Her Fearful Symmetry

I loved this book. Of course, I feel biased because when The Time Traveler's Wife came out, I loved that as well. And the movie. What can I say? Audrey Niffenegger can write a good story!

I didn't know what to expect when I started to read Her Fearful Symmetry. I bought the book strictly because of who wrote it and only knew it was about twin daughters and a flat their aunt had left them.

I did NOT expect to be completely taken over by this book.

The only twins I ever really remember reading about are Jessica and Elizabeth from Sweet Valley High. I still have one book from when I was addicted to the series when I was younger (and I intend on reading it again soon!) and remember thinking how neat it would be to have a twin.

When I started reading Her Fearful Symmetry, I was immediately entranced. The first twins, Edie and Elspeth live an ocean apart from each other. Something had happened in their past that made them never keep in touch with each other. Now Elspeth, who lived in London, has died and left all of her belongings to Edie's twin girls, Julia and Valentina. When they turn 20, they can move into Elspeth's flat and cannot sell it for at least a year.

I was expecting a journey into the deep dark secrets of the first set of twins and I got that, along with a very gothic tale. It wasn't too creepy - just enough to give you goosebumps. I wasn't expecting a ghost story, but it wasn't so scary that I found myself afraid to read in the dark, but it was enough to add an air of mystery to the novel - and some very unexpected twists (one of which I was deeply disappointed with - but it does work.)!

The characters were very well developed and I found myself falling in love with the twins, with Robert, and even with the slightly-off-kilter Martin. Relationships are developed, adding both humour and intimacy to the novel. I love how the twins had so much fun when they first moved to London - wrapping themselves up in the city and the dialect.

I've never been around sets of twins before, but it was a fascinating thing to read about - especially when the girls were described as being "Mirror Twins," which means that their internal structure is opposite of each others (e.g. Valentina's heart is on the opposite side from where Julia's is). This idea helped explain a lot of the differences between the two girls.

Niffenegger is a great writer - she doesn't drone on with useless details, but every word is necessary, and every situation in the book is crucial to the storyline. I could really read this book again!

Definitely recommended if you are a fan of Audrey Niffenegger's work, or if you like modern gothic tales and ghost stories. However, if you're looking for a book like The Time Traveler's Wife, this might not be for you - there's similar magic, but it does cross over to the dark side.

I received this book as a gift from a friend who is an avid reader and eyed it curiously.

A novel by the writer of The Time Traveler's Wife? It sounded inconsequential.

How pleasantly surprised I was to find a whimsical, somewhat eerie story that kept me turning the pages and not wanting it to end.

The first half of this book put me to sleep. Nothing really happened. It was mostly filled with character and location descriptions. I expect that from every story, but it went on too long, filling up the first half of the book. I didn't like any of the characters. I was ready to give up on the whole thing. But then the girls met the ghost and FINALLY it got interesting. The second half of the story saved it for me. Now I can say I enjoyed the book.

I'm finding it very hard to describe what I think about this book. I liked it, but it seemed morbid and very creepy. Throughout half of the novel, I had the "something jumpy is going to happen" feeling you get when you're watching a scary movie. Enjoyable, but I can't see myself reading it again anytime soon.