I am certain that there will be people who love this book, I was just not one of them. It was not the writing, I fact I found the writing very visual. I did have questions about phrasing, if it was an author choice or supposed to represent the characters feelings or beliefs. I was reminded I was reading in translation, so another possible source for the phasing I was questioning (make love).
I am a very responsible and dependable person, so perhaps that is why I struggled with Stella and Evo who seemed to wander here and there with such little concern for how their action ( or lack there of) impacted others.
I confess I groaned out loud, became very annoyed and even said “ grow-up!”, but at no time did I consider not finishing the book, I needed to see what came next and what was the origin of the story. It was not all that shocking, and was what I had predicted.

Stella´s organised life is turned upside down when her big love Ivo shows up after 8 years. Stella is from a broken home (for want of a less negative term) and so is Ivo…except that he comes from the same broken home…

I fear this wasn´t really my cup of tea. I found it melodramatic, over the top, much too long and the writing mediocre. But to be fair, it did manage to hold my attention.

The finale is set in Georgia and seems to be an attempt to give the novel some weight and pass some historical or political message, but it felt too constructed.

The audio version was alright, but whenever the female narrator did a man's voice, it sounded like some creepy hissing reptile.

Stella was raised by her grandmother after Stella’s parents divorced because father had an affair with Ivo’s mother. When Ivo’s mother passed, he also moved in.

Described as a modern-day Wuthering Heights, Ivo and Stella become lovers and tear their family and their lives apart.

The book is emotional and angsty, with shame and guilt and secrets and trauma coming together to stunt Stella and Ivo’s ability to find happiness and come together or to find closure and move on.

The BIG REVEAL is a non-event, because there were so many hints and reveals throughout the book that it was more Stella realizing what everything means than the reader. We more watched her figure it all out. And Stella’s lifelong guilt and self -abuse seemed based on such a small thing done by a young child, that I felt unimpressed.

Thank you @NetGalley and @Dreamscape for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

I was given a NetGalley widget for this one a year ago and I just got around to reading it and dangit it was so good. I am so thankful for the opportunity to have consumed this wildly relevant fictional tale, which felt not at all fictional, more like historical fiction, due to the times. The cover initially was what drew me in, but I'm so thankful to have stuck with it because the outcome was magical. I always love listening to audiobooks and when they sweep me off my feet, I'm just utterly captivated!

Thanks # netgalley for this book in exchange for an honest review. Complex characters with a story difficult to read at times but well worth it. Excellent. Highly recommend

3.5?

It has been so long since i half read wuthering heights in high school that it may have all been replaced by kate bush. This was the loosest interpretation of it i can imagine... parts of the writing were so lyrical and beautifully written but so much of it also dealt with the pain of a relationship, and most of these people show their pain physically....which YIKES. and the whole plot was a real ask for me. But maybe ill change my mind after i reread some bronte.

The narrator was great.

Thanks #netgalley!

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for gifting me an Audio ALC of My Soul Twin by Nino Haratischvili. I apologize for my late review.

Stella and Ivo are estranged siblings who are harboring deep seated secrets. Ivo was adopted into Stella’s family as a young boy and Stella became his fierce protector. Now decades later Ivo has re-entered Stella’s life bringing back the tumultuous memories and feelings from their youth.

While the plot sounds like something I generally gravitate towards, I never fully connected to either character or became invested in their relationship. I thought the audio narration was good but my problem was the pacing of the story. It took way to long to get to the heart of the story and then the last third became a bit of a swerve. Tighter editing and less buildup would have made for a more gripping story.

Good not great. Others felt differently, so if you like dysfunctional family dramas, I’d say give this book a try.

I think perhaps I had the wrong expectations of this book going in. The marketing for this book mentions a modern Wuthering Heights, and while there are some flavors of that—the characters are toxic lovers from childhood—there is none of the emotional draw that Wuthering Heights has. It read very flat, perhaps that’s an effect of the translation. I also thought that the narrator struggled with the multiple character voices. I’ve listened to her read before in a story with less characters and I didn’t find her so limited but here I don’t think it works. This book would be good for those who really enjoy filial dysfunction.

My Soul Twin is a captivating and emotional story of guilt and complex relationships. You're not supposed to like these characters, but they are so well-written you can understand their choices and actions. I also thought the flow of this story was really strong. Sometimes when stories get translated from another language you lose out, but I thought this was well done.

3.5/5

So much exposition -- it was too hard to get invested in this, so I didn't finish it.



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Thank you Net Galley for an audio copy of My Soul Twin. I love this title. Complex story narrated beautifully.