Wow! Wow wow wow. This book blew me away. As a mother to twins the blurb already had me super intrigued but within a couple pages I felt drawn in by the writing and remained in that mindset for the entire book. Although this book is almost 400 pages it felt like a quick read!
Our story centers on identical twin sisters and former child stars, Elli and Sam. Now adults the twins are leading much different lives from one another, and all but completely estranged from each other and the lives they once knew. Despite their current differences, when one of them goes missing the twin bond and gut instinct is stronger than any other force.
This is my first Janelle Brown novel and I am so excited to go back and read some of her previous work. Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for an ARC of this book. 4 stars.

Ellie and Sam are identical twins. After a life in the spotlight as child actors, they have taken very different paths. Sam continued with an acting career, and got a life of addiction and sub-par roles instead, and Ellie chose domestic life, getting married and trying for a baby. Sam and Ellie hadn't talked in over a year, when Ellie disappears. Their parents call Sam home to help take care of Charlotte, Ellie's adopted daughter. When Sam begins to sense that something else is amiss, she begins to dig into Ellie's activities for the past year, and finds a lot more than she bargained for.

This book was fascinating and I found so many parallels to "ripped from the headlines" stories about cults and, in particular the Scientologists. That really kept me interested in the book, and made me feel engaged with the characters. The first section of the book is told from Sam's point of view, and Ellie's point of view comes in the middle. It was nice to see both sides of the story, and have the story told by both sisters. I thought the characters were easy to relate to, and I'm always in for a good twin story!

Thank you to the author, publisher and Net Galley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!!!

This novel is about identical twins Sam and Elli. As adults, Sam has been something of the “bad twin” struggling with addiction, and when the book starts, Sam hasn’t talked to Elli in more than a year when their parents call her home to help with the adopted daughter she didn’t even know Elli had, because Elli left her daughter to go to a retreat and hasn’t come back. Sam deals with the issues going home brings up, and begins to search for Elli, interspersed with flashbacks to their younger days as child/teen actors.

Like Janelle Brown’s last two books Watch Me Disappear and Pretty Things, this book isn’t really a thriller - more character study with an undercurrent of slow burn suspense. And like those books, it’s also a really good read!

Sam and Elli are twins that have been inseparable since birth. Elli is shy, quiet, and reserved while Sam is bold, loud, and outgoing. At nine years old, they become child stars on a hit tv show.

But what happens when stardom isn't what one of the twins wants anymore? Does she suck it up to make her sister happy? Or does her sister give up her dream of fame? What happens when twins are no longer inseparable and want different things from life? What happens when one of them ends up in a self-help group that could possibly be a cult? Can the sisters save each other? Will their choices drive a wedge between them or make their bond stronger than ever?

I really liked the alternating timelines in this story. I was more inclined to be immersed in the "now" chapters instead of the "then" chapters, but the alternating worked really well and helped progress the story. I think the majority of the book was told from Sam's point of view, which also moved the story along because she is the bold, more outgoing twin. I really enjoyed Sam's character even though I did not love most of her choices. Elli's character was very naïve and made some awfully dumb and infuriating choices, and I had a hard time connecting with her. I found myself gritting my teeth and grunting in anger at almost everything Elli did.

I don't want to say too much more because I think that everything I want to expand on would be even a minor spoiler. But overall I liked the book well enough. I thought the ending was a little rushed and unfinished, and it almost felt like a cop-out. (But remember, I rarely like book endings, so take my opinion on the ending with a grain of salt.) I wish some of the relationships in the book were expanded on more, and some of the mundane, repetitive middle was focused elsewhere. So, 3 stars from me. Not my favorite Janelle Brown book, but it was still good and there was a lot that I did like about it. I don't know that I would consider it a thriller though, it felt more like a family drama to me. Anyway, give it a shot because it is still a book I'm glad I read.

This book had a ton of potential to be super creepy and tense. Identical twins Sam and Elli are former child actresses who each find themselves on a separate path to self destruction. Not surprisingly, Sam turns into an addict and Elli leads a predictable wealthy suburban lifestyle until she joins a creepy “self help” group to fill a void in her life. Elli goes MIA and only her screw up sister can save her. Unfortunately, the way the story is told tames the suspense, taking out any thrilling or even mysterious elements that are inherent in the plot line. The reader is never really worried about Elli or Sam as much of the story is told after the tense event has already been resolved or, if revealed in real time, is released so quickly that the reader didn’t even have a chance to wonder what happened or to imagine more perilous ends for the characters. The writing tone is calm and matter of fact and while there’s nothing wrong with that, I generally want my thrillers to scare me a little, especially when dealing with unpredictable addicts or brainwashing cults. Overall, I enjoyed the story but wanted more tension. This would be a good choice for readers looking to tip their toes in the thriller genre and don’t want anything gory, triggering, scary, or twisty.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I'll Be You is the first book I've read by Janelle Brown. The cover drew me in and the fact that this book was about twin sisters. Twins fascinate me! Janelle Brown's writing was gripping and I wasn't able to put this book down! I loved the alternating POV between Elli and Sam. I enjoyed how the book took us back to when they were teenagers and then to the present as adults. I loved the twists and turns, the slow burn, and the drama-filled wild ride I was on while reading this book! Both Elli and Sam were such well-developed characters. I'm looking forward to reading Janelle Brown's other books!

