Review: The Ice Twins by S.K. Tremayne

Book: The Ice Twins

Author: S.K. Tremayne

Pages: 373

I read it on: My Kindle

I read it in: 3-4 hours

Plot Summary: A year after one of their identical twin daughters, Lydia, dies in an accident, Angus and Sarah Moorcraft 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?

General Thoughts: I have wanted to read this book ever since it first came out because the premise sounded so interesting and it felt like it be a totally atmospheric and spooky book. So, when I, finally bought it off Amazon yesterday, I convinced my sister (who is not a fan of spooky things) to buddy-read the book with me. We both really enjoyed the first third of the book but from then on it just went downhill. Oh well. 

What I Liked: Quick list:

• As I mentioned above, the premise of this book is very interesting. I find twins pretty fascinating and the whole mystery around which twin actually died and how did one the twins die seemed pretty interesting. It made me get really excited about this book and also made me feel that perhaps there will also be some supernatural elements in the story, which there were a bit of, not a whole lot. 

• I couldn't find any fault with the writing. It was well written and the story flowed fairly well, up until the almost-halfway mark of the book, which is when things started going haywire. 

• I always like reading about family dynamics, about families dealing with distressful situation (hope they cope with it, how does it change them... ) and in this book, the dysfunctional marriage and family aspects were depicted fairly well. We see how Angus and Sarah are struggling to connect- emotionally and sexually- since the death of their daughter and how they are tiptoeing around each other. 

• Twins are very interesting from a psychological perspective and in this book there are some references to twin telepathy and developing individualism in twins and so on. It could have been done better, but that's a discussion for the 'what I didn't like' section. 

• The depiction of the Moorcroft's lives in Scotland was also interesting to read about. The wilderness, the isolation, the depiction of stunning vistas all around them were all brought to life exceedingly well. In the introduction, the author does say that she was inspired by a little island off the Scottish coast. 

What I Didn't Like: Quite a few things:

• First of all, this book has some major logical or, rather, common sense-related fallacies. The plot has been stretched by resorting to these completely idiotic and unrealistic approaches taken by Angus when he was told by the surviving twin that she was Lydia and not Kristie. I can't elaborate more because I don't want to spoil the book for all of you.  But the decision he takes and the things he says to Kristie/Lydia (whoever is alive) are some of the worst parenting decisions that anyone can ever make! Angus is, supposedly, an architect, which means he has more than basic education to know that he should not do what he was doing! Ridiculous! 

• Suppose you are a parent, who has recently lost one twin, which has led to your world falling apart and then your grief-stricken surviving child tells you that she is, in fact, the child you think died. Not only that, the surviving child also starts emulating the dead child and starts becoming more like her and less like her own self. What would anyone with half a grey cell do? Take the kid to a shrink, right? Except, in this book, that is the ONE thing Angus and Sarah don't do. This was a major irritant for me! It was clearly a ploy to get the book to stretch further and for the story to move ahead. Not that it made any difference, the book got pretty bad after the ~40% point! 

• Angus was someone whose motivations, decisions and perspective I just could not understand. The real  reasons behind one of the twins' death drives him to drink, punch his boss and lose his job. He can no longer muster up any desire for his wife.. and so, my question is, knowing what Angus knew about the real circumstances of his kid's death, why did he do what he did?! (Sorry I am being vague, trying to avoid spoilers!!) This was another major pet peeve of mine. 

• Sarah was very obviously slightly unhinged and seemed like a disinterested mother and wife from the get-go. So, it was no surprise to me what the ultimate reveal was. Given what really  happened after the kid died, the author should have shown Sarah as a dedicated mom and wife instead of someone who seemed to be in love with the idea of having a handsome husband, a beautiful home, two beautiful twin girls and a dog- a perfect family photo op, rather than a real family. So, this was badly done. 

Rating: 1.5/5