Book Review: The Twin by Amanda Brookfield

I’m pleased to be welcoming Amanda Brookfield back to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her latest book, The Twin.

A splintered childhood.
A family divided.
An ugly past resurfaces…

From birth, twins Cath and Rob are inseparable. When their mother dies, their bond deepens as their father hastily remarries a woman with a volatile temper whose sole focus is her own baby – Oliver – who arrives nine months later.

When, aged 48, Rob tragically dies, Cath’s world begins to crumble. Her grief compounded further by Oliver’s out-of-the-blue decision to attend Rob’s funeral, opening old wounds after three decades of estrangement.

Thrown together, the half-siblings are forced to confront a past that sends shockwaves through both their lives due to the huge discrepancies in their respective recollections. But could both their versions of the truth be correct…?

*****

When they lose their mother, the bond between twins, Catherine and Rob only deepens. However, when tragedy strikes, Cath is forced to face a past that threatens to overwhelm her. 

Oliver doesn’t have good memories of a childhood that was plagued with bullying by his siblings. Can he find a way back to a side of his family that’s been lost for decades before he loses everything he holds dear? 

The premise of this novel intrigued me so I was very excited to be invited onto the blog tour for The Twin, the latest novel by Amanda Brookfield. 

There is a ton of emotion in this book that will make you feel like you’ve been on a rollercoaster. I know the following sentence is said a lot in reviews but I started reading and honestly couldn’t stop. I immediately got pulled in to the lives of these people. 

The author does not shy away from tackling some major themes such as grief and generational trauma. Cath and Oliver’s story is a very interesting insight into how the events in our childhood and the behaviour of the adults in our life at that time can shape who we are as people. It also gave me perspective on how two siblings can experience the same event differently and how assumptions and lack of communication can affect not only our family life but all our relationships and our mental health. 

The plot itself unfolds well as we get to know Oliver and Catherine better as they each try to navigate their life after loss. 

There’s real representation of life in this novel – sadness but also finding joy in small things. 

Catherine is a character that doesn’t know whether she’s coming or going. As I made my way through the book and the reasons for her behaviour were gradually revealed, I came to understand it. 

Oliver is a character that was made to feel like he didn’t belong as a child and I feel he, like Catherine, is someone people can relate to. 

It was fascinating to follow these two characters as I made my way through the novel. 

Ugh, it’s so hard to talk about it without giving too much away. 

The Twin packs an emotional punch with realistic, flawed people. By the end, I felt like I’d been on a real journey with them. It’s a tale about facing your past and mending psychological bridges. Another great novel from Amanda Brookfield. 

About Amanda Brookfield –

Amanda Brookfield is the bestselling author of many novels including Good Girls, Relative Love, The Split, and a memoir, For the Love of a Dog starring her Golden Doodle Mabel.

She lives in London and has recently finished a year as Visiting Creative Fellow at University College Oxford.

Say hello to Amanda on Facebook, X, Instagram and Bookbub. Click here to sign up to her newsletter. 

 The Twin was released by Boldwood Books on 3rd July 2025. Click here to buy on Amazon, Kobo, Waterstones and Barnes & Noble. 

by

Laura

I’m Laura. I started Novel Kicks in 2009. I wanted a place to post my writing as well as give other writers like me the opportunity to do the same. There is also a monthly book club, a writing room which features writing prompts, book reviews, competitions, author interviews and guest posts.

I grew up by the sea (my favourite place in the world) and I currently live in Hampshire. I am married to Chris, have a cat named Buddy and I would love to be a writer. I’m trying to write the novel I’ve talked so much about writing if only I could stop pressing delete. I’ve loved writing since creative writing classes in primary school. I have always wanted to see my teacher Miss Sayers again and thank her for the encouragement. When not trying to write the novel or writing snippets of stories on anything I can get my hands on, I love reading, dancing like a loon and singing to myself very badly. My current obsession is Once Upon a Time and I would be happy to live with magic in the enchanted forest surrounded by all those wonderful stories provided that world also included Harry Potter. I love reading chick lit. contemporary fiction and novels with mystery.