This was a really obscure book written as two cross over novellas that start at opposite ends. It was just kinda ok for me. The second book was better than the first but I felt like I didn't really know what was what all the way through and nothing made much sense until the end and even then I was still kinda wrong footed. I think maybe the audio the right media for this book and I am willing to try a printed copy because I think I get what the book was trying to accomplish and the audio didn't translate well. The narrator was great, its was purely the subject.

3 stars

The two halves of the book are gripping, it got me very curious to know what was going on.

The LA story was more predictable, but still it was fun to read and see it unravel. It ended kind of abruptly, I'd like it more if we got to see what would happen next. I enjoyed the UK story more, maybe because it comes first in the audiobook and it was more mysterious.

The audiobook is good, the narrator did a great job.

The first part of the story was really interesting, I did like the mystery surrounding it and the characters were good but I did find myself having a hard time getting into the second story. Once I was able to really get into the story I did predict the final twist. I really wanted to like this one more.

I appreciate that the two stories are connected and I love the concept of like 2 books in one. I do think the book could have been a bit shorter since I was a little bored in some spots.

Overall it was an interesting concept but not my favorite execution.

The audiobook was great, narrator did a great job.

I’ve had this book on my mind for a while just due to the allure of the cover; I was thrilled to get an arc audiobook version!

The concept of this book was so fun - although listening to it rather than physically being able to flip the book over was a little different. There were also different narrators for each half; I really enjoyed the narrator for the first half of the story.

It was an intriguing idea to seemingly have two different halves somehow reflect and relate to one another. But the end of the story, I had some questions and it seemed to wrap up pretty quickly.

I wish it had been a bit longer as I wanted to know more about the namesake of the book; its history and lore. I also felt like I only had a surface level knowledge about a handful of characters and wanted to know a bit more.

Overall, it was a fun idea with some world building that was very visual in my minds eye.

Thank you so much to the author, Gareth Rubin, Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for this arc audiobook of The Turnglass!

Two mysteries, separated by decades but linked by a family’s dark secrets, unfold in this novel of suspense. First, a doctor investigates a possible poisoning on a remote island in 1880s England. Then, in 1930s California, a hidden history behind the story is revealed by a cryptic double-sided journal and novel.

This book is fascinating and compelling (don’t start reading it before bed). It’s fun to read and kept me guessing.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

In The Turnglass by Gareth Rubin, we have a story told as a tete-beche. It is two stories told head to tail as one story ends, the book needs to be flipped around and read back to front for the second story. Here, the first story is set in the 1880s in England. It is set on the island of Rey off the Essex coast. There is one house on the island, Turnglass House. A young doctor, Simeon Lee, has been called to the house to look after his cousin, Parson Oliver Hawes who is dying. He points the finger at his sister-in-law, who lives within the house, imprisoned in a glass room for killing Oliver's brother. Oliver keeps a journal and the journal is also a tete-beche and contains two very different stories about what is happening in Turnglass house.

The other story is set in 1930s California. Author Oliver Tooke is found dead in his writing cottage on the family property called Turnglass house. Oliver's friend Ken had been staying in the house, and he does not believe Oliver killed himself and he and Oliver's sister begin to investigate. Ken is looking for clues in Oliver's final book, a tete-beche novel about a young doctor named Simeon Lee.

So, is the tete-beche a gimmick? Or a clever literary device? I found the stories fascinating and enjoyed this read. Were we reading Oliver's novel when we begin the story in England? I listened to the advance audio of this story and I need to thank #netgalley and Dreamscape Media for my advance audio copy of this story. I thought the audio narration by Joe Eyre and George Greenland was excellent. I give this story 4 stars.