I'll Be You: A Novel

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.

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.

Once close, identical twin sisters Elli and Sam have grown apart. Sam is recovering from addiction while Elli has become a wealthy housewife with a daughter. When Elli goes away, their parents contact Sam for help with 2 year old Charlotte, Elli's daughter. Sam is surprised, as she didn't know about the child. Sam begins caring for Charlotte, but when Elli doesn't return, Sam begins searching for her.
Sam will realize the damage she has done to Elli's life, but she is surprised at how deeply troubled Elli is. Sam realizes that Elli has gone to a mysterious spa, yet no one will admit that Elli is there. The sisters used to trade places when they were younger, and no one could tell them apart, and Sam realizes that she may have to once again take on Elli's identity to save her.
This was an interesting thriller which examines the bonds of family and what happens when someone pulls strings to control you.

Secrets, lies, bad decisions, and unbelievable surprises - what else could go on between the identical twins Sam and Ellie.

Sam and Ellie were childhood movie stars, but even though identical, they were completely different. Sam loved being a child star, but Ellie didn't.

As adults Ellie was the responsible one and Sam was still struggling and recovering from drug and alcohol abuse.

The day Sam got a phone call from her parents to come home and help them watch Ellie’s daughter Charlotte, the secrets and surprises unravel. When did Ellie have a child?

I’LL BE YOU takes the reader back and forth in time explaining the lives of the twins as children and present day. Be aware that alcoholism, cults, control, abuse, and manipulation are part of this book.

I enjoyed the present-day chapters the best, but the background chapters were needed to understand present day.

I also went back and forth with liking the book and then not liking it. As the surprises became revealed, I leaned more toward liking it, but still wavered until the end even though it was a creative story line.

This book is filled with family drama along with some unlawful and tense situations and decisions.

The ending is very tense, and the cult business was frightening and upsetting. 4/5

This book was given to me by the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.

The plot featuring twins is what captured my attention since we will soon be welcoming a set to the family. Twins are a fascinating subject—even more so when they are identical. Even though identical twins are sometimes hard to tell apart, each one has their own distinct personality that shines through as they grow into adulthood.

In this story, twins Sam and Elli shared many things, but as they hit puberty, the differences began to emerge. When they are “discovered” by a Hollywood agent, Sam is excited to be a part of the acting world, while Elli is reluctant to be in the spotlight.

I felt like the story merged a bit of Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen with a star like Lyndsey Lohan. The glare of the spotlight, the pressure to perform and the drug scene all played a part in ending their career as twins and eventually becoming estranged from each other.

When Elli disappears, she leaves Sam with some disturbing clues and a lot of questions. Sam is determined to find out what is going on with her sister and in order to find her, she decides to be her. The lengths each sister goes in order to protect each other proves just how strong with twin bond can be when tested.

Besides the Hollywood scene, California is also known for its offbeat religions and cult communities, which is another part of the plot.

I enjoyed the book and liked the ending, but some readers may feel everything was too neatly wrapped up. This is a clean story and the drug use is not dealt with in detail.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Random House for allowing me to read an advance copy. I am happy to give my honest review.

Title: I'll Be You
Author: Janelle Brown
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: Five
Review:
"I'll Be You" by Janelle Brown

My Assessment:

'I'll Be You' was a long read, but a good one in how these identical twins Elli and Sam were former childhood TVstars who now are adults. However, even though they were identical twins, they were pretty different. We find Sam is recovering from drugs and alcohol, and Elli has divorced her husband and supposedly adopted a daughter. However, it seems like Elli is going through something but seeking help in the wrong place...a cult. Sam has been called home to help her mother, who is now taking care of Elli's child...Charlotte. What was weird about this? Sam had no dealing with children. Even though Sam has had her problems with alcohol is being asked to come home and help with this child. The big question is, where is Elli, and why is she not there taking care of her child. It wasn't like Ellie to abandon this child for a never-ending spa retreat. There will be a lot going on with these two sisters, so the reader will have to keep up with the problems the mom added to this story. Both of these sisters had issues, but it seems like just one was trying to work on theirs while the other just kept making all kinds of wrong decisions.

As the story continues, there will be a lot of twists and turns as Sam makes it her goal to find her sister as it seems like her parents are not concerned about this issue. The story starts as they are young kids who started as stars, and what an intense and intriguing read the reader will be given as we see what they go through going back and forth in time, explaining the lives of the children to the present day now that they are adults.

Be ready for a little bit of it all from 'alcoholism, kidnapping, family drama, cults, control abuse, manipulation, the twins switching places, and unfailing love of these twin sisters' will show its hand in this read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an honest review.