I was looking forward to reading this but it left me somewhat disappointed. From the beginning I found the characters two-dimensional and incredibly difficult to empathise with. The character of the husband, in particular, was difficult to understand - his actions didn’t seem particularly believable, which was a problem since he was key to the plot.

I will say, however, that it’s a fairly quick read with some interesting twists, so would be good for a holiday read. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review.

I really enjoy reading AJ Banner's books and this one was no exception. So many twists and turns....I really enjoyed it. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the Advanced copy.

This was the first time I've read a book by A. J. Banner and I don't think it will be the last. In Another Light tells a heartrending story that I thought I might have figured out but ... Not quite. I had some inkling of where it was going but the reality was more complex than I expected. As I said, it was a heartrending tale-- if you are still in a covid "can't take any more stress" mindset, you might want to save it for later. But it is definitely worth reading. My thanks to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for making this book available to me.

Nothing pains me more than a book that so good ends up leaving a rotten taste in my mouth due to a rushed and/or unsatisfying ending.

Overall, In Another Light is a page turner. I was so enthralled by Phoebe's search for answers and the truths she uncovered, each chapter ending with me gasping and hurrying to find out what happened next. We learn about Phoebe as she learns about herself, elements of her life that she had accepted as fact were nothing more than fiction.

Though not a particularly unique plot, In A Different Light held the makings of a solid thriller. However, by the end of the book, the narrative had completely changed. In a clever way, the title "In a Different Light" could be a phrase to describe the experience of reading this book. If it was reread, knowing what you know by the end, the entire feel of the story would change.

I ended up feeling frustrated. This wasn't the book I thought I was reading. Parts of the book felt invalidated. I felt mislead.

But then again, maybe that's how Phoebe felt.

Loved this one!!! Literally could not put it down from the first page until the end. Always love A.J. Banner, but this one might be my new favorite! Loved the story, loved the characters and loved how fast paced it move. Definitely recommend!
Thank you to netgalley for the arc in exchange of an honest review.

WHOA BABY!!!!!!!
This book gave me a serious book hangover. I loved the story starting at page one. The suspense stayed high and it kept me guessing and then second guessing. I literally could not stop reading this book and I needed more but didn’t want the book to end so I slow walked the last quarter. This is also my very first read by this author and it will not be my last. Now I need to read all of her books. I’m trying not to give the story away but you need to get this book. You won’t be disappointed. The character development was excellent and the story was very intriguing and action packed.
I recommend this book 📚
Thank you to the Author for an ARC of this story in exchange for my honest opinion.. I was not paid or persuaded in any way in the determination of my review


🧚‍♀️what I liked about this book🧚‍♀️
Intriguing ✔️
Suspenseful ✔️
Engaging ✔️
Page turner✔️
Unpredictable ✔️ (less)

What if you found your doppelganger? In Another Light is a suspenseful mystery that will keep the reader on edge until the very end.

I found myself drawn to the main character Phoebe as she grapples with the deaths of her husband and child. She works at the Fair Winds Mortuary as a cosmetologist and is presented with a dead woman who is her mirror image, only a younger version. She finds a photo of herself among the dead woman’s personal effects, which leads her on a quest to find Pauline’s roots. Phoebe is driven to find connections between herself and the look-alike dead woman and the child that resembles her daughter both in temperament and appearance.

The novel was well-written, and the themes of infidelity, mental illness, and grief were addressed throughout the story with engaging characters, plot, and setting.

Another fantastic novel from A.J. Banner! In Another Light is an unputdownable book that perfectly combines Women’s Fiction and Mystery/Suspense! The storyline was extremely well thought-out and multi-layered to create a fantastic novel that I won’t soon forget! I was on the edge of my seat for most of the book and the well-placed twists and turns had me second guessing every conspiracy theory I had come up with (and there were several lol). In Another Light is a 5 star novel that I highly recommend! As per usual, I cannot wait to read whatever A.J. Banner comes out with next!

