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A review by okevamae
Twice Lived by Joma West
3.0
Some people are born as shifters, living two lives in parallel worlds which they shift between at random, splitting their time between the two. But most people settle in one world or the other in early childhood. This is the story of a teen girl – Canna in one world, Lily in the other – who hasn’t settled yet. And unlike with most shifters, Canna and Lily are distinct and separate personalities. They don’t talk about each other’s lives and try not to even think about them. But lately things are changing, and aspects of one life are bleeding into the other. Settling means one or the other of them will lose everything – but if they don’t settle, they might both be lost.
It took a little time to wrap my head around what exactly was happening, but I’m not sure if that’s down to the clarity of the writing or just me not getting it, but I figured it out after a while. This story explores some interesting territory - family and loss and the complexity of both living while waiting for the other shoe to drop and mourning someone while they are still there. The novel is complex and fascinating emotionally as well as conceptually, because you genuinely like both Canna and Lily and their families, and it feels impossible to choose which one should win out.
Unfortunately, I think the author was caught in the same dilemma and the route she chose was, to me, unsatisfying. I honestly loved this book right up until the end. The ending just felt... like not an ending. Like, I am sincerely hoping that this is the first in a series and they just haven’t announced the next one yet, because if this is a standalone novel, the ending is... disappointment is the wrong word because the story would have to be properly wrapped up for the end to be a disappointment. Instead, it just feels unfinished. The situation was so complicated and I was dying to know how the author was going to bring everything to a suitable conclusion and then... they just didn’t. Would have been 4.5 stars, probably rounded up, but with that ending, sadly, it’s a 3. UNLESS there's a second installment announced (fingers crossed!)
Representation: POC Characters (including main characters), LGBTQ+ characters (including main characters)
I received an advance copy of this ebook from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
It took a little time to wrap my head around what exactly was happening, but I’m not sure if that’s down to the clarity of the writing or just me not getting it, but I figured it out after a while. This story explores some interesting territory - family and loss and the complexity of both living while waiting for the other shoe to drop and mourning someone while they are still there. The novel is complex and fascinating emotionally as well as conceptually, because you genuinely like both Canna and Lily and their families, and it feels impossible to choose which one should win out.
Unfortunately, I think the author was caught in the same dilemma and the route she chose was, to me, unsatisfying. I honestly loved this book right up until the end. The ending just felt... like not an ending. Like, I am sincerely hoping that this is the first in a series and they just haven’t announced the next one yet, because if this is a standalone novel, the ending is... disappointment is the wrong word because the story would have to be properly wrapped up for the end to be a disappointment. Instead, it just feels unfinished. The situation was so complicated and I was dying to know how the author was going to bring everything to a suitable conclusion and then... they just didn’t. Would have been 4.5 stars, probably rounded up, but with that ending, sadly, it’s a 3. UNLESS there's a second installment announced (fingers crossed!)
Representation: POC Characters (including main characters), LGBTQ+ characters (including main characters)
I received an advance copy of this ebook from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.