Genre 📚: YA/NA Horror, Thriller, Paranormal
Tropes 💁♀️: Long-lost twins, Family secrets, Murder mystery
Rep ✔️: Vietnamese American main characters, POC side characters
CW ⚠️: Loss of a loved one, grief, intergenerational trauma, brutal deaths/kidnapping
Rating ⭐️: 3.5/5
Aria and Caliste live completely different lives, one a struggling college student in Virginia and the other a wealthy influencer in California. They’re identical twins who have no idea the other exists… until the death of their mother brings them together. They return to what they learn was their hometown in Minnesota, overwhelmed with years of lies and secrecy. And, unbeknownst to them, there are more secrets — and dangers — lurking in the water.
This was WILD. Twin Tides was like The Grudge, Scream, and The Parent Trap all in one — a weird but fun combination. I would say it was more Scream + The Parent Trap (thriller and coming-of-age), though, with less paranormal activity than expected. The ghost wasn’t much of a presence in the action of the story, instead more utilized in exploring the mother character’s history and trauma.
I was pretty pissed at some of the adult characters for lying to the twins and keeping them apart. (It was messed up in The Parent Trap, and it’s messed up now.) But I still enjoyed the twins’ reconnection and bond, and the bonds with their other loved ones. As creepy and disturbing as this story could be, it also had plenty of heart.
**Much thanks to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Twin Tides will be released on December 9, 2025.
Sara Bechtol 