The first half seemed long, the second rushed. There's so much going on here. A few of the points in the addiction storyline gave me great pause given my personal knowledge of and interaction with addiction and recovery, and that was a little hard for me to get over. Not all people recover the same is basically the point to remember going in.

While both twins are flawed, it's not hard to root for them, which made me want to like the book more than I did. Great potential.

Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book wasn't really what I expected, but I'm also not exactly sure what I expected other than twins. I really enjoyed the author's writing style and the way the story unfolded.

We meet Sam and Elli, twin sisters, at a young age. They spend a lot of their lives swapping roles, or doing "I'll be you" at first I think for fun, and later as a way to help each other out of situations.

They are discovered on the beach ad start acting, sharing the role of a girl popular television show (think Olson Twins on Full House). Sam lives for the spotlight and acting becomes her life. Elli is more shy and doesn't love it, and longs to return back to their normal life. Sam picks up on this and starts offering the familiar "I'll be you" and swaps roles with Elli to be the one doing all the acting.

They grow up, each woman having issues of their own, and something happens to fracture their relationship, and they don't speak for over a year. Then Sam receives a call from their parents asking for her help - Elli has gone away to deal with emotions in life, including her divorce, and the parents are watching her daughgter - wait, "DAUGHTER!" thinks Sam, and need some help.

When Elli doesn't return as expected, and then doesn't respond to texts and calls from Sam, she wonders if there is more going on than meets the eye. She takes it upon herself to investigate and finds things aren't at all what they seem.

Cults play a part in the storyline, specifically on disgusing itself as a female empowerment group. I felt like it was well done and was an integral part of the storyline. I enjoyed this story and will definitely be looking for more books by this author in the future.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for letting me read this book. I love reading books about twins and what they get themselves into, good or bad.

Elli & Sam are identical twins who were always close until their child acting career and Sam’s addictions started to create a wedge between them. Sam has been estranged from Elli for over a year when she receives a phone call from her father that her mother needs help with Elli’s newly adopted toddler daughter. Elli left them with the baby weeks ago, and has only contacted them through a single text message since. Sam knows she has to find out where her twin is and what kind of mess she is in, even if no one else is willing to do it.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book and how realistic it felt to me. The characters were so fully developed and I loved how it was split into three very clear parts between the sisters. Elli’s part was definitely crucial to the story. The depiction of cults and addiction were very well done, and I felt as though the author researched these topics and made sure they were accurately portrayed. There were also a few times where the author used words that I didn’t know and I absolutely love picking up on new vocabulary. Thanks to @randomhouseca and @netgalley for my review copies. I would definitely read another book by this author.

Don’t even think about starting this book if you have a deadline or any important items on your ‘to-do’ list. From the first page, I was caught up in this story and could not put it down. In the thriller I’LL BE YOU, Janelle Brown took me back to adolescence days when my favorite books were about twins, especially those mischievous ones who delighted in switching places and fooling everyone. And with that tempting and familiar hook, the author added some key twists: a missing twin, the kidnapping of a baby, and the involvement of a feminist cult. Over and over, with the words “I’ll be you,” identical twins Elli and Sam kept the story moving. There are a host of unique and believable characters, each with his or her own personal defect. Thank you, Janelle Brown, for an entertaining and engaging read. Appreciation to Netgalley and Random House for the ARC. Publication date is April 26, 2022.

I thoroughly enjoyed Janelle Brown's latest novel, I'll Be You. It's the story of identical twin girls, Samantha (Sam) and Elli. When they were little girls, they were playing on a beach when discovered by a talent agent. They spent their early years on a TV shows, both playing one character (a la the Olsen twins on Full House). Sam was in her element, but Elli hated being in the spotlight. Once the show was cancelled, they tried to be "normal" teen-age girls in high school, which Sam found stultifying but Elli loved. When a new show was proposed, Sam manipulated her sister to return to acting, but it eventually came to an end. Elli embraced the normal life, went to college, fell in love, and got married. The only thing missing was a child.

