Beautiful writing, twist after twist, intriguing subject matter, and very original. Gleeson does a great job of delving into the messiness of families (and this one is super messy), with all their secrets, rivalries, and love.

May and June are fraternal twins. May is steady, serious and thoughtful in her approach to life. June is mercurial, charismatic and a little bit mean. Their mother, Diana, died in an unfortunate accident, but the twins are close to their father and grandmother Pat. Then June suddenly goes missing, which leaves May distraught. June has been missing for a full year, so the family accepts that she is likely dead and they decide to hold a memorial service for her. However May cannot accept that June is dead. She happens across an old newspaper article that June has left for her as a clue, which reveals that their mother Diana disappeared on the very same date when she was 19 years old. Just like when they were children, May understands that June has left her a trail of crumbs to follow and try to find her. May embarks upon a mission to find June and bring her home, no matter how difficult or dangerous.

Whew! When I finished this novel, I felt like I had just spent hours chasing my tail. The storyline moves at a brisk pace with multiple POV, and there are plenty of dead ends in the chase for the truth. I probably suspected just about everyone at some point! The dialogue comes off as a little stilted and unnatural at times and so many of the characters are just unlikeable. ( Looking at you Pat.) But the twists and turns are addictive. If you are a fan of Freida McFadden or Louise Candlish with their sucker punch endings, you will likely enjoy this thriller. For a debut novel, it is a very solid start.

Original Twin
By: Paula Gleeson
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Pub date: May 28, 2024
Length: 299 pages

5 👯👯👯👯👯

I CANNOT believe this is a debut. So many details, twists and turns that I speed through this one.

May and June are twins whose mother Diana died years ago. Now, June has come up missing and May’s life is in turmoil again.

A year goes by and May discovers June has disappeared! May finds out something in her mother’s past that has her confused as she never talked about it. She finds out when her mom was in college she also went missing for a time. Turns out it was the same day of the year! Is their disappearance related?

May looks to people in her mother’s past including her old college roommate, college boyfriend and a detective who can get her information on her mother’s cold case.

This novel is one you want to read in one sitting. The books chapters are broken down with different points of view, which made it more intriguing as it puts you into each of their own thoughts.

Cannot wait for what’s next for Gleeson.

The book is twisted and unputdownable. The plot twists kept me at edge while secrets and revelations at the end were shocking. I wasn’t expecting that ending. I learned a few new things from this book too. This is a kind of book where you cannot decide who is good and who is not good. The characters are so mysterious.

May and June are twin sisters. May is a kind of reserved person while June is lively. June disappears on the same date when their mother disappeared and this was no coincidence as June has dropped clues for May to find her. Their mother disappeared when she was nineteen and since then they did not hear anything from her. June is curious so she wants to dig into buried family mystery and find out about her mom. Will May be unveil the mystery of June’s disappearance?

The author has shared past and present perspectives. The revelation at the end was shocking. I liked the character of grandmother. The book is slow build but it will keep you hooked till the end.

Thanks to the Author, Publisher and Netgalley.

This original thriller kept my attention and I enjoyed the twists thrown in. I have always been intrigued by twins so I always read whatever I can when I find them.

ORIGINAL TWIN by Paula Gleeson kept me up well into the night. I could not put this book down.

One year after May’s twin sister, June disappeared, May goes on a quest to find out exactly what happened to her. Did she run from something, run towards something or did she meet a horrific end? When May finds an old newspaper clipping, she learns that her mother also disappeared for three weeks when she was 19. No one ever told her the story. But when her mother died three years ago, her Aunt Sue moved in to help raise the girls. But still, no mention was ever made of her mother’s disappearance.

After her discovery of the article, May begins to follow the clues left behind by June, reminiscent of their childhood games. May, always the quiet, thoughtful, introverted, one pieces together the clues that June, the outgoing, boisterous one left behind, following a path of her sisters’s research that she didn’t even realize she was conducting. The ending was a very surprising, twisty shock!

I really enjoyed the author’s writing style as I felt it led to a smooth and entertaining read with different points of view. I could feel myself sneaking around dark corners and meeting people that June had already found and gained information from. Miss Gleason will be a writer to watch, and I will certainly have her on my budding new author list.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for this ARC opportunity. All opinions are my own and given voluntarily.

