The Identicals

A Novel

By: Elin Hilderbrand

Narrated by: Erin Bennett

Length: 12 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

The instant New York Times best seller is "a fun, delightful, un-putdownable novel" about two identical twin sisters who couldn't look more alike...or live more differently (PopSugar).

Nantucket is only 11 miles away from Martha's Vineyard. But they may as well be worlds apart for estranged twin sisters Harper and Tabitha Frost.

After not speaking for more than a decade, Harper and Tabitha switch islands - and lives - to save what's left of their splintered family. But the twins quickly discover that the secrets, lies, and gossip they thought they'd outrun can travel between islands just as easily as they can. Will Harper and Tabitha be able to bury the hatchet and end their sibling rivalry once and for all?

Before the last beach picnic of the season, there will be enough old resentments, new loves, and cases of mistaken identity to make this the most talked-about summer that Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket have experienced in ages.

©2017 Elin Hilderbrand (P)2017 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Parent Trap vibes with an adult twist...One of Hilderbrand's most binge-worthy confections." (Elisabeth Egan, New York Times)

I love this author

I loved the book and this author but I have to agree with some of the other comments. When listening to a book ,the "he said, she said" dialogue is monotonous. I've noticed it on every book I've listened to. I would think the author's editor would have fixed this problem by now. There are a lot of words in the English language to replace "said"! Still I never miss any of her books and they never disappoint. I love her description of food and , of course, Nantucket. It makes me want to live there!

Great beach read

Great beach/ vacation read! Love her books! This was a great read! Good story line!

He said/she said

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The "he said/she said" before many sentences. This drove me crazy. No need....it was very easy to follow without this additional dialog. Not sure what the book editors were thinking.

What did you like best about this story?

Loved the plot.

What does Erin Bennett bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I just love listening because I can multitask while I listen. Drive, clean work in the yard.

Was The Identicals worth the listening time?

Yes.

Any additional comments?

Please feel free to listen to the story for a while and you will see what I mean about the "he said/she said" irritation.

Fabulous!

This is my first book by this author and I am hooked! So many twists and turns. Loved it!

Good

This book is easy to listen to. Interesting story and would be a great beach book. Loved the narration.

Overall I liked it

Was I the only one annoyed by the redundant “Harper says” “Tabitha says” “Ainsley says” “he says” “she says”. That was so distracting and could have been left out. I don’t know if towards the end it was edited out or if I had become so accustomed to it that I no longer noticed. Also, Tabitha was my least favorite character. She blames her sister Harper for EVERYTHING. It’s cold outside, blame Harper. It’s Wednesday, blame Harper. Ugh.

Overall I did enjoy the book. I will check out other titles by this author, as this is my first time “reading” one of her books.

Good, not a great read

This book was entertaining at best. Not one of my fav reads for this summer. It seemed long and drawn out and predictable.

Quite enjoyable ♥

Yes, I actually loved this book so much hat I had to listen to it again. ♥

Heart warming story perfect for Hallmark Movies

Reflections on life for every character in this story representing 3 generations. Good things can happen with change and forgiveness.

Tempting Beach Read of Dysfunctional Siblings

The Identicals
Elin Hilderbrand

A dazzling setting and great writing about a frustrating dysfunctional sibling relationship makes for yet another tempting summer beach read

SUMMARY
A story about identical twins who couldn’t be any less alike. Nantucket is only two and a half hours away from Martha’s Vineyard by ferry. But the two Islands might as well be worlds apart for a set of identical twin sisters who have been at odds for fourteen years. Now 39, Tabitha, lives on Nantucket and runs her mother’s high-end dress boutique and has an out of control high school daughter, Ainsley. Harper lives on Martha’s Vineyard and is taking care of her dying father and having an affair with her father’s doctor. When a family crisis forces them to band together or at least appear to, the twins ultimately realize that the special bond they share is more important than the sibling rivalry that has driven them apart for the better part of their lives.

REVIEW
Loved the setting of THE IDENTICALS in Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard and the intro which talked about the difference between the two islands and how islanders view each other. The descriptions of the places and scenes on the islands were absolutely captivating. I wanna go!

The writing was great and typical of Hildebrand. And while this would make a great summer read for many, it was not the book for me as I continue to search for books with strong women characters that make a difference. I had difficulty connecting to, or even liking any of the main female characters. Both the twins are deeply flawed and have made one bad decision after another. It was really frustrating to read about bright, educated women holding grudges, creating drama and making really stupid choices.

But they come by it honestly, their parents also made some pretty wacky decisions in the past. One of most unbelievable parts of the backstory was when the twin’s parents decided to divorce, they told the twins they would be split up; one twin will live with Eleanor, the formidable mom, on Nantucket while the other will go to Martha’s Vineyard to live with the fun loving dad, Billy. The parents don’t care which twin goes with which parent, but they make the girls themselves decide. They were only fourteen. They both wanted to go with Billy, so the twins had to resort to Rock-Paper-Scissors to decide. Splitting up the twins—heartbreaking!


Even though I didn’t like the main characters, they were tremendously well-developed and they evolved throughout the story. A cast of many other colorful characters also added interest and depth to the story. I particularly loved the Epilogue by Fish—a perfect conclusion.

ELIN HILDERBRAND who lives on Nantucket with her husband and their three young children. She grew up in Collegeville Pennsylvania and traveled extensively before setting settling on Nantucket which has been the settings for five of her previous novels Hildebrand is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and the graduate fiction workshop at the University of Iowa.
Publisher Little, Brown and Company
Published June 13, 2017
Review www.bluestockingreviews.com