Sam, on the other hand, went into a downward spiral of drugs, alcohol, and sex. She was in and out of rehab. All of her acting money was lost to drugs, so it fell to Elli to support her twin, paying for her rehab repeatedly and even welcoming her into her home when she got out. When the story begins, it's been just over a year since her last stint in rehab, and Sam and Elli haven't spoken in all that time. Apparently, Sam had done something egregious while staying with Elli and her husband, and the two have been estranged ever since. So it's a huge surprise when Sam gets a call from her mother asking that she come home and help her take care of Elli's two-year-old daughter, Charlotte. Wait, what?!?! What daughter, Sam wants to know!!

The first half of the novel is told from Sam's POV, which left me as a reader thinking one way about Elli. It seems that Elli's life has transformed and she went away for a short while to what her mother thinks is a retreat but Sam is convinced is really a cult. Sam decides she needs to get to Elli to find out what's going on with her and, if she is in a cult, to convince her to come home to her daughter. The second half of the novel is told from Elli's POV, and I saw things in a completely different light thanks to the supreme talent of author Brown. Brown also did a phenomenal job of showing how one might fall victim to a cult that really opened my eyes. It's something I've never been able to understand until this book.

This is a very well told psychological thriller with dynamic, believable characters. I loved everything about it and will be recommending to my friends and book club.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for providing me with an eGalley in exchange for posting an honest review.

This was more of a literary fiction and thriller combined, with plenty of surprises. Identical twins Elli and Sam were actors throughout their childhood. When they were teens, their lives took a different path. Elli got married, and lives in a home by the beach. Sam started taking pills and drinking. They haven't spoken to each other since sam's behavior tore them apart. Sam gets a call from her father. She finds out Ellis life wasn't as great as it appeared. Her husband has left, and then just adopted a little girl. Elli has checked into a mysterious spa, and is now not answering her phone. Sam is trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together, and find out where her sister is. What Sam does and finds out, will change their lives. There is much more to these twins relationship.

This one is told in past and present, and alternates between the two sisters. Wow this one was so good guys. I enjoyed this story, and reading about these 2 sisters relationship with eachother. felt it was emotional and realistic. There are tough issues covered such as addiction, recovery, cults, and grief to name a few. Definitely worth a read.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own.

2.5 stars rounded to 3.

This book was just all around weird! I don’t know a better way to describe it. It wasn’t a horrible book but I personally just didn’t love the storyline at all. The whole cult thing was just not interesting to me. It felt way too far fetched and borderline creepy. I would categorize this book more as a family drama than thriller and mystery. Definitely didn’t get any thriller vibes from this book. I enjoyed the authors previous book, Pretty Things, so I thought I would really like this one too but it was just not for me.

Thank you Net Galley and Random House Publishing Group for an ARC in return for my honest review.

I enjoyed this book, but the ending felt off. I feel like something was missing and it just kind of ended abruptly. Still good though and I will continue to enjoy Janelle’s books

Thank to the publishers for sending me this ARC! In no way did this affect my rating.
Rating: 3.5/5 stars

I'll Be you follows identical twin girls, Sam and Elli, who were very close when they were children, but now as adults have grown apart. As children, the girls were discovered by Hollywood and become child actors. But once that part of their life ended, the girls went in opposite directions. As an adult, Sam is still clinging onto her acting past and has been dealing with life after fame with drugs. While Ellie choose a normal, domestic life that is farthest thing from her life when she was famous.

While Sam is trying to get her life back together, she gets a call from her father where she learns that her reliable and responsible sister has been gone for a week and has not been answering her phone. To Sam's surprise, she learns from this call that her sister's perfect domestic life is far from perfect. Elli's husband had just moved out of their home and out of nowhere Elli adopted a two year old girl, who was left behind with their parents.

So, Sam goes to investigate the mysterious disappearance of her sister and help her parents take care of her new niece. Within her investigation to her sister disappearance and her life, Sam finds out that Elli checked into a suspicious spa. Could this just be a place where Elli is dealing with the recent stressors in her life, or is there something more to this spa? Could this spa retreat be linked to a cult?

This books shifts from Sam's perspective to Elli's perspective near the last half. In the first half of the story we get to see Sam's past and her present story as she is trying to find her sister. In the flashbacks to the past, we get to see the differences between the sisters and how much they loved each other and would sacrifice their own happiness for the other. I absolutely loved the aspect of sisterhood in this book and how it showed the sisters' closeness, conflict, self- sacrifice, and them drifting apart from each as they get older was done so well. Then Elli's perspective shows what happened before her disappearance and goes into the present where she is at the spa.