Thank you Thomas & Mercer for the gifted copy in exchange for my honest review.

Unfortunately this was a case of "this one just wasn't for me." I decided to DNF about 20% in. I won't say too much more than that, but the only consumer site I will review this on is NetGalley, as I don't think it's fair to give ratings to books I did not finish.

𝑶𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝑻𝒘𝒊𝒏 𝒃𝒚 𝑷𝒂𝒖𝒍𝒂 𝑮𝒍𝒆𝒆𝒔𝒐𝒏

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
5/5

❗️I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily❗️

That ending 🤯 I did not see that coming! This was such a great read, I was instantly hooked from the beginning. I love that it was told on dual pov, as well as dual timelines, it gave so much depth to the story. There was so many times I thought I knew exactly what was happening, and then the end of the story came, and wow was I wrong!

𝐵𝐿𝑈𝑅𝐵:

In this haunting tale about the bonds between sisters, one young woman must follow the invisible thread that connects her to her missing twin before someone else can sever it for good.
Twin sisters May and June couldn’t be more different. May is quiet, self-conscious, withdrawn; June is boisterous, beautiful, magnetic…and missing.
It’s been a year since June disappeared, a year of May waiting for her to turn up with an explanation of where she’s been and why she left. But with the discovery of an old newspaper article comes a secret: their mother once vanished, too, on the same date when she was nineteen years old.
Just like June.
This was no coincidence. June was investigating this buried family mystery, and she left May a series of clues to pick up where she left off. Now, if May wants to find June, she’ll have to retrace her footsteps through their mother’s past.
The more answers she digs up, the more questions May has. And the biggest one of all: When her sister’s trail of breadcrumbs runs out, what or who will she find?

absolutely loved it. the pacing was impeccable for me and I felt like the reveals and twists were well timed and beautifully earned. really excited about seeing what Paula Gleeson does next!

Thank you Netgalley & Thomas&Mercer Publishing for an eARC ♥️

This crossover thriller seizes you by the throat and refuses to let go, pulling you into a vortex of psychological suspense that will leave you breathless. Like a razor-sharp puzzle, it pieces together a haunting narrative of twin sisters May and June, bound together by an unsettling family legacy. June's vanishing act sets off a chain reaction of revelations, forcing May to confront the shadows of their shared past.

As May follows the trail of breadcrumbs, the truth taunts her like a ghostly whisper, tantalizingly out of reach. Every twist and turn razes the landscape of what you think you know, expertly crafted to keep you guessing until the very last page. Paula Gleeson’s masterful storytelling weaves a complex web of relationships, secrets, and lies, with a pace that accelerates like a runaway train.

“Original twin “ is a ticking time bomb of psychological suspense, primed to detonate a shocking finale that will leave you reeling. The writing is evocative and atmospheric, painting a vivid picture of the characters' dark and troubled world.

This is a decent little mystery that I quite enjoyed. May and June are twin sisters. June has gone missing now for a year, and her disappearance oddly mirrors the same thing that happened to their mother many years ago as a teenager. May sets out to find her sister and along the way she learns more details about her mother's disappearance as well.

May's chapters are broken up by flashbacks of her mother's teenage life, slowly feeding you clues as to what really happened. There are also letters that June has written to her mother while she's missing, also giving you clues into both disappearances. I admit I didn't like June. The reader's only exposure to her is through these letters and she's very immature. Thought the letters are written in casual slang and conversation, I couldn't sympathize with her though we're told she's the stronger and bolder twin. May is a much more likable character.

There were plenty of twists and turns, right up to the last page, to keep you guessing as to what really happened to June and to her mother as well. Gleeson does a good job of keeping things hazy and keeping you anxiously reading for the next clue. Overall, it's a great debut novel and a decent mystery.

I had the immense pleasure of getting a chance to read this before publication, and it absolutely didn't disappoint! Original Twin is a strong, refreshing thriller reflecting deep-seated family issues and trauma, how people are perceived vs. how they see themselves, and the genesis of violence! I loved, loved the multiple timelines converging, the way Paula uses a mix of prose and epistolary to unravel a mystery that kept me on the edge of my seat, and the whole 'those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it' element that hinges through the plot. May, June and Diana are fantastic characters to explore this thriller and all of its remarkable twists at turns, and Paula's ability to make the reader think they've figured it right before pulling the rug out from underneath them in such a brilliant way really was exciting!

