Publishers Weekly
★ 07/11/2022
Leah and Megan, the identical twin sisters at the center of British author Bonner’s masterfully orchestrated debut, have been estranged for five years, ever since Leah stole Megan’s idea for a book about their relationship, added some scandalous revelations they’d supposedly agreed not to disclose, and became a best-selling London celebrity author. Management consultant Megan has tamped down her anger and resentment toward Leah, making peace with her relatively pedestrian life with her husband, Chris, in the country town of Guildford. Then Megan discovers a shot of a lingerie-clad Leah on Chris’s phone and sets off to confront her. The ensuing argument turns deadly—but which twin survives? Thanks to the author’s ingeniously twisty plot—including inspired use of Britain’s Covid lockdown—and a trio of unreliable narrators (the twins plus a mysterious man in the middle), readers won’t know the answer until the surprising and karmically satisfying final pages. Also credit Bonner with creating more complex and generally convincing characters than typical for similarly plot-propelled psychological thrillers. This author is one to keep an eye on. (Sept.)
From the Publisher
"Her Perfect Twin is . . . perfect. Congratulations, Sarah Bonner! You deserve a standing ovation. A stunning, rare gem in the pool of debut novels."—MysteryandSuspense.com
“Airtight, cat-and-mouse plotting with twists that will draw Gone Girl comparisons, this is a compulsively bingeable debut thriller.”—Booklist
“[A] masterfully orchestrated debut… Thanks to the author’s ingeniously twisty plot…readers won’t know the answer until the surprising and karmically satisfying final pages. This author is one to keep an eye on.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"The debut novel from author Sarah Bonner is great! It’s a psychological, twisty tale, full of sex, murder, deception and nothing is as it seems. With so many twists and turns, you’ll need a scorecard. If Sarah Bonner keeps writing novels like this, she will be a force in the future."—RedCarpetCrash.com
"Sarah Bonner’s debut novel made my jaw drop. There are so many twists in this story, I never knew what was coming next. You won’t want to miss this one!"—Samantha Downing, New York Times bestselling author of My Lovely Wife
"A deliciously sticky web of a tale that snared me from the very first page and didn't let me go until the shocking end."—C. L. Pattison, author of The Housemate
"Intense, sharp, and surprising. Everything I love in a thriller."—Jo Jakeman, author of Safe House
"A terrifyingly vivid psychological thriller—paranoid, claustrophobic and captivating."—Janice Hallett, bestselling author of The Appeal
"I was gripped by this unpredictable rollercoaster of a novel! Full of conniving characters, clever twists, and high stakes. It had me constantly wondering what the characters were going to try next and who was going to prevail."—Helen Cooper, author of The Downstairs Neighbour
“Be prepared to stay up all night with this twisty, addictive read. Her Perfect Twin is surprising, compelling, and furiously paced - the perfect can't-put-it-down, edge of your seat thriller. Just when I thought I had it figured out, my jaw would drop all over again.”—Laurie Elizabeth Flynn, author of The Girls Are All So Nice Here
"Sarah Bonner has created a perfect storm of sly revenge and rivalry, in her addictive and disturbing debut Her Perfect Twin."—LV Matthews, author of The Prank
“Unique, gripping and packed with devious characters, this uber-twisty thriller pulls the rug on the reader so many times!”—Allie Reynolds, author of Shiver
"More deliciously twisty than Gone Girl . . . Dark and compelling, Her Perfect Twin is the perfect thriller. Sharp as a knife and so twisty, it hooked me from the very first page."—Vikki Patis, author of In The Dark
“Brilliantly twisty and thoroughly entertaining—an extremely impressive debut.”—T. M. Logan, bestselling author of The Holiday
"Just when you thinks authors have written about every type of murder and covered every storyline, along comes a book that proves you wrong.” —CrimeSquad
Kirkus Reviews
2022-07-27
An identical twin's obsession turns deadly.
When Megan discovers scandalous photos of Leah, her estranged twin sister, on her husband's phone, she immediately goes searching for answers, using Leah's popular Instagram feed to find her in their beloved former childhood cabin. They've hardly finished their first conversation in years before Megan impulsively murders Leah in cold blood. Leaving her body in a freezer, Megan immediately decides to take on her sister's identity despite Leah's fame and outgoing personality, which Megan does not share. Leah's friends seem wary of her newly tamed nature but do not suspect much of anything, and before Megan is forced to impersonate her sister in a more public fashion, Covid leaves England in lockdown, and Megan is stuck at home with her psychopathic, cheating husband. The point of view begins to alternate between Megan and her husband, Chris, who admits right away that he only ever married Megan to get a hold of Leah's fortune, and once he reveals he knows what Megan did, he begins to keep her prisoner until she's able to retrieve all of her sister's money. Chris is controlling and jealous of Megan (despite not loving her at all) as well as a violent and self-described con man, and he spent much of his adult life before marrying Megan as an escort who stole from his rich female clients. He is not only immediately unlikable, he is not very well developed, coming off more like a clichéd villain than a real person. The same can be said for Leah, whose only goal in life seems to have been taking things away from Megan—even things she didn't really want, like Chris. The fact that Megan murdered Leah over a man she was terrified of and didn't want to be with anymore doesn't totally make sense, nor does the immediacy with which she gets over the murder itself. She spends most of the book preoccupied with a romantic interest named Tom and doesn't give much thought to killing her own twin. Leah's grotesque motivations are never very clear, and Megan gets away with things far too easily to be believable.
An interesting idea for a story taking place during Covid lockdowns, but it falls flat.
