The Girl in the Mirror

By Rose Carlyle

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Goodreads Synopsis

“Twin sisters Iris and Summer are startlingly alike, but beyond what the eye can see lies a darkness that sets them apart. Cynical and insecure, Iris has long been envious of Summer’s seemingly never-ending good fortune, including her perfect husband Adam.

Called to Thailand to help her sister sail the family yacht to the Seychelles, Iris nurtures her own secret hopes for what might happen on the journey. But when she unexpectedly finds herself alone in the middle of the Indian Ocean, everything changes. When she makes it to land, Iris allows herself to be swept up by Adam, who assumes that she is Summer.

Iris recklessly goes along with his mistake. Not only does she finally have the golden life she’s always envied, with her sister gone, she’s one step closer to the hundred-million-dollar inheritance left by her manipulative father. All Iris has to do is be the first of his seven children to produce an heir.

Iris’s “new” life lurches between glamorous dream and paranoid nightmare. On the edge of being exposed, how far will she go to ensure no one discovers the truth?

And just what did happen to Summer on the yacht?

Only Iris knows . . .” (Goodreads)

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My Take

Character Connection

The Girl in the Mirror is totally-driven by our main narrator, Iris. It’s her distinct perspective that draws you in to the utterly ridiculous tale that follows. Although, she’s unlikeable, you are forced to question why you think that – is it because she’s an unreliable narrator or is it because we assume her intentions are villainous because the book’s synopsis teases us with the good twin/evil twin theme before we even crack open the first page?

Twisty-Turns

It may take me a few days to untwist my head back to normal after reading this, each time I thought I had it all figured out, I was thrown for one more loop. I was guessing all the way until the last sentence of the last page…which I had to re-read 3 times to make sure I really did have it correct in my head 🙂

Psych-Links

I would label The Girl in the Mirror more of domestic suspense than a psychological thriller. While it had more twists and turns than your favorite corn maze, there were no real psychological connections made. I do find it helpful to include trigger-warnings for some items. The Girl in the Mirror does include a couple of scenes that I would label as sexual assault. If that is a trigger for you, I would steer clear.

Cine-ability

This could be on-screen tomorrow – however, if you cast the wrong character for Iris it could very quickly become a D-rated film that no one sees.  I chose Margot Robbie to play both twins Iris and Summer. Great acting and a beautiful setting (hello Australia) could really set this film apart from becoming the next made-for-tv Lifetime movie.  Our main cast of characters, in my mind, look like:

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The Merry Murderino’s Overall Rating

Average Goodreads rating is 3.85. My overall rating comes from me loving totally ridiculous stories 🙂  I don’t need the twists and turns to make sense as long as they add to the overall plot. As a personal rule, I don’t read a lot of non-fiction/self-help as pleasure reading.  Reading is my escape from reality and Rose Carlyle took me far away to the tropical beaches of Australia, Thailand, and The Seychelles in the most demented way possible.  Don’t read this expecting it to sound logical or to be a story that seems true enough to really happen – read it for its unflinching absurdity. In fact, the only truly realistic quote can be pulled from pg. 188, “You can’t read in the same house as a small child. The child will sense that Mummy is relaxing and will hunt you down.” – truer words have never been spoken.

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