Book Review: The Ice Twins by S.K Tremayne

Title: The Ice Twins

Author: S.K Tremayne

Publisher: Harper Collins

Blurb: A year after one of their identical twin daughters, Lydia, dies in an accident, Angus and Sarah Moorcroft move to the tiny Scottish island Angus inherited from his grandmother, hoping to put together the pieces of their shattered lives.

But when their surviving daughter, Kirstie, claims they have mistaken her identity–that she, in fact, is Lydia–their world comes crashing down once again.

As winter encroaches, Angus is forced to travel away from the island for work, Sarah is feeling isolated, and Kirstie (or is it Lydia?) is growing more disturbed. When a violent storm leaves Sarah and her daughter stranded, Sarah finds herself tortured by the past–what really happened on that fateful day one of her daughters died?

Last year (wow, that feels weird saying that) I was lucky enough to receive a review copy of The Ice Twins before the release date in January this year; I was so excited to read this book after hearing numerous other book bloggers talk about how incredible it was. And they were NOT WRONG. 7 Year-old Kirstie and Lydia were identical and inseparable twins until one terrible day when Lydia falls from a balcony and dies, leaving Kirstie alone and their parents, Sarah and Angus, distraught and inconsolable. Their move to a tiny, remote island left to them by Angus’s grandmother was supposed to be a new, fresh start to forget about the tragedy but Kirstie has just admitted something that will send all their lives into turmoil once more. Kirstie and Lydia were completely identical twins – so much so that their parents had to dress them in different colours to tell them apart – it was Lydia that fell and died that day. Or was it?

I pretty much read the whole second half of this book in one sitting because it was just SO damn compelling I literally couldn’t put it down – I haven’t read a book as good as this in a long time! I love a good Mystery/Thriller and this was the epitome of “thriller”. It was chilling! It takes you from one idea to the next and before you know it, you’re just as confused as the characters are. There were so many potential ways this story could have gone but this writer sure as hell knows how to keep you on your toes because there wasn’t a single moment where I could have accurately predicted the ending. However I did absolutely love the ending and thought it rounded up the story perfectly.

The descriptions in this book was second to none – the way the author describes the weather, the landscapes, the island and scenery adds so much to the story and the atmosphere. You can almost feel the biting cold of the winter storm and see their lighthouses light illuminating the island every 9 seconds. I obviously can’t give too much away considering the nature of the story, you really do have to read it for yourself. Although dubbed a Mystery or Thriller this book does cover a lot of other topics and emotions which are carefully crafted into the story.  Only 5 days into 2015 and I’ve already found one of my top 10 books of this year – The Ice Twins is intense, chilling and psychologically daunting and has potential to be one of the most talked about books of 2015.

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5/5 Stars