3.5 Stars

Phoebe Glassman, a mortuary cosmetologist, lost her husband Logan three years ago. She’s been more dead than alive since then, drifting through days in a haze while completing her job at Fair Winds. On the day of the third death anniversary, a body arrives at the mortuary, changing Phoebe’s life forever.
Pauline Steele, the dead woman, is around a decade younger than Phoebe and looks like a long-lost twin. The resemblance between them is too striking to ignore. Phoebe is still in shock when she spies a unique butterfly tattoo on the woman’s arm. She knows exactly where she last saw the design.
Fueled by curiosity, Phoebe digs through the dead woman’s belongings and finds an old faded photograph of herself from a few years ago. Phoebe is now determined to unravel the mystery that binds her and Pauline together. The more she tugs at the tangled threads, the complex things get. It doesn’t help that she’s close to losing her sanity and sometimes wonders if she’s already gone crazy.
But she fights on and finally finds answers to some of her questions. Does she find peace too?
The premise and the cover of the book were intriguing enough for me to request it. The beginning is strong, and the narration picks up speed as we read on. There are hints scattered from the beginning to give us a glimpse of the secrets kept hidden from Phoebe.
There are several twists and turns, doubts, questions with no answers, and whatnot to take the story forward. Phoebe’s emotional state weakens, and that should have made me feel sad for her. Somehow, from start to finish, I couldn’t connect with Phoebe on any level. Sure, I don’t relate to her. Still, I could have empathized with her.
Sadly, I could feel only a wee bit sad when reading about her pain. It’s a devastating loss on many levels, and yet, it didn’t touch me as I wanted it to. There was a thick glass between us that refused to let us connect.
It’s only the fast pace and my desire to see if my analysis was correct that made the book interesting. I did get it right, so I would give the author a few brownie points for not bringing a twist I didn’t expect.
The ending is quite satisfactory, that’s another plus because I like happy endings. There are still some left-out loopholes, but at least the last page didn’t leave wondering about everything.
It does look like I’m a minority, and most people liked the book (until now). I’m glad for them. Personally, it didn’t offer anything new or exciting.
Overall, In Another Light is a fast-paced story about a traumatic women’s quest for truth while battling her pain and loss.
On a side note, I don’t why I thought this was listed as a thriller somewhere. NetGalley says it is women’s fiction, and I call it a psychological family drama. Oh, well, it’s not a thriller per se despite the pace and suspense.
Thank you, NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing, for the ARC.
#InAnotherLight #NetGalley

This was a thrill-ride! I devoured this in one day. More twists than Gone Girl, but with a sympathetic main character. Great read.

All A.J. Banner novels are page turners. That’s a given; however, In Another Light takes the reader to another dimension of reader excitement.

Phoebe Glassman reconstructs faces for a mortuary and cemetery specializing in green funeral processes. A sculptor by trade, she uses her artistic talent and specialized training to help the living remember their loved ones as they looked in life. The job is perfect for her, having lost her husband and child in a tragic car accident three years before. Phoebe has receded deeper into her grief and aloneness, but when a body is brought in that none of her colleagues wants her to see, her life upends. The corpse looks exactly like Phoebe, and there is little more than a familiar tattoo, an unfamiliar name, and a photo of Phoebe to tell her story.

Phoebe becomes obsessed with needing to know who this woman really is, why she was in her small town, and how she died. Phoebe’s digging takes her out of her comfort zone—not as much by her own free will as by the desperate need to discover the shocking truths no one will tell her (yes, truths, plural—did you think Banner would make it easy?). What she finds stretches the already-fragile ties that bind her to friends, family, and colleagues, leaving the reader with an ending that shatters expectations. Highly recommended for anyone who loves fast-paced thrillers that keep you guessing.

Banner’s latest thriller will be published October 5, 2021.

Another great thriller from this fabulous author! The story is full of twists and turns as we follow Phoebe down the rabbit hole fueled by her grief and growing suspicions. The author keeps a great balance between evoking compassion for Phoebe while keeping the reader guessing about the legitimacy of her perceptions. Are people lying to her in an effort to protect her or are they part of larger plot to deceive her and prevent her from knowing. Grab yourself a copy!

This book is the equivalent of an enjoyable dinner party, but the guests overstay their welcome.

The dinner no longer matters. They leave, the door shuts and you exhale that you wish they would have left 2 hours ago.

Synopsis: After losing her husband and daughter in a car-wreck, Phoebe is a shell of the women she once was. Lost in her grief, she continues to work at the mortuary where she toils away at her job to pass the time (bizarre job to continue in when you’ve lost your nearest and dearest expectedly, right? I know. It all seemed a little off-kilter to me too).

That is, until a body arrives that is her spitting image. If that was not weird enough, the familiar looking stranger has a photo of Phoebe amongst her effects.

Thoughts: This book captured my interest quickly and I was clicking “next page” on my kindle late into the night.

BUT the story had a lot going on. It did come together, but there were loose ends. Some things were a bit too outlandish and were irrelevant; I don’t want to read words or microplots that just take up space. I enjoyed it more at the beginning than I did at the end and feel confidently that if some pages would have been left at the chopping block, it would have read better.

But maybe you don’t mind guests staying while you’re wiping down the counters for the 15th time? If that is the case, it’s a decent thriller. I felt the same about Banner’s Twilight Wife and it was a big hit with some.

Take this opinion with a grain of salt, but if I start cleaning my kitchen and you’re still at my house – it’s your cue to hit the road.

