Twin sisters Iris and Summer are startlingly alike, but beyond what the eye can see lies a darkness that sets them apart.
Rating: 4/5
Triggers: Rape, Strong Sexual Scenes
Twin sisters Iris and Summer are startlingly alike, but beyond what the eye can see lies a darkness that sets them apart. Cynical and insecure, Iris has long been envious of Summer’s seemingly never-ending good fortune, including her perfect husband Adam.
Called to Thailand to help her sister sail the family yacht to the Seychelles, Iris nurtures her own secret hopes for what might happen on the journey. But when she unexpectedly finds herself alone in the middle of the Indian Ocean, everything changes. When she makes it to land, Iris allows herself to be swept up by Adam, who assumes that she is Summer.
Iris recklessly goes along with his mistake. Not only does she finally have the golden life she’s always envied, with her sister gone, she’s one step closer to the hundred-million-dollar inheritance left by her manipulative father. All Iris has to do is be the first of his seven children to produce an heir.
Iris’s “new” life lurches between glamorous dream and paranoid nightmare. On the edge of being exposed, how far will she go to ensure no one discovers the truth?
And just what did happen to Summer on the yacht?
Only Iris knows . . .
I finished this late at night and even after sleeping, I couldn’t help by feeling dirty after reading this book. I felt violated and completely unnerved. This book took a much different route than I expected.
I couldn’t help by feeling dirty after reading this book. I felt violated and completely unnerved.
I found this book completely addictive, I couldn’t put it down. I really only put it down to sleep. I read it within only two days. Even though I was captivated by the book, I didn’t enjoy everything about it, but I was entirely invested in knowing how things would play out. I even completely zoned out while reading it, my friend had to yell at me to get my attention. Whoops! Sorry!
I had seen other reviewers saying the narrator was an unlikable character. I could definitely see why, but I didn’t find her that unlikable. Especially not compared to pretty much the rest of her family. The rest of her family basically makes her look like a saint. Well except for her brother, he was the only decent person in the lot. Though, I will say Iris was in fact selfish and really only cared about the money from her father’s will. But once you got to know her and what she went through, it was a little more understandable why she was that way. Iris was basically the unexpected and unwanted twin.
“Nice is dumb.”
This was the mantra Iris’ father lived by. And this idea ultimately is what destroyed their family. I mean the whole premise of this book is Iris’ father passes away and his will states the $100 million dollars he possessed will only go to the child of his to first produce a legitimate heir in marriage, meaning no “bastard” children. Plus they’re not allowed to share the money with anyone else in the family. Wow, father of the year? Who does this! Way to turn your family against each other in the race to see who has a baby first. Iris was definitely gung ho for the race, she wanted that money.
The book definitely has a big plot twist about 30 pages to the end and I’ll admit I did see it coming. But not the entirety of it. By that I mean I expected this particular twist to occur, but not in the way it happened. Neither did I expect what happened after. This twist really changed my perspective of the book and of what I thought I knew. Let’s just say my jaw dropped what I realized what just happened. Honestly, maybe I should have seen it coming, but I didn’t, I found the twist in its entirety shocking for me.
This twist really changed my perspective of the book and of what I thought I knew. Let’s just say my jaw dropped what I realized what just happened.
I can definitely see this is not going to be a book for everyone. As I mentioned, after finishing I felt violated and dirty. There were a number of questionable and uncomfortable scenes to read. Despite these scenes, I found the book addictive and an interesting read. I didn’t love it though. And saying I enjoyed this honestly, just sounds wrong too, but I did like this book in the fact I was completely captivated by its story and couldn’t put it down. I think if you’re not swayed by the triggers I listed then I highly suggest picking this one up! I’d love to hear your thoughts!!
I can definitely see this is not going to be a book for everyone. As I mentioned, after finishing I felt violated and dirty.
And if you have read this one and enjoyed it, I strongly suggest reading Mimicry, which also follows a set of twins! I read Mimicry before this one and there were definitely parts that reminded me of it during The Girl in the Mirror! You can find my review of Mimicry here!
Keep reading for more of my thoughts on The Girl in the Mirror!
One thing I just couldn’t wrap my head around was how obsessed Iris’ stepmother, Francine was about the money. She was even worse than Iris. She pimped her own daughter out to her cousin, not a blood-related cousin, but still! Barf! Basically forcing them to have sex. Plus, they did all this borderline illegally. As the will states the child had to be born in marriage so Francine married her daughter off at the first chance she got. On the daughter’s 16th birthday! As it was legal in New Zealand at that age if there is parental consent. That’s just so messed up! Francine was definitely worse than Iris over this whole will.
Speaking of who’s the worst in this messed up family! Even worse than Francine, I’d say is Summer, Iris’ twin. I honestly thought she was so much worse. The fact that she basically bullied and humiliated Iris at any chance she got proved that! Except Summer made it appear she was all nice and perfect. “I don’t want the money.” Bullshit. I expected Summar wasn’t dead, but I didn’t expect such a through plan of using Iris to have a baby.
Summer’s whole plan once it was explained didn’t seem far fetched to me. Their father had died when they were still teens. Summar figured out she couldn’t have children so she came up with a plan over the years on how to use Iris “the twin who stole her womb.”
One thing completely unrelated that bothered me was the over detailed boat and sailing descriptions. Plus the amount of times they had to use the boats name. Especially in the beginning of the book when Summer was still “alive” it was like every other word was the boat’s name. Like okay, we get it, Iris. You’re obsessed with sailing and the boat. Move on!