FIRST BORN

SYNOPSIS

Molly lives a quiet, contained life in London. Naturally risk averse, she gains comfort from security and structure. Every day the same.

Her identical twin Katie is her exact opposite: gregarious and spontaneous. They used to be inseparable, until Katie moved to New York a year ago. Molly still speaks to her daily without fail.

But when Molly learns that Katie has died suddenly in New York, she is thrown into unfamiliar territory. Katie is part of her DNA. As terrifying as it is, she must go there and find out what happened. As she tracks her twin's last movements, cracks begin to emerge. Nothing is what it seems. And a web of deceit is closing around her.

Title: First Born

Author: Will Dean

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Publication date: April 14, 2022

REVIEW

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

“I am half a person. The darkest half”

As a twin myself (although not identical), I always find intriguing to read stories about twins, as they usually make me realize how well adjusted we are and how boring our lives are compared to fictional twins (not murderous tendencies here…YET) 😅

Molly and Katie (KT) are identical twins but complete opposites. KT is outgoing, always willing to take risks, while Molly is an introvert, a bit neurotic and not willing to go out of her comfort zone. She’s always evaluating the ways in which one could die and ready in case of any eventuality. When Molly receives a phone call from her parents while visiting her sister in NYC, informing her that KT has been murdered, she find the strength to travel over there to find out what happened to her. After all, no one knew KT as well as she did.

The book could be divided in two clear halves. First one is more of a character study on Molly. Although it has a slower pace, I enjoyed it the most. Molly can come as a bit abrasive and all her inner monologue can be a bit too much sometimes, making the reader uncomfortable. At the same time I found so interesting to see how she discovered NYC for the first time while dealing with her neuroses and all the dangers there. Then, the first twist came along and I was like…what? Wait a minute, what did just happen?

The second half was like a rollercoaster and, in my opinion, it took a step too far into implausibility. Was it entertaining? For sure it was, but you had to suspend disbelief too much for my taste. The actual ending left me with several questions and the moment I finished it I had to write to my friend Kim to ask if I had missed something. After some discussion I don’t think they could really be answered. I know this all sounds a bit cryptic, but it’s the only way to talk about this without spoilers.

After a really good first half I literally devoured, the second one went a bit OTT. Will Dean can really weave an intriguing story so I’m excited to finally get to my copy of The Last Thing To Burn (after more than a year sitting on my shelf).

Thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.