Twin fun with a twist. I enjoyed it to the end. ( )

Just because they are identical twins doesn't mean they have identical lives or that they have separate secrets. Sam and Elli are identical twins who spent their years from childhood to teens, in the theater as actresses. Now they are grown, and they have also grown apart. Elli has a husband and a career as a florist, living an upper-middle-class life. Sam hasn't fared as well. She is in a spiral of addiction that's taking a downhill slide.... but she is now one year sober. It's a year in which she hasn’t spoken with Elli. Then she gets a call from their parents...saying that Elli has gone away to some type of spa and are now asking Sam to help them with the little girl Elli adopted. When Sam arrives, she finds everything slightly topsy-turvy. Elli is nowhere to be found... their mother is in denial...and to add to all the turmoil, Sam finds some worrying paperwork at Elli’s house. Just exactly what is this organization that Elli’s been giving large sums of money to? I have never read anything by this author, but she has done a fantastic job of weaving together all these loose strands into a solid work of intrigue and suspense that is almost impossible to put down. Sam is the voice in the first part of the story, which alternates between the present and the twins’ childhood days of fame in the past. Elli gives voice the second part, and while their accounts sound very similar, the author explores their individual psychologies...their very different interests...needs...motivations, as well as their feelings about their early careers. The only thing I really thought was a bit hard to follow and occasionally got bogged down was the twins’ backstory...and that is the only reason that it received 4.5 stars instead of 5. I read it in a day because it became an imperative to find out how it would all end. ( )

Family dynamics, complex moral challenges, and two individuals inseparably bonded from birth.

Ellie (Eleanor) and Samantha (Sam) were identical twins. People looked at them -- a lot -- just because they were twins. Whether the result of environment or circumstances, each had her own personality; yet as twins, they were never one; one was the other and the other was the first. They were an important commodity, and soon the Logan twins were cast as the star/stars of a TV series, two girls playing one part as if to mirror their own existence. Unfortunately, twins, while valuable as children, stop being appealing as grown-ups.
The story is told in a first-person narrative by Sam. She shares her present and her past with readers, going back and forth in time. Sam shares the hang-ups, problems, and general annoyances thrust upon her by society simply because of the unique quality of her birth. Sam is thirty-two years old, sleeps on a futon, and is still crawling her way back after losing most everything. She still has her looks, some interesting tattoos, a generous AA sponsor, and employment at a trendy café popular on social media. She finds that her twin Ellie is getting a divorce and is incommunicado. Their parents are taking care of Charlotte. Who?? Charlotte is Sam’ niece, two years old, adopted by Ellie. It would be easy to leave the problem of Charlotte for her parents to solve, but Sam cannot abandon her sister. Ellie has gone to an exclusive retreat spa in Ojai, GenFem, but this turns out to be much more than just a week at an expensive women’s resort. There are problems with GenFem, very big problems, and her sister is in the middle of them.
The story unfolds at a leisure pace with lots of little clues sprinkled throughout the narrative like the crumbs in a fairy tale; they lead down a path, but the path does not go where Sam thought it would take her. The story grows in intensity, and Sam discovers the unthinkable. She has to decide what to do next, and that is a decision that changes everything and everyone.
I received a review copy of “I'll Be You” from Janelle Brown and Random House Publishing Group. It is about family dynamics, complex moral challenges, control, and two individuals inseparably bonded from birth.
“I'll Be You” is now available in print, as an e-book, and on audio from independent bookstores, online booksellers, retail stores, public libraries and anywhere you get your books. ( )

A fascinating page-turner. Keeps you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. Will Sam find Elli? Where did Charlotte come from? Will these formerly inseparable twins find their way back to each other? Well done. Highly recommend. ( )

Elli and Samantha Logan are twins. When they were 9 years old, they were discovered and became actresses for a time. They are now 32 years old. Elli was married, divorced, and acquired a child, Charlotte. Samantha spent her time with alcohol and drugs and recovery. Elli has not returned from a visit to a GenFem spa. During their life beginning at 9 years old, they would switch places which caused them both problems. Samantha investigates to locate and return her sister. ( )