins with one death and ends with another.

The beautiful, outgoing, successful sister, Tilda, forms a relationship with a dangerously controlling man, Felix and begins the transformation into a reclusive and meager woman who never leaves her home and shows physical signs of abuse. Callie, the more timid and dependent twin, has always had the ability to pick up on the small details that others do not see. She sees in Tilda things that make her worry to the extreme that she begins researching domineering relationships online and builds trusts with other women who declare to be in her same situation.

The many twists and turns and character developments and revelations keep the reader interested until the last page.