Reviews

The Image of You by Adele Parks

avy9891's review against another edition

4.0

My god this was such a wild ride from beginning to end. A story involving twins one who prefers to follow her own path without feeling the need to mold herself to fit the standards of others. The other who just wants to be loved and not inconvenience others at all even if it means sacrificing her needs. Anna is the sweet responsible twin and Zoe is the carefree fun-loving twin, even though they have different personalities they are still quite close. While Anna lives in London her sister Zoe lives in the States, they still keep in touch constantly calling each other and keeping updated on what they are doing. Anna wants to fall in love and marriage as she feels lonely and thinks that she's at the age where she should already be in a relationship and starting a family ( just like so many of her friends/acquaintances). After much consideration, she decides to give online dating a shot though Zoe thinks that's not such a great idea, while discussing her profile with her sister Anna decides to lie about her age, and there's a secret she's hiding as well. She matches with Nick who isn't looking for anything serious at first but he slowly starts to fall for Anna. Their relationship progresses rather quickly after that and Zoe is not happy at all and finds it quite suspicious. Anna then invites Zoe to come meet Nick. From there so many things happen, there's betrayal, secrets, and quite a few twists until the end. You get somewhat an idea of how things will turn out from the beginning but things are not quite as they seem.

Thanks to the publisher and Net Galley for allowing me to read this ARC!

redheadstorm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

htp_hive hijacked my reading plans last weekend with #TheImageofYouReadalong Except this ended up being such a page turner that I found it impossible to stick to the reading schedule! If you love wild, twisty, sexy thrillers, make sure you grab this one before its movie adaptation on May 10! 

I love Adele Parks and The Image of You fell into that category as well. Oddly enough this ended up being 5th book about twins in the past 5 weeks! It’s also the very first book I read in which character works exactly in the same line on work as me (Anna works in the drop-in for people experiencing homelessness and I run a slightly “rougher” version of the same program)! Just a few reasons this ended up being such a memorable read. 

Anna and Zoe are twins albeit identical in looks only. Anna believes in love and finding her Prince Charming (despite only having experience with lying cheating frogs), while Zoe doesn’t trust men or feelings. Then Anna meets charming, good looking Nick and what she believes to be her happily ever after. Except with her wildly protective twin, all bets are off. 

Grab this if 
📚 you’re looking for an unputdownable thriller 
📚 you enjoy games of cat & mouse 
📚 you like thrillers about twins 
📚 you like element of steamy in your reads 
📚 you want to make sure you read the book before seeing the movie 

Full disclosure, I did guess the big twist but I blame the sheer amount of thrillers I read plus my profession! I was still highly entertained by the way things played out! Especially the ending 😱

A huge thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing, Mira & NetGalley for my ARC in exchange for an honest review! 

adanna_h's review against another edition

4.0

Oh wow, The Image of You is a messy tale of sisterhood and deception! And that ending!!! My recommendation is to go in blind and enjoy this very wild ride -- from the slow build-up to the freefall ending. 

I can see why this book is being made into a movie. It's a great pick.

Thank you to HTP The Hive for a copy of this book.

sophir's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

okay to me it was so obvious the plot twist of the book. like painfully so. I also think the way this book was written was really heavy handed and went on for far too long

literary__mary's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

tessa_talks_books's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

One-word review: Dark

Emojis:  🥰😠🫥

Rating:  3.5 🌟s
 

The Image of You by Adele Parks is a captivating tale of Anna and Nick's impending wedding. The plot takes an unexpected turn when Anna is unable to attend a dinner she arranged for Nick to meet her twin sister, Zoe. As sparks fly between Nick and Zoe, a complex love triangle emerges. The story takes a thrilling twist when a shocking death occurs, revealing hidden truths.

While I'm not a fan of infidelity in relationships, The Image of You by Adele Parks offers a unique blend of romance and thriller genres. The messy entanglements and fast-paced narrative kept me engaged up to a point, despite my personal reservations.

However, I figured the one real twist out at about 25%. The fact that it wasn't revealed until very close to the end meant I grew tired of being led in circles around what I already knew would happen. The story just droned on for me.

Despite my mixed feelings about the book, I'm genuinely intrigued by the upcoming movie adaptation. I'm eager to see how the plot will be brought to life on the screen and what new elements will be introduced. The potential for a fresh perspective is exciting, and I can't wait to see how it all unfolds.

 

saminfineprint's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

girliekatie's review against another edition

4.0

Loved the book! Couldn't put it down. The story was just brilliant, completely gripping. However, I started to read it expecting to read a psychological thriller. And it mostly isn't. I mean in the end it is but probably 3/4 of the book isn't really. After that I started noticing little things that basically hinted at what was going to happen. But it took some time to get to that point. It didn't matter much to me, overall I liked the book. Just wanted to mention that if you are expecting a real psychological thriller, don't be disappointed when it doesn't come until almost the very end

bookish_girl0012's review against another edition

4.0

This is the first time I've ever read a book by this author and I must say, the plot is really interesting though the over-all story is just alright. I was expecting something more but it fell kinda short to my liking.

What I like about it, besides the twist in the end, is the way the narration leaves you hanging for more. Like, I can't wait what happens next and so, I must read more.

Having said that, I only gave 3.5 stars because the twist is something you could've guessed at. It's quite predictable tbh. I think the story would have been more spellbinding if there was more in the build up. Additionally, I was quite disappointed in how the issue was resolved because I don't think mental health issues close that easily. Again, I felt there was something lacking there. Lastly, a few of the characters were not really likeable. There were instances that they were actually annoying and I couldn't agree with their thought process. I know that the author was trying to portray the different layers of an individual's personality but still.

All in all, in spite of my feeling that the writing was a bit rushed, I would still recommend this book.

chrissireads's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0