I don’t know why but I really struggled to get into this one. Not sure why, because the synopsis is so interesting. The book got better by the 60% mark and I was able to slog through the rest, but it was mainly a sense of obligation to finish it. The ending was just ok, and I didn’t personally think this thriller was gripping enough for me.
Thank you to Netgalley for sending me an advanced copy in return for my honest review.

Thank you, NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer publishers for the advanced readers copy of Original Twin by Paula Gleeson. This is a twisty story about May and June twin sisters. The story starts off with June’s funeral. She had gone missing about a year ago. After the funeral , May starts finding clues that June has left about their mother Diana, who had also gone missing when she was a young teenager. In order to find out what happened to June, May must first investigate what happened to her mother. This story is told in multiple points of view which helps bring the story together. There are some twists I didn’t see coming. I highly recommend this book and look forward to more from this author.

📚 PUBLICATION MONTH BOOK REVIEW 📚

Original Twin By Paula Gleeson
Publication Date: June 1, 2024
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

📚MY RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

📚MY REVIEW:

If you want a fast-paced, super twisty thriller that is literally unputdownable, allow me to introduce you to Original Twin. This debut novel from Paula Gleeson just took me on the twistiest thrilling ride I think I've ever been on while reading a book!

From the moment this story began, I was here for it. It pulled me in so fast and it didn't let up until - quite literally - the very last paragraph. I was riveted, captivated, enthralled...ALL the words that describe every feeling we are looking for when we pick up a thriller.

Short chapters with multiple points of view across different time periods. A writing style that oozes suspense and is masterful with its hints of foreshadowing. Of course, I say foreshadowing -- but I honestly had NO IDEA how this one was going to go. At about 75% of the way into the book, I stopped reading and thought to myself, "I literally have no clue what's coming." Sometimes you think you know, sometimes you figure out a part of the ending but can't quite sort out how it's going to get there. This wasn't that kind of book for me. I was stunned by every twist that came at me for the final third of the book. I don't know how anyone COULD have predicted all of this! And that is EXACTLY what made this a five-star read for me!

If you're looking for a bingeable quick read that is filled with layer upon layer of chilling mysteries that will keep you guessing till the very end, you have to read this book. I'd have never guessed this was a debut novel from Gleeson, but whatever she writes next -- I will absolutely be reading it! Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for gifting me this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

** For NetGalley members, Original Twin is currently a Read Now selection on NetGalley. **

Anything with "twin" in the title will get my attention--and almost certainly get me to read it. For an only child, I have a strange fascination with twins.
As many others have noted, this is a strong start for a new author. The ideas were interesting and we were kept guessing, a good thing in a thriller. I would have liked to have seen a bit better pacing--the beginning was excellent but it petered off in the middle and then picked up toward the end. In addition, I think there should have been a bit more character development of both May and June (great names, by the way) because it was a bit hard to connect to May and I think we needed more information to understand June.
That said, I look forward to seeing what the author does with her next book.
Thanks to NetGalley and to Thomas & Mercer for allowing me to read this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Original Twin by Paula Gleeson I throughly enjoyed this debut thriller!
I was completely captivated by this book from beginning to end. Totally unique, suspense filled and dramatic with twists and turns you won't see coming.
For me this story was totally unputdownable, well-written, and riveting. An intriguing whodunit!

Thank You NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

I was really intrigued by the premise of this debut novel. The story started off really good, but as I read on it just didn't do it for me. I could not connect to the characters and the twists were way too far out for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for an ARC of this book in exchange with my honest review. This book officially publishes on 6/1/24!

I was very intrigued by the premise of this book. I learned after reading this that this book is the author’s debut novel and I am impressed! This novel is told from multiple POVs in dual timelines, and also uses letters as a means to tell the story. While reading, I enjoyed what the book had to offer in terms of pacing and the twists at the end. Giving this one 3 stars because I felt as though there was a plot hole that wasn’t discussed at the end which bothered me as a reader. However, starting off with a book like this makes me excited to see what this author has in store in the future! I would generally recommend this one to anyone who is new to the thriller genre or is looking for a beach-type read.

This was a good debut novel! It started out fairly slow for me, but I quickly got pulled into the story and wanted to know if May was going to unravel the mystery of what happened to June and to their mom. I liked that we got June's POV through the letters she was writing to her mom and that we got some chapters from their moms POV. Sam was my favorite character! May was likable, but I didn't really connect with her too much. The ending was quite twisty but left me with a few questions.

It's been nearly a year since May's twin sister June disappeared. May wanted to know the real reason why June upped and left. When May discovers a newspaper article, she was shocked to find that her mother, who at that time was a college student went missing before she was finally found. June had been investigating about their mother's mysterious disappearance and the possibility that the abductor might be their biological father. May then begin to trace June's footsteps and to uncover the hidden secret behind the abduction of their mother and the sudden disappearance of June.