Although I found the plot to be entertaining for the most part and there was a twist that I had not seen coming, it went in a predictable way and at times the plot dragged. One thing I had not expected was for Elli's daughter, Charlotte, to play such a large role in the story. Another thing about the daughter was that she acted like she was far older than two years old, so it made me forget she was so young. Overall, I think the strongest thing of this book was the complicated relationship between the sisters because it was written so well and it added an emotional layer to this story. If you are looking for a thriller with a element of sisterhood, this is the book for you!

2022 seems to be the year of the cult thrillers but I am here for it! This story featuring twin sisters who have fallen out kept me on the edge of my seat right to the last page. Sam and Elli were childhood b-list actresses but while Sam wanted to become famous, Elli only went along to please her sister.

When Elli leaves Hollywood to have a more normal college life out of the spotlight, Sam struggles to find fame on her own, spiraling down a dangerous path of drugs and alcoholism and several stints in rehab. Told in dual timelines and from dual POVs, we get to see how each sister's life led to Sam one year sober and Elli apparently a new adopted mother wrapped up in a secret cult. Sam's mom phones her up to come help out with watching the toddler, leading her to try to figure out what happened to her sister and why she's not answering her phone.

Fast paced with great characterization! This was my first book by this author but definitely won't be my last. I sped through it and couldn't wait to see how it would end. Highly recommend for fans of This might hurt by Stephanie Wrobel or An honest lie by Tarryn Fisher (both cult stories). Ashley Winstead also has a new cult thriller coming out this August: The last housewife. Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my advance review copy!

CW: drug and alcohol abuse by a minor, alcoholism, recovering drug addict, kidnapping of a minor

Janelle Brown is a master at parsing out just enough information to keep the reader guessing what will happen next. I'll Be You had a different feel from her previous book, Pretty Things. It just proves what a versatile talent this author has.

I'll Be You is the story of twin girls who become child actors. As they age, it becomes clear that one girl likes it better than the other. By the time they are older, one twin has no interest left in acting whatsoever while the other is completely hooked on it and can't see herself doing anything else.

The twin sisters, Sam and Elli have very different personalities and become entirely different adult women. Because of that, they drift apart and have trouble relating to one another. It's heartbreaking because they misread each other frequently and don't understand the true intentions of their own twin when in the past they could almost read one another's minds because they knew each other so well.

The twin sisters are grown women who haven't spoken to one another in over a year after a mysterious falling out. Elli has gone on a weekend retreat that she keeps extending and asking her parents to continue watching her adopted daughter. In need of help, they ask Sam to come to town and give them a break.. When Sam gets there, she realizes something is very wrong with the story Elli has been telling their parents and she decides it's up to her to figure out if her sister is in danger or not.

I'll Be You does a nice job of providing tid bits of the twins' history that helps explain how they ended up where they are....not speaking with barely a relationship at all. Some of the things they did as teenagers and young women negatively influenced who they grew into as individuals and sisters. These things never fully left them and continue to haunt them still.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

Interesting book about being an identical twin, and what it means to be one of two halves of a whole.

Sam and Eli are identical twins, who become child actors. While Sam adores being part of Hollywood, Eli does not. Eventually Eli leaves 'the business' to become the settled, responsible one of the pair, while Sam's self destructive behavior leads her further and further apart from her sister, until the relationship seems irredeemable.

Fast forward to a time when Sam tries to stay sober, and discovers that her sister is about to divorce her husband, and has gone off to a self help retreat to 'find herself', leaving her 2 year old daughter behind with the twin's parents. Sam quickly realizes that something has gone very wrong in Eli's life, and when Sam doesn't return from the weekend retreat, Sam sets out to find her.

The book was told in several parts, each from the point of view of one of the twins. Each part moved through the timeline from their childhood to present day, and this really worked for this book and its plot. There were several twists to the story that I didn't expect, some in the past and some in the present day. It was very well done, and I appreciated both the mystery/thriller part of the story, as well as the emotional depths that revealed what it means to be a twin - half of a whole, and yet with your own unique personality.

Being able to watch the way the self help group members were manipulated, was fascinating too. All in all a very good book, and I will look at more by this author.

What a book! I’ll Be You captures you right from the beginning and will haunt you until you finish it. I found it fascinating how the two sisters grew up the same and took different paths- one seemingly together and the other not. However, you learn that they both have deep struggles that they need to overcome. Both are addicted to different things in different ways. I loved how the book was written from the different perspectives for each half. This is definitely a book I’ll recommend to friends.

Thank you to Janelle Brown, Random House Publishing Group, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.