A phenomenal read for 2024!

Wow! “Original Twin,” is the debut novel of Australian writer, Paula Gleeson, and it’s a whip-smart ‘who-dun-it’ of the first order that kept me entranced throughout.

Fraternal female Gemini twins, May and June, are like ink and acid. The first is brunette; born the last day of May; and is pleasantly plump, introverted and a mommy’s girl. Contrastingly, June, who was born during the early hours of the sixth month, is blonde, angular and gregarious; yet frustrated at home, hates her mother, and is a frequent runaway.

When the twins are college-aged, their mother has been deceased for several years, but June has been missing over a year. For closure, the family is ready to declare her dead and hold an empty coffin funeral so that they can move forward.

May’s twin instincts don’t believe for a minute that June is dead—especially after obscure treasure hunting clues start appearing. To what are they insinuating? Who crafted them and when, why?

As May begins deciphering the hidden messages that lead to further concealed hints, her gut knows that June is behind this caper—she’s the goose leading the chase! But what exactly is it that they’re pursuing? Or could they be the ones in danger?

JoyReaderGirl1 graciously thanks NetGalley, Author Paula Gleeson, and Publisher Thomas and Mercer for this advanced reader’s copy (ARC) for review.

Sadly, this one wasn't for me! I had a hard time connecting with the writing style, and thus the characters.

Still, thankful to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc!

I dove right into this book and was excited to hear it was this Author’s debut novel.
We are introduced to May, a quiet, shy character at the funeral for her twin sister, June. June, has been missing for a year and presumed dead by everyone , except May so the family decides to hold a funeral. While looking through bedrooms during the funeral May finds an old newspaper article about their late mother, Diana. The article talks about how her mother went missing for a year when she was in college…. On the exact same day June goes missing! And so it begins …May knows there is more to this story and is on a mission to find out the truth about everything.

I go back and forth about my thoughts on this book and many of the situations you encounter throughout, but I can’t speak on them too much because I don’t want to give anything away. So I am going to summarize my thoughts.

This book had a lot of family drama and I was annoyed at the family that was around (Dad, Aunt, Grandmother) who simply wouldn’t help May or answer any of her questions. I did enjoy some of the side characters along the way, especially Sam, the detective.

All in all I found myself wanting to keep reading, but a lot of the events throughout and ultimately the answers to the questions about Diana and June to be unrealistic. There were a lot of plot holes and loose ends I wanted more information on. I saw where the author was going and there were a lot of interesting plots thrown in, but it didn’t all wrap up for me.

Being a debut novel I will definitely be reading more from this author !
3.5

Thank you to the Author, Netgalley, and Thomas & Mercer for the ARC of this book!

i wasn't the biggest fan of this. the change from first person pov to third person pov kept giving me whiplash, and it kinda felt all over the place.

I’m sorry to say that this was actually painful to get through. The writing was disjointed and incredibly choppy. The characters did not seem authentic or realistic at all and the twists were absolutely absurd. Apparently, my opinion is the minority here but I will not be recommending this one.

Gleeson’s debut is a fast paced, page turner. With plenty of suspects and jumps in the timelines/POV’s this is an engaging mystery that’ll have you coming up with theory after theory as you try to work through this dangerous puzzle with May.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC in return of my honest opinion.

Lots of drama in this one! Twins, paternity issues, disappearing women, specific dates that may or may not have a greater meaning, newspaper clippings. It was very fast paced and an easy read. I did feel like the ending left some loose threads I would have thought would have been wrapped up. Nothing major but there were a lot of details leading to the conclusion and then it felt like it just ended kind of abruptly.

I loved following along the journey of a sister looking for her missing twin... a twin who disappeared the same way their mother did before she turned up with no memory of what happened. The way it hops between the current timeline and their mother's past had me flipping pages SO FAST. And some of these twists and revelations had me in SHOCK. I can't wait to see what Gleeson comes out with next!