This was a page turning twisty thriller. The letters written by June to her mother was actually interesting to read. Though the story is mainly told in Mays POV, there are snippets of their mother's POV as well as June's letters. The book actually started out great and this was a thriller that I actually couldn't put the book down. Not only that--the whole story itself was actually very unpredictable that you actually have no idea how this story will end. Despite the interesting start, the numerous twists and turns and an unpredictable storyline, I thought I didn't like the ending very much. Despite that, although this is a debut thriller, I actually enjoyed this thriller and would recommend this page turning thriller. Overall this is worth 4 stars.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

Original twin by Paula Gleeson it’s a real twisty piece of work. First of all there was May in June twin girls who are born under auspicious circumstances. When the book starts they’re having a funeral for June who went missing one year before and although they haven’t found her body due to wanting closure the dad Gary has a funeral. It’s when they get back from the funeral that May finds a clue that has her absolutely believing her sister June is still alive. The family which consist of her aunt ant her Dad Live in a town called Harold and May lives in “the city “she has a job and a small bed set and until recently has had a boyfriend Marcus who unexpectedly ghosted her. . The clue left behind by her twin also tells her that when there mom was in college she had been kidnapped and was missing for three weeks. She can’t ask her mom about it because her mom died a few years before. While reading the clue however May sees that June went missing on the same day as her mom only 15 years later. As May follows the clues she will learn so much she didn’t know about her whole family but especially how you can think you know someone only to learn they’ve been living with a secret for a lifetime. OK I don’t want to give anything away but throughout the book the story is moved along so expertly by letters from June to their deceased mom and I thought the clues left were brilliant and I love the fact that May unlike other books, didn’t see a random word and automatically know what her sister was trying to say this was a brilliant book and as I said so intelligently done so good! I cannot be the only person that thought something was going to happen with “thumbless” at the end of the book okay now having said that the people I liked I love Sam, Gary, May and Mama Pat… The people I didn’t like June, The aunt and Sharon hook. And of course some I will not name. I don’t think this is the first book I have read by Paula Gleeson but I do believe it is my favorite a brilliant read and a great thriller. I want to thank Thomas and Mercer for my free ARC copy via NetGalley please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

The book opens with June's funeral unfolding. She has been missing for a year and they have decided to put her to rest even though no body has ever been discovered. Her twin sister May doesn't believe that June is dead.

(Hmmm? No body, no leads, and the family decides to bury her and move on after one year? 🤔 That's not very nice. 🤨)

May makes a discovery of a newspaper article hidden in June's room about the abduction of her mother, Diana, years earlier. Coincidentally, both Diana and June disappeared on the exact same day. While her mother returned three weeks later, June remains missing. What are the chances of that? May doesn't believe in coincidences so she straps on her sleuthing hat and sets off to solve the mystery.

For a debut novel that started out decently the unfolding of the plot leaves a lot to be desired. The books is told through May, flashbacks to her mother Diana, and through letters June wrote to their mother after she died while in therapy. I didn't like any of them. June, especially, I found to be juvenile and annoying. At one point I hoped nobody found June. That is not a good thing when you're reading about a missing young woman. Pat, the grandmother, I found cringeworthy. Gary the dad and Sam the detective were okay in comparison to the women but that isn't saying all that much. What really killed this book for me was the outrageous denouement that defies all rationality. Yes, I did google, and yes, this is a real yet incredibly rare occurrence. Even with saying that, with all the other narrative threads that come together it just made this book TOO MUCH. My brain wouldn't let me buy into this much dysfunction. Thankfully this is a quick book and thankfully it's over.

As usual, I seem to be in the minority. A lot of praise is coming in for this debut novel and I'm happy for both the author and the readers that have loved this. I only wish I could say I was one of them. 2 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for my complimentary copy.

3.5 Stars

I was super excited to get my hands on a copy of Original Twin by Paula Gleason because I love thrillers/ mysteries that surround twins because you don’t just have one person to be suspicious of you have two lol. Now this book was okay, the pacing was a bit off for me. I did read it all in one day so not terrible. Some of the storyline was a bit confusing or was weird to me. Biggest example of you had found someone who had been missing wouldn’t you be so happy and excited? Hug possibly but here, nope we just pretend everything goes back to normal I guess haha. I did enjoy the past and present storylines and that we were on a treasure hunt of sorts, with all the clues we had to follow.
May and June are completely opposites and we learn why eventually. And I looked it up it’s extremely rare and in 2020, only 19 cases were reported worldwide. Sorry I won’t spoil you hahah. So it does happen and I guess I’m glad this book brought it to life. I didn’t really connect with any of the characters. And some I didn’t like at all like Pat, not so warm and fuzzy. I personally liked Sam the best because he was a genuinely nice guy.
So would I recommmed this book? Maybe to newer mystery/ thriller readers because I did pretty much guess what the ending was and it was mind blowing for me.

Thanks to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for the copy to read.

June has been waiting for her sister, June, to return since she went missing a year ago. She becomes more confused when she comes across a news article showing her mother also went missing when she was nineteen years old, and on the same date.

