goldistanbul

** spoiler alert ** This book was definitely not what I expected, though I guess I should have thought of something that would have an interesting and different plot twist from the same author as the Time Traveler's Wife. Overall, I enjoyed this book; it kept me guessing. About a quarter of the way into the book, I had a guess of what would happen and how the book could possibly end, and I was wrong; well, not entirely. So the main plot of this book was that two (mirror) twin girls, Julia and Valentina, inherited a flat in London from their mother's dead twin, with the stipulation that their parents were never to step foot in the apartment, and that they had to live there for a year before they could sell it. So, they packed up and left Chicago, USA for London, England. Downstairs was their aunt's old boyfriend Robert, and I had the guess that one of them was going to fall in love with him, since the reason their aunt (Elspeth) left the apartment to them was due to an "experiment." The reason the parents were not allowed to step into the apartment was because of some big dark secret between the two adult twins, the reason for their separation and living in totally separate countries. Although they alluded to the fact that the reason they split was that Edie, Julia and Valentina's mother, stole Elspeth's fiance and ran off to America - which ended up partly being true, but in a totally unexpected way that is finally revealed near the end of the book. Not to mention in the midst of this, Elspeth becomes a ghost; we get to see her point of view and hear her thoughts as she observes the girls, expands her powers, and eventually becomes possessive of the man she loved in life and can no longer have (since she is dead) as he falls for Valentina. However, things take an unexpected turn, and the ending is nothing that I would have been able to predict in a million years. Though I do have to mention about the younger twins: in the beginning, they were so close that they were almost the same person - anatomically, they were the mirror images of each other (because they were "mirror twins"). However, since the start, I saw the dissension in the ranks as Valentina wanted more freedom from her older (by six minutes) overbearing and protective sister...though I didn't know how far it would go - if they would split so entirely that they would repeat the actions of their mother. Which leads to the question of why Elspeth left them the flat to begin with: was it because she wanted to see if the same thing happened to the two girls as happened between their mother and aunt; was it all a test? Or was it something more? Since she had all of her personal papers removed, it wasn't like she invited them there to find out the secrets of her past; that's the opposite of what she wanted. Maybe she knew what would happen all along, and had it planned out since the beginning. That's a little far-fetched, but possible. If either was the "experiment," then technically they both worked, but ended differently than she probably hoped. Anyway, as to the overall plot, I think I enjoyed it a lot better than the Time Traveler's Wife, which I also enjoyed. I think the main thing was that it was a lot easier to follow because it went in a sequential chronological order. Although there were some stretches, the book was hard to put down and I found myself staying up late into the night reading for longer periods that I would have thought. One other point I would like to make is about the point of view of the narrator, which changed constantly, sometimes even from sentence to sentence or paragraph to paragraph. I actually like that style of writing - third person omniscient - because you got to see what the other character was thinking right away instead of having to wait for a break in the plot to switch POVs and have to backtrack a little to fully understand both sides. This also kept me on my toes to make sure that I didn't slack off when reading. In conclusion, the book was a good read. Surprising, but good. Then again, I'm partial to the supernatural and the sometimes unbelievable books that keep you guessing as you keep turning the pages. Rating: 3 or 3.5 stars.

2023-06-09 18:38