Buckle up and stay hydrated because if you’re like me, you won’t be able to stop reading this until you reach the last page. It checked off all the boxes of my favorite books: page turning, entertaining, full of suspense with a mystery that propels the story ahead to a surprising ending. The novel drew me in, and I was intrigued by Phoebe’s occupation. A former sculptor and artist, she makes the dead beautiful as a stylist and cosmetologist at a green burial facility, and her calling is to protect loved ones from the messiness of death. Three years ago her husband died in an accident and she hasn’t been the same since. When an unusual body arrives and the woman looks like a younger version of Phoebe, she sets out to find the truth. Thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for providing an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Phoebe Glassman works at Fair Winds Funeral Home.

The new brochure reads:

Ms. Glassman is an expert at styling and cosmetology. Educated at the University of Washington, she is a former artist and sculptor. She will beautify your loved one...

Phoebe approves the brochure with some pause... her photo is four years old, from happier days and she is still an artist. She used to take better care of herself. That was before, now she is only a ghost of herself as she works on those who live only in the memory of their loved ones.

An unusal transfer comes in from the coroner's office and she is warned, "This one might freak you out." She says she can handle it.

Phoebe is a character that touched my heart. She popped to life right off the pages and I wanted to whisper to her that everything would be okay, she was strong enough, things would get better! The author does a picture perfect job bringing her to life.

The plot thickens....

Such a page-turner, the pacing on point, thoughtful and engaging with numerous layers and twists and a had to finish it ending that pulls everything together in a satisfying way.

Recommend to those who love domestic suspense filled with emotion and plenty of second guessing.

In Another Light by AJ Banner is the kind of book where you'll find yourself awake at 2am furiously flipping pages just to finish and see what happens. No? Just me? It's a quick read both in terms of plot pacing and actual length, and right from the beginning Banner crafts a character you can't help but sympathize with in Phoebe. Your heart will break for her, not just because of the tragedy of her losing her husband and toddler in a car accident years ago, but also because as she digs deeper into her husband's past, perhaps things are even more tragic and full of deceit than she ever could have imagined.

In a stroke of bad luck for this author, I got the ARC of this book at the same time The Likeness by Tana French became available off of my hold list at the library. Why is this bad luck you might ask? Because both books open with a female protagonist being confronted by the dead body of her doppelganger, and then follow her down the rabbit hole of investigating this strange occurrence. Now, had I not already been hyper-aware of the direct comparisons to another (I'm sorry to say better) book I may not have been so attuned to the fact that many of the other twists were nearly exactly the same as some other popular books and movies in the genre (I will not say which to avoid spoilers), but alas...

I will say this was a page turning and a gripping read. For readers who are new to the genre and not as familiar with some of the more common recent twists/tropes, I think this would be full of surprises and a lot of fun. I'm not really sure how I feel about the last 10% of the book and think it may have actually been stronger if it ended sooner, but I'm also a notorious ending-hater. It somehow felt like both too much information and not enough resolution all at the same time. There were loose ends I wanted tied up that weren't, and others tied into a too pretty of a bow in ways that didn't really work for me. Other readers will appreciate it more than me though, I'm sure.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this fun book in exchange for an honest review.

Grief and pain will shape a person and so will finding out details of the past after you think you’ve lost everything. Phoebe’s life is again turned upside down 3 years after losing her husband and daughter in a car accident and the weeks that unfold will leave you unable to put the book down!

Thank you Lake Union Publishing and Netgalley for gifting me a copy of In Another Light.

To say that A.J Banner is phenomenal talented writer may be an understatement. To create multidimensional characters that simultaneously evoke both fear and compassion is a gift. Parts of In Another Life are morbid and gritty. Yet, they tether together with the complexity of the characters' relationships and recovery from trauma. I can not promise it will be a book for everyone but having gone through some experiences similar to Phoebe, I felt connected to her and wanted to root for her. It is a book that, while a fast read, will stick with me for a long time.

TW: fatalities, death of child, auto accidents, suicide

This is is the third or fourth book I have read by this author. I keep hoping for more, but I find the stories to be just mediocre. There was a lot happening in this story, and it could have gone a number of different ways. The ending, in this case, was just so-so...not a big revelation, as I think it was supposed to be. The story for me, as a whole, just fell flat.

First, I adore this cover, it caught my eye immediately. My heart ached for Phoebe on every page. Her complexity was beautifully crafted. After suffering an imaginable loss and then being shocked to find a dead woman who looks eerily similar to her, Phoebe's journey takes an unexpected turn. The ending was unguessable and I thought the entire story was crafted with the perfect amount of suspense in the plot and a rich character who drew me in.