Book Review – The Girl in the Mirror by Rose Carlyle

I finished reading this thriller a few days ago, and I’m still thinking about it! The story surrounds Summer and Iris: mirror twins born to a wealthy father. Mirror twins are not identical, but rather one twin is the mirror image of the other. In this case Summer is the “original” twin with her heart and other organs on the correct side of her body. Iris’ heart and organs are on the incorrect side. Iris has always perceived herself as being the lesser of the two twins. Summer was the beauty of the family and was anatomically correct. Iris was always just the other one. She even felt her name was an afterthought.

The twin’s father died having left seven children born from several women. In his will, he left $100 million to the first Grandchild born inside a legal marriage. There were no other sums of money left to anyone else. Summer and Iris are the oldest of the seven children and it is assumed that one of them would produce the heir to the fortune. What this book clearly illustrates is what some are capable of doing for the sake of money.

Iris is recently separated from her husband when she is called to Thailand to help Summer and her husband Adam. Adam’s child is very ill in hospital and they need to get their yacht to the Seychelles. So Summer and Iris set sail for the journey but only Iris makes it to the Seychelles. Having always been envious of Summer’s lifestyle, Iris assumes Summer’s identity – after all, she’ll have a much better chance of producing the heir as Adam’s wife and who wouldn’t want this lifestyle anyway? How far she carries this charade is thrilling.

This book is captivating right from the beginning and I enjoyed every moment of reading it. The characters are extremely well developed. For much of the book, I did not like the characters: however, there were moments that I felt my opinion changing. The concept of this “race to produce an heir” is mind-boggling and made me feel like characters were simply selling their souls to the devil. I kept thinking about the twisted man who put his family in this position.

I listened to the audiobook version of the book borrowed from my local library which was narrated by Holly Robinson. While I enjoyed her voice for the female characters, I was disappointed by her version of Adam which I found distracting. This was likely because she was trying to provide a male voice with a French or Seychellois Creole accent which would be a stretch for almost anyone. I listened to the book at my usual 1.25x and found this to be the perfect speed for listening.

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good thriller.

My rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️/5.