This is a super twisty and turny thriller. The twists could have slowed down slightly because it became a little difficult for me to follow. However; I’d rather have too many twists than not enough! This is a great summer suspense that will certainly keep you on your toes. Bonus for those that love the twin trope; there’s a lot to it in this one.

“You know the world can be so beautiful sometimes. Yet most of the time, all I see is the darkness. Like I’m in a room that has no way out.”

Original Twin comes out 6/1.

This was a very good twin trope thiller that had some "breath of fresh air" takes on the classic trope, so that alone made me enjoy this. This was TWISTY!

To find her sister June, May must find answers about her mother Diana, who disappeared for several weeks while a college student. This is twisty one that sometimes feels a bit manipulative but it certainly kept me reading. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Hard to believe this is a debut novel because it definitely didn't read like one and the amazing twists holy cow!

This story follows May and June and lots of flashbacks with their mother. Sometimes it was hard to follow at first but once you start reading you cannot put it down.

Hope this author writes more as i will read and recommend this author.

Thanks NetGalley for letting me read and review.

May & June are twins, but they have always been about as opposite as they could possibly be, but that never stopped them from loving each other and having a bond that only twins can have. So now that it’s been a year since June disappeared, May finally discovers something that could help her figure out what’s happened to her sister, and it comes with a huge family secret - their mother went missing for a period of time when she was 19 years too, on the same date that June disappeared on.

May discovers that June was in the midst of trying to solve the mystery of who took their mom so many years before, and luckily June left some clues behind for May to dive deeper and get to the bottom of this generations-old mystery.

The Pulse got their hands on another wild one! Bonus points that I was able to snag an advance listening copy so that I could squeeze it into my overbooked (pun intended) calendar.

If you love a complex family story full of twists and secrets that you nor the characters ever saw coming, then this is a great book for you. It is multi-POV and fast-paced, you’ll want to carve out time to make this your priority book so that you can give it your full attention and keep everything straight. The ending was shocking, I did not see it coming.

I love when we get to know a character so well who isn’t actually acting out their story on the page - we learn about June’s investigation through past letters written to her & May’s mother that May discovers. And seriously, for being more or less an off-page character, she was one of the most enigmatic characters I’ve read in quite some time. Her energy and personality radiated from those letters.

I cannot believe that this was a debut, the tangled storyline that was unwoven so well feels like it came from a much more tenured author than a DEBUT. I know some people shy away from debuts, especially thrillers, but if you give one debut author or debut thriller a chance this year, make it Paula Gleeson and Original Twin.

Wow - I cannot believe this is a debut novel! AMAZING!

Twins May and June are completely different. May is quiet and shy whereas June is loud and captivating. It's been a year since June went missing. Even though a funeral is done to give May and her dad closure, May does not believe that her sister is dead. May stumbles across a newspaper article that shows her mother also disappeared when she was 19 years old. On the exact same date that June went missing.

May knows that this cannot be a coincidence. May finds out that June was investigating the family secrets and left May a series of clues. May is determined to find June. She knows that in order to do so, she needs to look into her mother's past and solve the mystery of her disappearance as well.

What a well-written novel! I enjoyed every page of this one. The story and characters were so well developed. I can already see this one being made into a Netflix TV show or movie. Paula Gleeson did such an amazing job of weaving intrigue and suspense throughout the story. She left enough clues along the way for the reader to make guesses, but not enough to make correct guesses!

Suspense/thriller novels are often so over done and rely on overused plot lines, but the Original Twin is creative and original (no pun intended). Well done on your first novel, Paula Gleeson!

Thank you Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first book by the Aussie author Paula Gleeson and believe me, it was a wild ride!

Thank you #Netgalley and #amazonpublishing for my ARC!

I can’t help but notice how many thrillers have been about twins lately but as the title suggests this was a particularly original approach to the subject!

May is struggling to come to terms with the disappearance of her fraternal twin sister June a year ago. But in her usual style, June has left May clues that will eventually lead her to the truth about her disappearance. In her search for the truth, May discovers that something similar happened to her late mother in her early twenties. But her mother returned several weeks later and didn't explain what had happened to her.

I really liked the scavenger hunt left behind and how it all ties in with what happened to her mum 18 years ago. Many shocking secrets are discovered that clarify a few aspects of her mother's life choices.

The narrator did a great job separating the two personalities of May and June.
I thought the letters June wrote to her late mother were a great way to introduce the reader to June's impetuous character.

The last part of the book had my head spinning with confusion with all the revelations and out of character behavior of one of the characters. I also needed a few questions answered. But all in all a great new author to look out for.

This is one twisty and suspenseful thriller! It’s told in multiple POVs from May and June, fraternal twins, and from their mom in dual timelines.

Before the twins were born, their mom disappeared and June wanted to know the details. While June was investigating, she also went missing on the same date as her mom! Left behind were hints for May to follow in order to find her sister and discover the truth.

What May uncovers is startling and something I never would have predicted! At one point, I got tripped up in the narrative and had to reread a section because the emerging secrets were shocking! Original Twin is a gripping debut that will keep you on the edge of your seat!